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When I first started this website, I wrote quite a bit specifically about revival, although I haven’t done it so much lately. In this article I would like to return our thoughts to this important topic.

The first thing that I want to point out, something that we often fail to recognize, is that revival is always focused on God. We can have miracles, tongues, excitement, study, a large show of hands, or any of a large number of other things, but if God is not being exalted, we don’t have revival, because our Christian faith centers around God, not man. The gospel of God brings Him glory. “Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.” (I Peter 2:12)

In Deuteronomy 8, Moses gives us a solemn warning not to forget God:

Beware that thou forget not the LORD thy God, in not keeping his commandments, and his judgments, and his statutes, which I command thee this day: Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied; Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; Who led thee through that great and terrible wilderness, wherein were fiery serpents, and scorpions, and drought, where there was no water; who brought thee forth water out of the rock of flint; Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end; And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. (Deuteronomy 8:11-19)

It’s hard to forget many things—for example, if one gets almost any type of news, he will learn about politics, so it’s easy for us to remember politics and gain a desire to affect the elections. It’s easy to remember our work, and let it consume our lives. It’s easy to remember enjoyable experiences, and want to repeat them. But we have to be warned not to forget God, because our adversary, the devil, is working to keep us from remembering God. The devil wants our lives to be turned toward other passions.

When we sin, it is because we have not remembered God. “The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.” (Psalm 10:4) When our thoughts are not focused on God, we open ourselves to temptation and sin.

It’s in Jesus that we find revival. “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) The life hasn’t come until Jesus is present, no matter how many exciting things are happening. When Jesus is present, revival has come. Revival isn’t something we hold in church sometimes and then wait for during the rest of the year. It’s something we have whenever Jesus is present in our lives. It can happen during special meetings, or it can happen at work or whenever we surrender to Christ and find His power in our lives. “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.” (II Corinthians 4:11) We are called to let self be killed. We must never press for our own way in anything, because it is not our life that brings revival, but the life of God. We must let His life flow through our lives. There is no excuse not to. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4) Baptism is the picture of death to my plans, my wishes, my desires, and resurrection to the glorious life of Christ. Revival is when His life flows through me.

Only when the life of Christ is in my soul am I prepared to help others. Otherwise, I am not ready to bring revival to them. My own life has to be filled with the blessing of Christ. Revival starts with a soul filled with the Spirit of Christ.