This post comes from Calvary Chapel Pastors
Creating a Spark
Is there a worldwide awakening coming? Could a national revival be just around the corner? I don’t know. But this I do know: A personal revival will take place in any man or woman who says, “Jesus, be Lord of all.” For some people, their prayer might be expressed this way: “Lord, I want to get back to where I was in those early days as a Christian. I want that passion and that fire. I want You to be the priority in my life once again.” Revival will come for us individually if we seek Him. And inevitably, if it comes for us individually, it’s going to touch others.
There have been Great Awakenings and there have been lesser moves of the Spirit, not necessarily impacting the whole nation or the world, but impacting certain regions. So it is possible that you might have a Los Angeles or New York City revival; or, a London, Tokyo, or Beijing revival. Revival could start in some obscure place and spread around the world. You never know what God might do!
Personal revival is indeed guaranteed. So where does it start? It starts with you and me. It starts with our determination to get right with God completely. We can pray:
“God, if there’s anything that has come into my life that’s not of You, then I pray You would remove it. And God, if there’s anything lacking in my life that You want to instill, I pray You would bring it.”
If you pray that sincerely, God will do it, and revival will begin.
The Welsh revival of 1904–1905 began with a young woman named Florrie Evans publicly proclaiming, “I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart.” A few months later, over 100,000 people from all walks of life were proclaiming the same thing. The initial spark, however, was one newly converted young woman standing up in a meeting in absolute purity and sincerity, expressing what had happened within her: “I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart.” That sparked a fire and changed the course of history for many people. Not only was Wales transformed, but many other nations were as well because that powerful move of the Spirit spread out from there.1
This is the searching question to consider: Do you love Jesus Christ with all your heart? Can you affirm that? Not around your peers, not to impress anyone publicly, but standing alone before God, can you affirm, “I love Jesus Christ with all of my heart”? Can you say honestly, “Lord, to the best of my knowledge and to the best of my ability, I am completely sold out to You and committed to doing Your will”? If you cannot say that with conviction, then I suggest you need revival.
The Urgency of the Matter
As we look out at our world we often wonder, how bad is it going to get? We ask, “Is there anything we can do to bring about a significant change in our society?” Some people emphasize the need for social reform and political involvement. As helpful as that can sometimes be, we need more. We need a drastic change in our culture. The only way we will see such a transformation is if large numbers of people have a radical change of heart. And the only one who can re-make a heart is Jesus Christ! Here’s the good news: He’s doing that!
We are presently seeing growing numbers of young people who, not that long ago, were caught up in the party scene. Some of them were into drugs, alcohol, and sexual immorality; others were just wasting their time, sitting around listening to music, watching movies, and basically entertaining themselves to death. But something is happening. God is moving! Now these young people are gathering together and instead of filling their minds with the perverse ramblings of some dead cultural icon, they’ve got their Bibles out, they’re sharing Scriptures with each other, they’re worshipping the Lord, they’re writing their own music, and they’re praying that God would touch their friends. And, He’s doing it! All of this tells me God is on the move, and I believe that there are greater things to come.
1 J. Edwin Orr. The Flaming Tongue. Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois, 1973, p. 3.
Part three in this series can be found here.
continue reading the views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of Calvary Southampton
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