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I came to faith as a young man, but in more recent years I have been on a journey back to Jesus. Read about it here.

The following is an excerpt from Kurt Mahlburg and Warwick Marsh’s latest book, Jesus: The Centre of It All. Buy the book here.

My Journey Back to Jesus

Jesus took centre stage in my life when I first became a believer. But in more recent years, I have felt the urge to intentionally put Jesus at the centre of my life and keep Him there. My journey back to Jesus has included a growing passion for revival. I have been deeply challenged by the words of author and preacher Stephen Olford: “Revival is ultimately Christ Himself, seen, felt, heard, living, active, moving in and through his body on earth.”

My journey back to Jesus began in a most unusual way.

Years ago, our family was forced to move house. With five children and a missionary’s budget, our options were limited. We ended up moving into a home that was a stone’s throw from the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere. We were happy with the place, but unsettled by its location near a pagan place of worship. Some of our friends warned us about the possibility of spiritual attack. I politely disagreed. I felt confident that I could resist any spiritual warfare, having experienced plenty of encounters with demonic entities while preaching Christ in China, Africa and remote parts of Australia. So, we moved into our new home.

The Power of the Blood of Christ

As time went on, unusual things started happening in our family. My wife and I began to argue over inconsequential matters. We struggled financially. Whenever I returned from ministry trips, I would be depressed and discouraged. None of this was normal. It really puzzled us—until we remembered the earlier warnings from our friends. Maybe they were right, we reasoned. Perhaps this was some kind of demonic attack.

We spoke about our situation with a good friend in ministry called Joy, who had far more experience in spiritual warfare than us. She explained that the best defence was a good offence and suggested that we go to the four points of our property to pray and take communion, and submit our home, ministry and family to Christ. She also encouraged us to share communion together each day as husband and wife, taking a few minutes in prayer and reflection over bread and grape juice, in celebration of Jesus’s death and resurrection.

So we did. Each day, we affirmed the blood of Christ and the blessings of God over our family and submitted ourselves afresh to the Lordship of Christ. We resisted the devil, declared the promises of God and prayed for our loved ones. We affirmed that it was no longer us who lived but Christ in us.

The Great Communion Revival

Immediately we began to see a change. The oppression lifted. We began to flourish. Now, more than two decades down the road, Alison and I continue to celebrate communion every morning. It is one of the most consequential decisions we have ever made. I don’t believe we would still be in ministry otherwise. It has become an anchor point for our marriage. Most importantly, having communion each day has helped us focus more and more on the cross of Christ and keep Jesus at the centre of our lives. We now recommend this spiritual discipline to every believer we meet.

In his book The Great Communion Revival, my good friend Dean Briggs explains why communion is such a powerful way for believers to meet with Jesus. Dean beautifully summarises not only the meaning of the Lord’s Supper, but also the breathtaking redemptive story that Jesus has welcomed us into:

History shifted when the Lamb was slain. When His blood spilled, a new redemptive calendar began. The Kingdom age. Communion is the ongoing remembrance of that colossal, staggering event. But what does it mean to proclaim the Lord’s death? First, notice the eschatological tenor of the act. The Church is to do this thing until the Lord returns. But what is that thing? According to the Apostle Paul, Communion is not just eating bread and drinking juice. Paul’s language suggests that the act itself is some sort of wild proclamation of victory that is meant to nourish and sustain us. When we eat and drink, we prophesy a continuity between His first and second coming, between the eternal triumph of His Cross and the total triumph of His glorious return.

Buy Jesus: The Centre of It All here.

Image via Unsplash.