Times of Refreshing: 7 Days in Acts 3:19نموونە

A U-Turn To His Embrace

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles…

Isaiah 40:31

I don’t know about you, but the ability to soar upon the wind sounds refreshing and exhilarating! So let’s continue looking at Acts 3:19 to experience times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.

Yesterday, we learned that repentance is a genuine renewal in our minds and making a U-turn from thinking and doing life in our brokenness and turning 180 degrees to go the Lord’s abundant and extraordinary pathway of thinking and living.

Peter reiterates this turning by punctuating the phrase repent therefore and be converted. Let’s look at our highlighted word:

Epistrepho Greek–Meaning: To turn, be turned toward, and embrace something

Think about it. Many of us tend to make it so difficult to live the Christian life.

Personally, I lived decades loving Jesus but feeling like I failed Him every day and rarely living in the refreshing breath through the Holy Spirit. Even though I loved and carefully studied God’s Word, I still believed a lie that it was up to me to get it right. You, too?

However, God’s Word was telling me to simply turn to Jesus. Exchange my thoughts for the truth of God’s Word at face value, and then turn and embrace Him. And those times when I don’t have the strength to make an exchange of my thoughts for His, I still turn to Him. His power and grace are sufficient to bring healing and deliverance to my mind.

That’s when His life transformation in my life happened. He does the transforming work, not me, because I can’t.

That’s where soaring with eagles comes into play. To wait on the Lord in the original Old Testament Hebrew in today’s opening verse is Qavah, meaning to wait for, look for, expect, and hope. It also means gathering together, binding, adhering to, and embracing.

This is the refreshing power of conversion. We simply run to Jesus’ arms. Consider that as being so bound up and in love with Him that His presence becomes our oxygen, and His very heartbeat becomes ours.