“You held back Your fury. You kept back Your blazing anger. Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside Your anger against us once more. Will You be angry with us always? Will You prolong Your wrath to all generations? Won’t You revive us again, so Your people can rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:3-6 NLT)
The word “revival,” while a common term used in evangelical circles, is not a word found in the King James Version of the Bible. The term “revive” is used only seven times, all in the Old Testament. As used the term means “to live, have life, remain alive, sustain life, live prosperously, be quickened, be restored to life or health.” (Strong’s Concordance)
The most common reference to revival today is a meeting or series of meetings, with the express purpose of raising awareness of our need to be attentive to the Lord’s Spirit as He seeks to either save us from our sins and launch us into a relationship with Himself or restore the relationship we once had with Him.
These “revival” meetings were often used to not only awaken the “saints,” but reach those who were lost and had no relationship with the Lord. Dr. Billy Graham is often associated with these kinds of efforts on a global scale. There are still those who write and speak with a longing to awaken the sleeping “giant” we call the Church, but their efforts are, unfortunately, negligible.
What will it take for the Church to awaken to the opportunity the Lord is giving us in this present moment?When the majority of those who profess faith give little evidence of any real intimacy with Jesus, there seems little hope for any lasting change in our world.
Gratefully, the Lord doesn’t operate on the basis of what the majority does, He still speaks, draws, fills, empowers, transforms, and electrifies the hearts and minds of those who WILL listen and WILL obey. My sense is those who take the time to read these articles are among those few who take very seriously their walk with the Lord. Please hear my heart when I say how grateful I am for you!
Not simply because you read the words the Lord gives me, but because you have a heart to know, love, and serve the King who inspires them. Revival, for you and me, is not a rekindling of the old, but a burning desire to experience the “new!” The Lord is all about doing things that have never been done before.
Think of creation! Remember the first time you stood on an ocean beach? Letting the water wash over your feet. Listening to the sound of the water coming in and going out. It’s been the same since the beginning of time. God set that in motion.
That same God wants to do in you and me something that will have eternal implications. He wants to build in us a rhythm of consistency that will allow anyone who sees us to sense Him. Almost like seeing the ocean for the first time. But how? By determining by God’s grace to be solely His. By allowing His Spirit to so fill, empower, and enable us to literally live and breathe Jesus.
We have no way of knowing how many days we have left. What we can know is that however many there are, they’ll be lived in total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. When we’re submitted to His control, we’ll see our loved ones, friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, even strangers, desiring more of Him.
I hope that’s what you’re longing for. To me, that’s what real revival is about.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 