Search:

HOLY GHOST REVIVAL OR HOLY GHOST GOOSEBUMPS? part 1

Submitted By: Michael & Lori ~CAPTIVES SET FREE

REVIVAL! We all want it and pray for it, but what is it that we really want and pray for? Often at least a month ahead of time we schedule a few nights of meetings, get in a preacher and even get a group in to sing. We pray that GOD will bring in souls to be saved and that we will get on fire for HIM. We’ll sing, “Revive us again, fill each heart with THY love, may each soul be rekindled with fire from above, hallelujah THINE the glory, hallelujah a-men, hallelujah THINE the glory revive us again!” Maybe, while we are feeling good, “the HOLY GHOST” will show up and we’ll all get goose bumped and blessed!
Finally the time comes for revival. We get all dolled and dressed up for the special occasion and put on our best smile in hopes that no one will see the despair, anxiety, hurt, anger, fear and any un-repented sins in our lives. Then after it is all over, we could even get together and have a dinner eat some tator salad and talk about how good the singing made us feel and how the preacher did a good job too. Maybe next year we will see somebody get saved. Soon after a few weeks have passed and revival is a distant memory, we will continue where we were before we scheduled those meetings.
Is this really what revival means? Sounds more like a funeral rather than revival! If this is what revival brings, then who in their right mind would really want to be a part of it? We quickly plan to make revival happen, go through the “feel good” emotions and then we bury it as soon as we can in our distant memory before it becomes a stinking reminder of what once was! If we are not expecting a true reviving of ourselves, then how can we ever have evangelistic meetings or even go out to win the lost to CHRIST or even encourage the ones in CHRIST who have been wounded by the church.
This idea of revival obviously does not work! If it did, then we as the bride would be continually HOLY GHOST filled, completely sold out to JESUS, no compromises to sin, trusting the moving of GOD and obeying HIM as closely as we could. We would see the places of worship filled to overflowing. We would see not only miracles of healing and all the gifts in full operation, but we would also see the greatest miracle of all, people giving their whole lives to JESUS CHRIST as their personal SAVIOUR! Instead, we would rather be pleasing ourselves and try to please the brother and sister while we encourage ourselves to judge them for what’s going on in their lives so we are not looking at what is going on in our own. Then we will certainly talk to others and ask them to pray for brother and sister so and so because of their walk with GOD is not exactly where we think it ought to be! This way, the stones we throw are not really seen as coming from us. We even try to make sure that everyone “feels” ok and that we do not under any circumstances hurt the feelings of those around us! Heaven forbid that someone gets uncomfortable with the WORD of GOD and how HE is moving in our lives! We would hate to see someone get offended enough to stop giving their dollars and possibly move their letter of membership from us! Oh, if we would only accept and realize that HOLY GHOST must be permitted to do THE WORK! Why do we settle for a spark of revival rather than HIS raging fire?
With just a spark, only a little bit of darkness must flee from the presence of the light. With a raging FIRE, all sin is exposed and all darkness flees! Often we would rather just hold on to as much sin as we can and skate on the thin ice of self destruction not even realizing we are on the precipice of complete darkness. Just when HOLY GHOST begins to move, we shut HIM down with our own self righteousness! Just who do we think we are? Who are we to tell JESUS CHRIST, THE KING OF KINGS how HE is to move! Who are we to think we can just shut HIM off because we do not want our sin exposed by HIS FIRE? Just how close do we want to get to HIM? Do we want our sin exposed? Do we really want HIM to bring us into HIS FIRE? Do we really hunger and thirst for HIM? Are we willing to go beyond the cross and into HIS FIRE? The veil has been torn apart. All that keeps us from entering into HIS HOLYNESS is our own pride in sin. Are we willing to surrender everything we think we have, everything we think we will have, everything we are and everything we hope to be to JESUS CHRIST?
JESUS loves us so much. HE wants us so close to HIM. After all, we are HIS Bride. HE longs for us to have a sincere intimate loving relationship with HIM. Our KING is sick of the religious facade we have been displaying to the world. He wants us to become more pure in HIM. He wants to refine us in HIS FIRE! Not according to man’s agenda but only by HIS! He wants us to walk in HIS raging FIRE of intimate fellowship with HIM! To get in there with HIM, we must surrender ALL TO JESUS! Yet, we choose to be enveloped in the masquerade of religion and “feel revived and on fire” just because we got a few HOLY GHOST GOOSEBUMPS! Then the week fades away along with our feel good moment and now where are we? We enter into the same routine Satan wants us bound and gagged to.
To better understand the word revival, I looked it up in the dictionary. According to Encarta World English Dictionary, the word revival is defined as:
1. Renewal of interest: a renewal of interest in something that results in its becoming popular once more
2. New production: a new production of a play or opera that has not been performed recently
3. Process of reviving somebody: the process of bringing somebody back to life, consciousness, or full strength
4. Recovery: the recovering of life, consciousness, or full strength
5. Religion renewed religious interest: a new interest in religion, or the reawakening of such interest
6. Christianity evangelical Christian meeting: a meeting or a series of meetings of evangelical Christians intended to awaken religious fervor in those who attend
7. Law reestablishing of legal validity: the renewal of the validity of a contract or the effect of a judicial decision
Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Article Source: http://www.faithcycleministries.org/Articles

Please Rate this Article

Not yet Rated