"It is much easier to keep the fire burning than to rekindle it after it has gone out."
- AB Simpson

Have you ever had an experience with God that left you feeling refreshed, renewed, reinvigorated and revived only to have the power and influence of that experience wane and wear off over time? Did it leave you right back where you were in the first place, but with a new-found cynicism and skepticism about whether the experience was even real in the first place? Did it leave you doubting subsequent experiences?

Experiencing "spiritual highs" only to have them wear off over time actually creates a type of cynicism and doubt that undermines our own spiritual growth. In order to avoid this spiritual roller coaster ride, some people try to never get too excited in the first place, that way they aren't let down when their fire begins to die out.

But what if there was a way to sustain the fire? What if instead of entering the cycle of questioning the validity of our encounters with God and lowering our expectations, we actually learned how to sustain those moments of renewal and revival? What if we learned how to live in revival by abiding in Christ?

I am convinced that this is God's will for us. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian church that we are being transformed "from glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3.18) and that our "inner man is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor. 4.16). We aren't to go from glory to gloomy, or be renewed retreat by retreat. God's will for us is to live in sustainable revival.

Sustaining spiritual renewal is not simply a "christian growth tip" or "spirituality hack", it's a paradigm shift. It means that the focus of your life becomes sustaining the fire of God that rests in your chest by making actionable decisions on a moment-by-moment basis. It means increasing our awareness of what God is doing. Jesus referred to this paradigm as "abiding" in John 15.

Jesus knew that His disciples lived in a world of ups and downs and He implored them to "remain" in Him by dwelling on His (rhema) words and praying in response to those words (verse 7).

He told them to remain in (an awareness of) His love for them (verse 9).

He expected willful obedience to His commands and teaching (verse 10).

He desired for them to be full of joy (verse 11).

Hearing the voice of God and praying in response, being convinced deep-down that God loves us, having a heart that delights in God's commands and living a life full of joy are just four ways that Jesus encourages His disciples to remain in Him and live a life of sustained revival.

Jesus's instruction to his disciples in John 15 and Pauls view of a spiritual life that increases from glory to glory as our inner man is renewed day by day reveal to us that Jesus' desire is to make Disciples that sustain Revival.