Those Who Refresh Others Will be Refreshed

Proverbs 11:25(NLT)

“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.”

Years ago, I suffered from some very low points. These were some of the darkest moments of my life.  I felt weighted down by all my wrong decisions and bad choices. Self-condemnation was my middle name and many of my nights were sleepless. I always wished that time would speed up so I could bypass nighttime hours. I dreaded the thought of going to bed at night because I’d just lay there, with regretful thoughts of my past, and they made me feel so bad.

Thinking about those times today, I’m very thankful for my family. I tried to focus on them as much as possible, because it made me feel better about things. With concern, I’ve wondered about people that feel worse than I did at that time in my life. I pray they also have family or friends to bring comfort that will help them feel better. But I also pray that they will heed the invitation of Jesus Christ. He invites them to bring their burdens to him. He offers to give us rest for our souls in a way that only he can.

Jesus Christ said in John 15:8(NLT), “When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.” To produce fruit is to share the Good News of the Gospel with someone that doesn’t yet know the person of Jesus Christ. When we tell people about Jesus Christ and the salvation that he offers because of what he accomplished for us on the cross, we secure the opening that allows the love of God to be introduced into the person’s life. We can’t cause a person to saved; that’s not our call. God tells us in Ephesians 1:4 that He chose us to be in Christ even before the foundation of the World. He chose us first, not the other way around. So, when we share the Good News about Jesus Christ, we are planting a seed. God is the One that does the watering. He causes the sun to shine upon those who need His light. As His children, He commands us to be ambassadors of Christ. He expects that we will open our mouths when He tells us too, and that we will speak a life changing Word into the lives of those that He has chosen.

During the times that I lacked confidence; I didn't believe I had anything to give towards the ministry of Jesus Christ. I felt too bad about myself and about everything around me, but God showed me through His Word that I don’t belong to myself, I belong to Him; we all do. We were created for His purpose, not our own. He knows the path we should be on so that we can have a wonderful relationship with Him through Christ, and so that we can have a life that isn’t filled with darkness but filled with the light of Christ. We need to allow Him to lead and guide us, and we need to be willing to patiently and humbly follow Him.

God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves. Ephesians 2:10 tells us that we are God’s masterpiece. He made us new creations in Christ Jesus, and He did this so that you and I could do all the good things that He planned for us. I prayed fervently that God would hear my cries and let His love come into my darkest places. It didn’t happen overnight, but it did happen. I placed my hand in His hand and surrendered myself to be led by Him. He did not disappoint, for it is impossible for God to fail.

I asked the Father to show me opportunities that would help me feel better about my life and the gift I knew He had given me. Little did I know that He would answer this prayer by leading me to be a blessing to someone. The company where I work had just hired someone new. She is a bright young woman and is full of energy, but of course she was nervous about beginning a new position. Well, her new boss was very demanding, and had given her a task that she considered to be completely outside her level of skill. On that day, I was in our break room heating a cup of tea, and we struck up a conversation. She began to share how happy she was to have landed a good job but wasn't sure how to handle the new pressures of her position. I offered her a few tips, and said, "Don't worry about what you can't control. Do your very best, pray that it's good enough, and allow God to do the rest."

I didn't know this woman's background or whether she knew the Lord, but I truly felt in my soul that I had been in the right place at the right time, and that I had made a difference for her that day. I didn’t have to leap a tall building, or even stand before lots of people and teach the bible, I just had to use what God has given me very plainly and in my day to day life.

After bumping into each other a few days later, she said to me, "You don't know how much your kindness has meant to me." She had been refreshed because I encouraged her in the Lord, and I had been refreshed in an amazing way myself. I thought, “What if I had chosen to let self-doubt rule the day; I might not have spoken a word to this young woman, but I’m so glad that God allowed me to be a blessing to her.” Things that we consider to be so small and insignificant can make all the difference in someone’s life. We have to remember who we are, whose we are, and what we mean to God. He has called us to be lights in this dark world, and He had given us everything we need to do it. All we need to do is listen to His voice, and open our mouths to speak about the goodness of God and the salvation our Lord Jesus Christ offers.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Those Who Refresh Others Will be Refreshed”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

God Knows How to Rescue You

2 Peter 2:7-9; But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8; Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.  9; So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgement.  

Most of us wake up every day and go about our daily business without taking a thought for how God keeps our lives afloat without allowing hurt, harm or danger to come to us.  We certainly can't take the credit for it because there are always going to be too many balls in the air for us to juggle.  We send our kids off to school, hoping and praying they are safe and sound.  We get ourselves to and from work without blinking an eye.  Do you think it's all You? Uh-huh! It's all due to the grace and hand of God.

Take a look at the tumultuous times we are living in - there isn't a day that goes by that we don't hear about or read about some kind of tragedy, but thanks to our loving Heavenly Father, He's always got our backs. Even when we face circumstances that seem extremely painful, He's there to rescue us. 

Lot was tormented back in the Old Testament.  The Word describes in 2 Peter 2; that Lot was vexed all in his soul after witnessing wickedness on a daily basis.  Reading this lets me know that not much has changed in terms of what we deal with in the 21st century and what folks in the Bible faced. God made sure His hand of protection was with them. How much more will He do for us, especially since we have the indwelling Holy Spirit on the inside of us.  The Holy Spirit will lead, guide and direct you if you want him too.  

We have to remember that our Heavenly Father leaves nothing undone. He corrects us through His Word on where we're missing the mark.  He doesn't want His kids to suffer an be lonely, depressed, sad or without love in our life.  None of this would be God's desire for any of His children. We were made in His image for a reason. He wanted a family to love and protect. He didn't allow us to be born by mistake. Whatever situations in life has caused you discomfort or pain does not diminish the power you have because of the family you belong to. Which is the household of God.

Christians everywhere need to pray fervently so that the world can be a better place for us to live and have more fulfilling lives as God intended.  

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“God Knows How to Rescue You”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Rejoice in Your Inheritance

 Isaiah 61:7; Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance.  And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.

Not long ago, I remember reading about a woman who was going through some very hard times in her family.  She was newly divorced with three children and a mortgage she could barely afford. Her husband abandoned her for her best friend. Needless to say, the shame was overwhelming.  The looks of pity from her church community, constant I-told-you-so's from her family were pushing her to the brink of a mental and emotional breakdown. The only thing that kept her from living was the thought that she could never do to her children what her husband did to all of them.

Many women have gone through what this woman has. Abandonment from a man that was supposed to love, protect and provide. But instead, he broke your heart, left you and provided for someone else. I can't even imagine what the shame must've done to her spirit, not to mention the guilt many women feel when the man in their life leaves. But one thing Isaiah 61;7 lets us know, shame does not come from God nor does condemnation.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave his life so that we would be made righteous in him. But the devil wants God's children to feel as hopeless, fearful and shameful as possible, just to make it easy for us to doubt God's love for us. He works through people to trip us up and to get us off track. 

Matthew 11:28; Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Our Lord and Savior accomplished everything he needed to on the cross. He endured all the pain we could possibly ever experience. He doesn't want us to carry any unnecessary baggage needlessly, so he tells us to bring all of our cares, pain, disappointments, whatever it is that creates a path that leads us away from God's love. 

This woman found out that when her focus and trust was buried in the hands of another human being, brokenness was just a heartbeat away. God wants us to always keep our eyes on Him - for He's our everything. He knows what today will bring and He knows all of our tomorrows. There is nothing another human being can do to us that God can't deliver us through.

Deliverance didn't come overnight for her, it took some time but it came. Pain doesn't last always, nor do our seasons for lessons to be learned.  Just as quickly as seasons change, so can our circumstances. Nothing ever stays the same, we can thank our Heavenly Father for this truth. 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Rejoice in Your Inheritance ”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Love Proves Itself First

 1 John 4:7-11; Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  8; Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9; This is how God showed his love among us:  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  10; This is love: to that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as atoning sacrifice for our sins.  11; Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

In all the years we've been together, I've never heard my husband say he loves me.  

Do you believe God loves you - Do you feel HIs love for you, or are you not too sure about this aspect of your life? If love is not preset in your life, a vital part of yo life is missing because it is an essential part of a person's life.  God loves you and He wants you to know what love is about.

Love is more than an emotion.  It's a commitment and it's also a decision.  When you love someone, you can discern whether or not they truly love you.  It allows you to know deep down inside whether or not their love is genuine or not.  My grandmother would always say, love is not what you say but what you do. I completely agree with this, but it does something to the heart to hear it as well. God has given us this kind of an innate radar within.  One thing to remember if you don't realize it, love comes with a cost - it's not free.  Love will always demand something of us.

You have to walk the walk and talk the talk when you say you love someone.  It's a requirement that comes baked in the man and woman. Because if I tell you all day long that I love you but never show it, then my words don't mean anything, but if my actions are backed with action, then you have something to work with. Love looks for validation at some point and most people, whether they care to admit it or not, wants it.

Love comes with demands, some people are willing to forgo this because they don't have it within to stretch to that degree.  These are the kind of folk that will miss out on what life is all about. 

There is a man I've known for many years. As the old saying goes, "on paper, he has everything a woman would look for." But in reality, he's a walking wounded soul of a person. And his fear is what's behind the wheel of every decision he makes, especially when it pertains to relationships. He's been hurt in the past and he believes that if he allows himself to trust someone, they will have the ability to crush his heart and he's just not willing to take that kind of chance. So, he lives a quarantined life. No relationships, no problems, no hurt.

Genesis 1:1; God's creation was an act of love

Making the decision to love includes the everyday little things that you often do for someone.  Choosing love means allowing yourself to be loved. It is about the choice to be vulnerable. The other person will see the good, the bad, strengths and your weaknesses. When a person loves, there's a confidence within the relationship that enables a certain level of completeness emotionally.  However, you can never be under the illusion that feelings won't change. That's why choosing to love is so vital because there's action behind the emotion.

Deuteronomy 11:25; Look, today I am giving you the choice between a blessing and a curse! 27; You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today.  28; But you will be cursed if you reject the commands of the Lord your God and turn away from him and worship gods you have not known before.

We choose to love God by being obedient to His Word.  To love God is to live in freedom - and love will always cause you to think about the other person more than yourself.  The very act of falling in love with someone is a beautiful and generous feeling.    What greater gift can you give another human being, than to love unselfishly through and with the love of Jesus Christ.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Love Proves Itself First ”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2020. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.