Devil Winds and Times of Refreshing

Devil Winds and Times of Refreshing

Acts 3:19-20 – “[19] Repent . . . [20] that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord . . . .” (ESV).

Santa Ana winds, sometimes called “devil winds,” have been blowing through our area of Orange County, sucking the moisture out of everything. The winds originate in the Mojave Desert and blow toward the coast, reversing the normal wind pattern. Nose, throat, skin, ground, vegetation, everything is dried out and bakes under an intense sun, usually sending temperatures to their highest point of the year – 98 degrees today, May 1, 2014.

It was too hot to prayer walk around the neighborhood, so I went to the beach to walk along the water, hoping to recover enough moisture in the air to make a five mile walk tolerable. Even close proximity to the beach was not enough to escape the effect of the devil winds. However, once my feet hit the wet sand and the water lapped at my feet and ankles, my entire body cooled and I was refreshed. The air above the wet sand and lapping water was moist and easy to breath. There was true refreshment. I could walk and pray freely. I love being refreshed! I don’t like being hot and miserable.

Acts 3:19-21, and especially the “times of refreshing” words, reverberated in my mind as I walked and prayed. There are three promises that are given for repentance by Peter in those verses: (1) forgiveness of sins, (2) refreshment from the intimate presence of the Lord, and (3) the eagerness for the return of Jesus to remove the curse and restore all beauty and holiness to the world.

The land without repentance is a land of devil winds, void of refreshment. In that land, all the things that promise satisfaction and refreshment end up dehydrating the soul, much like salt water to a thirsty sailor.

In Ezekiel 36, God goes back and forth between the devastation on the land of His unrepentant people, and the future blessing that will come on the land when He vindicates His holiness before the nations and places His Spirit within them so that they will walk in His ways and their land will be blessed. Ezekiel 37 then illustrates both the desolation that resulted from sin and the new life that comes through the Spirit. In a valley of dry, dry bones, where there is no moisture and everything is exceedingly dry, the Lord God will cause breath/spirit to enter those bones and they will come together and be covered with living flesh and come alive through His Spirit within them. God’s promise is to Israel, but He will also do this for all who repent of their sins and trust Him completely, as Peter preached in Acts 3.

1 John 1:9 says that when we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness – from everything that dries us up and makes us spiritually ugly. In that cleansing, “our joy [becomes] complete.” 1 John 1:4.

So, as I walked, I considered the refreshment that God will bring to a repentant city, to a repentant county, to a repentant state, to a repentant nation. Repentance means to reverse direction, to walk God’s way instead of my way. We do that best when we are immersing ourselves in the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to illumine the truth of the Word so that we understand how to live and, more than anything else, how to know and love Jesus, from Whom flows the waters of life that are necessary for our life and for the healing of the nations. See John 4:10-14, 6:35, 7:37-39; Rev. 22:1-3; Ezek. 47:1-12.

I love times of refreshing, which only come as we immerse in the water of life through time in the presence of Jesus. Unlike the ocean, which requires us to visit it for refreshment, we can take the refreshment that comes from Jesus with us wherever we go in the parched, barren land. We can offer living water to thirsty people, people who desperately need refreshed in the presence of Jesus.

Everyone wants refreshed by Jesus. No one on the planet appears to view Jesus as a scoundrel. Not even the enemies of Christians view Jesus as their enemy. However, most people want refreshed on their terms. They want to continue to control their own lives, living according to their own desires, with Jesus as a non-judgmental friend. They have no intention of repenting, because repentance costs them control.

Refreshment doesn’t come from wanting refreshment, but from repentance, from turning from my way toward Jesus’ way. Many people profess to “honor” Jesus, but they aren’t willing to repent and obey Jesus. As good as Jesus may be to them, they don’t see Him as the eternal Son of God who alone can give them refreshment through repentance. They don’t see Him as worthy of a surrendered life, as the One before Whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is LORD. (Phil. 2:9-11.)

Repentance requires surrender and submission to Jesus’ authority. We can’t want forgiveness, but continue to habitually do the things for which forgiveness is needed. Habitual sin dies hard, but Jesus is just and faithful to cleanse us and remake us in His image as we repent and cultivate the intimacy needed for refreshment.

Refreshed people stand out in a barren, parched land. One of the amazing things about watching Roger Federer play tennis is that he never seems to have to work as hard, or generate as much sweat, as the other players. He comes across cool and classy most of the time, no matter how long and difficult the tennis match.

The same is true for those refreshed by their time with Jesus. They stand out in a thirsty world. People want to know the reason for the joyful hope of refreshed people (1 Pet. 3:15).

My prayer today is that more people would find the joy and refreshment of a life surrendered to the authority of, and intimacy with, Jesus Christ. May others also find refreshment through studying the Word of truth, praying by the power of the Holy Spirit, living in fellowship with the saints, sharing the joy of the salvation granted to us through Jesus, explaining our hope, and living by faith in the promises of God. May we take that refreshment into a hot and barren world, offering the water of life to all who are thirsty.