RENEWAL
Luana McPherson, Washington State
We are entering into a new season on earth, SPRING! Have you noticed it? Do you recognize the changes in nature?
There are flowers blooming;
trees just beginning to bud; and plants working to push their little heads up
out of the earth! It is such a sign of renewal and refreshing! Do you feel a
sense of any of these things taking place within you?
Perhaps, through the
darker months of winter, you've grown weary. Have you gotten side-tracked in
your walk with the Lord? Maybe your spiritual sensitivity has even become
dulled and you are not aware of it!
Once in awhile,
you've wondered if your life could be different...better. Is this what has been
happening to you? Have you allowed things of the 'world' to enter into your
life? Has this caused your heart to become a little hardened?
Have you gotten
'off-track', as in drawing away from being Christ-centered? Have you been out
of the 'Son-shine'?
While watching a
torrent of rain pound down a hillside, hitting a huge rock, I became aware of
how that water would divide itself and run down either side of that rock. The
rock was 'just there', as it had been before the rain...unmoved, as if it were
unaware of what was happening.
I gaze at the
flowers as they lift their faces toward the sky, as if in worship. I hear the
new song of the birds... smiling in awe of the new life all around me. There is
NEW LIFE everywhere, not only in nature.
There is a new
excitement about Jesus in His family (that is US)! There is a hunger for
getting back to one's first love of Jesus. Do some of you remember when you
fell in love with Him? It's a new season, a new day. It is time to return to
your first love...Jesus.
In contemplating
these thoughts, I became aware of the way nature renews the face of the earth.
The dew is a source of freshness and it falls in the night hours. Without it,
all flowers, grass, vegetation would die. It is the great renewal value of the
dew that is so often distinguished in the Word of God,
it is used as a symbol of spiritual refreshment. Just as nature is bathed in
dew, the Lord renews each one of His children with spiritual dew, giving us new
life through the Holy Spirit.
Many of us do not
recognize how much we need this 'heavenly dew' and its refreshment in our
spiritual lives. Our spirits, too, can wither for lack of this dew. Only
occasional partaking of this dew from heaven does not give us the saturation we
need!
When we take the
time to receive the "renewal of the Holy Spirit", we are filled with
the empowerment and restoration for the life we are called to live. Without
this daily soaking, we may feel more dead than alive. There will be no dew in
the midst of the heat or wind; nor in the business and
rush of life. Only when the coolness has fallen and there is absolute rest,
those tiny particles of moisture will become dew to dampen any plant or
flower...even you.
There still is
hope...
For, in the hush and
tranquility comes the dew in nature. In the nightfall, the plants are open to
receive the refreshing and invigorating bath. Spiritual dew comes from quiet,
holy worship and prayer...lingering in the Presence of the Holy Spirit. Be
still before Him, receiving the dew. Wait before the Lord until you are
saturated with His Presence.
Now, move on to your
next task, having the enlightenment you are refreshed, restored, and renewed.
You are now ENERGIZED BY CHRIST!
The grace of God
will arrive to bring us rest and renewal of our souls when we, in sweet, total
surrender, reach the place of stillness before Him.
We're here, in a NEW
season! A time of restoration, renewal, and revival! "Arise,
shine, for your light has come!"
