Days of Refreshing #21

In Romans 15, Paul continues to exhort these believers, and us, about the kind of mindset we need to have in order to get the most out of our days of refreshing: 

8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
    and sing to your name.”
10 And again it is said,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
    and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
    even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Notice where Paul is going with this: God wants them, and us, to be filled with joy, peace and hope; He wants us to experience refreshing by the Holy Spirit. Now, notice where he begins the paragraph: looking at Christ's example as a servant. Paul wanted these Jewish and Gentile believers to receive and serve one another, to have this perspective that as followers of Christ, they were to praise God together as one. This was God's plan from the time of the Patriarchs through the Prophets - the whole Old Testament. Remember, again that times of refreshing include stepping back to see the big picture. Finally, we need to notice what the context is of this paragraph. Paul began the chapter saying: We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. We are refreshed when we need take our eyes off of ourselves and our woes, and look instead to those around us, looking for ways we can build them up and refresh them. A key ingredient in days of refreshing is to stop being so self-focused.