Before God initiates any change or personal transformation in us He will, first, refresh us. In fact, our first encounter with God is a renewing and refreshing encounter. This is an amazing fact that is seen throughout the history of God's relationship with those who call on Him.
The book of Acts opens with the instruction to the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit would "come upon them". These were the same people who had either betrayed Jesus or kept their distance from Him when He needed them most. They had failed God and their Messiah. Yet, when the Holy Spirit anointing did come on them they were not greeted with shame and rejection, nor were any performance demands made of them. Instead, the Spirit simply filled them with joy, with spiritual power, and with a divine understanding of God's plan for their lives. All of this in the first encounter!
In Psalms 23 we see the loving Shepherd anointing His lambs with oil and filling their cups to overflowing. This is the image of the Shepherd we all need get into our hearts. The Shepherd greets each lamb with tender love. He desires only to pour His anointing oil on us, to refresh and renew our souls, and to revive and heal us from our weariness and pain. When we understand the depth of God's love for us, we will also understand that every encounter with our Shepherd is a refreshing encounter. We cannot come to God without being touched by His Spirit with love and grace - a grace that refreshes and renews our souls and revives our spirits. Any time and every time we are touched by the Shepherd we will be refreshed.
Our religious performance tendencies make us afraid to come to the Shepherd. We are convinced that we will be shamed in His presence or that He will demand some act of contrition or impossible religious duty before He will bless us. Yet, all the evidence points to this reality: that the first thing you will experience in His presence is the refreshing anointing of His Holy Spirit. He will bless you before He ever starts changing you.
I pray that we all may have a perspective change. That we will learn to call on Jesus, the Great Shepherd of Our Souls, for the refreshing anointing of His Spirit. That in His presence we may be renewed and refreshed. That we may come to know and experience this great truth: every encounter with God is a refreshing one. He bids you come!
Pastor Richard Casteel
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