Seeds of Revival

In Ezekiel 37, we see a picture of how the Lord wants to renew the lives of all people, including His Church, called by His name, so that they might reflect His glory. We can read:
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.
3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord God, You know."
4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.

Perhaps there are areas in our lives that are dry, unproductive, unfulfilling.  We have to have the help of the Holy Spirit to identify the roots of that spiritual dryness.  Then we can take steps to experience the renewal of the Lord.  If we have unconfessed sin, we can deal with it.  If we find ourselves without strength or joy, we can recognize His capacity to bring those elements into our lives.  If there has been drift in our pursuit of God's best, He is the One who can restore us.

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In Isaiah 57, we can read a verse that points to our Lord's desire to bring people closer to Himself, so
that we might experience an awakening in our hearts:
15 For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Breaking spiritual news: as of late last week, there has been a large tent in place in Greeneville, Tennessee, for over 5 months now.  Night after night, the Word of God has been preached and people are responding to God's call to salvation, according to CBN.com.

Around 700 people were reported to have been saved in this series of meetings.  The article states:

"God just continues to move; each week the crowds continue to build," Evangelist D.R. Harrison said. "People continue to come from all over the country."

He also said people from as far away as India have attended.

"God just continues to draw people; souls continue to be saved, and we're just amazed at what God's doing here in Greeneville, Tennessee," Harrison shared.

Greeneville is located in East Tennessee, between Knoxville and the Tri-Cities.  The meetings were scheduled to take place for a week in a church building, and expanded from there.

Harrison's wife, Laura, is quoted as saying: "People are hungry; people are hungry for something that is real; people are desperate for something that is real," adding, "There's so much hurt and so much tragedy all around us every day."

Harrison actually hasn't been preaching that long - in fact, he's only been saved for a few years.  He was the son of a preacher, but after spending his childhood traveling from place to place, he departed from that lifestyle, and according to GodReports.com, he never had a personal relationship with Christ.

Harrison was the product of another lengthy series of revival meetings in Burlington, North Carolina in 2016.  He owned a video production company in that city and the evangelist, C.T. Townsend brought Harrison some videos to be edited.  Townsend asked for the videos by 5:00 that day and Harrison said that was impossible; but he tried - he did something unusual: he edited the videos himself.  The content was gospel truth and conviction came upon Harrison.  The God Reports article says:

The video content Townsend gave him reenacted what a lost man would experience when he died and had to stand before God at the judgment.

“It was nothing I had never seen before. I’ve heard it 10 million times,” Harrison says. “But for the first time in 12 years, the Holy Spirit started dealing with my heart while editing those videos.”

He came to a point where he, according to the article, "couldn't take it anymore." It states:

...On his smart phone, Harrison began to watch a live stream of the revival service.

The power of the Word and the Spirit overwhelmed him. He got down on his knees and cried out to God: “I can’t save myself… I’m just a poor, lost, hell-bound preacher’s kid, but God, if you’ll save me, I’ll give you my life.”

The story continues:

Three days later, Harrison and his wife went to the Burlington revival. It was still in the church, the third week of the revival. There were 1000 people in the church on that Monday night.

“The Lord told me I would get up and speak that night. I hadn’t talked to C.T.,” he says.

After the choir finished singing, C.T. Townsend got up to speak. Harrison was surprised – but not completely surprised – when Townsend turned to him and announced: “D.R. needs to come up and say something.”

“I began to share what God had done in my heart. The whole time I was up there I looked in the corner at my wife and she was crying, she was bawling, she was weeping.

Harrison prayed silently, Lord, please save my wife tonight.

“By the time I was done, 17 people walked the aisle and got saved. The first one down to the altar was my wife! She got gloriously saved that Monday night. This was three days after I got saved.”

It wasn't long, the next day actually, until D.R. surrendered his life to preach - God opened doors for him to speak, including at the Burlington, North Carolina, tent revival.  And, now from that experience in Burlington, a new work in Greeneville is occurring.

Coverage has been national and local.  The Elizabethton Star proclaims, "Hundreds flocking to Greeneville Awakening to come to Christ.  It opens by saying:

On the heels of the Will Graham Crusade and simultaneous with the Bristol Tent Revival has been a community revival in Chuckey which has now moved to a 1,500-seat tent calling itself the “Greeneville Awakening.”

The Bristol Tent Revival was being conducted by none other than...C.T. Townsend!!  And, it apparently went longer than the planned duration.

It is fascinating to see these sovereign expressions of Almighty God in the midst of people who desire to see Him move.  And, so, we can think about some of the conditions for revival in our land.  I would submit that desire is a key element.  I think of those early disciples, praying and seeking the face of God in the Upper Room following the resurrection of Jesus.  Their prayers resulted in a tangible, overwhelming expression of the presence of God on the day of Pentecost, a day on which 3,000 people were saved.

But, I think there is more to it - I believe repentance is a key element.  We have to possess the desire, but then we allow the Holy Spirit to identify sin areas in our hearts, so that our hearts can be right before God.  We can be filled with His Spirit as we empty ourselves of - self.   As 2nd Chronicles 7:14 says, there are four pre-conditions to spiritual healing: humility, prayer, seek God's face, and turn from their wicked ways.  We are called to pursue that right relationship.

And, I believe we can make revival or spiritual awakening a priority.  We see these times of revival when God's people are gathering night after night, taking time out of their schedules to seek the Lord. While we can maintain awareness of God's presence as we abide with Him daily and go through our routine or activities, we can also make sure that we take the time to put ourselves in a position to encounter the Lord.