I recently read or heard someone say that the next great revival will be "one of grace instead of condemnation" (sorry, but I can't find the quote right now). There is certainly a move of the Spirit of God upon the earth to remind the church of grace. Just as there were excesses to the faith movement, there have been excesses to the grace movement. This does not, however, mean that God is not bringing about a revival that will highlight His grace. The truth of the matter is that as I have read accounts of the different revivals over the last 400 years, all accounts give testimony to the grace of God at work. The expressions and understandings of that how that grace was being worked may differ from time to time, but it still is at work. And, so, I believe grace will not only be a mark of revival but a modifier that identifies the next revival from others.
Grace is at the heart of any revival. We cannot earn or deserve a revival. The fact of needing a revival is an indication that we need His grace because we have diminished or weakened our stance as individuals and as a church. Thankfully, we can boldly come to the throne of grace and approach Jesus, who understands our weaknesses, and obtain grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16). Our spirits (which are now united with Christ) may be willing, but our flesh can be weak (Matthew 26:41). Grace isn't just a pat on the shoulder saying, "there, there, it will be alright." Grace is the very enablement of God encountering us so that we change.
Grace removes the excuses from our live. If God's grace is truly sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9) and abundant (1 Timothy 1:14), so that with Christ I can do all things (Philippians 4:13), then there are no excuses I can give to God for not moving forward in Him. Hebrews 12:1-2 says: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses (the heroes of the faith in Hebrews 11), let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." This command exists because the grace to accomplish it exists.
I visited with Phil Nadeau yesterday (who has sadly been unable to attend the evening prayer times). He had a vision of sign-posts along the road of life with the word "can't" on them. They were the places where we tell the Lord that we can't follow His leading/direction/instruction/command. Phil then saw the signs change to "won't." The Spirit of Truth was encountering the sign-posts and revealing the heart of man. The truth is that we choose to not obey The Lord because His grace is available to enable us to do it. Don't get me wrong, God also understands process and timing in our development into the fullness of the image of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-16). We are moving from faith to faith (Romans 1:17), strength to strength (Psalm 84:7), and glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18). It's just that we often will not allow God to change any of our signs.
We are fasting because we are desperate for progress. We cannot get stuck in our own flesh. We cannot overcome the flesh with the flesh but only by the Spirit (take the time to read all of Romans 8). We cannot be satisfied with the level of life/glory/Spirit that currently is experienced and expressed in our lives. We must continue to offer up our lives as living sacrifices and be have the world's mould broken as we are conformed to God's image (Romans 12:1-2). We must embrace the cross and be conformed to Jesus' death so that we can shine forth His resurrection power (Philippians 3:10-11). Not thinking that we will ever arrive at perfection while we continue in our current bodies but also that we must live at the level that God has brought each of us to and progress further (Philippians 3:12-16).
Grace meets us where we are. Grace enables us to not remain where we are. Grace calls us all to press on and lay hold of all that Christ Jesus intended when He laid hold of each one of us.
A revival of great grace is coming. It is going to change our world.
Blessings,
Merril
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