Greetings to you – my fellow-adventurers in the Name above all names. Jesus Christ – THE Risen Savior! Wow! a new month is underway with leftover April showers to wash the dust away…and yes, “this is the day that the Lord has made – we will rejoice and be glad in it!” I trust that you had a good weekend and Monday with a good assortment of blessings to encourage you. I have a sense that May is going to be busy month with lots of moments and events to look forward to…so, this morning as I pray for you, I will ask Father to surround you with health, strength, and a happy heart…may He touch your family with grace and mercy…may He bless you with peace – shalom-peace!
Yon never know how God is going to communicate with you so you need to be a alert and open to surprises. Over the past couple of weeks, as I have shared, He has been focusing my attention on the idea of restoration and refocusing…and I thought I was getting the message… however, yesterday, He decided to “kick it up a notch” and creatively used a Facebook post. It was in a post about a diet/weight loss program and it was aimed at those who got side-tracked. The message was – “Re-set…Re-adjust…Re-start…Re-focus: as many times as you need to!”
How many times to I need to pray for and talk about…revival and restoration and renewal – and God says: as many times as you need to! He reminded me about Peter coming to Jesus, asking about how many times he should forgive someone who had sinned against him…seven times? And you remember Jesus said…seventy times seven – or as many times as you need to! How many times to I need to be revived or restored or renewed or refreshed — as many times as I need it! How many times do I need to pray for revival in the church…how many times do I need to encourage revival…how many times does my congregation need revival? As many times as we need it!
So this morning I thought to myself that that was just a good thought for yesterday and I might find something different for today. Now, God has a mind of His own when He wants to emphasize something. In my devotions…from my Scripture reading to six different authors these words appeared: restore (12 times), reframe, rebuild, repair, remain. refuse, release, return, and breakthrough (6 times). You know that when you put the prefix “re” on a word it means to do it ‘again’ or ‘anew’. You may know that the reason we need to do something ‘again’ or ‘anew’ is so we can make a ‘breakthrough’ in a place where we had been blocked.
So…I believe that after another ‘lockdown’ God wants us to pray for, believe in, get active in, talk about…revival and restoration and renewal and all the other “re-s” because He wants to show us a “breakthrough” – in ourselves, in our family, in our church, in our community, in our relationships.
Something to ponder…may you be blessed!