True revival

I've heard the word "revival" so many times in the last few years that I feel it's losing its meaning. When I was young, we would attend "revivals," which meant three nights of a guest speaker at one church. Now, don't get me wrong, I loved these services! Mainly because I was able to hang out with my church friends the whole week! But as I got older, I remember looking forward to hearing the preacher and watching the church encounter God in a different kind of way than a typical Sunday morning service.

Yes, those services were GREAT and NEEDED but was that it? Was that Revival? We have somewhat gone down the same path in today's Christian culture. We identify Revival as a BIG service with many believers coming together for worship, the Word, and some great IG posts. We have labeled moving services as "revival" without even understanding what it means to be in a revival. If demons are cast out, healings are done, and tears are flowing, BOOM, we have REVIVAL! But is that right? Is that what Revival is?

I would have to argue that although ALL those things are excellent and even symptoms of Revival, the signs within themselves are not Revival. We must look to scripture to see what "revival" indeed looks like.

You can go to acts chapter 2 and reference a great revival when Peter stood up and preached the gospel and thousands repented of their sins and began to live in obedience to God. In essence, that IS Revival.

A true sign is when the WORD of God is being preached unapologetically with conviction and truth. We don't need a sermon formed from man's opinions, emotion, or cultural ideology; we need the GOSPEL! Not only is the Word PREACHED, but it is honored and obeyed. This is a sign of a genuine move of God. His Word.

Another sign would be the act of authentic repentance. Not an emotional response to a great worship set, but a spiritual response to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. When one would turn from their sin and live like Christ, the unfortunate issue is that the church has watered down the gospel so much that many people don't even hear that sin is wrong anymore.

Some "churches" have become "Christian" clubs that embrace sin and affirm worldliness. If we want to see authentic repentance, we must preach the Truth of the Word of God. If we are going to see true Revival, there must be authentic repentance.

And the last sign, but I believe its the most common character, is that believers live a CHRIST-LIKE life. Imagine that? If Christians started to live like Jesus. When Peter preached his sermon, they didn't just say a prayer at the end; their whole life changed! What good is an incredible 3-day "revival" if everyone leaves the same? Revival happens when the Holy Spirit fills a person, and they begin to live like Jesus. Revival means that something DEAD has now been brought to LIFE. And this is what should take place in our spirits.

Revival is not an event that we can attend or a service we can host, but it is a move of God that we LIVE IN. And I believe that we will see it in our lifetime. I have faith that we will experience a genuine move of the Holy Spirit.