Refresh One Another — Episode 3: Refreshed by Participation

Series: Refresh One Another
Podcast: Quiet Time Coaching

Would you like to learn more about how to be refreshed, and how to refresh others? That's what this series is all about.

I'm Malcolm Cox, and this is Quiet Time Coaching, a devotional podcast. Today we're finishing our series, Refresh One Another, based on the Bible's "one another" commands and promises.

This is Episode 3: Refreshed by Participation.

Episode 3: Participate, Don't Just Congregate

We've seen that Jesus is the one who truly refreshes us, and that one of the main ways he does that is through other individual Christians.

But here's something I've noticed, both in my own life and in the lives of others. We can be around church without really opening ourselves to what the Holy Spirit wants to do through the church as a body.

Is it possible to come along each week, enjoy being with God's people, and yet stay on the edge? I think many of us have done that at one time or another. I know I have. How does that feel? Do you leave refreshed? Most often, not.

Jesus has something better in mind. He invites us not only congregate, but to participate.

There's a difference between being present in the room and being engaged with the people God has placed around us. We can experience the event without really experiencing refreshment. We can have Christian friends without allowing those relationships to become channels of God's grace.

As Jeremy Linneman puts it in his book Why do we feel lonely at church?:

"True belonging is being fully known and fully loved—by God and by your community."

As we grow in Christ, the Holy Spirit wants to shape us into people who notice others, who pray for them, encourage them, listen to them, and allow them to do the same for us.

Perhaps that's a good prayer for today:

"Lord, open my eyes. Help me notice someone who needs encouragement. Show me how I can be part of the refreshing work you're already doing."

The apostle John is blunt on the matter. If we don't love the brother or sister we can see, how can we claim to love the God we cannot see? (1 John 4.19-21). One of the ways our love for God becomes visible is in the way we care for the people he has put right in front of us.

And if you're the one who needs refreshing today, don't carry that burden alone. Ask God for help. Ask him to show you someone you can talk and pray with. Very often the refreshment we're longing for comes through the people Christ has already placed in our lives.

Let's not settle for simply attending. Let's ask the Spirit to help us participate in what he's doing. As we do, we'll discover not only the joy of refreshing others, but that God refreshes us as well.

Reflection Questions:

Am I participating in the life of my congregation, or mostly attending? What's one small step I could take this week?
Who might God be prompting me to encourage, pray for, or spend time with?
If I need refreshing myself, who could I ask to pray with me this week?

If you have any questions or feedback, please contact me at malcolm@malcolmcox.org.

Many thanks for listening. May we be among those whose hearts are refreshed by Christ, and who refresh the hearts of others.

Take care, and God bless.

Malcolm