Keys to Lighting a Revival Fire in Your Heart That Won't Go Out
PAT AND KAREN SCHATZLINE CHARISMA NEWS
The world is not looking for a space heater with which to warm their toes, but rather a bonfire that warms their inner man. We must be God's embers that restart the brushfire of revival. Hebrews 12:28-29 tells us, "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved, let us be gracious, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire."
God has called us to burn for Him! Will you? This will require that our lamps stay trimmed and burning in expectation of His return (see Matt. 25:1-13). It is time to be a spectacle for God. John Wesley once said, "Catch on fire, and others will love to come watch you burn." We are called to be the burning ones! The world is looking for a light that will shine in the darkness. Jesus said, "Neither do men light a candle and put it under a basket, but on a candlestick. And it gives light to all that are in the house" (Matt. 5:15,). We must let our light shine, and we must allow His fire to burn up everything that isn't like Him.
When we meet God at the altar, the fire of God we encounter there is all-consuming. When Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, the Bible says the fire fell and burned up everything—including the dust on the altar (1 Kings 18:38). When God's fire falls on us, it will consume everything, including the areas of our life where dust has accumulated. The Bible speaks of the refiner's fire in Malachi 3:2. This is a fire that is hotter than any other fire. It has the ability to burn away impurities and bring forth uncorrupted gold. The fire of God does the same thing in us. Job said, "But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold" (Job 23:10, NLT). On the altar, God will purify you and prepare you to shine for Him.
If you long to burn for God, you must decide that sin is offensive and that you will march toward holiness. It is time to awaken to the call of God. It is time for us to draw a line in the dust of our lives. The kingdom of God is not about words but a demonstration of His power (1 Cor. 4:20). How long will we waver between two opinions? The shame Jesus suffered on the cross must be met with the hunger of the righteous and the redeemed.
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Many of us in the church have prayed for revival, but we often do not realize that with revival comes Satan's attack. The New Testament church must rise to the occasion and stand firm. Yet with increased wickedness in the land also comes increased grace to stand against it! (See Rom. 5:20). Will history declare, "This was the church's finest hour"? Or will the world only remember what the media and the anti-church culture has said of us—that the church was filled with bloated, egotistical, money-hungry, self-righteous people who professed a faith they failed to demonstrate?
May the latter never be so! May we always be known as those who walked in love, truth, power, and freedom. Jesus told us how we should be remembered: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35, NIV). Let us make it our mission to keep one hand on the cross and the other snatching the lost from the fire so that the church will never slide into oblivion! We must keep marching toward the gates of hell. We must keep pursuing the lost. We must never, ever give up on the least of these. We are called to stand between the living and the dead and break the curses (Num. 16:48). The epitaph of today's church shall never read, "The once-lost-and-now-found forgot to give away the truth that delivered them from darkness, thus their light no longer burns n a dark world."
May the church never have a tombstone, but rather always burn a neon sign that lights up the caverns of darkness, the foggy streets of eternity, the forests of fear, and the oceans of obscurity. His light should shine brightly, declaring, "Jesus Christ is Lord, and He came to seek and to save that which was lost" (see Luke 19:10).
This is the hour in which men must once again crawl off the altar of repentance and burn with a fire that cannot be extinguished. May eternity say of us, "These were the ones who grabbed hold of the altar and held on to that which released them from the weight of their sin and pain! These are the ones who with unabated breath labored in the fields that were white unto harvest."
Let us now make ready, for the battle is beginning and the salute of the righteous must be to welcome the king of kings as we wave good-bye to the opinions of finite man. This is the hour in which our hearts will be judged not by our works but by whether we truly understand that we possess Christ in us, the hope of glory!
Your voice matters now more than ever. Will you speak up? Dare we say to our kids that our nation was destroyed because we who called ourselves believers in Jesus were not willing to pay the price for speaking up? Will they look back and say that we were loud for the wrong reasons and cowered in the harvest season? We must speak up before we miss our moment. Let history declare that we were those who chose holiness over heathenism and purpose over procrastination. This is our now! We must rise up and lead a Holy Spirit revolution.
Adapted from Rebuilding the Altar by Pat and Karen Schatzline, copyright 2017. Published by Charisma House. This book will remind you that Jesus is your altar, and you can experience daily encounters with Him through the Holy Spirit. This will empower you to declare the truth to the lost and fulfill God's purpose for this harvest season. To order your copy, click on this link.
PRAYER POWER for the week beginning Sept. 23, 2018:
This week, thank God that through Christ you can encounter Him on a daily basis and receive power to fulfill His purpose and glean the harvest in this season. Ask Him to connect you with others of like mind so that you can join forces in prayer and action to win the lost. Continue to pray for the nation and its leaders. Pray God's will concerning the Supreme Court and ask for truth to prevail in the proceedings. Pray for those affected by Hurricane Florence, floods and fires, and ask God to show you what you can do to help. Read: Job 23:10, Matthew 25:10, 1 Corinthians 4:20, Hebrews 12:28-29.
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