Spring Fervor

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. 

James 5:16 (American KJV)

As I hear the birds chirping, and see the sun shining in the bright blue sky, I begin to feel the symptoms of the yearly "SpRiNg Fever!"  Hip Hip Hooray!  Time to open windows, let the sunlight pour in, and bask in the warm breeze that blows through our homes and right into our hearts!   Can I get a "witness?"  LOL

Signs and Symptoms that I have Spring Fever include, but are not limited to, a strong desire:

• to clean closets
• to wash windows
• to wash and wax the car
• to air out the house
• to donate, donate, donate all the STUFF that has piled up over the past year
• to clean the house, from top to bottom, inside and out~including the garage (LOL) 
• to take the bulky winter clothes and pack them away (since I don't have lots of closet space) and break out the not-so-bulky, can-fit-in-my-dresser drawers and closets-oh-so-nicely spring and summer wardrobe!   (*which may produce a burning desire to go out and take a brisk walk and tone up, just in case I've had a tad too much comfort food during the winter months.)  LOL  
• to look for new, lighter recipes, for meals that seem "light and SpRiNgY."
• to start over, with enthusiasm & a "spring in my step," leaving the cold winter behind

Anyway, Spring fever is all about an "itchy feeling" that "fresh air and freedom" are around the corner!  I'll be getting out, opening up, and washing away the blah-doldrums-of-the-dreary-days, until there's not a trace of winter left!

I wonder, too, if we can have a bit of Spring Fervor!?!?  I thought of the last part of verse 16 in James 5.  "The effectual FERVENT prayer of a righteous man availeth much."   But when I looked at the first part it gave me a moment to pause.    "Confess your faults to each other. . . pray for each other, that you may be healed."   Is there anything that we have in our closets that need to be "dragged out into the Light?"  Is there something that needs to be confessed, forgiven, and forgotten?   The word "fault" is defined as "missing the mark."  Have we "missed the mark" during the recent dark, winter months?  ~or~ Have we been experiencing a long, dark winter, for far too long?   

It's time to bask in the Promise of Spring!  Allow His Son-Light to come into your heart!  It's time for a fresh start!  A new life!  And there's no better time for a new life in Christ, then right here, at the onset of spring! 

The definition of FERVOR is:

1: intensity of feeling or expression

 

Dear Sister and Brother in Christ, are we living our lives with intensity of feeling~intense adoration to our Lord?  Are we living and expressing our intense love for God with others?  Have we even allowed the Holy Spirit to nurture an intense love for God (*and others) in our hearts?   Maybe we've allowed something in our past to darken our hearts, causing us to "live in the cold winter," couped up inside, not free to be who He wants us to be.  I must confess, I've not been allowing the Holy Spirit to really nurture an intense--an INTENSE love for God.  Intense denotes burning, passion, unquenchable.   Hmmmm.    To produce such strong feelings can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit!

 

Let's confess our faults to one another, and pray for each other- - -when we bring our faults into the Light of God's Holiness, He ushers in new life, a new-found freedom in Christ!  No more darkness, but warmth, light and new life, budding with promise! For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts. 17:28, KJV) We are His offspring!   Basking in the Son-light, the Light of God's Son, Jesus, looking unto Him, the Author and Finisher of our faith, will produce a new life in us~~ a life reflecting His image!  What a blossom we are to be! 

 

I hope that as you and I hear the birdies singing, praising God for the warmth they are enjoying, this "rush of spring" will stir up in us an intense feeling to Hire some Help for Spring Cleaning in our hearts!   This of course, is the work of the Holy Spirit!

 

Oh Father, thank You for the promise of Spring!  And what a promise it is!  You have promised to do the work in us that You started!   And even though we go through seasons~~ sometimes of growth; of deep sleep--where no growth is evident; and then a season of bearing fruit-- we know that for every thing there is a season.   And this is the season of new hope and new life.   May our prayers be effectual and fervent, full of intense feelings of new-found freedom in Your Son!  We commit this season of spring to You, knowing that this job of spring cleaning is just too much for us.  Through Your Holy Spirit, search us, shine Your heavenly light into our hearts and reveal the areas of work that You will perform.  Thank You that we don't have to do the work.  You just want us to be still and trust, and obey You.   As the March winds blow, stirring up the curtains in our windows, allow Your Holy Spirit to breathe fresh new life into our hearts--blow away the dust and dirt, the things we are allergic to, awaken our hearts!  Create within our hearts a spring FERVOR.  Increase Your power in our prayer lives.  Help us be better intercessors on our knees for our family and friends, and for the world, who needs You and Your gift of Salvation through Jesus.  The only way to make our prayer lives more effective is to cleanse us and make us righteous through Your Son.  Bring to light the areas that need to be confessed; grant us the courage to confess it, and the freedom to walk in the newness of life through Your Son!  In Jesus' Name, Amen.