How Do You Use Your Words?

DIGGING DEEPER         05/18/2015   SPEAK LIFE         A BREATH OF REFRESHING AIR by Jeff Schreve For I have come to have much joy and comfort in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you, brother. Philemon 1:7 Have you noticed how many people are walking around stressed, depressed and burdened down? Lots of folks you and I rub shoulders with every day are facing the turmoil of rumored lay-offs, dreaded disease, marital problems, blended family strife, financial hardship, spiritual doubts, emotional disillusionment, and the list goes on. No one ever said life was easy, because it certainly isn't. And many are cracking under the weight of it. Maybe you are reading this thinking, "Pastor Jeff just described me. I am so stressed and burdened right now... and I don't know what to do." Well, Jesus gives a great invitation to those of us who are worried, worn out and beaten down: "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28 The Greek word for rest, "anapauo" is the same word translated as "refreshed" in Philemon 1:7 . Interesting. You see, the Lord wants to give you rest from your weariness and He wants to refresh your soul and give you a new lease on life. He is truly a wonderful Savior.       Give me a word for the weary     PARTNERING WITH JESUS In addition, the Lord wants to use you as an ambassador of rest and refreshment to weary, worried souls. He wants to lift your spirits so you can lift the spirits of others. Philemon was a person like that. He had been saved and changed by God's amazing grace. The Holy Spirit was at work within him, and all could tell. Paul had great love and admiration for Philemon because everywhere he went, he was refreshing and encouraging heavy hearts. He was letting the Lord shine through him and was making such a difference as he cast his own burden on the Lord and partnered with Jesus to lift the burdens of others. HOW ABOUT YOU? Are you like Philemon? Do you cast your burdens on Jesus and let Him use you to help unburden others? You would be amazed at the impact you could have if you would simply ask God to make you sensitive to the hurts and cares of people and the opportunity you have to refresh their hearts with a word of hope and compassion. Isaiah 50:4 says, The Lord God has given me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. Recently, my wife talked to a friend who is going through terrible, ongoing bouts with vertigo. God gave Debbie a word to give to her and it made such a difference. After talking to Debbie for a few minutes, she really did feel encouraged and refreshed in her faith. How cool is that? Will you pray, "God, please give me a sensitivity to see burdened people as You see them. Give me a word for the weary one that would encourage, refresh and bring renewed hope to that discouraged soul. I want to be a breath of refreshing air. Use me, Jesus, to make a difference today."     By Jeff Schreve         K-LOVE - 5700 West Oaks Blvd. Rocklin, CA 95765 - (800) 525-LOVE (5683)     FACEBOOK     TWITTER     YOUTUBE     LISTEN ONLINE     FAQS       We hope you found this message to be useful. This email was sent as part of your membership at Educational Media Foundation, the parent company of K-LOVE Radio. Your email address is not sold to or shared with a third party. We sometimes use third parties to fulfill services for us, like email sending or music survey tests. In those cases they will have access to your information for the strict purpose of fulfilling their tasks. 5700 West Oaks Blvd., Rocklin, CA 95765 This email was sent to you at: lisatim93.labellabling@blogger.com Click here if you wish to Unsubscribe or click here to Edit your profile.