Thanks to all the
subscribers to this “Serving and Sharing” blog who responded to my question! I
asked, “How can we avoid – or recover from – a stale, dry, and weak spiritual
life? What works for you that may help others of us? What does the Word of God
tell us about refreshment? I’d like your ideas for ways that Christians might
refresh their faith or even prevent it from becoming stale.”
Jesus often slipped
away to the mountain to pray alone, and He instructed His disciples to “Come
away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while” (Mk 1:35; Lk 5:15-16; 6:12;
22:39-46; Mk 6:30-32).
The video of the sermon
I presented after hearing from you is available here:
Refreshing Your Faith - Cory Collins
Though I did not have
time to share all the responses in that message, all of them are included in two
posts, this one and the previous one with the same title. I have edited several,
partly for clarity and partly for anonymity.
•
Service to others.
• Vacation
with family taking time to rest, read, pray and refocus. Also going
somewhere quite to fish, pray and refocus.
• For
me it takes praise songs and sharing in small groups.
•
Fellowship with
Christian friends (there is so much “out there” to keep your eyes off God). ---
Bible study - every time you see something you have not noticed before or maybe
thought of it in a different way. Man has not changed since the beginning
of time and evil is all around us in such subtle ways (TV programs,
advertisements, movies, newspapers and newscasters, modern novels and yes,
schools) We are being told the Bible is no longer relevant and whatever
makes you happy is ok and that God loves us. Yes, God loves us, but He is
not going to put up with unrepented sin. Even some churches here have gay
couples worshiping with the congregation. Young people are living
together without marriage, not attending worship and not bringing their
children to worship. Churches do not want to “step on toes”, not be “politically
correct” and have the Word of God as written in the Bible preached to
them. People want “feel good” sermons. Sin has no stigma in our
world. What will be for the future of our children, grandchildren and
great grandchildren. We can only pray, pray and pray. God is in
control and we can only trust in Him and his Word.
• We
attend Polishing the Pulpit in August, spend a couple weeks in the summer
door knocking, go on foreign mission trips, go to singings and work VBS. Just
trying to attend each service with Christians keeps us going. Don’t know
if this will help! Hope so! My most difficult part is maintaining
the discipline to study every day! Any ideas for that??? I will do
great for a week or two, then miss days!!!
• I
try to pray and meditate through trying times in a quiet, peaceful environment
when possible, even if it is just sitting on the back porch listening to the
sounds of nature and enjoying the beauty of the handiwork of God. Regardless of
how doubtful I may become at times, I always reflect back on how fortunate and
blessed I am and when things seem really down, I try and put myself in someone
else’s place and that helps put things back in perspective. My Granddad, who
was uneducated and worked hard as an auto mechanic, used to always tell me, “Son,
you think you have it bad.........well, just look around yourself long enough,
and you’ll realize just how blessed you truly are.”
• I
pray, I act, and I pray and give thanks. I ask my wife what we should be
thankful for. It never gets old. It never gets stale. I talk to faithful
people. They share their secrets for great marriages, financial maturity, and
spiritual maturity.
• Use
the words of a hymn as an outline for prayer and thanks. I was looking at the
words by Wm Mackay, who gave us the hymn, “Revive Us Again.” He praised the
Lord for: The Son of Thy Love, The Spirit of Light, The God of all Grace ...
then concluded with the prayer: Revive Us Again; fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above. Hallelujah! Thine the glory; Hallelujah!
Amen! Revive us again.
• I
refresh my faith through devotionals using the Bible app, I sometimes make
weekly plans to have prayer at the same time daily and going to conferences has
helped to refresh or restart my spiritual journey.
• 1)
Having a meaningful ministry to be involved in and/or look forward to. For me, it’s my writing and teaching Ladies’
Bible Class at _______ and occasionally speaking for ladies’ retreats,
etc. For [my husband], it’s his teaching
in the schools throughout the world, knowing he’s contributing to the training
of preachers and building the kingdom; also, he’s teaching a regular class on
Wed. evenings at ______. He also stays
energized by the correspondence with teachers he works with via the phone and
with those throughout the world via email. 2) Thinking back over our
life/ministry and remembering the challenging situations God has brought us
through as well as being extremely thankful for the amazing work He has brought
us to be able to do in His kingdom. We
both think gratitude to Him and giving Him the glory for whatever has been
accomplished through us keeps us from being too self-centered, which can definitely
hurt our faith. So, we try to remain God
centered--astonished many times at what He has allowed us to do when we think
about where we came from, etc.
• I
am a preacher/teacher, and I have a friend who is a preacher/teacher.
When I discover something interesting in my Bible study, I just stop by his
office and we talk about it. We both find that enjoyable, and in sharing
our perspectives, it helps our scholarship.
• My
best resource is the people around me. Two of the elders and I fish
together on a regular basis. I can spend a day on the water with them and
come home physically tired — but spiritually refreshed.
• Simple
things. Visiting the sick and shut in. Having INFORMAL breakfast, lunch or
dinner with the Brethren. Surprise text of encouragement. Brother or sister
emailing a Biblical question and seeking wisdom. Men and Lady teacher sharing
lesson plans and ideas. Getting into a disagreement and the reconciling
together. Simple things. Makes me feel like we are progressive and “forward
planning”. Looking towards Heaven in our actions of UNITY.
•
Going to church and
hearing your sermons. I am reading a devotional book that refreshes my
faith. I wake up every morning knowing Jesus saved my life during my surgery.
• You
know, God is right all the time. Romans 10:17! When my faith
wavers, I know I have not been in His word as I should. So, I have to
dedicate time and effort to get back into studying my Bible. It really is
that simple for me.
• As
you may well imagine, each of us is going to find different ways to renew our
Spiritual Energy and Vigor, using the talents and skills the Lord has seen fit
to give to use to His Glory, helping the lost to find Salvation, and sustaining
us in a world of temptation and darkness. --- As you know, for the past
7+ years I have been blessed to have an avenue to extend my Lord’s Day morning
worship by bringing a full service to the residents of a senior living facility.
I can tell you, even when I was facing my serious medical issues over the past
1 ½ years, when I stood before them on Sunday at 12:30, the Lord sent down a
burst of energy and power that enabled me to preach His word, Lead Songs
praising His name, and offer prayers on behalf of those attending our worship.
This opportunity to refresh my Spiritual being has been expanded through God’s
power, by being able to tach a bible class every Thursday morning at the
Conservatory as well. --- Words do not express how much better I felt, in the
midst of my illness, seeing the residents’ smiles, watching the tears flow down
their cheeks because God’s word touched their souls, feeling their hugs and
hearing their words of Love expressed at the end of the service and bible
class. It was as if I am plugged in to a Giant Heavenly Battery that gives me
all I needed to make it through. --- Much like the closing verses of Romans 15,
the church at Keller and those who are saints at the facility, enable me to
find new energy and strength every time we are together to carry on in His
service preaching the Gospel even though many times it is to those who do not
believe, or even oppose the word, that we can all enjoy mutual refreshing and
enjoy God’s peace because we have done what we have done according to His will.
• One
way is to do something that I am somewhat fearful of. For example, the first
time I went to ______ Prison to teach, I had some reservations and anxiety.
But, I said, “ I had rather die trying to do what I should than to face God
having not even tried.” Now I look forward to going, and say, “I tried my best.”
• Perhaps
one of the most noticeable things that refreshes my faith is fellowshipping
with like-minded Christians. Spending time with, talking with, hearing good
brothers and sisters own passion for the Lord or even their struggles ignites a
deeper concern for the work I’m involved in. We need the brethren’s
encouragement and that is certainly one effective way that helps my faith feel
refreshed.
• As
for ‘refreshing’ our faith...I meditate on the faithfulness of God to His
promises. I recall the apostle’s words that ‘while we were enemies...while we
were sinners’ Christ died for me. I read the psalms and listen to people like
David express their frustrations in life yet manage to hold on to their faith
as they remember God’s faithfulness. I look at the congregation around me and I
see so many people suffering in ways I can only imagine and I see their faith,
their perseverance, their determination to make it through another day. It is
humbling.
• When
my faith weakens, I try to recall the many ways God has blessed us thru the
years. When God seems to ignore my cry for mercy, He opens a door I did not
know was there. These stories have happened many times in my 75 years. He is
faithful to those who love and obey Him.
