by Glenice Mills
The word ‘revival’ has been the buzz word going around Christian circles.
As we know in recent times there has been revival in many poor nations and until recently there has been moves of God among some Western nations.
However, there is little understanding on what true revival is. It is a word that has been misunderstood and with many and varied opinions as to what is revival.
I have been pondering this and over time the Lord has shown me a little understanding on this powerful word.
God’s heart is that all may come into a revelation and knowledge of salvation through the power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ at Calvary.
I broke down the word revival and this is what it looks like: revive all.
Yes, God’s heart is to revive all: young and old, saved and unsaved, churched and unchurched, rich countries, poor countries, - all to come to Him.
If we look at the meaning of the word revive and how it relates to what happens in the natural when someone needs reviving we can see parallels to what the Lord wants to do to bring His church to life.
There are keys in this word that challenges but also lays a good foundation for revival.
Revival first starts in His church, that is us, all Christians are part of the body of Christ hence revival must start with us individually.
Revival must come to the hearts of His people, that is you and I!
Revival in the Oxford Dictionary means reviving or being revived.
The word revive means to come or bring back to consciousness or life or strength; to come or bring back to existence.
The only way to bring a person back to life in the natural is by Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). There are steps required when ministering CPR that can be used as a picture for Spiritual CPR - that is life to the spirit of man.
Following are three steps in CPR which I will then enlarge on in a spiritual context.
1. A person must be dead, that is without life, before CPR can be given.
2. Breaths must be given to start the process of bringing back to life.
3. Compressions are then given to bring the life blood flowing throughout the body.
SPIRITUAL CONTEXT:
DEATH: LACK OF LIFE
Where there is death there is no life, it is also the end of self. You cannot go on alone, you are completely reliant on someone else to bring help. You are reliant on an outside source to bring back to life. It is being in a state of vulnerability, of brokenness and a desperate need for help. Without that help there is no life.
There comes a point where there needs to be an acknowledgment of the state of being, of having to reach out to the ‘source of life’ - Jesus Christ!
It is a life defining moment!!
It is an acknowledgment of where a person is at, what is happening around and about them, that is out of their control, it is an understanding that they are sinners needing redemption.
Conviction must come. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that conviction and repentance will flow. It is the recognition of the state of ones heart - it comes out of a broken and contrite heart. Unless and until this happens it can’t be life changing. A pivotal turning point and a defining choice needs to be made which means one is never the same again.
It is not an emotional experience culminating in a ‘sinners prayer’ but rather a true conviction of sin, an acknowledging of needing help, and knowing that it is a life changing, defining choice, a giving up of oneself and the beginning of a relationship with the Lord and learning to lean on and rely on Him.
Romans 5:12 - "Therefore, as sin came into the world through one man, and death as the result of sin, so death spread to all men. (No one being able to stop it or to escape its power) because all men sinned."
Romans 6:23 - "For the wages which sin pays is death, but the bountiful free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
The ‘once saved always saved’ thinking is a lie. The truth is we must take up our cross daily. The dying process is a daily thing. We are told to outwalk our salvation with fear and trembling. It is learning to walk in the fear of the Lord.
If this is so shouldn’t revival in our hearts be an ongoing thing as we have relationship with the Lord? We are sinners, and that requires daily repentance and having a heart attitude that David had when he says in Psalm 139:23-24 - "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."
This being so, we must look at revival in ourselves first. The old revivals always had repentance, with a life changing encounter with the Lord. Revivals had fruits that have remained. We need to look at the bigger picture also. There are questions that also need to be asked as a body of believers, in our churches.
Are people yielded to the Lord in such a way that when the spirit of repentance comes they are willing to search their hearts, to change and to grow and mature?
Is the Spirit of Repentance even allowed to come on a Sunday morning service?
Is repentance even spoken of, preached, or a part of church life?
Is there a fear of the Lord among the people or is a gospel preached that compromises truth and justifies sin?
Are we seeing life changes in the people when they come to the Lord and as they are discipled and loved back to life in Christ?
BREATH OF LIFE:
The next step from death is the breath of life being administered to a person.
Without it a person will remain in a state of death.
The Lord is spoken of in Scripture as the breath of life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one can come to the Father but by Him.
He is our very breath!
The breath of life is the miracle working power of God coming upon a person.
It is by the Holy Spirit breathing upon us that brings and gives us life.
Breath is the means for life to come. Once breath comes this then leads to life flowing through the body. It is like a new born baby, without breath it will soon die or suffer serious consequences such as brain injury.
We need the sustaining, life giving power of the breath of God.
John 20:21-23 - "So Jesus said to them again, ’Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.’
And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”"
It is only by the miracle working power of God that revival can take place. If it is done in man’s strength it will not yield long lasting fruit and will soon die out.
It is the Holy Spirit that brings conviction and life and without it nothing will remain.
In every revival miracles took place. The Holy Spirit came in such power that people were changed, and changed forever. The Power of Jesus Christ was released in healings, the gospel went out in power, and the breath of God was breathed upon each that cried out to God. It was released on the saved and the unsaved. People were never the same again! True revival has stayed in the history books and from them many lessons have been learnt.
Revival changes history. They are spoken of and God is always glorified in them.
So the challenge is are we simply existing or are we instruments of life changing, life giving, a people who are radical in our faith.
Are we passionate for the Lord? Is the power of God being displayed through each of us? Are we instruments of change, impacting lives and influencing people?
Is the church a life giving, impacting, influential, passionate, radical, overcoming influence of change in society?
Is the breath of life breathing on the people in such miracle working power that they are never the same again?
Is there even opportunity for the Holy Spirit to be expressed through His people?
Is there a reverential fear of the Lord in the church that the Holy Spirit comes and touch people’s lives in such a powerful way that conviction, and repentance that result in life changes coming upon people?
We in the body of Christ need to seriously ask ourselves these questions as we cannot advance the Kingdom here on earth unless we take a look at where we are at individually and corporately.
COMPRESSION: Means to squeeze together, constrict, contract, constrain.
It is about the life blood, bringing life to every organ of the body.
It can only take place when pressure is applied.
If we take heart compressions when giving CPR there are things required that bring about a positive outcome.
It requires correct positioning before pressure can be put on the heart. The hands must be placed correctly to be effective. If this does not happen there can be serious damage done to areas of the body near the heart.
There is violence applied to the heart - it jolts the heart back into action by the physical force of the hands being applied to the heart muscle.
Without it there would be no effect.
It requires a response - the heart has to respond to the hand action.
Then there has to be regularity of heart beat; allowing a good pressure of the blood coming to and from the heart.
The heart beat must be strong, if it is weak the heart has to work harder.
If we look at this in a spiritual context it can be likened to adversity bringing us to a place of growth and as we draw from the Lord new life coming to us.
It requires correct positioning to be effective.
Romans 12:4-8 - "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith, or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."
It is crucial at this time that we each individually know our position in the body of Christ. We must know our giftings and then use those gifts to be life to the church.
We must first have the life blood of Jesus Christ flowing through us by His Holy Spirit. We also need to know where and how we uniquely fit into His Church.
We need to know our function so we can give into the church and help it to advance God’s kingdom here on earth.
We must be positioned where we are able to be trained in our gifts and also to bring life to others.
The Lord will apply pressure so we do not stay comfortable with what we know, as His heart is to grow and mature us so we can be effective in His kingdom.
Are you growing in God? Do you have opportunity to use your gifts in the church?
What is your passion? Are you positioned in such a place that you can be trained, expanded, challenged and bring life to those who have need?
1 Corinthians 12:14-20 - "For in fact the body is not one member but many. If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,’ is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body’ is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? And now indeed there are many members, yet one body."
Sadly, it is easy to succumb to apathy and complacency and go along with what is safe, however, that does not produce growth or fruit.
We are to be ‘life givers’.
The Lord wants His revival power to come upon His people and to those who don’t know him.
Do you desire to walk in the revival power of God?
That is the challenge for these times - these times of increasing adversity and persecution.
