Practical Revival: Being Open to One Another

In my other post, The Application of the Law of Revival, I quoted that it is very simple to open ourselves. We can tell another sister or brother in the Lord that we are oppressed and old. Actually in the same book, The Law of Revival, the author even specifically mentions how we may see each other everyday and talk about many things yet are not aware of each other's spiritual condition. Then the section continues, "To be open does not mean to speak a frank word or to rebuke others. That is to spread death. To be open is to pour out and speak forth our true condition."

Our God is Flowing

Last week I wrote about being practically revived by persevering in prayer. In a sense, persevering in prayer to break away from our condition and to press on to care for the Lord's need is a personal exercise. Yet since we are members of one another, in the Body of Christ, the Lord will not allow us to be self-sufficient even in the matter of revival.

This practice of opening to one another in a healthy way allows the genuine fellowship of the divine life to flow. Sometimes we feel like the fellowship flows into us through the words of the other person, but actually as soon as we open to speak forth our true condition, the flow is already there.

This is because the problem is not with the flow. God is always flowing. The problem is in the valves. We are the valves. Actually God is the mighty flowing One. He can easily sweep us into this flow, yet oftentimes He chooses to be limited by us, whether we will open to let Him flow or not.

Spiritually Revived by Being Open

So long story short, about a week ago, I reached my limit. I had had many conversations with the Lord and the Lord had definitely been operating and dispensing within. Yet some frustration lingered. 

My sister happened to be in town. I found myself having a rather heated conversation with her, mainly I think we were just frustrated with our situations. So yes, in a sense, we were defeated with regards to our emotions. However, we turned to the Lord and soon our exchange of words became a time for us to open to one another in a genuine way. It didn't start right, but the Lord had shown us mercy. My sister and I have always been very close but even though we talk quite often, we rarely know each other's spiritual condition. The Lord is truly our chief Shepherd. He knows how to shepherd us in a timely way, according to His heart toward us.

After such an opening, I was inwardly released and revived. My sister and I do not have a solution to our situations and we are not trying to correct each other either, yet the feeling was more or less like "now I can go on." Furthermore, there was an uplifting of our relationship, between my sister and I. There was a clear sense of bearing one another in love.

This is just my personal experience. Being open to one another is definitely key to revival, yet there is a fine line between an opening to rebuke others or to demand something from others and an opening to simply speak forth our true condition.

I think in the end, a proper opening will bring in the sweet flow of life, and this we can definitely sense. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes. Yet practicing to open and to follow the sense of life will eventually save us to the uttermost. Actually when we are revived, the Lord can be lived out through us even more. Finally, the Lord Jesus is the One who gets the glory. Praise Him for His awesome way to revive us!