The Church at large is stuck in her pursuit of the ARRIVAL of REVIVAL! We have misconstrued the essence of revival and miniaturized it to the mere HYPE and HAPPENINGS of our religious engagements. Typical of “Christianese”, they form a doctrine out of a spontaneous move or a personal revelation from God isolating the sacrosanct truth of scripture, and then build a self-focused, pet doctrine camps around such revelation which eventually become obsolete.
We are fond to say, “a great revival is coming or there’s a mighty prophetic army coming etcetera…”! It is interesting to note that the early church spoke less of revival if not at all but rather more on REPENTANCE. Does the Father want to bring about a revival? How much of it does He have in His arsenal until we get it right? Jesus taught His disciples to pray: “THY KINGDOM COME…” not thy REVIVAL COME! It is a matter of urgency in this season to create an outlet for the absolute rule and reign of God’s kingdom government, a process established internally by continuous repentance from dead works, reformation of mentalities and migration from all religious comfort zones and traditions of men. It is the Father’s good pleasure to give us the kingdom, but as long as we still hold on to the carnal ways of mortal man, the kingdom of God will remain a theoretical ideal.
Slightly over a century ago, the greatest revival in recent history happened, popularly known as “The Azusa Street Revival”, which produced a great spiritual awakening …a mighty move of God that birth forth seasoned men and women who’s graces spilled over many decades until the present. However and unfortunately, folks still want another Azusa. This is a major set back in my honest opinion and a slap on God’s spiritual riches.
Majority of the ecclesia today has a myopic understanding and perspective on the patterns of God, we maintain a tendency to always compare what God is doing in the now with what He has done in the past. This my beloved brethren, is where we totally miss out on the vast spiritual refreshing and phenomenal experiences of the Father. While we are waiting for a repetition of what was, we rut in the moment missing out entirely on the moves of God in the earth.
Furthermore, i notice that we tend to measure the weight of the current moves of God with the past and we assume that what He did in the past was much greater than the current. No, not so! Such a mentality is for the spiritually less informed or adolescents in the spirit. They have not come of age to understand the operations of the Father. Every move of God has in itself a unique intent, and that intent is primarily to expose deeper layers and dimensions of the Father for the time in order to progressively bring the saints towards maturity and fullness. When God reveals Himself to His ecclesia, it is an indication that where we have been has outlived it’s purpose and it is time to advance to the next place in His economy. The ultimate intent of God is SONSHIP; the bringing of all sons to Glory (Dominion reign on earth). This process demands a continuous migration that culminates in maturity.
Historically analyzing past revivals one would notice a trend; a vicious, never-ending cycle of revivals that often result in a spiritual declension. We are awake and fired up today and the next day we are asleep, we are filled with the Spirit today and empty tomorrow, we are zealous today for the things of the Spirit and tomorrow we could be likened to a deflated tire… flat! We shuttle between being activated and being deactivated by the lack of sound biblical truth (doctrine), which is intended to mature us in our journey. This is the reason folks prostitute from church to church and are never grounded. Spiritual sons can’t show their father’s house and they operate in a spirit of vagabondism. Spiritual nomadism is on an all time high!
In John 14:30, Jesus said, “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me”.
The global panacea for the current darkness that cast a shadow over the earth today is buried in this scripture. The Prince of this world represents the diverse rankings and influence of satanic conglomerates that overshadows the hearts of men in the earth today. Jesus having walked in full obedience with the Father, boldly declares innocence from these evil forces. When the Believer today fully come to the place of SURRENDER and OBEDIENCE to the will and purpose of the Father then we too would walk in the innocence of the finished works of Christ for therein lies our true identity and authority upon the earth. Simply put, OUR STRENGTH IS IN SURRENDER. This indeed beloved is how sin, sickness, hate, corruption, deceit…and all evil on earth is defeated. When the prince of this world comes, what does he find in us? NOTHING! Are we able to defeat the enemy when we carry his goods? The question we need to ask ourselves is, what is it in me that could attract the prince of the air?
Paul made reference to this statement in Ephesians 2:1-2, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”.
True revival is REPENTANCE from DEAD WORKS on a personal level. YOU ARE THE REVIVAL YOU ARE WAITING FOR! Revival ought to announce and usher in a new and deeper experience with God that will both stretch and strengthen our spiritual momentum. Revival without proper establishment of doctrine breeds revival/church junkies. The end goal of every revival is not revival but the ultimate establishment and activation of the life of the ascended Christ within the Believer.
In Psalms 121 verse 4, the Psalmist captured a dimension of God’s consistent nature and declared, “Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall NEITHER SLUMBER NOR SLEEP”. The sons of God need no reminder of the unwavering and invariable nature of the Father, from age to age and from the begin-less past to the endless future His purposes are as consistent with His nature. Our high calling is to dwell in that permanent realm of His glory and not the repetitious cycle of slumbering/sleeping and waking up which is the pattern of the natural man.
The sons of the kingdom should prioritize seeking to build a dwelling place in them (the shift from VISITATION to HABITATION) for the Lord and disengage from the pursuit of anything less. The Father is seeking a place within man that will serve as a conduit for the expansion and expression of His will and purpose in the earth realm, a place for His permanent rest. I leave with you with the same question the Lord asked His nation: Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? (Isaiah 66:1). Could there not be something more than revival to build that house of the Lord in the earth?
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