TIME FOR REVIVAL: Part 1

What is Revival? Revival is an act or instance of reviving, it is a state of being revived. It's also a situation whereby your attention or interest in something is renewed.

It's also a means by which a dead image comes alive again or becomes active after a long time of lock down.

What is Revive: It means to return to life, to cause something lost or someone to recover life or strength. It is also a way of preventing someone from dying.

It can also mean to recover something lost or someone from a state of oblivion, obscurity, neglect or depression.

What is God's Revival : This is a situation whereby God himself revives someone by any means possible with His power according to that individual's problem.

However, God is the Highest physician both in Heaven and on earth. He is the creator of life, medicines, physics and every other aspect of science; So, He is the "Highest physician."

TIME FOR REVIVAL is our topic of discussion and I want to ask: When does one need revival?

When you're down, stagnant, running in circles, confused with your identity, betrayed by a dear someone, depressed, sick with a chronic disease, financially drained or bankrupt etc.

When you find yourself in situations like these I've mentioned, it means you need REVIVAL. Until revival happens to someone in these situations I mentioned or even in more critical situations, it means that person or group of people can be restored.

Restoration comes after revival .

Nonetheless, revival isn't only needed for individual's only– Nations and a group of people or associations can also need it. A nation or a group, going through war and hardship will need revival in order to be restored back, without revival they'll all die out or go into extinction. Without revival, feeble knees won't rise again.

Without revival, the rich who suddenly becomes poor will never be rich again.

The time for revival is needed when a healthy child suddenly falls ill. It is also needed when a progressing rich nation suddenly becomes poor because of war.

The time for revival is needed when something good suddenly becomes bad leaving the affected one highly devasted and depressed.

The time for revival is needed when a believer begins to doubt His faith in God as he constantly murmurs and complain at every slight frustration.

When something sweet becomes bitter it means revival is needed for restoration.

Revival brings restoration and restoration happens when something is lost. It could be your dignity, integrity, hope, wealth, health, family, friends etc.

If you have lost something that matters so much to you, be rest assured that it is possible to get it back; but that can only happen through REVIVAL from GOD.

God is the only being who is capable of reviving someone going through the situations that I mentioned earlier and even more critical situations. And until you are revived physically or mentally by God, what you lost cannot be restored.

Now, the questions is: Why do we lose things we already have?

The Answer is SIN.

Again, why do we need revival to get back what we lost?

The Answer is– There are spiritual mandate on every believer, we all have a purpose to fulfill, and there are principles guiding every man's purpose. When you go against this principles guiding your purpose, you have sinned; and sin is the only loop hole the devil needs from you in order to step into your life, family, career, education, nation etc, to wreck havoc. So, that's why you need revival to get back what you've lost and also ensure you don't break those principles again that might result to another loss.

STEPS TO TAKE IN ORDER TO GET YOUR GOD'S GIVEN REVIVAL:

1)REALIZATION– When you realized you've sinned against God and man, and confess your sins to God, you get your revival. Confession brings repentance. You need to come to a place where you realize that your actions or your breaking the principles guiding your purpose has brought you down to where you are. Your repentance needs to be genuine for you to get your actual revival.

We need to understand that our actions, our words, our thoughts can harm or affect other people negatively and you'll be held responsible for that.

Above all, you need to feel sorry for your actions and confess them to the right source which is God Almighty in order to get revived and restored.

2) RESTITUTION– This is another step to getting your revival. If you've taken anything from anybody, you have to restore it back to them. You have to compensate those you have trespassed or sinned against for any reason.

3) LIVE RIGHT– You have to start living righteously. No more sin, no more wickedness. You can't continue in sin that Grace may abound – Live right; Rom 6:1-2.

Meanwhile, let's talk about Samson and his revival from GOD.

Samson sinned by opening up a secret of his strength to a stranger, which God ask him to keep to himself but he practically disobeyed God's instructions by revealing it to a woman called Delilah. As a result of that, he lost his power to the Philistines who plucked out his eyes and manhandled him.

Samson's strength was attached to his purpose or mandate on earth which is why he was suppose to guide the secret of his purpose dearly but he foolishly divulge His God's given secret to a stranger who also happens to be an enemy and Boom! he lost his hair, his strength and as well his purpose.

But, one day he realized his mistake and ask God for mercy as he also asked for a revival. Samson ask God to revive him so he can destroy the Philistines once and for all. Remember, Samson's purpose was to destroy the Philistines. He was Suppose to fight and destroy the armies of the Philistines and protect the Israelites from them.

But did Samson fulfill his purpose? Yes, at first, he was fulfilling his purpose until Delilah and the Philistines took away his strength and that was bye bye to Samson's purpose or mandate. His strength was given to him by God to enable him fulfill his purpose. So, when he realized that his mistakes has cost him his purpose of being the protector of the Israelites he repented as he prayed for revival.

God heard him as He answered with mercy and restored his strength even with his hair not fully grown. That restoration gave him the come back he needs to defeat the Philistines once and for all.

Read: Judges 13, 14, 15 and 16 for the full story.

Watch out for: TIME FOR REVIVAL part 2

God bless you all... Peace!