Tag Archives: Revival

Revival Fire

 

Bonfire

 

Revival takes place when the fire of God falls upon the people of God. Revival is not an evangelistic meeting where the lost come to Christ—that is one of the daily mandates of the church. No, revival takes place when the body of Christ is renewed, reinvigorated, and returned from the brink of extinction through repentance. Revival is a sovereign work by a sovereign God. He sends revival when and where he chooses. And yet, the body of Christ (both individual and corporate) is responsible for repairing the altar and providing fuel in anticipation of that divine fire. We are called to be living and holy sacrifices, which are to be offered daily to Christ (Romans 12:1-2). Our preparation does not compel God to send revival, but rather it invites him to come with revival.

Two things are required for fire to burn—oxygen and fuel. And endless supply of one without the other will result in the fire being extinguished. The Holy Spirit is God’s oxygen and the body of Christ is God’s fuel. The body of Christ is you and I. God provides the Holy Spirit without measure, but will you and I be the fuel? When God’s fire comes will there be enough fuel to sustain the flame long enough to create a blaze and attract others to it?

When the fire of revival comes it will do what fire always does. First, revival fire consumes the fuel. Hebrews 12:29 clearly declares, “Our God is a consuming fire.” In true revival, we are consumed by God. As a fire burns, it totally saturates every part of the fuel. Duncan Campbell, who preached in the great revival on the isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland in 1949, defined revival as “a community totally saturated with God.” Are you prepared to be saturated—to be consumed—by God?

Revival fire will also change the fuel. The essence of the fuel is transformed into energy that creates heat and light. Heat refines and purifies. Light destroys darkness through its illumination and provides guidance. Will we allow God’s fire to change us into what he desires?

As the fire consumes and changes the essence of the fuel, it always spreads. The more it spreads—the hotter it gets. When revival fire jumps the altar and spreads to new fuel—the lost will get saved and those in bondage will be set free. This fire will get hotter and more intense as it spreads!

God provides the fire. The Holy Spirit provides the oxygen. The question is: “Am I willing to be the fuel that ignites?”

Time for Some R&R

From time to time we all need a little R&R (rest and relaxation). All work and no play makes Jack/Jill (or Bill, or Sue, or you) a dull boy/girl, or so the saying goes. That saying is very, very true. Weariness and fatigue, whether its physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual, diminishes our strength and deafens our ability to hear God speak. If we can’t hear God clearly or don’t have enough strength to obey him when he speaks, we are in trouble.

God created rest and he even accessed it after Creation. He worked, according to Scripture, six days and rested on the seventh. In fact, He is still at rest and invites each of us to enter that rest with him. His pattern is to be our pattern. That’s why he created a sabbath rest. Many argue that this must be the seventh day (Saturday or Sunday depending on your particular religious label), but that is an argument from the letter or the Law, not an argument for the principle of the Law. Jesus confronted the religious nit-pickers of his day and in very plain words declared that we were not created for the sabbath, but rather the sabbath was created for us. He was huge on the principles, but not the specific letters this or that group preferred.

We all need some time to re-connect with God each week. We were never meant to work 24-7-365 days a year. And from time to time, we need a few sabbaths bound together in what we commonly call a vacation. We all need to find that place where “nobody knows our name and no one knows we came.” We need a little time to unplug from the computer, the cell phone, and all the important people who clamor for our attention, so that we can rest our body, soul, and spirit. Vacations are good and necessary things. A vacation is nothing more than a little time away from the things that suck the life out of us. That might be a few hours in the back yard with a glass of ice tea and magazine. It might be a day on the lake with the family. It might be a thirty minute walk around the neighborhood. It might even be a week or two at a national park or resort.

From time to time, Jesus pulled away from the pressure of ministry and the demands of the people around him. He would often slip into the wilderness or up a mountain to talk all alone with his heavenly Father. As you read the New Testament, it is amazing how a little R&R empowered our Lord. If he needed it, we can be certain that we do even more so.

Today might be a good time to assess the fuel in your tank. Are you running on fumes or coasting because the tank is dry? If so, take some time for yourself and rest. I know all the excuses, but none of them will matter if you’re dead.  Weariness and stress are major contributors to sickness and disease. And…as you well know–sickness and disease are the number one killers of human beings. In fact, just think about this for a moment, most of those things you think no one can do but you will be done by someone else fifteen minutes after you stop breathing. So–take a chill pill and relax a  little. You and I are not as important as we think.