A Call to True Revival

Many speak of revival. They post images of revivalists and share their quotations. Expressions such as “wholehearted devotion,” “sitting at the feet of Jesus,” and “abiding in Him” are commonly celebrated on their social media pages—and they are celebrated for posting them.

Yet what do these expressions of intimacy mean to Jesus if we cast His words behind us? What will He think on the last Day if we used His cross, grace, and atonement to defend us from His words? Jesus is the Word. 

I recognize that it is possible to be "religously" devoted to upholding His words while remaining distant from Him. Yet embracing His words is an essential part of devotion.

What does it mean to sit at the feet of Jesus? Does it mean to sing, pray, weep, and adore? That is certainly part of it. Yet if we do not do these things at His feet, then sitting there must require patience. And if patience is continually required merely to remain there, boredom must be the cause. If someone is bored at the feet of Jesus, that person simply does not know Him and has never experienced Him within.

But in Bible days, sitting at the feet of Jesus meant hearing His words with a heart eager to perform them.

Abiding in Jesus has been reduced to a mystical journey that reaches its height during during the opening songs of a church service. That certainly can be part of abiding. For others, abiding means continuing that awareness of His presence at home, at work, and while running errands. Praise God for that—but abiding is much more.

In John 15, Jesus explains that abiding in Him is keeping His words. Keeping His words means both cherishing them as the special revelation of His heart and living them out as faithfully as possible, as One dearly beloved.

True revival begins when we stop using sacred Scripture to defend our unwillingness to follow the Lamb. It begins when the fear of grieving the Holy Spirit exceeds the fear of following His leading. It is uncontested surrender to His holy words.

In that crucible, His life is manifested. Jesus said:

“Whoever has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me. And he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him” (John 14:21).

That is revival.

That is revival with a promise—the true manifestation of God Himself.

The question is not merely whether we weep, sing, pray, or remain conscious of His presence throughout the day. The question is: Do we keep His words?

Do His words make our hearts sing? Do they kill and make us alive? Do they wound and heal? Have they raised us from the dead? Have they caused us to be hated by family, churches, neighbors, and others who dismiss them? Have they ushered us into the manifestation He lovingly promised?

Or have we compromised?

Are we more fascinated with this world than with Christ? Are we enamored with entertainment? Are we living in sin—in an adulterous marriage, watching pornography, fornicating, living selfishly, consumed with our own desires, or spending our lives playing video games or are we perfecting holiness in the fear of God, giving Him all of our time and resources?

We speak of revival, but are we willing to follow the Lamb?

We speak of wholehearted devotion, but do we keep His words?

We speak of sitting at His feet, but are we eager to hear and perform what He says?

We speak of abiding in Him, but do His words abide in us?

True revival is uncontested surrender to Jesus Christ and to His holy words. It is loving what He loves, hating what He hates, keeping what He commands, and following wherever He leads—whatever it costs us.

This is the revival we need.