refresh - Thoughts About God

Stop for a Moment

Devotionals — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 09:01:15 +0000

This was a week of refreshing and renewal for me. Normally, going into downtime, I go in with an agenda. The last couple of years, that agenda was to meet my deadline to complete my second devotional. So, needless to say, all of my time went into finishing and not really enjoying the time away.

This past year, I had no plans, no set agenda at all. Much of my day was spent soaking up God’s goodness. I decided to dedicate this year’s downtime to allowing God to work on me. I became the project at hand. And boy was I glad I submitted myself to His graceful hands.

There were moments that the pruning and the refining became a little harder to take, but I withstood the blows as He showed me myself. I walked away feeling much lighter than I have been in months. I walked away, refreshed, refueled, re-energized, and most of all knowing that the Master did a major work on the inside of me.

I didn’t realize the disappointments, the highs and the lows, that I had endured throughout the year as I worked to accomplish the goals I set for myself had me numb to the state of my heart. I didn’t realize I was still doing only enough to get by until I surrendered my heart to the Master surgeon. It was then that it all became so clear that I was still running from the enemy in me.

I realized, during my much needed time alone with the Lord, that I had not fully grasped His love for me. I had not fully given my all to Him. I was still working to control the reins of my life. This is a losing battle that none of us will be able to master after giving ownership of our life over to the Lord, yet we still strive at it.

I want to challenge you as the New Year begins to take some time to reflect on where you are in your relationship with the Lord.

Have you surrendered your all to Him?

Are you still in control of your life?

Stop for a moment just to listen. You see, it is when we surrender our control that we find total satisfaction in life. No longer will we work to be like everyone else, life our lives in a hurried pace to accomplish one task after another, but we will find ourselves being satisfied with Him and Him alone. He is more than enough.

Lord, we desire to complete the race, the tasks You have set before us even in the area of Holy living. Help us not to get so consumed with winning in other areas of our lives that we neglect the needful part. We trust Your guidance in our lives. Help us to correct any steps that lead us away from You and your purpose for us In Jesus’ name. Amen

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

Water from God’s Reservoir

Thoughts_About_God — Sat, 02 Dec 2023 09:01:24 +0000

“Oh, how I love your word! I think about it all day long.” (Psalm 119:97, (Living Bible)

“All scripture is God-breathed¦ so that all God’s people may be thoroughly equipped for every good work”. 2 Timothy 3:16, 17

It was a week of body-numbing activity as we worked in clinics near poverty stricken villages. We awakened early and fell into bed exhausted each night. Children seemed to pour from buses like water out of a bottomless pitcher. Challenges multiplied as we faced the logistics of meeting the endless vision, dental and medical needs of over 2,000 children.

We were Christians surely we began each day in lengthy meditative prayer and gleanings from the Bible? While some of the team met each morning for a few quiet moments, the reality was that responsibilities swirled for those of us in leadership, demanding attention nearly every waking moment.

In the midst of these long days that were drenched with activity and people, the gracious Spirit of God repeatedly brought to my attention words that had long before been committed to memory and implanted in my heart.

From this resource, God brought to my attention answers to problems even before they were articulated. He provided all that was necessary for the needs of the moment.

The city in which I live depends on reservoirs for its water supply. When there is insufficient winter snow or spring rain, we are warned to carefully monitor our water use. In a similar way, our spiritual reservoirs cannot go long without refilling. Returning from the humanitarian project described above, I was desperately thirsty for fresh and abundant ‘the water of the Word’ and God is faithfully refilling what I had spilled into others lives.

Father God, your word refreshes and fills and invigorates me as I faithfully meditate on it. Thank you for its life giving strength.

by Marilyn Ehle
Used by Permission

Replenish, Without the Guilt

Devotionals — Mon, 20 Mar 2023 08:01:50 +0000

“For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” Jeremiah 31:25 (NASB)

“Oh no, I’ll be right back,” she said. The babysitter had informed her that her three-year-old boy was having stomach flu symptoms and was worried he was dehydrated. The panicked mother drove home as fast as she could. One of the first things she did was to give him a replenishing drink, carefully measured, so as not to overdo. Then she sighed. Why was she so foolish to think that working out tonight was a good idea? She never should have gone. She beat herself up with her thoughts, feeling punished and guilty. These were common feelings for her, since she often bounced from one guilty worry to the next, which she thought was par for the course as a mother of four.

Our verse today reminds us that godly replenishment is needed and important. God wants for us to both minister to others as well as accept ministry towards ourselves, which sometimes means seeking it out.

Satan would like for us to sit in the darkness of worry, fear, doubt, and guilt, but God says that we can find full restoration and replenishment with Him. In Christ alone, we have full freedom to live well by doing our best. And like the tender mother offering her son sips of water, God can replenish us each day as well.

Dear Jesus, I am so thankful You replenish me every time I need sleep, healing, rest, or exercise so I can be ready to minister to others. I love caring for others and I recognize that I can do it even better when I take time to care for myself. Please let me find things to do that honor You in my replenishment, and please continue to faithfully restore me each time I lose my way, whether through guilt or sin. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thought: Carve out a time today when you can find replenishment. Don’t allow the guilty thoughts about the “Have To’s” overshadow the “Need To’s” of today. Proper rest, exercise, healthy food choices, and especially prayer and time in God’s Word will keep you feeling refreshed.

By Christa Hardin
Used by Permission

www.thelife.com/dailydevotions

refresh - Thoughts About God

Stop for a Moment

Further Reading

Water from God’s Reservoir

Further Reading

Replenish, Without the Guilt

“For I satisfy the weary ones and refresh everyone who languishes.” Jeremiah 31:25 (NASB)

Further Reading