The Renewed Heart – Part 1

The Renewed Heart Part 1
Matters of the Heart Series

Renewal, revival, restoration, rededication. What do these terms mean to you? A series of meetings at your local church?

I’m not so sure the “meetings” we have at our churches with a guest preacher for a few days is really a “revival.” They are simply a series of meetings the members begrudgingly attend after the pastor announces a series of special nights such as “Pack the Pew” night, or a pizza night for the youth. We do whatever we have to do to fill the pews for a few nights, then go back to our regular lives afterwards. Fortunately these are not as prevalent as they might have been several years ago, but many churches still have meetings they call “revivals.”

In 1970, we were  privileged to have been a participant in a true revival. It started out in the same typical way as many other meetings, but God took over and shook our traditional, well-heeled, suburban church. Seven hundred plus individuals came to know the Lord that week, in one church, during a seven-day period. The Lord came to my husband the last day of that revival in a dynamic way. He came to know the Lord in a way he’d never experienced before, and he never got over it. We’ve been in full-time ministry every since that revival in 1970. True revival is life changing. (Tweet this!)

What we didn’t know was that revival was sweeping the country. A few months before God had visited Asbury College in Kentucky in a mighty move of His spirit across that campus. The Jesus movement was in full swing.

As the years have gone by, we hear from time to time of pockets of revival and renewal all over the country, taking place in every denomination. In his book, Surprised By The Voice of God, Jack Deere speaks of healing taking place during a revival at the altar call at the church where he pastored. The problem was his denomination didn’t believe in healing. He had a dilemma on his hands.

At the beginning of our ministry, my husband and I were faced with a situation where we had to deal with the demonic. We didn’t believe in all that kind of sensationalism, but here it was … coming at us. We had to change our theology on the spot.

Healings, deliverances, revivals taking place all over the world across all denominational lines. What does it mean when true revival comes to our church or community? (Tweet this!) It’s not always neat and tidy. Sometimes it’s a bit messy, but it is always … well, honestly, I’m having trouble coining a phrase to describe the emotions, the shift of one’s heart which takes place when the Holy Spirit does the work of renewal in a heart.

Job cried out to the Lord after his suffering, “I had heard of thee with the hearing of my ear, but now my eyes seeth thee.” (Job 42:5) Moses encountered a burning bush. Jacob wrestled with an angel. David danced nearly naked into Jerusalem in front of the ark. When the Spirit of the Lord comes, total surrender is the only correct response. (Tweet this!)

Revival, renewal takes place in the hearts of God’s people. My husband says you have to have been “newed” at one point or another in order to be renewed.  Renewal is for God’s people. Somewhere along the way most of us start to lose the joy of our salvation. (Tweet this!) We are disappointed in how God is handling our lives, or in another believer, or in the pastor, the church. Our hearts grow cold and hard. We leave our first love. We need renewal, We need revival.

How do we know when we need renewal? What are the symptoms of a need for renewal? Am I willing to allow the Holy Spirit to have his way in my life? We’ll discuss those questions next week, but for now, meditate on the following:

How long has it been since you experienced revival … if ever?
Have you ever been in a religious service when supernatural happenings made you feel uncomfortable?
What was your reaction?
Is the Holy Spirit under any obligation to only operate within “comfortable” boundaries?

 

I would love to hear stories of renewal in your own life. What experiences have you had with the Holy Spirit that lit a fresh fire in your soul? What was a turning point in your walk with the Lord where you began to follow Him in a deeper way?

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