This year's Fast for Breakthrough is almost completed. Tomorrow is the last day. We break-fast on Sunday. With that in mind, I have to ask the question, "So what?" So, what has this fast meant for you? So, what has fasting accomplished at the Freedom Centre? So, what will the day after look like? So, what was this supposed to all be about?
Don't get me wrong … these are not the questions of a skeptic or pessimist. These are the questions of someone who plans to press on. I did not respond to God's call to fast for ten days so that I could put a notch in my spiritual gun belt and feel good about myself. This fast is not about marking the beginning of the year; its about launching into the year. The momentum we have gained through fasting together is to continue on and hopefully also increase.
I fully believe that we have had breakthrough. We have not arrived at revival, yet … but we certainly have moved forward in our journey with God towards revival. I'm sure we all have mental pictures of what revival will look like. I'm also pretty sure that these images are not exactly what it will look like. However, in nine days of fasting and praying, I have seen shifts in the hearts of people at the Freedom Centre. I have seen the fire of revival birthed/rekindled/enlivened in people and, with it, they are becoming revivalists.
Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry defines a revivalist as "a believer who is focussed and passionate, willing to pay any price to live in purity and power because they are loved by God and love Him, whose manifest presence transforms lives and cultures." They link this to the culture of their school specifically in lining up with their core values. To live the life of a revivalist is to embrace the vision and values that constrains your life with the purpose of a revival that will being glory to God at the heart of it.
It comes down to character. Character is the infrastructure through which God's power and glory are supposed to flow. That's how it worked for Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 points this out: "who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high." The word "character" actually appears here but you may not see it. Where the verse says "express image," it is the Greek word "χαρακτήρ" (character). It is when we are conformed to His image that glory and power will not adversely effect us. And, conversely, a genuine revival brings His character and nature in to sharp focus for all to see.
Dr. Henry Fish, in his "Handbook of Revivals" (1874), wrote that "… we would naturally receive a powerful work of grace, namely, that just then we should have the best fruits; less of men's work, and more of God's; less of calculation, and more of conviction; less of head-work, and more of heart-work; less of theoretical persuasion, and more of direct, practical, moral earnestness; and so developing a purer, more vigorous, and more highly vitalized Christian character than in times where there is less of 'the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.'"
God is calling us into maturity. It is the mature children that inherit the Kingdom (Galatians 4:1-2). The mature children have had the Father's character stamped upon them. It is because of this character that the Father can trust His child to use His resources in line with His heart. The fires of revival are burning. They are burning His image into our flesh … the flesh of revivalists. This will mean lifestyle change, but it is a welcome one.
Pressing on,
Merril
No comments:
Post a Comment