Up at 2:30am / Does America Really Want Revival? - Shane Idleman

Amen ✝️
Thank you for sharing!
Indeed it is so.
Repentance, deep heart wrenching repentance followed by God leading His people in sackcloth and ashes for the world to see our weakness that they might behold His strength 🙏🏻
Are we willing to be broken bread and poured out wine,…filling up the afflictions?
Will we allow Holy Spirit to prepare our vessels for service?
To purify
Will we be humbled that His glory might shine forth ?

1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
12 There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?
13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
16 But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin

Well said.

My wife and I recently completed our readings of Ezra and Nehemiah. I'm always struck by such powerful words within them!

In fact, the first chapter of Nehemiah is a good reminder of the basis for what was a "revival" (well, return from captivity) of God's people:

1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.

Now it happened in the month of Chislev, in the twentieth year, as I was in Susa the citadel, 2 that Hanani, one of my brothers, came with certain men from Judah. And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem.

3 And they said to me, "The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”

4 As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.

5 And I said, "O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 6 let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned.

7 We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, 9 but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ 10 They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand.

11 O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Now I was cupbearer to the king.

Nehemiah 1:1-11 ESV

Revival is generally perceived as a mass phenomenon and I think I agree with it. There is however, a very crucial aspect of revival that you have to live alone with God, which we may described as perseverance in faith, obedience, sanctification_to the end.

Our conversion may have all the bells and whistles, worthy of a memoir or social trending, but it just does not end there. We have to walk through thick and thin as we sojourn our new life in Christ.

Emotions would be drained, energy will be depleted, faith and resolved will be stretched to the point of desperation.

It is like taking a lifetime medication or doing a diet for chronic remittent conditions, what really
matters is how we do them persistently over time and not only while we are on a high emotional charge.

I guess, I am a product of the world charismatic revival back then, long time ago, been through a lot, awakened a lot, and realized a lot, what can I say is " Surely His goodness and lovingkindness have followed me all my life".

PS.

Wayfared christian walk as a 15 year old freshman college student, converted in a campus fellowship. I am now traversing the path of an aging man with its cares. These talks about campus revivals are bringing my memories_ the blessings and the hidden struggles back then as a young believer. But the Lord is good, yeah the Lord is good.

Well spoken passerby. If you were to look at the 7 letters of Revelation you would see a certain kind of "revival” and "awakening” that is necessary for last days trials. . Jesus is telling the churches to wake up in those letters to their true and not self perceived condition.

The Acts 2 picture of the outpouring of the Spirit is indicative of "life”. Anything less than that is still a great and merciful gift of God and should be celebrated and given thanks for in its grace.

A more lasting and pleasing awakening or strengthening what has grown cold involves God not only pouring out but likewise a Spirit empowered desire for God to receive from His people what His Son purchased and that is Christlikeness……….one who is faithful in love, holiness, completed works and endurance of testimony and thereby looks like Jesus life and not just His power.

In the last days, revival and spiritual awakening will result in a church readied, dressed and girded up to be Christlike when the storm has arrived and all is breaking out against His people. A revival of readiness and an awakening to the need of the hour is what Jesus preached in the Gospels and taught the apostles and prophets in their letters written for the churches.