Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:19-20
This is the purpose for your living; establishing the goals of the God, the Father and preparing to achieve them – Goals and achieving them.
The purpose of God is to bring us together in His word. Losing focus loses your dream and achieves you nothing. Focusing on the Word of God is priority and making it to happen is the best thing.
Achieving your dream is a Purpose!
Letting it to come to pass is your Mission!
The purpose of your dream is to achieve it.
The LORD is great in all things. Establish your faith in Him!
Coming to God in time of crisis is the least of your problem, but to come to God when you have nothing to worry about is a challenge!
Establishing one’s faith in the LORD!
Knowing that all is well is a big setback to those who have no problems or issues.
Revival
We talk about revival all the time, but what do we mean by the word “Revival”?
Revival comes with a change in many things. Revival comes with a change!
Revival should bring change to the atmosphere. It should bring repentance and deliverance. Revival should come with a Word, so what is your word for revival?
What is Revival?
Revival means:
- Bringing again into activity and prominence
- An instance of returning to life or consciousness; restoration of vigour or vitality
- A renewed use, acceptance of, or interest in (past customs, styles, etc)
- (Ecclesiastical Terms) a reawakening of faith or renewal of commitment to religion
Similar words: reawakening, restoration, renaissance, renewal, awakening, resurrection, refreshment, quickening, rebirth, resuscitation, revitalisation
Revival is about bringing back or awakening the FAITH in God’s people. That means they once-upon-a-time had faith in the Lord, but now this faith has faded away or disappeared. To awaken this faith, a word has to go out there and reach out to this dead or faded faith.
Establishing your faith is the 1st key to REVIVAL!
What happened to the faith that we once had?
When we talk about revival, we often mean restoring someone to their old self, but what does it really mean? Bringing someone back to their old self means that you are bringing them from somewhere (their present self). This is the position that the person is at the moment away from the cross. It is the distance between him and God, and it is Jesus Christ who bridges this gap in bringing the lost to God.
Revival talks about a change to an environment, so what are you doing as an individual or as a church or a ministry to create this change in environment?
In-order to create a revival, you need a word from God. What is your message for change because every message comes with a change? What is your message for revival? If this message comes from God, then it must accomplish its goal – change must happen!
It is alright for us to shout about revival, but what is our message for revival? You must go to the Lord’s Table every day for daily bread for the present day; a fresh word from the Lord for the generation. In order to achieve this, you need your VISION, which constitute your message.
What is your vision? What has the Lord entrusted you with?
We write or probably design vision statements that we do not live by. We hardly visit our vision and mission statements to see who we are and where we are regarding our goals.
A “vision statement” talks about the WHAT an organisation intends to become, and a “mission statement” talk about HOW to bring this vision into reality.
Mission
After having a vision, you must have thoughts of how God wants you to bring this vision into reality. There must be a pattern that you must follow to bring this vision (idea) into reality.
What is the vision of the Lord?
Do you share in the Lord’s vision?
And how are you going to help in bringing his vision to pass?
Focus
Your vision should be free from obscurity and must be easy to understand – Transparency; precision.
- How can you keep focus on your goals, when you have to contend with everyday life – Distractions?
- How do you establish focus with everything else going on around you?
A revival is not a day or 3 days task, but a long term task, as you are to see it come to pass. As Christians, what is our revival message? Every revival must meet this goal of bringing people to the Kingdom of God.
Where are these people now? There are scattered around the Cross of Calvary at different points in reference to the cross looking onto the sacrificial lamb, Jesus Christ. How do you bring them to the cross at a point where the Lord will recognise them just as He did with Mary, His mother and the disciple He loved?
25 Standing close to Jesus’ cross were his mother, his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 Jesus saw his mother and the disciple he loved standing there; so he said to his mother, “He is your son.”
27 Then he said to the disciple, “She is your mother.” From that time the disciple took her to live in his home. – John 19: 25-27
Bringing them from the point where there are to the cross is what we call The Revival. You sanctify and bring them to the Lord for restoration.
The Cross of REVIVAL…
The cross is an intersection of two lines (+), where you find yourself difficult to associate with the things of the world and the things of God. It is on this cross that you will differentiate between yourself and God. It is on this same cross that Christ died for your sins and it will be on the same cross that you will dissociate yourself from the things of this world that is binding you to the enemy at large. It is on this intersection that Christ gave up his spirit to God and let the flesh died to its amazement. And it’s upon this cross that his liberation came.
In the Bible, when Jesus was being crucified on this cross, His followers watched his pain from a distance. This distance is what we call as a resurrection factor. How close are you to the cross to bring you resurrection? The cross is at the centre of the earth, being seen by everyone, but how close are you to the cross for resurrection? These are the people scattered around the cross of salvation. You will find every individual away from the cross, but at a distance. This distance tells you who they are and why they are that far from the cross. And this is the question you should be asking yourself as a Christian, why you are that far away from the cross.
What is keeping you away from the cross?
REVIVAL IS NEEDED BUT IT MUST BE PREACHED IN THE RIGHT CONTEXT!
Revival brings the followers to God through His son, Jesus Christ and the Cross of Calvary.
The women…
49 All those who knew Jesus personally, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance to watch. – Luke 23:49
40 Some women were there, looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph, and Salome. 41 They had followed Jesus while he was in Galilee and had helped him. Many other women who had come to Jerusalem with him were there also. – Mark 15:40-41
Looking at Peter…
54 Peter followed from a distance and went into the courtyard of the High Priest’s house. There he sat down with the guards, keeping himself warm by the fire. – Mark 14:54
66 Peter was still down in the courtyard when one of the High Priest’s servant women came by. 67 When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked straight at him and said, “You, too, were with Jesus of Nazareth.”
68 But he denied it. “I don’t know … I don’t understand what you are talking about,” he answered, and went out into the passageway. Just then a rooster crowed.
69 The servant woman saw him there and began to repeat to the bystanders, “He is one of them!” 70 But Peter denied it again.
A little while later the bystanders accused Peter again, “You can’t deny that you are one of them, because you, too, are from Galilee.”
71 Then Peter said, “I swear that I am telling the truth! May God punish me if I am not! I do not know the man you are talking about!”
72 Just then a rooster crowed a second time, and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows two times, you will say three times that you do not know me.” And he broke down and cried. – Mark 14:66-72
The disciples…
55 Then Jesus spoke to the crowd, “Did you have to come with swords and clubs to capture me, as though I were an outlaw? Every day I sat down and taught in the Temple, and you did not arrest me.
56 But all this has happened in order to make come true what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.” Then all the disciples left him and ran away. – Matthew 26:56
According to Matthew 26:56, all the disciples fled when Jesus was arrested.
So who was at the cross…
The gospel of Matthew talks about witnesses at the cross, and these includes:
- Roman soldiers
- Two thieves crucified with him
- Mary, the mother of Jesus
- The beloved disciple
- Jewish officials
- Passers-by who mocked him
So do not just shout REVIVAL if you do not mean it, because it is an insult to the Lord!
Prepare your given word!
Show it to the world and let them make a choice of who they want to follow!
Revival – The awakening of souls!
Measuring Your Progress
How do you measure the impact of your mission statement?
- By measuring the clarity of your mission statement and the extent to which it has been implanted into your church’s culture and DNA.
- The church’s vision, mission, values and beliefs must have the same meaning to all members.
- By measuring how well you impact others, and how well they in turn impact others.
JUST ASK YOURSELF…
- Is my church leading me where I want to go?
- What is my church’s vision statement?
- What is my church’s mission statement?
- Do I share in the church’s vision?
- What I am doing to bring this vision to pass?
- Personally, how will you know that you have arrived at a place, if you do not know where you are headed?
Revival cannot come without a word!
Create an atmosphere for REVIVAL!
Prayer…
May the Good Lord bless you as you share in His vision?
May He give you the wisdom and the knowledge into bringing His lost sons to the cross? This is His will and may His will come to pass in Jesus’ name. Amen
Written by
Eunice Forson
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Wonderful word! My revival from today will certainly have a word and purpose. Am very uplifted 🙏🏽
Keep on keeping on Eunice, may God grant you more wisdom to enlighten us🙏🏽
Wow.! I was blessed by the word shared by Eunice. More grease and more insight. God bless you