As I was going through my day, I began to consider this word that we seem to be speaking of so frequently at its most basic level. Please join me as we take a look at this idea and what that means for how we apply it. Let’s start with its definition as provided by Merriam Webster.

Revival: an act or instance of reviving : the state of being revived

Digging a little deeper, if revival is an act of reviving or the state of being revived

Revive: to return to consciousness or life : become active or flourishing again

It was as I was considering this that the mind of my understanding was BLOWN. Try to follow me here.
Revival is the act of reviving, and to revive is to return something to consciousness or life. So if something needs to be returned to life or consciousness, that would require that thing to be either dead or very near it. OK, pause right there for a second, but keep that idea in mind.

I ask you to take just a few minutes to consider the current state of the church, especially here in the United States. Sadly, there are just a few words that come to my mind when I do so –

• Apathy
• Complacency
• Compromise
• Idolatry
• Division
• Hatred
• Loveless
• Cold
• Lifeless
• Religious

I can simply sum all of that up into one even more sad word, DEAD.

As I have been thinking this, a specific passage of scripture came to mind. It is the vision in which Ezekiel described The Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14.

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’ ”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’ ” Ezekiel 37: 1-14

If we pay attention in reading the passage,  what happens to the dead, dry bones as the result of Ezekiels’s obedience?
THEY WERE REVIVED!!

What does this passage have to do with us and revival in our time? Consider the dry dead bones are the current church. We,  like the bones, need to be revived. We NEED REVIVAL! 
What then do we need to do to usher in this much needed revival?

My friends,  brothers, and sisters, he who has an ear, let him hear. NOW is the day and hour that we who hear the call and understand the times and do as encouraged in II Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

• HUMBLE THEMSELVES
  
  • We must cast off our pride arrogance and self-sufficiency,
    
  • We need to relay on the grace and mercy of our loving Father in heaven.
• PRAY
  
  • We need to acknowledge our weakness and cry out for help from the most High.
• SEEK MY FACE
  • True revival does does not come from seeking His hand, but by  seeking HIS FACE.
    
  • It’s time to devote ourselves to times of worship and prayer and once again truly make Him Lord.
• TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
  
  • Revival is not possible as long as we continue doing what we have been doing on our own.
    
  • We must humbly and genuinely repent for all those issues that I mentioned above in regards to the current state of the church.

If we do these things what does The Father promise?
I will hear from heaven,
I will forgive their sin
I will heal their land.
We can sum up those three statements into one word which we have been talking about – REVIVAL. 

So, back to the beginning and putting it all together.  Revival is to revive or bring something back to life or consciousness. The church is currently in a state unconsciousness and near death.  We are in desperate need of being revived. We NEED revival; we MUST have it.

Will you join with me as we call out to the Lord? Will you join me in humble supplication as we acknowledge our desperate need for Him and His presence.

Revival is NOT optional; it’s the ONLY option!

Gary Tidwell

10.19.2024