Stepping Into RevivalSample

Death to Life

One summer, our family went to Florida to visit my sister, Sarah. My sister, Ruthie, from Texas came up visit with us, and we were all exited to be together. 

We decided to have a pool day. Ashley and I were writing messages and coordinating church responsibilities. We had put our headphones in to focus, while Sarah and her kids were swimming. Her children were around 11 and 9 years old, and they were great swimmers. Then, Ruthie came down with her two babies. She had a 1-year-old, Ziva, and a 4-year-old, Tovah. My sister always put life jackets on her girls before they went to the pool area. This time, she had managed to get the kids gear together but decided to put the life jackets on once they all got to the pool. 

So, Tovah, her daughter, runs and grabs a life jacket, and says, "Mommy, I got my life jacket." Ziva, her other daughter, is right next to Ruthie, holding her leg. A passerby began to ask Ruthie some questions, and she was distracted for 20 seconds. During this conversation, little Ziva fell into the pool. 

Drowning is the most common form of accidental death for a toddler. They drown in about 10 seconds, because they suck so much water into their lungs, not understanding how to hold their breath under water.

I heard this crazy scream from my niece, "No, No!" and she jumped into the pool. I ripped off my headphones and shouted, "What's going on! What's going on?!" My sister Ruthie jumped into the pool. We all made a mad dash to jump in the pool. 

Ziva had fallen to the bottom of the deep end. We pulled Ziva out, and she was lying perfectly still. Her body had turned blue, and she wasn’t breathing. 

She was dead. 

My sister Ruthie was crying and screaming, "No, Jesus, no! Jesus, no! No, I'm not going to bury this girl!" "I'm not going to bury this child! No, Jesus! No, Jesus! No weapon formed against this girl will prosper, in Jesus' name. She will live and not die, and declare the works of the Lord. The seed of the righteous is protected, in Jesus' name!" 

Ruthie began calling life and God’s promises into her little girl. 

Ziva was still not breathing, and we were trying everything we could. We were all huddled around her, and my brother-in-law, Adam, was trying to get Ziva to cough up the water. Finally, after one or more pumps to her stomach, she coughed up all the water, and she began to breathe. We all began crying and praising God. "Thank you, Jesus! She's living! She's alive!"

Today, Ziva is alive. She's healthy. Praise God! We serve a God who brings the dead back to life. 

You may not even realize it, but, spiritually, you need to be revived. You need to get the breath of God back in your lungs again. You need a revival on the inside of you.

Spiritual staleness can happen quickly, and before you know it you’ve stopped breathing, and stopped praying. 

Let me encourage you, don’t wait for revival: initiate revival. God wants to begin an awakening in your spiritual life today, but it has to start in your heart before it can happen in your city. 

Get ready for revival. It is coming, and God wants to do something new and fresh inside your heart.