Revival is something I am excited about, and that I most definitely want to see in my life time, if not in the next few years. The question I would ask then, is whether or not revival, as we have seen in the west over the past few years, is a true reflection of kingdom living, or whether in fact, such outpourings have never reached their full potential, due to the churches tendency to “centralize” moves of God, rather than following the decentralized model of revival that Jesus taught, and that we read about in the book of Acts. Since “revival” is not a word we come across in the bible, it is the name we have given to phenomena that is primarily based on human experience – and a pattern that has repeated itself over time. Thus, definitions tend to be along the following lines; that it is a “period of unusual blessing” where “God works deeper than ordinarily in the hearts of men” during a “seas on of refreshing.” Personally, I am not convinced that such outpourings of the spirit were ever meant to be deemed unusual, or around for only a season. My guess would be that revivals that we have seen across the west that have come to an end have done for several reasons: they have not been stewarded properly, and the level of hunger that attracted the power of God in the first place has not been sustained, or, as in recent cases, the move of God became focused on one individual leading “meetings”, rather than the body of Christ as a whole.. None of this has anything to do with God intending his salvation, fire, blessing and signs and wonders to be manifest for a “season”.
The words “revival/awakening” cannot exist if not in the context of their opposites – for something to be “revived” or “awoken”, it has to first be dead or asleep. According to Charles Finney, “revival is the return of the church from backsliding”. The implication is that, if the church is not moving forward and expanding, it is moving backwards. There is no middle ground. This being the case, if revival is deemed “unusual”, we have a problem, since, from what I can gather, the church is meant to be in a constant state of “revival”.
Perhaps then, the whole paradigm in which the concept “revival” exists is throwing us off course, leading to complacency and limitations, rather than cultivating a constant hunger for his presence and a desire and expectation to see his kingdom come every day. There is something wrong with the mindset that says; “when revival happens, THAT’S when i’ll see heaps of people saved” , or “when revival happens, that’s when ill see all the miracles”. That’s really not what Jesus ever said, or implied. Such a mindset limits our ability to be a constant vessel for God, because we’re not expecting him to move until “revival time!!”
In a lot of ways, that’s what it comes down to: expectancy.
When I go to a healing conference, I expect to see healing, I expect to encounter God on a totally new level, and I expect to leave with a bunch of cool testimonies and a new experience of God’s power, and most of the time, this is what happens. Expectation fuels hunger, and when we are hungry, we stand in agreement with the kingdom, this alignment creates a channel for heaven to become manifest on earth. I don’t see the same level of power on a day to day basis as I do in those conferences, not because God cant be bothered, or because he is in a different mood, but because I’m not expectant. I’m not hungry. Somewhere down the line we’ve got confused. Its not that we don’t pray for healing when we’re not at a conference, its perhaps more that our faith levels are far lower.
This got me thinking about revival and evangelism, and how we often associate God’s power with “events”, miracles at “events”, salvation at “events”. This has happened lots, and that’s great, however, it creates a model for centralized revival, revolving around one person leading a meeting, and whilst some have lasted longer than others, most of them have drawn to a close. Yes, Gods power does move in ebbs and flows, even so, when kingdom outpouring stops short at a meeting, it is not fulfilling it’s purpose. Did Jesus model this? Did Jesus tell us to expect things to work this way? I don’t think he did.
For a start, Jesus brought revival to every situation he encountered, it was not confined to a season. He modelled a life that sustained an awareness of God’s presence, a communion with him that it just leaked out wherever he went. Secondy, he gave us a framework for how encounters with him should lead us to the lost: (luke 10: prayer, people, preach, power, person of peace, plant, persecution, which inevitably leads us back to prayer)
Acts then clearly demonstrates this pattern, a pattern that suggests that an outpouring of the spirit in such a way always seems to be the response to hunger in the people. The day of Pentacost came after the disciples had been in the upper room praying for ten days. Significant outpourings across the world are usually God’s response to hungry people, rather than sporadic. However, imagine if the disciples had then thought “wow, the holy spirit is amazing! Let’s gather everyone we can possibly fit into this room so we can carry on! This is where the presence of God is!” No. They do what Jesus told them, and totally drunk in the spirit, they spread the good news like wildfire with boldness. Thousands come to faith and the good news spreads well beyond Jerusalem.
I guess what ive been asking myself, in relation to all this stuff, is when im praying for revival, what is it im actually asking God for? I guess it needs to start with a revelation of him, so that I can bring revival to every situation I encounter.
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jesus. Show all posts
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
Monday, 18 May 2009
power of agreement . . .
I’ve been challenged in the past year or so about my words and the power of agreement. Proverbs 18:21 says ‘The tongue has the power of life and death’. Scary but exciting truth. I wonder, if it were possible to count up all the conversations I’ve had and set them against each other in categories where I’ve spoken either ‘life’ or ‘death’ (about both myself and other people), which one would outweigh the other? Perhaps that’s not something to be pondered too much, but it challenges me.
It is important to talk about the stuff we are struggling with and acknowledge that it’s there, but this has to be accompanied by declaration of God’s truth. All too many times I’ve chatted with friends about how rubbish I feel about myself, which in turn has reminded them of their own insecurities, and before we know it I’ve succeeded in dragging them into my pity party. For some bizarre reason, wallowing in woes feels quite good - I’m not going to lie, its comfortable to indulge in a bit of self pity, it’s nice to feel justified in our struggles and squeeze sympathy out of people, but there comes a point where we have to make a choice about whether or not we’re going to stay there.
If our words contain the power of life and death, in conversations we’re essentially embracing one or the other. I find this really exciting because in speaking life we both counter the agenda of the enemy and agree with an awesome and powerful God all in one swift move. When we notice the potential others have and tell them what we see in them, we agree with God who made them in his image, and when we agree with him, earth is in agreement with heaven, and when heaven and earth come into alignment, the kingdom gets released, because people are walking in their true identity – sons and daughters of God, rather than in a lie.
Spot the lie, and counteract it with the power of life in the tongue.
It is important to talk about the stuff we are struggling with and acknowledge that it’s there, but this has to be accompanied by declaration of God’s truth. All too many times I’ve chatted with friends about how rubbish I feel about myself, which in turn has reminded them of their own insecurities, and before we know it I’ve succeeded in dragging them into my pity party. For some bizarre reason, wallowing in woes feels quite good - I’m not going to lie, its comfortable to indulge in a bit of self pity, it’s nice to feel justified in our struggles and squeeze sympathy out of people, but there comes a point where we have to make a choice about whether or not we’re going to stay there.
If our words contain the power of life and death, in conversations we’re essentially embracing one or the other. I find this really exciting because in speaking life we both counter the agenda of the enemy and agree with an awesome and powerful God all in one swift move. When we notice the potential others have and tell them what we see in them, we agree with God who made them in his image, and when we agree with him, earth is in agreement with heaven, and when heaven and earth come into alignment, the kingdom gets released, because people are walking in their true identity – sons and daughters of God, rather than in a lie.
Spot the lie, and counteract it with the power of life in the tongue.
single
‘You always fall for the ‘alpha males’, but you’re just going to end up orbiting around them and they won’t even notice’. Great, so what, this is my destiny? To be ever more orbiting, invisible around attractive holy men who will fail to acknowledge my existence? And what is an ‘alpha male’ anyway. My friend’s response to my feelings towards the latest guy on my radar didn’t go down too well. Fair play, sometimes one needs to hear the truth, but it didn’t feel good.
I’ve been single all my life minus a fleeting few months in my nineteenth year and besides this anomaly, my ‘love life’ has consisted of multiple rejections, so my friend’s words were gutting but familiar in equal measure. Whilst I readily accept my current status as single, and need to acknowledge it and move on when someone appears uninterested (however difficult that may be) there is definitely a place for refusing to define my future based on my past, because if my past is the lens through which I view every new situation, 1) I’m not trusting God and 2) I’m being hopeless not hopeful.
Where therefore, is the line between maintaining this desire and hope for a relationship in the future whilst being content in current circumstances? Being a person of extremes I’ve found the balance hard to strike; either I’m proclaiming my feelings to the world or if no one’s on the scene I completely squash and deny my desire for a relationship, pretending I don’t even care. Neither of these mindsets are helpful.
I’ve been advised multiple times by a variety of different people that wearing my heart on my sleeve (or facebook status, I haven’t done this but some people do . . .) is not cool. When you think/talk about something (or someone) over and over it essentially acquires more authority in your mind, and that, (it was pointed out to me) is meditation. Great for God’s word, but when you realize you've been meditating on men....oh dear. On the flip side, denying a desire doesn’t make it go away, it simply pushes it down and gives it space in which to brew bitterness. . . There is a middle ground, somewhere.
Whilst I do not have the ultimate answers to the turmoil of the single life, what I know for a fact is that we are robbed of what has massive potential to be an extremely fruitful time in our lives if we continually repress or obsess, focus on an absence and don’t trust. It must be frustrating for God, who has put the resources of heaven at our finger tips, to see his kids agonizing over something he has in his hands already. ‘Chill out, it will be fine, just look at what’s in front of you!’
Easier said than done, but if we want life, and life to the full, it’s about taking hold of what we have now and running with it, rather than sitting around waiting for something better to come along. As soon as we have the ‘once this is sorted, then my life will begin’ mentality, it only takes us to find the next thing we don’t have for dissatisfaction to take hold yet again.
The question I’ve started to ask myself is ‘what has God given me NOW (and there is a very long list, he’s pretty generous you see), and how am I using it?’ This is where FAITH grows, it squashes discouragement.
I’ve been single all my life minus a fleeting few months in my nineteenth year and besides this anomaly, my ‘love life’ has consisted of multiple rejections, so my friend’s words were gutting but familiar in equal measure. Whilst I readily accept my current status as single, and need to acknowledge it and move on when someone appears uninterested (however difficult that may be) there is definitely a place for refusing to define my future based on my past, because if my past is the lens through which I view every new situation, 1) I’m not trusting God and 2) I’m being hopeless not hopeful.
Where therefore, is the line between maintaining this desire and hope for a relationship in the future whilst being content in current circumstances? Being a person of extremes I’ve found the balance hard to strike; either I’m proclaiming my feelings to the world or if no one’s on the scene I completely squash and deny my desire for a relationship, pretending I don’t even care. Neither of these mindsets are helpful.
I’ve been advised multiple times by a variety of different people that wearing my heart on my sleeve (or facebook status, I haven’t done this but some people do . . .) is not cool. When you think/talk about something (or someone) over and over it essentially acquires more authority in your mind, and that, (it was pointed out to me) is meditation. Great for God’s word, but when you realize you've been meditating on men....oh dear. On the flip side, denying a desire doesn’t make it go away, it simply pushes it down and gives it space in which to brew bitterness. . . There is a middle ground, somewhere.
Whilst I do not have the ultimate answers to the turmoil of the single life, what I know for a fact is that we are robbed of what has massive potential to be an extremely fruitful time in our lives if we continually repress or obsess, focus on an absence and don’t trust. It must be frustrating for God, who has put the resources of heaven at our finger tips, to see his kids agonizing over something he has in his hands already. ‘Chill out, it will be fine, just look at what’s in front of you!’
Easier said than done, but if we want life, and life to the full, it’s about taking hold of what we have now and running with it, rather than sitting around waiting for something better to come along. As soon as we have the ‘once this is sorted, then my life will begin’ mentality, it only takes us to find the next thing we don’t have for dissatisfaction to take hold yet again.
The question I’ve started to ask myself is ‘what has God given me NOW (and there is a very long list, he’s pretty generous you see), and how am I using it?’ This is where FAITH grows, it squashes discouragement.
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