Times of Refreshing!

Acts 3:19 "so repent that your sins might be erased, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

Times of refreshing---times of recovery and being revived, impartations of new energy and strength, times where we are filled up again, restored, and renewed. We all want this---rain when we're dry, money when there's need, rest when we're weary, strength when we're weak. Sometimes I dream of a place where it is all about refreshment of my body, soul and spirit, a place where all the cares are left behind and all at hand is focused on restoring and renewing. But you know what? That place is a Person---the place of His Presence. It's awesome how His Presence is a real place we can get to and hang out. And the cool thing is we can do it anywhere at anytime.
This scripture says that having our sins erased through repenting is the way to the refreshment our souls need. Repentance is the road to a pure heart and Jesus said blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God. They will see Him in the place of His presence, they will see Him in their brothers and sisters in Christ, and they will see Him in circumstance and situations. Purity keeps our eyesight clear to see God, but purity can only be maintained by an act of our will. Remember our will puts our decisions into action. Making a choice is impotent unless the will causes the working out of the choice to actually produce something. We can think we are repenting b/c our words say so, but unless our will kicks in with the fruit of an action that is noticeable, true repentance must be called into question. True repentance will produce fruit and it is this fruit that the enemy wants to stop. If he can get us to make decisions without any backup of action, he can get us to convince ourselves we are doing something productive when all we are doing is spinning our wheels. Being a doer of the Word and not merely a hearer is an instruction given to us for a reason. Satan uses our fallen nature along with whatever demonic strongholds that have attached themselves to our bad attitudes’, or woundings’. He then entices us to just do enough to make us feel like we are making progress when in fact we are not. The enemy doesn't mind if we think we are doing something, just as long as he keeps us ineffective. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man/woman wields much power and it is this power the devil is afraid of. So what happens? The enemy lulls us into a false sense of security because we say the right words the right way, but all the time our actions tell the real truth of where our hearts are. God calls us to a lifestyle of repentance to maintain a purity that can see God and bear the fruit of His Spirit. If you wonder if you have really repented of something, just look at the results---fruit never lies. Where there is fruit, there is a root, and if you have repented of an issue, you change your mind and turn away from it, so the fruit will be evident to all. If you are just saying the words of repentance and still do the same things over and over, then true repentance has not been attained. What do we do, condemn ourselves, or just say forget it, this is just too hard? No, we fight the good fight of faith. We FIGHT! What makes us think it's gonna be easy to serve God and kill our flesh? it is a fight to the death---our death! The refreshment, restoration, and all the feel good stuff God wants to give us He will give to us, but we need to remember that repentance precedes refreshment. God is a wonderfully generous God and He has great joy in bringing restoration and reviving His children! He wants to do this for us---but His hands are tied if we cannot repent of the things He has revealed to us that need weeding out. Repenting is basically that----weeding the gardens of our lives. You can fertilize all you want with positive things, but if you do not couple that with weeding out the things that hinder us, then we become like the parable of the sower--and the weeds grew up and choked out the good seed and produced nothing. Let’s allow God to show us the weeds in our lives, and then use our wills to walk out the repentance that will lead us to the refreshment of His presence! V