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If we want to move away from just the duty we feel to walk this Christian walk, and really enjoy our life in Christ, it takes some adjustments. If we just make a list of things we need to do and then keep on checking them off dutifully, we might miss the joy of a real living, vibrant relationship. We didn’t become Christians to join a religion. We aren’t religious people, we have a life giving relationship with Jesus. It’s a friendship, and friendships bring joy to our life. So make some adjustments:
Instead of just reading your Bible everyday, dutifully, think of it as God’s love letter to you. He wrote you words to encourage and bless your life. Get excited everyday to read and learn and grow in God. Instead of just rattling off your prayers each day, let the Spirit of God direct your prayers. What needs to be prayed at the moment? Instead of just attending church or your small group because you have to, why not come prayed up and ready to give out to those who gather together with you. You are blessed to be a blessing! You have the opportunity to look at things either way, as a drag or a blessing. Look for blessings! Not a duty but a delight!

Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword. This week in our Fresh Air study, we will talk about deciding to immerse ourselves in a culture that is life giving. We don’t want to just go through the motions in our walk with God. We want to live in a way that there is evidence that we have an intimate, loving relationship with God, that is fresh and vibrant. Here’s a breath of fresh air for you this week. Here is your dailyeword.

I think we have all been at the place where we are just going through the motions in life. Perhaps you might have heard this chorus from a song by Matthew West.
I don’t want to go through the motions
I don’t want to go one more day
Without your all consuming passion in side of me
I don’t want to spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions.

How easy is it to just routinely do what we thing we must, without passion or heart behind it. What can you do today to make your walk with God more fresh and vibrant? Could you set aside time to spend with God, just worshipping Him, or reading His Word, or maybe even just being quiet in His presence? So often we busy ourselves with things that don’t matter and miss taking time for what really is important. Do some self assessments today, and then make some adjustments. Live a life with no regrets!

How well do you sleep? I read something today that really intelligent people have a harder time sleeping! That makes my husband a genius, and I must not be so smart! I really can sleep anywhere, in fact, if I sit down my body thinks its time to sleep. I am a goer! My husband on the other hand, can toss and turn for hours, all the while listening to me sleep, and getting irritated that I can sleep anywhere, anytime! When you hit the doldrums, even if you get a good nights sleep, you can still wake up feeling tired. Burdens feel heavier with lack of sleep. Circumstances seem worse, and emotionally we can snap at the ones we love the most because of not enough sleep. God wants to give you perfect rest. He says that His yoke is easy, His burden is light. He wants you to experience THE Rest of God as t says in Matt 11:30. This isn’t a fake rest, it is real and refreshing, and rejuvenating. Don’t be worn out and weary. God gives his beloved (that’s you) rest that revitalizes you spirit, soul and body. Even if you don’t sleep for 8 hours, the time you do sleep will be restful. Get some good rest and experience lighter burdens, and yoke up with Jesus. He’ll breathe fresh air into your life.

Do you workout on a treadmill? I love working out, but have never liked the treadmill. I would rather be outside in the fresh air, walking, biking or swimming. I know a treadmill is convenient and you can have them at home, but to me, it is a visual of having lots to do and it never finishing. That sensation can make you feel overwhelmed and discouraged, and can lead eventually to feeling burned out. If you are in that place today, feeling like you are on a treadmill and can’t get off, be encouraged today that life doesn’t have to continue like that. God has a plan to breathe fresh air into your life. Very often the first step to getting out the doldrums is to tell someone that is where you are. That is where small groups can be a lifesaver. You can, in a small group setting, share your heart and have people come along side to pray for you, encourage you, and help you get back on course. James 5 tells us to pray for one another, confess our missteps to each other, so that we can be healed. If you need healing (which could be getting better, physically, emotionally, spiritually, etc) prayer is the perfect place to start. Be the one who is praying, and the one who receives prayer. Both can be healed.

It’s easy to feel exhausted after a hard days work. Your muscles are tired, you might even be dirty, and you are just worn out. I’ve been there this week! It happened doing yard work, as we worked on building our new home, and even while keeping our current house prepped for an open house, keeping it show ready. We know that true physical labor can make you tired, but life circumstances can be exhausting and can lead to the feeling of being overwhelmed and exhausted. Whatever kind of doldrums you might be facing, you can recover! God wants to put wind back in your sail. If the land you are in feels dry and thirsty, you can be well hydrated once again. I love how Ps 63:1-5 reminds us that we don’t have to stay in a dry place.
You, God, are my God
Earnestly I seek you
I thirst for you,
My whole being longs for you
In a dry and parched land
Where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
And beheld your power and your glory
Because Your love is better than life
My lips will glorify you
I will praise you as long as I live
In your name I will lift up my hands
Praise has a beautiful way of reenergizing our spirit. Get some fresh air praise started in your life.

Intro:
Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your daily eword. Last week we started a new series that am I hoping will be a wonderful blessing to you. I think we all have been in a dry place before, and need to be refreshed. In the coming weeks we will be talking about breathing a breath of fresh air in our life, and this week is all about the doldrums. How we got there, and how to get out. I hope these daily encouragements designed to harmonize with the study, will help you take a deep breath and breathe in all that God has for you. If you haven’t joined periscope, I encourage you to do so today. Frequently I will be pericsoping to you about your dailyeword. Listen, watch and show me some heart!

What does the word doldrums mean to you? It can mean stagnation, lethargy, boredom, despondency, the blues, gloom, misery, and even despair. You might think that someone in the “doldrums” got there because they were pessimistic, but not necessarily. Even great characters in the Bible show us that you can be on top of the world one day, and in the depths of despair the next. David and Elijah for example. The devil often works that way. We can have a wonderful victory, and then post victory blues set in. It even happens with moms who have a beautiful baby, and then instead of enjoying this wonderful season of new motherhood, post partum depression sets in. A wonderful blessing arrives, and the new mom is miserable, full of guilt and shame, and feels like a failure. We may not all have experienced all of those synonyms for the doldrums, but every person has had the opportunity to be ensnared by the enemy of our souls with discouragement, and he likes to keeps us snared as long as possible. I love Psalms 61 which says this in The Message Bible:
God, listen to me shout,
Bend an ear to my prayer
When I’m far from anywhere
Down to my last gasp,
I call out, guide me up High Rock Mountain
You’ve always given me breathing room,
A place to get away from it all
A lifelong pass to your safe house,
An open invitation as your guest
You’ve always taken me seriously, God,
Make me welcome among those who know and love you.
God gives us breathing room! Sounds like the fresh air you might be needing right now.

Happy Sunday! This is the day that the Lord has made, let’s rejoice, let’s be glad, let’s go to church! My prayer every Sunday is that every seat in the sanctuary of our church would be filled with people who are hungry and thirsty for the things of God, right out of Matt 5. Guess how those people get to church? Sometimes they drive by and God draws them in, sometimes they look in the phone book, well maybe not. Sometimes they go on line and find a church. Sometimes they see our church on TV or they listen to the radio station KAGF, 105.5 and hear about our services. You know how most people come to church? Somebody invites them. They may even drop by and pick them up. Sometimes, they keep inviting them until they come to a big event planned for outreach. Sometimes they come on their own, but you are placed in the lives of people that God wants you to reach. So invite them to church. Tell them about our terrific kidlink kids programs, and our amazing Commissioned Youth services, or our college outreach called Pursuit. Or just invite them to the main service. Why not try to make it your goal to bring one person a month with you to church, and let’s see every seat full and running over, and let’s keep adding services, making more room for more people who are hungry and thirsty for God.

Who can you invite to church with you? If you have been a believer for very long, you have probably noticed it is easy to surround yourself with people to think like you, act like you and believe like you. Part of that is really good, because we want to hang around people who challenge us to grow in God. At the same time, we can become immersed in church life, that we forget that there is a world out there dying to know Jesus. We have received something wonderful, new life in Christ. Now, instead of just going on our merry way, loving Jesus, we need to think about those that haven’t met Christ yet. They don’t know the joy, the peace, the rest, the hope that we have in abundance. The reason we have an abundance is because we have some to give away. God always works that way. He fills us up, so that we can give something to someone who needs some of what we have. So keep your eyes and ears open. Where can you find someone to help? Ministry is all about helping people. Fill your sail with fresh air, by leading somebody to the feet of Jesus.

Sunday is my favorite day of the week – Fresh Air Day! I know I say this a lot, but I love getting together with my church family. Here it is Friday, and I’m already looking forward to Sunday. The Bible reminds us to meet together regularly, and for lots of people, regular attendance, is less than once a month. I want to stir you up to make your commitment greater than that. I encourage you to participate in your church life, every single week. The Jews had the Sabbath set aside for worship, and when Jesus rose on the first day of the week, the early believers made worshipping on Sunday the new pattern. What a great way to start the week. I look at it almost like the tithe. If you give God the first part, instead of the leftovers, you are showing where your priorities are. I actually missed a church service a few weeks ago, and even then, I watched church online at agf.org, I watched our TV service on KMVT and then I turned on some praise and worship music. But, I was still bummed, because church life to me, isn’t just the great teaching or awesome worship, it is loving and serving the church family. Plan to go to church this Sunday, and get some fresh air in your sail.

I love going to weddings, and I have been to a lot of them recently. We are going to one tomorrow as well. Weddings are a beautiful time to see a couple commit their lives to each other, in front of their friends and loved ones. They promise that they will love each other and lay down their life for the life of their mate. You have probably noticed this too, that newlyweds can be so devoted to one another that they love serving each other. Sometimes it’s even a contest of who can serve more. But if you look around at older married couples, that sweet, innocent, loving devotion to serve one another can sometimes get tarnished. We don’t serve each other out of devotion anymore, we do it out of duty, or we tell our mate, they can fend for themselves! The sweetest thing ever is when I see an older couple that keeps fresh air in their relationship. They serve one another out of love. In fact it becomes a life long competition of who can out serve the other. It takes a conscious effort to continue doing that year after year, but boy is it worth it. Let’s keep fresh air in our marriages, and remember that we are called to love one another, and love is a verb. I encourage you to breathe some fresh devotion into your relationships.