The Refreshing

God’s Spirit is refreshing my weary heart

Like a wind on a still, airless day

Like cool perfect water after a dry, parched time

Like the perfect new glasses when you haven’t seen clearly for so long

Like the sound of new birds tweeting in their nest when you have made it through the winter

Like life where there was death

Like hope where there was despair

Overflowing refreshing

c2023 Lisa Lyons

“I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.” – Jeremiah 31:25

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth….you know him, for He lives with you and will be in you….the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” – John 14:16, 17, 26

Thankful Thursday

My soul agrees and resonates with the joy in this song. The moment where I knew that Jesus forgave all my sins and set me free was profound. I cried many tears of relief, gratitude, love. Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Katy Nichole, “Jesus Changed My Life”, 2023

If you are weighed down by guilt, remorse, anxiety, lay it down at the cross. You can start again. Blessings, Lisa

Jesus came, Jesus comes, Jesus is coming

When I was sinking down with grief, the weight of regret heavy

When I was wandering in darkness, stretching for the light

But thinking the distance was too far

Jesus came, forgave

When I am weary, no strength to find

When I am wondering how we all will survive

Thinking the world is too far gone

Jesus comes, strengthens, reminds

When He knows that the time has come

When He summons His beloveds home

When He appears and the heavens rejoice

Jesus is coming, is redeeming, is forever with us.

c2023 Lisa Lyons

Hallelujah! What a Savior.

Blessings, Lisa

Postscript: If you need to know Jesus, find forgiveness, no matter what, read the Bible, start with the book of John. He is there. He will make Himself known to you, and your empty places will be filled. Write to me if you need help in locating a Bible.

Not Just An Old Stick

When my dear Nannie was in her 90s, she would call herself an “old stick.” We would always lovingly tell her that she was definitely not an old stick and that she was beautiful. That God still had a purpose for her. We talked a lot about how she could pray for people. That she had the time and the heart to do so. And I know she did. Nannie loved her God, loved her church, and loved her family. And so she prayed to her heavenly Father as she sat in her chair. She was a fruitful, beautiful branch attached to the Vine.

Sometimes I feel hopeless in many situations. What can I do? What can possibly help? The only thing that can help many times is prayer. Turning that person or situation over to Jesus our Shepherd.

When you don’t know what to do, pray. If you don’t know God, pray. Ask Him to show you that He is real. He will.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

Blessings, Lisa

The Wonder and Comfort of Truth

The time has come to choose. The time for sitting comfortably neutral is long over.

Good vs. evil. Right vs. wrong. God vs. Satan. Heaven vs. Hell.

I think we can all feel it. There is a battle raging.

The students at Asbury College are feeling it. They have had a nonstop prayer service since their last Wednesday chapel service. Revival. Choosing God, choosing peace, choosing repentance. Students tired of the evil, seeking the comfort and Truth of God’s Holy Spirit. And He is there.

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/february-web-only/asbury-revival-1970-2023-methodist-christian-holy-spirit.html

The news reports are a far cry from the peace of that chapel. Crime, perversion, sin are overwhelming and sickening. The wrong is being forced for mass consumption. The days are far from Walter Cronkite, from protecting the innocence of our children.

Think back to when you were young. Maybe you lay beneath a tree in the soft grass and looked with wonder at the leaves above you. Maybe you flew high on a swing and felt as if you could fly up into the heavens. Maybe you looked at the clouds in awe and made pictures in your imagination. Maybe you swam in the sea and felt the waves and the sand and the wind. Good things, God things, that filled you with wonder and truth and innocence.

Choose God. Choose Jesus. Choose a future that is good and peaceful and eternal.

Blessings, Lisa

*Photo credit – Lee Grady