Are You Fresh for Everything? --Oswald Chambers

(At the moment I truly let God into my heart, I was transformed...I thought I was already saved, but, it was unmistakable in that moment of my surrender. Someday maybe I'll share more. As I read Oswald's words, I can't help but challenge myself with the question, "Is Jesus still my first love?" I (we), don't need to prove anything to Him, He knows us better than we know ourselves. If He is my first love, however, I presume I will do the things I would with any lover. I would spend time with Him, getting up early, staying up late, talking with Him every chance I get. I would read His love letters...over and over again. I would right Him notes of my love for Him, about my day, what I was thinking, my worries, my fears, my joys and successes. I would pray for Him, with Him, and over Him and want Him to pray for me. I would try to know what He delights in so that I could do those things just to make Him smile. If He mentioned things about me that needed a little work, I would joyfully seek to grow and change as an act of love, not compulsion. My heart would be more for Him then it would be for myself...and that would make my heart full and happy and ever expanding. Oh to love Jesus like that every day. Is it possible? YES!!! And I hope you and I experience the freshness of that experience this day, tomorrow and the next...until our dying breath...and then beyond!!! Being born again happens in an instant, the flash of a moment in time, and yet, it is ongoing and daily, every morning, day and night! MH)

Are You Fresh for Everything?

Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." JOHN 3:3

Sometimes we are fresh and eager to attend a prayer meeting, but do we feel that same freshness for such mundane tasks as polishing shoes?

Being born again by the Spirit is an unmistakable work of God, as mysterious as the wind, and as surprising as God Himself. We don’t know where it begins— it is hidden away in the depths of our soul. Being born again from above is an enduring, perpetual, and eternal beginning. It provides a freshness all the time in thinking, talking, and living— a continual surprise of the life of God. Staleness is an indication that something in our lives is out of step with God. We say to ourselves, “I have to do this thing or it will never get done.” That is the first sign of staleness. Do we feel fresh this very moment or are we stale, frantically searching our minds for something to do? Freshness is not the result of obedience; it comes from the Holy Spirit. Obedience keeps us “in the light as He is in the light…” (1 John 1:7).

Jealously guard your relationship with God. Jesus prayed “that they may be one just as We are one” — with nothing in between (John 17:22). Keep your whole life continually open to Jesus Christ. Don’t pretend to be open with Him. Are you drawing your life from any source other than God Himself? If you are depending on something else as your source of freshness and strength, you will not realize when His power is gone.

Being born of the Spirit means much more than we usually think. It gives us new vision and keeps us absolutely fresh for everything through the never–ending supply of the life of God.

--Oswald Chambers