(1) Don’t get hung up on the blessing, but the Blesser. Let’s not seek the GIFTS BUT THE GIVER. Don’t seek an “experience” but CHRIST HIMSELF. Once it was the blessing, Now it is the Lord; Once it was the feeling, Now it is His Word. Once His gifts I wanted, Now the Giver own; Once I sought for healing, Now Himself alone.
(2) God has greater blessings in store. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” God is merely getting us ready for greater displays of his glory.
(3) The key is “Praise to the Lord.” In every case where our people have entered into this attitude of the Lordship of Christ, their immediate reaction has been “praise” and “thanksgiving”. Their prayer life undergoes a revolution–it is mostly praising God for His goodness.
(4) Don’t talk about the church. Talk about Jesus. It isn’t our church or the denominational program that’s bringing this about, it is God. When people ask you about it, don’t tell them how great our church is. Tell them what Christ has done in your life. The only thing the Holy Spirit is interested in is GLORIFYING JESUS.
(5) Don’t try to help the revival along–don’t try to force it or make it happen. Just get out of the way and let God do what He pleases.
(6) Let the revival overflow the banks of your life and spill over on others. Nothing kills this kind of revival quicker than the attitude that God is blessing us just to be blessing us. That’s the big mistake Israel made. Every day make yourself available to God and He will use you to witness to others of Christ. You’ll find you won’t have to go looking for people to witness to. Just make yourself available, then go about your daily routine and watch what God does.
(7) Expect the Devil to work. He will prey especially upon weaker Christians. Thank God that the devil is working. This means that he fears what God is doing. An army never attacks a defeated fort. A thief never robs an empty bank.
(8) Expect criticism and misunderstanding. Many Christians will feel like a “stranger at a family reunion” when you tell them that Jesus is real and Lord in your life. Because some will resist any spiritual upheaval in their lives, they may be critical of what God is doing. We are certain to be misunderstood, and much of it will come from church members. But every such incident is an opportunity to show that Christ really is Lord of our lives.
(9) Just because this is happening to others doesn’t mean it will automatically happen to you. You don’t experience revival by osmosis. Unless you are willing to come to grips with your own sin and the Lordship of Christ in your own life, the revival will pass you by.
Revival is happening. I want to be a part of it, don’t you?
©2002 Ron Dunn. Used by permission of LifeStyle Ministries. This article is copyrighted and is for your individual use. Reproduction for any other purpose is governed by copyright laws and is strictly prohibited. This material originally appeared in the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church newsletter.