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.
Tag: spirituality
I Chronicles 29:11 ” Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is Yours.”
Lord, You are the King of glory. We thank and praise You, for You have founded this world and all that is in it. (Psalm 89:11) Your strength and might…Your glorious beauty is everlasting and forever. You are great, and greatly to be praised on heaven and earth…Your splendor and greatness is beyond comprehension.
Matthew 10:29 ” Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”
The next time you feel worthless, or insignificant…look outside at the little birds in the tree. Our Heavenly Father knows the moment any tumble from the sky, but you also need to know that you are so much more valuable than any little bird in His eyes. ( Matthew 10:31) To God, you are esteemed, treasured, and cherished. So today, if your self-worth is in the toilet…go outside and look at the birds.
II Corinthians 4: 1-2 ” Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.”
In a Believer’s life I think there isn’t anything potentially more volatile than secret sins. Hidden sins will lead us to compromise and dilute the truth in our own mind…rationalizing things until we can live with ourselves. They cause us to hide things out of shameful awareness and dispair…which spirals us down the slippery slope into depression. Secret sins need to be dealt with…not left to simmer and develop into more. Besides, you’re only fooling yourself if you think that hidden sins are really hidden.
Psalm 47: 7-8 ” For God is King of all the earth; sing to Him a psalm of praise. God reigns over the nations; God is seated on His holy throne.”
God is still on the throne. The Lord’s sovereignty and dominance is in operation in the world, and no amount of human speculation can compare to His plans and purposes He has in store for this nation…this world. Lord, You sit on Your throne judging righteously and reigning over the nations with grace and mercy. We ask for a spirit of unity to sweep over the earth that we may become one under You.
James 3:6 ” The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and itself set on fire by hell.”
How many times have you regretted a hurtful, unkind remark made in the heat of an argument? And thought to yourself, “I wish I could take back what I just said.” The tongue has a way of causing trouble for all of us. A flippant, or off-hand remark can cause irreparable damage to a relationship…and something we thought was said in confidence, will sometimes come back to haunt us. The whole course of our lives can be ruled and controlled by our tongues…but for God.
Ezekiel 37:3 ” He said to me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ “
The Lord had brought Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and asked him this question. The only appropriate answer Ezekiel could give is, “O Lord God, You know.” Rather running ahead of God “doing something”, Ezekiel was waiting on the Lord’s direction and working within His Will. Many times it’s so much easier to “do something” rather than to just trust in the Lord and wait on His timetable. What we see as good works and “helping” God is more panic than inspiration.
Exodus 2:11 ” …when Moses was grown…he went out to his own people and looked at their hard labor.”
Moses saw the oppression of his fellow Hebrews, and in that righteous indignation attempted to right the wrong…under his own power, in all the wrong ways. What followed was discouragement and 40 years in the desert with God teaching Moses how to go about setting His people free – the Lord’s way. Like Moses, we may have a vision, and maybe even a clear understanding of what God wants…but we’re not ready yet. We may also need our “40 years” in the desert being discipled by the Lord until He feels we are prepared to do His work.
II Peter 1: 5-7 ” For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. “
Your Christian walk starts out on a Christ-shaped foundation…grounded in His Word…built on the solid rock of His love for you. But then starts the journey all Believers must make towards maturity. This scripture shows the progression from baby Christian to deeply rooted saint. Like a house being built on a stable foundation, each moral quality is stacked on top of the next…teaching, disciplining, and encouraging as we go. And in the end, a perfectly built structure will stand before our God.
Matthew 5: 21-22 ” You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.”
Raca was an Aramaic term of contempt meaning stupid. But Jesus was more concerned here with the term Moros – You fool – being thrown around. Moros was actually a more serious reproach than Raca as it conveyed a person being morally worthless… a scorning of the person’s very heart and character. The Lord was warning of the dangers of character assassination…of killing the very spirit of a person with angry words.