Getting Refueled

 "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35-36).

How do you get refueled? When our cars run low on fuel, we simply drop by the local filling station to get more fuel. When our bodies are hungry, we feed them. How do we refuel our spiritual lives? We can learn from the example Jesus modeled in His life.

In the New Testament we see that Jesus had a very demanding schedule. He traveled from town to town, often walking many miles between the towns. He spent a lot of time with people. As a speaker and teacher I can tell you that it is very draining to minister for extended periods. Your body and your spirit becomes fatigued.

The day before the above scripture was recorded, Jesus had a full day of ministry healing the sick, delivering people from demons and walking to different cities (Mark 1:29-37). The following day it says Jesus got up before the sun rose and went to pray. The disciples were wondering where He was.

How God Works Behind the Scenes to Position You for Miracles

SANDRA CLIFTON, D. MIN.

 

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(© Ctpaul / StockFreeImages.com)

“Wait, wait—look!” I exclaimed to my husband, Terry, on our morning walk. “Where did that come from?”

There, before our eyes was a flower, purple and pink with long soft petals. After a particularly long, cold winter, the flower was a miraculous reminder of spring!

But there was something else even more amazing than the first spring flower emerging after winter. This extraordinary, colorful flower had pushed through the least likely place—a dirty, ragged crack to the side of the cement sidewalk.

Snug and secure out of the flow of foot traffic, it looked as though this tiny flower had been placed there by a loving hand, for a reason—to simply grow and blossom, despite all odds.

Come to the End of Yourself

by Rick Warren

“It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT)

Life is a struggle, but what most people don’t realize is that our struggle, like Jacob’s, is really with God! We want to be God, and there’s no way we’re going to win that struggle. But we try anyway.

A.W. Tozer said, "The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us."

We aren’t God, and we never will be. We’re humans, and the times when we try to be God are the times we end up most like Satan, who tried to be equal with God, too.

We accept our humanity intellectually but not emotionally. We give mental assent to the idea, but when faced with our own limitations, we react with irritation, anger, and resentment. We want to be taller (or shorter), smarter, stronger, more talented, beautiful, and wealthy.