Devotions

How does God’s refreshing affect our lives in practical ways?

REFRESHING OF OUR CIRCUMSTANCES

When God refreshes our circumstances, He changes old patterns that may involve our marriage, our finances, our work. He may expose unhealthy spending patterns and convict us to change them. He may even lead us to seek financial counseling that can help us replace bad patterns and teach us to be wise stewards.

He may want to disrupt old patterns in our marriage, patterns that keep us stuck in unloving ways. Our Father is ready to refresh us with abundant grace every time we need it. This kind of refreshing deals with our circumstances.

CORE REFRESHING

Then we have core refreshing — refreshing that goes beyond our circumstances to renew our souls, our lives, our inner being. This kind of refreshing flows not just into us but out of us. It fills us with joy for our marriage; for tithing and giving freely; for facing difficult relationships with hope and courage and energy.

In short, core refreshing causes us to anticipate every moment of life with Jesus. It stirs in us a heart that says, “I’m fully alive, not dreading the day. I’m thrilled to follow You, Jesus. You have made me bold, not fearful. Let me use this vast overflow of life for You!”

BRING IT ALL TO HIM

What is flowing out of you right now? Unbelief, grumbling, fear? Or faith, hope and love? Just as He did at the festival in Jerusalem, Jesus shouts to you to bring Him your unbelief, your bitterness, and your fear. He wants to replace it with contentment and contagiousness, to move you from emptiness to fullness.

He has promised, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart’” (John 7:37-38, NLT).

I wish you could experience the miracle that our family has experienced.  I wish you could feel the difference between how we live now and how we lived during the days of my youth. Today I love my brothers and sister with a passion. There’s nothing I’d rather do than to sit around and laugh and talk and cry with my family.

LITTLE NICKY, BIG NICKY

The times that I get to travel back to Puerto Rico and visit are some of my most precious memories. When I go home I’m no longer Nicky Cruz the evangelist or speaker. To my older brothers I’m “little Nicky” and to my younger ones I’m “big Nicky”—just one of the family. 

But we were not always so happy and carefree and loving. In my family we have a lot of pain in our past, yet none of us harbors feelings of resentment. When Jesus came into our lives, He brought with Him an explosion of love, mercy and forgiveness. No one holds a grudge. We hold nothing but love in our hearts among us. We don’t spend any time in regret; we just rejoice in the Jesus we know today—in the future He brings to us all.

ERASING THE PAIN

Jesus can do for the human heart what no one else can do. When He comes to live in your heart, He does more than forgive you, He leaves behind supernatural seeds of forgiveness that will not only erase the sin but erase the pain that sin has brought. Not only can these seeds heal our hearts, they can heal our relationships. They can spread through every hurt of our past and undo it.

I could never thank Jesus enough for what He has done for our family. For the forgiveness and mercy and grace that He brought, bringing us back together again.

And He can do the same for anyone. For any family. Even yours, if that’s what you need!

Nicky Cruz, internationally known evangelist and prolific author, turned to Jesus Christ from a life of violence and crime after meeting David Wilkerson in New York City in 1958. The story of his dramatic conversion was told first in The Cross and the Switchblade by David Wilkerson and then later in his own best-selling book Run, Baby, Run. 

Peter was surely a godly man, and through him the Holy Spirit shows us exactly what God says about how to face these last days. Peter is telling us very clearly, “Here is your most important preparation: Get your heart ready. If this matter isn’t dealt with, all other preparations are in vain. Stay on your knees. And above all else, practice unceasing mercy and love toward your brothers and sisters. Forgive and cover their sins.”

COVER THE SINS OF OTHERS

We are commanded to “cover” those sins committed against us — meaning, we are not to expose the sins of others.

“Charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

Who has hurt or wounded you? Who has spread gossip about you? According to Jesus, if you do not forgive and cover that sin, you are like the man who was forgiven a great debt but later choked a man who owed him a few dollars.

“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (4:10).

FILLED WITH JOY DURING TURMOIL

The truth is, Peter’s message here has everything to do with the future of the Church of Jesus Christ. You see, God is preparing His Church for a latter-day outpouring of His Spirit. According to the prophets, the Holy Spirit will come in a great wave upon the earth, filling God’s people with joy when the world is in upheaval. This won’t happen, however, where people hold grudges and wounds are left unresolved.

THE QUESTION: Do you want to be ready for what’s coming? Do you want to be fully prepared when all things are being shaken?

THE ANSWER: Then make sure you have nothing in your heart that hinders the flow of God’s Spirit.

Something wonderful is just ahead so make sure you are not left out of it!

Right now, many Christians are in panic mode. People who have testified all their lives that God is their keeper are now scrambling in fear as the storm clouds gather over us. Peter has something very simple to say to them, “Bring all your natural feelings under the control of faith.”

Next, Peter tells us to bring everything to God in prayer: “Watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7). Only by seeking the Lord will we be able to control our anxieties about the times. According to Peter, the blacker things become the more we should walk in the peace and rest of the Holy Spirit.

AVOIDING PANIC MODE

Right now the secular world is desperate to find calm in the chaos. According to The Wall Street Journal, corporate leaders and others in high-stress jobs are turning to yoga, mantras, Chinese chants, meditation. But as Christians, our God promises to keep us in perfect peace if we will fix our minds on Christ above anything happening in the world.

Peter tells us we should be concerned with one thing above all others in these times. Let’s look at the final exhortation of this dying apostle:

“Above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).

REACH OUT WITH MERCY

Peter’s summation is, “If you want to know what survival is all about — how God is leading His people through these times — then show unconditional love to your brothers and sisters. That has everything to do with the future of the Church of Christ.”

According to Peter, here is our most important concern. In light of the great mercy God has shown each of us — in light of His unconditional forgiveness toward our past sins, His compassionate longsuffering toward us — we are to reach out with mercy to those who have sinned against us. And we are to forgive them as if they had never committed those sins.

As Christians, we believe God’s Word about the times to come and we receive Spirit-directed warnings from God’s holy watchmen. Indeed, we see the handwriting on the wall.

An important question arises for many Christians today: “How do we prepare for the tumultuous events to come?”

SURVIVING FRIGHTFUL TIMES

I think it is normal to want to know how we’ll survive the frightful times to come. When the storm hits, destroying all roots of recovery, what will we do about jobs, housing, food, clothing?

Believers in Peter’s day most certainly had questions, as well. In his message about the end times, he focuses not on having our needs met but on the importance of preparing our hearts.

“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?” (2 Peter 3:11).

In the face of all that is to come, Peter zeros in on character issues!

The apostle is asking us, in essence, “What is in your heart in these last days? Who are you becoming as the end times approach? You already know God will take care of your physical needs but are you preparing yourself spiritually?”

BASIC INSTRUCTIONS

Peter echoes Jesus’ words (see Matthew 6:31-32) when he says, “The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer” (1 Peter 4:7).

In short, he is giving us basic instructions for preparing for the end times:

• Be sober-minded.
• Stay calm, no matter what happens.
• There is no need to panic.
• Take it all to prayer.