Refreshers

For they have refreshed my spirit and yours; therefore acknowledge ye them that are such. 1 Corinthians 16:18

What a great way to be known! Have you ever met people who are just refreshing to be around? We ought to be that kind of Christian--one known by lost and saved alike as a refresher. Someone that is pleasant and encouraging and loving and whose presence is just all-in-all a breath of fresh air. I fear more of us are more like a breath of stagnant, putrid, foul air. Let's not be that way! Let's be the sort of person people smile when they see coming, not one they look for a place to hide from. And while we're at it, remember to acknowledge and thank those who are refreshing to our spirits. Give credit to whom credit is due...they need the encouragement. Be a refresher!

Fuel Your Thirst

I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land. Selah. Psalm 143:6

Not many of us have this sort of longing desire for our God. You'll hear preachers talk about how things used to be, how people used to be more loving and dedicated to God than now, but don't be fooled. People haven't changed. Coldness and lukewarm Christianity are nothing new. Less than a generation after Christ it had already set in. Before every great period of revival throughout history was a time of spiritual frigidity. Life is cyclical, even in spiritual matters. And these same sorts of patterns occur in our individual lives. Think back--you'll remember times when you had that intense thirst for the things of God...for His person and His presence in your life. And you'll see times when that desire waned. Maybe (probably) you're in a waning period now. That's okay; it happens. But it's not okay to stay there. Talk to Him. Take a step back towards Him...and He's promised to reciprocate. And with each step toward God you take, you'll feel that desire to know Him grow a little more. Keep going. Fuel the thirst.

Accordingly

Then he touched their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. Matthew 9:29

Wow. I wonder how our lives would be if God said that to us. How much...or little...would I have if God rewarded me strictly according to my faith? If I was only given what I had faith for, where would I be? Sometimes I doubt I'd even have enough to get by. I'm glad He blesses us far beyond our faith, but maybe we need to think about how much our faith could buy us were it a strict currency. How rich in faith are we?

Noble Christianity

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Acts 17:11

I wonder how many noble Christians we have out there. I fear the majority of people claiming the name of Christ are sadly lacking in nobility. They simply take what they're fed spiritually and run with it. These Thessalonian Christians were called noble because they didn't do that. They didn't shut out teachers of the Scripture--on the contrary, they listened readily--but they then searched the Word to see if those teachings lined up. See, anyone can use the Bible to say just about whatever they want. One can use some verse or part of a verse to support practically any old thing. And if you're dependant on someone else's teaching to form your belief system, you'll be pulled all over the place by various "winds of doctrine." A noble Christian, however, will listen to others with an open mind...then compare those teachings to what the Word says. That means comparing Scripture with Scripture to get the whole picture. That means studying and meditating and praying over difficult passages. That means a willingness to cast aside teachings, both new and old, that stray from the true spirit of the Bible. Fair warning: it's not noble because it's easy.

A Present God

Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: Galatians 1:4

I'm glad that God is concerned with me and my situation RIGHT NOW. God knows what I'm dealing with in the present...and He wants to do something about it. True, He might have a plan that involves my waiting some of this mess out, but He DOES have a plan...and it ultimately involves delivering me from the present evil that assaults me. Friend, God cares about you in the present. He didn't save you and leave you on your own. And He didn't simply say, "Hold on, I'll be there later." God is with you right now. He knows your problems right now. And He is working in your life RIGHT NOW! Our God is a God for TODAY!

Full of Praise

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with they honour all the day. Psalm 71:8

How often do we verbally praise God? I don't mean a ritualistic, unmeant, habitual prayer rattled off in 20 seconds before a meal or an idiomatic "Praise the Lord" when some minor crisis like having to talk to the crazy cat lady neighor is avoided. I mean how often do we genuinely thank, laud or give credit to God out loud...or at all? I'm afraid if we took a moment to think about it, we actually WOULD have to think about it just to think of the last time it happened. Which is very sad. God is so undeniably and unmeasurably good to us, yet we almost never take the effort to even mention it. Shame on us. We shouldn't be able to praise Him enough! Maybe we need to pray this psalmists prayer every day.

The Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

The Word of God is of vital importance to any faith in Him. It's amazing how many people claim to be Christians, say they believe in God, and are followers of His...yet they don't believe the Bible is God's inspired, dependable Word. We MUST have a reliable, undeniable foundation for our faith. Otherwise, where do we get our knowledge about God? How can I say I believe that God is love without the Bible to tell me so? I can't! It's ridiculously arrogant to claim faith in God without faith in His Word as authority...because we then make OURSELVES the authority on God. And if God is defined by me, am I not then, for all intents and purposes, God myself? No, it simply doesn't work. The Word of God and the person of God are indivisible. Stand firmly upon your faith in the Word. It matters!

Don't Err

Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. Matthew 22:29

We really don't know too much about the group Jesus was addressing here--the Sadducees. The sect disappeared not long after Christ's ministry, and their entire existance was probably less than 300 years (not a lengthy history, in the broad scheme of things.) What we do know (from the Bible and the writings of Josephus) indicates that they denied all but the five books of Moses and seemed to take a rather deistic stance on God, believing that He had little interest or interaction with man after creating him. And, as Jesus told them here, they were way off. We make a grave error being ignorant--be it through denial or simple lack of interest--about God's Word. God is powerful and active in the lives of men and women, and one of the ways He shows that is through the Scripture. Why then, with God's power there in book form for us to tap into, would we set it aside and go on without it? Ridiculous and unexcusable! Friend, let's not be like the Sadducees, ignoring the Word or denying the power and involvement of God with man. Immerse yourself in the Scripture...and the more you do, the more you'll see God's power actively working in your life.

Watch Out For Woe

Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Isaiah 5:21

It's funny how it's always just about the time we think we know something that we realize we've got it all backwards. It's so easy for us as human beings to think we've got a handle on things. We want to be right; we want to have the answers. But when we get to the place where we feel like we've got it figured out, we're setting ourselves up for a long, hard fall. I'm not saying to live in doubt and always be second guessing yourself--there's something to be said for confidence and conviction. But there's a fine line between confidence and pride. Be humble. Realize that your wisdom is beyond limited, no matter who you are or how long you've been at this thing. Be willing to accept--and even seek--advice from others. And be exremely cautious about relying on your own wisdom. "Woe" is not a place you want to go.

Finding Hope

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. Psalm 130:5

God has given us a source of hope and peace in His Word. But I wonder how often we tap into that source...and how often we set it aside. It isn't doing you any good on your desk, in a drawer, under a stack of magazines, packed away, or in your trunk! We NEED hope, and we NEED the Word. If you're feeling sans hope, there's a better than even chance you're not spending time with God. Pull out your Bible and things will assuredly start feeling less hopeless.

Melded Together

For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3:3

Something amazing happens when we trust Christ. A transformation. A rebirth. A melding. That word "hid" in this verse means to conceal something by covering it. When God saved you, He permanently covered and melded your life with Christ so that now you are hidden in Him and He in you. It's like two drops of water running down a window that encounter one another along the way...and suddenly they both disappear into each other leaving one drop. Your life and your fate is forever tied to Christ's. That's why it's so important that He died and rose again--because He experienced then conquered death, you can as well. Victories and defeats, joys and trials you now share with Him. And He shares them with you. You're never, ever alone because Christ's life is fused with yours.

Out Of The Ashes

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Psalm 103:4

God thrives on making things new. Redeeming. Healing. And no matter how far gone a person or situation may get, it's not too far for Him to swoop in and transform it. Even from the very ashes of destruction He can move, can resuscitate, can renew. It is never too late. None of us can do too much or go too far as to be beyond the reach of His love, mercy, and redemptive power. And nothing can come into our lives from which our wonderful God cannot and will not lift us.

Oh...And Don't Forget

I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the LORD thy maker,...? Isaiah 51:12-13a

People and circumstances in life can cause us fear and distress, there's no denying that. But if we stay there, in that place of fear, it's by our own choice. God wants to bring peace and comfort. He doesn't want us living our lives stressed out over the people and problems we have to deal with. And when we do, it is because we are forgetting who God is. Don't you think that offends Him? Don't you think it frustrates Him to no end when His children--for whom He is willing and able to work miracles--forget all about Him and focus on things that, to Him, are no more than gnats to be swatted away? I wonder how often we insult God like this. Let's try to remember Him when things go against us, and take advantage of the comfort He wants to give us.

Move On

And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab.... 2 Samuel 11:1

At the end of chapter 10 we see David devastating the Syrian armies and winning a great victory. Now we're about to see him make the biggest mistake of his life and create a mess that would follow him for the rest of his days. What took David from point A to point B? The answer is: nothing. Literally. As in, he SHOULD have been doing SOMEthing, but he wasn't. You see, David was riding the coattails of his last victory when he should have been out pursuing another...and he screwed up. We cannot get by on last year's victories. Yesterday's successes don't guarantee tomorrow's. Friend, don't get caught sitting back and resting on your laurels, trying to get by on what you did in the past; get out and win something new TODAY! If you're still alive, you still have something to do. And if you're not doing it, you're probably, like David did, setting yourself up for a major failure.

My Defence, My Refuge

But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge. Psalm 94:22

Ever feel like everyone and everything is aligned against you? Like there's nowhere to turn that won't pinball you right back into the roiling mass of anti-youness that is the world? I think pretty much everyone gets there at some point--or several points--in their life. The good news is, there IS a place you can go for shelter against it all. In God we have both an unmoving place to hide and a defender to aggressively take our side. He's an attorney Who cannot lose, a fortress which cannot fall. And He's always conveniently located right by your side. How great is our God!

Benefit Of The Doubt

But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? Matthew 26:8

A woman has annointed the Lord with an expensive box of ointment. At this point, the story is often told "and Judas became indignant" because of John's account, which tells us that Judas spoke up. But note that Judas wasn't alone. Even if he was the only one who expressed his indignation (unlikely, though possible), at least some of the others shared his opinion. These were good men with good intentions. They wanted to do a good thing and thought they knew the best way to maximize that. But they were making a judgement that wasn't theirs to make. They condemned a woman who was also doing something good and had good intentions. We do the same thing. It's not that we're bad people trying to be critical or hateful or hypocritical--we probably have genuinely good intentions. I'm not saying we ought to excuse or condone sin, but it's not our place to judge one another's motives or methods. We don't know their heart or their intent. And we usually cannot predict the impact of their methods.

Not Wise

Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. Proverbs 3:7

Newsflash: you don't have all the answers. You don't have it all figured out. You never will. But it's okay! You're not expected to know it all. You can make it through just fine without all the answers...as long as your depending on Someone who does. The catch is, you have to realize just how wise you're not before you can lean on Him. We have to get to the point where we can look in the mirror and say, "I don't have the answers, and I can't find them on my own; but it's okay, but I have a Friend who does." We must first acknowledge our own INadequacy; then we can see first-hand the magnificence of His complete and total adequacy.

The Conversation

Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 1 Timothy 4:13

There's a process here for Biblical growth and comprehension: study, talk, understanding. Alot of people want to skip the second step. Spiritual comprehension is as much about conversation as anything. Our combined knowledge and understanding is too limited to grasp spiritual truths; what would make us think that independantly we can get it? Don't mistake me, study is important. But after study, we need to hash it out with someone else. We need other perspectives. We need to pick others' brains. We need help. We need to talk it out. That won't get us all the way...but it'll get us a little further along. Get in the conversation.