Isaiah 9:6 ” For to us a child is born, to us a son is given…

All of humanity was lost…floundering in a sea of sin…sinking to never rise again.   When a baby was brought forth…God bestowing this precious gift on all.   For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son – Jesus Christ – to bridge the chasm between God and man…and bring  eternal life to a dying world.

Luke 1:38 ” ‘I am the Lord’s servant,’ Mary answered. ‘May it be to me as you have said.’ “

The Lord has called you and laid on your heart a promise, but like Mary,  you can’t understand how this could possibly happen. Like Mary, you have questions…but also like her, God will faithfully answer them all  in due time.  And in the end, like Mary,  we will need to put our complete faith and trust in God, knowing that what He has placed on our heart will come about. Today you too are  pregnant… you’re pregnant with a promise…a promise that’s about to come full-term.

Psalm 10:14 ” But You, O God, do see trouble and grief; You consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.”

The Lord understands the misery and sorrow you may feel today.  He wants to take that pain from you…placing it in His all-powerful  hands and off your shoulders.  If burdens are weighing you down today…entrust yourself to God’s mercy and fall upon His  grace.

James 1:23 ” Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

You know your face better than anyone else…every nook and cranny – every spot and wrinkle.  You’re familiar enough with your face that you can readily pick yourself out of a group picture.  We need to know the Word of God in the same manner.  We can’t causally listen to His Word allowing it to go in one ear and out the other.  His Word must go deep inside…changing us for the better – not being dismissed and forgotten.  The key is to contemplate, internalize, and apply His Word to your life…mirroring His life with yours.

II Samuel 1:26 ” I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother, you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”

In your life time,  you’ll only be able to count on one hand the same kind of friendship that David and Jonathan had.  Their relationship was extraordinary, amazing and unique…and much closer than being biological brothers.  When you have such an intimate friendship with someone, it doesn’t matter the space of time or distance, the friendship still endures . If you haven’t connected recently with this friend…don’t you think it would be a wonderful time to do so?

Isaiah 1: 19-20 ” If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Yielding our will to God is not easy…for compliance never comes without internal struggle.  But if we listen to Him…understanding that it’s for our own good that He’s directing us that way…and then obey the message we’ve heard…God will work all things out for our good.  Along this same line, Job 36:11 says, “If they obey and serve Him, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity  and their years in contentment.”  Simple obedience…sometimes hard to do, but oh so beneficial.

Galatians 2:5 ” We did not give in to them for a moment…”

Last night our Bible Study was discussing how easily we compromise to the world’s standards.  How one small concession only leads to another, and another, until we suddenly find ourselves far from God and the path He has chosen for us.  A wonderful analogy was shared by our friend who is employed with a co-worker in a large,  cavernous warehouse with many, many fluorescent lights…of which slowly over time, were going out one by one.  Neither lady realized it until one day they both exclaimed how dark it was inside!  As they toured the building, they discovered there were 18 fluorescent lights out…no wonder it was so murky!  Compromise is just as insidious…happening slowly…one acquiescence at a time…until suddenly we too find ourselves in the dark.

Ephesians 1:11 ” In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will…”

You are not a mistake.  No matter what people tell you, God’s divine Will included you as an important part in this world.  He has a unique purpose for your life here on earth…your birth was foreordained by Him…He knew you before you were even conceived.  You are not a mistake, but a valuable part of God’s plan.

Psalm 80:3 ” Restore us O God; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.”

Turn us around Lord.  Return us to our first love and enable us to know again the joy of our salvation.  As it says in Psalm 71:20, “Though You have made me see troubles many and bitter, You will restore my life again.”  Refresh us  O Lord that we may restore others around us.

Isaiah 57: 14-15 ” And it will be said: ‘Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of My people.’ For this is what the high and lofty One says – He who lives forever, whose name is holy: ‘I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite.’ “

A refreshing is coming.  A time of spiritual edification and uplifting for all Believers.  God will send a new wind of change…to restore and strengthen the broken and discouraged.  He will breathe new life into old places…and fresh vision into tired and apathetic souls.  As Oswald Chambers once said, ” Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been .”  A new wind is coming…a time of refreshing is upon us.