Having an ongoing revival in my life.
The first step is to ask, “What is a revival?”
The three aspects of a revival are seen in Isaiah 6::2-7
First Isaiah saw the Lord’s glory: “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings….they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.”
Second, in the overwhelming presence of God’s glory Isaiah became very aware of his sinfulness. “’Woe to me!’ I cried. ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.’”
Third, God communicated how fully Isaiah’s sin was forgiven and how he was accepted by God. “Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ’See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’” Isaiah 6:2-7
Revival, I believe it is a quickening of spiritual life and passion that flows from these three ongoing, ever deepening revelations: God’s holiness, our sinfulness and His forgiveness. The Apostle Paul, experienced this continued growth in his understanding of his sinfulness in the light of God’s holiness. In Paul’s earlier writings he called himself “the least of the Apostles.” (1 Cor. 15:9) Near the end of his life he called himself “the chief of sinners.” (1 Tim 1:15) This continual deepening is what should be happening in our lives.
In the next entry we’ll look at how to nurture such growth.
