Send A Refresh Signal!

Acts 3:19 “Now it’s time to change your ways!  Turn to face God so He can wipe away your sins, and pour out showers of blessing to refresh you…”

Greetings,

Last week my internet went kaput, and I was temporarily denied access to the World Wide Web.  Given my almost unhealthy codependency with the www, I immediately went to the app on my phone, hit the "send a refresh signal" button so the main switch could re-establish communication with my equipment, and then waited an arduous five minutes for my modem to reboot.

Sometimes in our hectic, running around all day, not getting enough sleep, too much on our plates, the kids are misbehaving , and the dog has poop on his paws - don’t let him in the house existences, we too might find ourselves going kaput.

We know how to pray, we know what we need to do, we know where the “Main Switch” is, but He is not receiving any alerts, bells, SOS's, buzzers, whistles, or sirens from us.  Barely even a nod or a wink.

The time to turn to God and send a refresh signal is right now!

When we turn to Him He pours out showers of blessings and refreshes us.  A shower is an abundance of something.  God does not send a trickle, mist, squirt, dribble, or spray.  He sends a deluge of whatever we need to get back up and running with joy, peace, strength, hope, faith, health, and love.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We come to You now and face You because sometimes we get bogged down with our lives and there’s a failure to connect.  We know You are there waiting for us to turn to You so You can flood our lives with Your goodness.  Flood us now, dear Lord.  We need it.  And thank You that You are always ready to refresh us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!

Day and Night Can Not Dwell Together~

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

Greetings!

So many of you DEVO readers not only shared what you are shaking off this year, but also wanted to know what I am letting go of. 

Many of you are determined to rid yourselves of fear and the right to always be right.  Many of you long to keep your mouths shut rather than say something mean, rude, or negative.  Many of you are throwing away the anger that is damaging your relationships.  Many of you are determined to turn that frown upside down and just embrace life.  Most of you really want to forgive yourselves for past mistakes and errors in judgment and deeply desire the ability to stop beating yourselves up.  I personally am determined, through the power of Jesus, to stop complaining!  Precious Jorge assured me that he rarely hears me complain, but I know the truth.  I do it a lot to myself, and it ain’t pretty. But, let me just say that all these things we want to send packing are worthy to be tossed out, and things I think we have all experienced at one time or another

But why forget? Where's the harm?  

There's an old Indian proverb that says, "Day and night can not dwell together."

In other words, it is impossible to be the best, most peaceful, happy, hopeful, joyous, loving people we can be while simultaneously holding onto toxic ways of thinking and being.  I can not spend the entire day thinking about how angry I am at somebody who offended me and expect to be in a good mood at night.  And if I spend the day complaining about certain aspects of my job that I find challenging, it drains me of energy for the rest of the evening.  I know, because I have done it.  God is well aware of our tendency to stubbornly hold onto junk, which is why He wants to replace it with "a new thing."

The past is the past, but this "new thing" is written in the present tense because God is constantly at work refreshing, renewing, redeeming, and restoring our lives.  He's a "now" God. "Now it springs up."

This means that at this very moment God has something in His arsenal of blessings to send your way so you can transition from living in the mess of the past to the glory of the future -- one that is wrought with the immeasurable goodness of heaven.  

First, we must be willing to forget the former things; next, we must see what it is God is trying to do.  If it is springing up all around us, then let us boldly as God to give us eyes to see. 

Psalm 119:24 "Open my eyes so I can see what You show me of Your miracle-wonders."

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Give us eyes to see what we have been missing out on.  Sometimes we get so hung up on hanging onto junk that we miss the new and beautiful ways You want to restore, refresh, redeem, and renew our lives.  In other words, You want to make it up to us.  All the hurt, pain, disappointment, failure etc...We take You up on Your offer and are determined to hang onto the new blessings headed our way.  In Jesus' name, AMEN~ 

Make it Count for Something cont...

Greetings!

Proverbs 11:25 “…those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”

Thank you all so much for your kind concern for Lis; she is getting better every day J

The phrase – make it count for something – really struck a nerve.

Check out these thoughts:

• My dad left our family when I was young, and it was brutal. I never wanted my kids to feel like I did growing up, so I have made every effort to keep my marriage happy and together. I realize that I have made it my lifelong crusade to be a devoted husband and father. In that way, my dad’s abandoning me has counted for something. Truth is that when divorce/separation is off the table, it leaves more room for communication and commitment.
• Amen amen amen!
• I have struggled for many years with a sick child. There have many ups and downs and long periods in my life where the only reason I got out of bed was because my child needed me. As hard as it has been, I have realized that I am way more of an encouraging and faith-filled person now than ever before. I won’t hesitate to let someone struggling with a health issue know that I will pray for them, and you better believe I will do it when I say I will. And even though that counts for something, the way which this journey has really made an impact is on my child personally. She has eye-witnessed me growing in my faith and being bold in my prayers. So much so, that now she has started praying herself!
• Glory glory glory!

These are just two of the many comments that touched my heart. I hope they have touched yours as well and gotten you to think about ways in which your struggles can turn around and bless someone else.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We put our lives in Your capable hands and thank You that You redeem us – You make even the most difficult aspects of our lives count for something. In Jesus’name, AMEN~