We need Refreshing* regularly.
By Pastor George Lehman
*Refreshing =To give strength, to invigorate, to relieve after fatigue.
What you see depends mainly on what you look for.
(If you look for coal, you won’t see the diamond)
Jeramiah 31:25(NIV) – “I will refresh the weary* and satisfy the faint*.” To be WEARY means to be bored with something because you have experienced too much of it:
To be FAINT is to feel weak and dizzy and close to losing consciousness.
Proverbs 4:25-27 (LB) 25“Look straight ahead; don’t even turn your head to look. 26Watch your step. Stick to the path and be safe. 27Don’t sidetrack; pull back your foot from danger.
What you decide to focus on will determine what you receive.
Our Flesh just naturally draws us away from God, eventually leaving us in a dry lifeless place far from the refreshing fountain of God.
How you decide to position yourself to receive will make all the difference.
Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
The truth is – how you see things on the outside of you depends on how things are on the inside of you.
What we need is a time of God’s freshening anointing to awaken us for service. Refreshing is never for a feel good, easy, comfortable life.
God never refreshes us to slow down and take it easy it’s always for greater service for Him in the Kingdom.
Psalm 19:7 (NIV) – The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple
Acts 3:19 (ESV) – Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Philemon:7 “For I have derived great joy and
comfort and encouragement from your love, because the hearts of the saints [who are your fellow Christians] have been cheered and refreshed through you, [my] brother.”
Living in the refreshing power of God – is all about our submission and obedience to God’s authority.
The Warhorse: – “Allow me to illustrate. A warhorse is not fit for service until his will is broken. Though he may be stronger, swifter, and more gifted than all the other horses in the stable, he cannot serve until he’s broken.
He will stay in the stables while less gifted horses go to war. To be broken does not mean to be weakened. It has to do with submission to authority.
In the horse’s case, his master is the rider. If the horse is successfully broken and trained, he can be trusted in any and all circumstances.
In the heat of the battle as the bullets or arrows fly, he will not flinch.
While swords and axes are wielded, he will not retreat.
While guns are raised and cannons shot, he will not deviate from his master’s desires.
He will stay in firm submission to his master. He will bypass any attempt to protect or benefit himself in order to fulfil the commands of his rider (talk about serving!).
This breaking process is uniquely accomplished in each one of us, in accordance with the prescription of the Lord Himself.
He is the only One who knows when the process is truly complete, and you are prepared for the manner of service He desires to bring through you.
Each new level brings another round of breaking.
A thoroughbred horse never looks at the other horses. It just concentrates on running the fastest race it can. You are refreshed to run well.
I cannot help to think of Paul’s encouragement to the church in Philippi. (It’s about a focused life)
Philippians 3:12-13 (NIV) – 12“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
We desperately need to start getting God’s view into our hearts.
That’s why God gave us His Word.
The benefit of regularly reading the Bible is that it teaches us to respond successfully to life’s challenges and life’s possibilities, life’s opportunities and potential.
It’s not what we don’t know what stops us from succeeding.
It’s what we already know and don’t do.
Do you really believe you are capable of becoming and achieving all that God has planned for your life to be?
It is stated that the average person uses only about 10% of their potential – imagine if we pushed it up to 25%. We will be a menace to the devil and make a significant difference.
One of the greatest days of your life will be the day when you discover:
You’re not – exceptional
You’re not ordinary – extra-ordinary.
You have God-given potential – not only to be blessed but to be a blessing too!
God has put a lot more in you than you’re possibly living out.
Ephesians 3:20(Amp) – Now to Him who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams.]
Luke 12:48 – From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded. (God expects you to get off you willy-nilly and dusty-rusty and take action.)
There are more than enough excuses for failure and why we don’t do what we have been called to do!!
Don’t let yourself be distracted or discouraged by fear and doubt –
If you do:
You will develop a quick ear for bad news and large eyes for trouble ahead. You will miss that refreshing anointing God has poured out in your life.
The result is:
You will become a great inventor of things that will never happen.
Don’t major on the minors – don’t make mountains of molehills.
Luke 9:62(LB) Jesus said: “Anyone who lets himself be distracted from the work I plan for him, is not fit for the Kingdom of God.
The Key to be refreshed by God:
Isaiah 40:31 “But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.
