Short bio/intro: Jessica and I met freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lived in a room right across the hall from me. We became fast friends and I got to be there as she fell oh-so-in-love with Jesus during those four years (it was quite the adventure actually, and I'll have to have her share her testimony someday). She now lives and works in the Phoenix area, releasing the Kingdom wherever she goes. This woman is marked for revival.
Marked for Revival: A Call for A Generation of Burning Ones
Hello readers of Diary of a Revivalist! My name is Jessica from Toujours C’est La Vie. Over at my blog, I focus on crafts, fashion, photography, and books, but don’t be fooled… I am at heart a revivalist. Recently, I had the great privilege to travel to Chicago and attend the Jesus Culture Awakening Conference. My heart has been so full and my fingers have been itching for days with a desire to put into words what I feel that God has put on my heart.
One of the main tenants of the conference was honoring our spiritual mothers and fathers, as they have worked tirelessly so that we may now stand on their shoulders and reach new levels… that their ceilings would be our floors. Reinhard Bonnke, Sean Smith, Cindy Jacobs, and Bill Johnson joined us to share their experiences and hearts for a generation. What an honor to hear what they had to say about how God worked in their lives, particularly through signs and wonders! The speaker that I enjoyed the most, however, was Banning Liebscher who spoke on the first night about the cost of being a follower of Jesus. It’s a message that many of us have probably heard before… that when we decide to follow Jesus, we have to be all in, regardless of what He asks us to give up. It really kicked me in the butt and made me think about all the little parts of myself that I tend to squirrel away from God. He also talked about the often-heard Scripture that “Many are called and few are chosen,” and that God may call us, but in order for us to be chosen we have to step up and say yes!
For me, this was one of the most pivotal points of my time in Chicago. Because the point of the conference was to speak to a gathering of those who, for the most part, already knew Jesus and felt a calling on their lives, there was not much of a formal Gospel presentation per se. Many of the other speakers spoke about miracles, seeing millions saved in Crusades, and what revival has historically meant, yet, it was in this simple presentation of the cost of following Christ, this little reminder from Scripture that struck me the most.
Are you still with me? I hope so, because would like to share with you something that God laid on my heart during worship one night. I heard the phrase The Holy Spirit stirs up revival, but the Word of God sustains it. I just felt that while this conference was a great stirring up by the Holy Spirit … that we were being built up by the prophetic words and wisdom of our spiritual fathers and mothers and that our heart were being whipped into a frenzy for the kingdom, that we must always remember to put God and His word at the center of revival. It was as if the Lord was quietly whispering to me…. Yes, you have a great place in my kingdom… yes, you will play a great role in your generation… yes, I have given you authority and power, but never forget who I am. It made me recall a slogan from a missions conference I attended several years ago that said It’s not about me, but it is up to me. We are part of the revival but we are not what revival is about… the Holy Spirit stirring us should always point us to Christ!
Friends, this was so comforting to me because I had previously worried that many of us would go home from the conference on fire, but slowly fade when we weren’t singing along live to Hillsong or listening to the words of Sean Smith. I had wanted something tangible about how we were supposed to do this revival thing! I was deeply moved and convicted about my own need to know Scripture better and to spend more time alone with God, because at the end of the day… revival starts in the quiet stirrings of your heart in the quiet place (Yes, I did steal that from you Leslea!)
The title of this post is, Marked by Love: A Call for A Generation of Burning Ones. Reinhard Bonnke, in his message, said that as we were sitting in the stadium God was running His finger down the rows looking for who would stand for Him and be part of a generation that would change culture, media, and society. Regardless of whether His finger stopped on you, you would always bear the fingerprint. But for those that God stopped His finger on… they would forever be marked by love. God is looking for burning ones…. Those who have an open heart willing to be stirred to a passion for a generation after God and those who don’t care about the cost and simply answer the call.
Have you ever stood in a spot, looked around and thought to yourself, “I am standing in a spot where history is being made?” Upon taking my seat for the first session, I looked around at the more than 15,000 students, young ones, and parents gathered for this historical event and thought about this pivotal moment in time. On the last day of the conference, spontaneous worship and praise broke out for over 20 minutes. My heart close to bursting, I looked around and thought, “This must be what heaven will be like.” I remember texting close friends after the session with the simple words, “I have been wreaked tonight.”
It is my simple prayer that God continue to work on my heart and yours as well, stirring up passion in the quiet place for revival. I choose to accept the cost of my personal time to spend time alone with Him, in His presence and in His word, so that revival not be just one amazing conference, but one amazing lifetime spent passionately pursuing the heart of God and allowing Him to change to world through me.
By Jessica from Toujours C'est La Vie
By Jessica from Toujours C'est La Vie
