revival

Revival is coming....a week from Sunday-it starts.
We have been preparing for this time and are working hard to be sure that it is exactly what the FATHER wants it to be. Our only goal is to be sure that HE is pleased with our offering, for if that is true, we WILL reap the reward of His presence with us, His power on us and His reviving of us.
As we have been preparing, we have been praying diligently for the Lord to direct our steps, our hearts and our minds to WHATEVER it would be that would glorify Him and bring Him pleasure. Now, I know this may sound odd...because typically when we think about Revival...we think about ourselves. We think of Revival as a time for God to do something to us....and I guess there is some truth in that. But Scripture teaches that we come to WORSHIP HIM and as a result receive a blessing....not the other way around. And so we have been wrapping our hearts around what HE would want.
In so doing, we have been praying through the times of worship....what that should look like, begging God to show us what songs He wants sung, how and when. The order of worship, the enviornment He wants created. And so we have been having rehearsals. I know that sounds crazy, but we have. This is NOT about pleasing everyone in the room. That will NEVER happen. But if when we are done, the Father is pleased, then we have done all that we were supposed to do.

I was standing in my kitchen talking with a friend this week. I was asked what we were doing on Thursday night. It just popped out...."we are having revival rehearsal". I was looked at like I had lost my mind. Revival rehearsal? What is that? Before I could stop myself, I responded by saying "we are going to practice dying and allowing the Lord to breathe new life into us so that we are revived." A kind of spiritual CPR.
I was trying to be smart....but those words have rung in my head for days now. Maybe we do need to have Revival rehearsal. Maybe it needs to be the habit of our life. To die so that He might live. To die, so that He might breathe new life into us. To die, so that He might revive us.
Next week isn't about pleasing people, getting something from God or even what music is done. It isn't about the speaker, how many show up or who stays away. Next week is about GOD. The reason it is called the REAL THING REVIVED-Revival is because it is time for us to set and focus our hearts on where they were supposed to be in the first place. To come and worship. To bless God. To Honor Him. To be sure He is pleased with our offerings and sacrifices. Isaiah 1 tells of a people that God became wearied with because their offerings and multiplied sacrifices were nothing to Him, they were a burden to Him. Next week is about making sure that our offerings are pleasing in HIS sight and that HE alone is worshipped, honored and asked.....is this what YOU wanted.
In the meantime, maybe we need to have revival rehearsal. Maybe, we do need to practice dying so that He might breathe on us. It is in that moment that we will see the rain. When we have died....and He is raises us to new life. I am still praying for a downpour.....but in the meanwhile, I am having rehearsal....how about you?ALL FOR YOU