I had a long conversation with one of my dearest Pastor friends today. He told me he was praying for my church, praying that we would see revival, and experience the power of God in our midst. I said thanks, and made a feeble attempt of explaining that God’s power was already there, we just needed to open our eyes of faith and see it. However, I could not stop thinking about what my friend said. Revival in my church. Why did my spirit react to that when he said it? Then, while cycling 13 miles in 102-degree heat, it hit me. (No, I was not hallucinating). Revive means to come to life again. Did we die? More importantly, does Jesus Christ ever die? No, He does not. He reigns even now. He will reign forever. Jesus in me never died! Revive also means to “regain strength.” Has Christ ever lost strength? No, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever! So why are my folks struggling with experiencing the power of God? Why isn’t ‘revival’ the answer?
If Christ is in us and has never died, never lost strength, why do we pray for revival? Why should I pray for fleshly Christians to come alive again? Why should I pray for fleshly apathetic Christians to come back to life? For weak fleshly Christians to grow strong? If I pray that, the flesh will continue to exalt itself. I cannot pray for that type of revival. The reason they are apathetic and weak is not because Christ within died or is weak, but because they are ignoring Jesus Christ within. They are allowing things of this world – cares, riches, sorrows, trials, pleasures, habits, whatever…to crowd out Jesus Christ from having any power and presence in their lives. Why should I pray for apathetic and weak Christians to come to life again? They are already alive, already busy, and already self-centered. What I need to pray is for Christians to die! Die to selfish pursuits, die to fleshly pleasures, die to self-reliance and allow Jesus Christ to live! to be Lord! We need to allow Him to live within us, to reign within us! He has not changed, but we have. We have allowed our lives to crowd Him out, to obscure Him from our vision. I want my people to see Him anew!
We do not need a revival. We need a burial! Jesus is alive! He is Lord! We are not allowing Him to reign in our lives! We throw Him a bone now and then (at church), but live our lives apart from His Lordship. We live our lives apart from His LIFE! His Life is peace; our lives are chaos and worry. His Life is strength; our lives are overwhelmed by circumstances. Why? Because we do not see Him!
I stopped praying for revival in my church. I started praying for death in my church, for my people need to die to themselves. They need to see the LIFE that Christ has for them! They need to let Him live by faith!
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A life mentality changing message, indeed we need to die to self, that christ can live. He died the spiritual death that WE can live! Thank you Lord Jesus!
Just as Christ held nothing back at the cross, so we should hold nothing back. Jesus was the prime example of total self-giving…are we called to anything less? Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, there can not be new life. We are called to a martyrdom of ourselves. This is why many of the early Christians longed to die for the cause of Christ. Tertullian wrote that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” While we may never be called to physically die for our faith, we are most certainly called to a death of self. Trust in God…He holds the keys to Death and Hades and He will resurrect you. God Bless.