Do Our Actions Say We Want Revival?

The Lord moved me a year or so ago to pray for a spiritual revival, both personally and within our church and community. And, that is what I have done. After a time of praying, God asked me if I knew what was required for a spiritual revival and, at first thought, I wasn't sure.

A devotional I was using led me to Psalms 85 and I began to see and understand some things. The first of these is that God has not moved away from us; He has not created the deadness that requires revival. We have turned away from God and into ourselves, causing a chasm between creation and creator. In my life, I have seen it happen by degrees. My grandmother used to say that once you tell one lie, it becomes easier to tell the next and so on. That is the principal of sin and separation from God.

What, then, is the first step towards revival?

Verse 9 of the 85th Psalm says, "Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him." At first this took me back to the fire and brimstone preachers that tried to scare the hell out of me, but as I thought about it, the fear is different than that of horrible uncertainty. Our "fear" of God is simply an acknowledgement that He is our creator and sustainer of life. We admit that it is He who gives and He who takes away.

The sin that we allow to dull our spiritual self convinces us that we have some power over our well being; some ability of our own to determine our future. Not only does this opinion of our abilities cause God to turn His face from us, but, I think, it gives us a spirit of defeat, a spirit that lacks hope and direction and is in dire need of revival. As we fail, time and time again, what light can we see in our future.

So, the first step to revival is fear of a just and almighty God. We must turn from ourselves and back to God. This return involves repentance and a return to obedience, both applied with more than a pinch of humility! We must return to the Word of God for our direction and guidance. Our revival depends on righteousness and our righteousness is in Jesus Christ.

Psalm 85:13 reads, "Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway." How many times have we read and been taught of Jesus as the way, the truth and the light. No one, we are told, will come to the Father without the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life on earth showed the path that we should follow and His power that is within us will allow us to walk that path.

Revival starts within each of us and will spread to those whom we love. We are called to love not only those who love us, but especially those who don't. Let's us change our lives, our spirituality, and see what God can do with that!