In the last few weeks, we have all experienced, some of us from afar, the great move of God happening at places like Asbury University and Lee University. Over the last couple of days, the administration of both schools and others has changed how they hosted the revival. They have said it is for the good of the students, and I am not there, so I cannot comment on whether that is the right thing or the wrong thing to do. I do know that revival can not be contained in one place. As Christians, we can get so caught up in the place where revival is happening, or the personality (not in this case) that God is using, that we miss out on the fact that God is moving, and we miss what He is doing.
Asbury, Lee, and other places where revival is burning should be the spark that causes every Christian to seek after God for the same revival fire to fall in their community and the local church. God has shown me over the last few weeks that He does not need a charismatic personality to bring revival. God doesn’t need the latest worship group or the next hot preacher to bring revival to an area. God doesn’t even need a full house, as all these revivals, like most in history, starting with a small group of people seeking the face of God. If you look throughout history at the great awakenings and the great revivals of the past, they did not start in large churches or with large groups of people, but they started with a small group of hungry believers who had become dissatisfied with the normal.
Revival is not about a place, nor is it about a personality, but it is about the moving of the Holy Ghost on people that are willing to pay the price for true revival. If we are not careful, it is easier for us to spend the money on gas to go where others have paid the spiritual price for revival than to get on our knees and sacrifice for a move of God. We want to live off the sacrifice of others rather than seek after God where we are until God moves. Do not get me wrong, I do not believe there is anything wrong with going and experiencing what God is doing, but the truth is that if God does it there, then God will do it anywhere. Anywhere that His people are willing to seek after Him with their whole hearts, anywhere that people are more concerned with Him than they are themselves, God will move. We cannot be willing to travel all the way to Asbury, Kentucky, for revival when we don’t even go to prayer meeting at our own local church. Stand in line for two hours to get into a place but are unwilling to pray for an hour at the church we serve in. revival comes and is stewarded through a praying church, and if we would humble ourselves and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from heaven, and He will heal our lands (2 Chron.7:14).
I praise God for what He is doing on the campuses of these universities, and I pray He continues to do something great, but I long for God to move into my community. Revival fire is meant to be spread, and I believe God to bring a Revival that will spread around this world so that a harvest like the church has never seen before will come in. I pray that my life, the life of my family, the life of my church, and the life of my community will be changed by the power of the Holy Ghost. For that to happen, the church must pray and seek God. So stop worrying about how they steward the revival and ask God to bring a revival to the house you serve. I believe He will.
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