I was teaching last night at church on hinrances to revival. I asked a question, "What is Revival?" Usually when we think of revival, we think of bringing in an evangelist, having special services, everyone getting excited and on fire, and hope and pray people get saved. Usually when we have this, after a few weeks, things return to "normal."
Is this revival?
Then it hit me. To "revive" something implies something that once was alive or active is now either dead or worn out and to revive it means to restore it back to it's normal state. Therefore, to have revival implies that God is bringing us back to the place where we ought to be. Hmmm... now that got me to thinking.
Restoring us to the place where we ought to be...
That means when someone says to me, "Pastor, we need revival" what they are really saying is, "I am not where I should be with the Lord." I got to thinking, what would happen in the church if we would just stay where we should be with the Lord all of the time? What if we stayed prayed up, read up and allowed God to have his way in our lives? Now that might sound harsh and critical, but let's be honest... is this not what we are really saying? We have times where we are on fire for God; times where we really are in the right place... but how often we are candidates for revival ourselves, so in reality, instead of having a "revival" where we see souls saved, most often when the church has revival today, it is more to get the church back on track than it is to reach the lost.
Remember that Barna statistic that said, 87% of those who attended church in America believed that the church existed to meet the needs of themselves and their own family? Isn't this the same thing? Revive me Lord... instead of revive thy works... instead of save souls... instead of heal the sick... revive me again.
I am convinced that if the church is truly going to have "revival" where souls are saved and lives are changed, the church must prepare beforehand and get back in the place with the Lord where they ought to be.
I believe it is time for some fasting and rededication on the part of the church body if we really want to see a move of God that shakes our community.
3 comments:
Revival generally is for the church and not the unbeliever. We get so caught up in the everyday cares of life that we become worn down and exhausted. We don't even want to attend revival meetings because that's just one more thing to add to our already hectic schedules. If we could just learn to feed on God's Word, drink of His Holy Spirit, and take our rest in Him on a regular basis the way we nurish our natural bodies, then we would lead much more productive lives both naturally as well as spritually.
I admit I am one who needs to be reminded to take care of both my natural body as well as my spirit.
Forgive me Lord for my negligence and remind me to do better.
Thanks for commenting, I'll be back to read s'more, I would now but I'm rather in a hurry. Again, thanks.
Oh, and that verse in Proverbs is one of my favorites, I wish I'd read it earlier, before I needed rather than after the fact.
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