Restoration of the Soul

June 10, 2025

In this dry and weary land in which we live, in this world of noise and stress, we often need renewal in our inner being.  Where do you turn when your soul needs to be refreshed?  I like how the old hymn we sing puts it: “But when my soul needs manna from above, where could I go but to the Lord?”1 There is a great truth here.  Only the Lord can renew and restore our souls.  There is no other true source of inner renewal.

David knew this truth.  Listen to his words in Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul.” (Psalm 23:1-3 NASB95) The word “restore” here can mean that God brings our soul back when we stray from Him, as a shepherd brings back a wandering sheep.  It can also mean that God brings back liveliness and vitality to our inner being2.  Biblically speaking, both senses are true and certainly needed.

Listen to the words of David in Psalm 63: “O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly; My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” (Psalm 63:1 NASB95) David found himself in a dry and weary land, both literally and figuratively speaking.  I’m sure we have felt the same at times.  The world we live in can be harsh and dry and can sap the vitality right out of us.  But we, like David, can find refreshment from God.  As David ponders the power, the glory, and the love of God in this Psalm, and as he turns to worship God, he exclaims, “My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.” (Psalm 63:5 NASB95) David found deep, inner satisfaction from contemplating God and His goodness.

In Psalm 19:7, David writes, “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul…” (Psalm 19:7 NASB95) The word of God can restore our soul.  It can bring us back to the right path when we stray. It can reach into our hearts and give us an inner liveliness again.

Where do you turn when your soul needs renewal?  Where could we go but to the Lord?  As we worship God today and hear His word, may He grant renewal for our souls!

—Scott Colvin

  1. “Where Could I Go?” Lyrics by J.B. Coats
  2. Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (HALOT)

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The Inner Life and Prayer

July 18, 2024

Do you ever feel like you’re running on empty?  I don’t mean in a physical sense but in a spiritual one.  And I don’t mean that you don’t love the Lord, or that you’re not being obedient to Him, or that you’re not thankful to Him.  No, I’m speaking of a spiritual dryness.  I’m speaking of a sense of going through the motions outwardly while feeling depleted and lacking passion for God inwardly.  I suppose it happens to all of us from time to time.  How can we regain a true, inner passion and feeling of nearness to God?

One mistake we can make in our spiritual lives is to place too much emphasis on the outer person, and not enough emphasis on our inner person.  We can be busy serving others, going to worship, attending church functions, reading our Bibles, and praying—all wonderful things—but if these are merely outward displays and are not driven by genuine spirituality, something is wrong.  We have become unbalanced.  Over time, the lack of a glowing inner life will manifest itself.  Eventually we will have nothing left to give if we are not allowing God to build up and renew our inner person.  Taken to an extreme, we can end up like the Pharisees who did all the right outward religious things but had hearts that were very far from God.

So, what can we do if we find that our inner being doesn’t seem to be glowing like it once was?  I’m reminded of the song we sing which says, “But when my soul needs manna from above, where could I go but to the Lord?”  Only God can give us manna from heaven to nourish and sustain our souls.  Only He can give inner renewal.  As Paul wrote, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NASB95) We need inner renewal every day.  The inner renewal we receive from God (which He gives through the Holy Spirit) will then overflow into our outer actions.  We will be able to serve, to worship, to give, and to obey with greater zeal and greater joy.  And we will be doing these things not by our own strength (which will leave us depleted), but by the strength that God supplies.

One powerful way in which we can receive God’s inner renewal is through prayer.  We need quiet time alone with God in prayer to recharge.  Jesus Himself needed this while He was on the earth, so how much more do you and I need it?  When our prayer life is lacking, our inner vitality will also be lacking.  But when we devote ourselves to prayer, God can renew and recharge us inwardly.  I encourage you this week, and always, to set aside time to commune with God in prayer.  It is one of the most important things we can do, for inner renewal comes in times of quietness and nearness to God.

—Scott Colvin

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We Do Not Lose Heart

February 21, 2023

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 of the tremendous hardships he and his co-laborers in the Lord were facing.  They were afflicted in every way.  They were perplexed, persecuted, struck down, and constantly delivered over to death for Jesus’ sake (2 Corinthians 4:8-11).  Despite all of this, he writes to the church at Corinth, “Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.  For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NAS95)

While facing death and heavy persecution on a daily basis, Paul was able to say, “I do not lose heart!” How could he say this?  How could he have this attitude?  What can we learn from him that will give us this kind of resilient faith that can find joy in the worst of trials?

First, note that Paul focuses on the inner man, not the outer man.  Though our outer man (our body) faces decay, our inner man can be powerfully renewed by the Lord.  Our inner man can be glowing, even when our circumstances are very dim.  Second, notice that Paul focuses on the “eternal weight of glory” that is being produced by the afflictions he faces.  When we face trials, let us focus on the fact that for the faithful, those trials are producing a weight of glory for us in the heavenly realm.  With this proper perspective, we can begin to see that the trials, while painful, are not simply negative events without meaning.  On the contrary, they are producing something glorious and far beyond comparison.  Finally, note that Paul’s focus is not on what is seen, but what is unseen.  This is absolutely critical for finding God’s help and power in trials.  We tend to focus only on the problems before us—the things we can see.  If we would learn instead to focus on the unseen: our loving Savior, His eternal promises, and our home in heaven, we will find comfort and power from the Lord to overcome our trials.

Are you beginning to lose heart because of difficulties in your life?  May the Lord help us all to focus on the inner man, the eternal weight of glory that trials can produce, and the unseen, eternal things of God.

—Scott Colvin

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Transformation

December 28, 2021

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2 NASB) Did you know that God is trying to work in you a complete inner transformation?  His desire is to work in you an inward metamorphosis—a complete, fundamental change in your nature.  This process of transformation is not something that we work in ourselves by our own power.  It is the work of God through His Spirit.  As the passage states, we are to be transformed.  Of course, to be transformed, we must choose to allow transformation to happen.  We must choose to let God go to work in us.    

So, what must we do to allow God to perform His work of transformation?  The above verse shows us the answer.  First, we must choose to not be conformed (molded, shaped) to this world.  One of the greatest dangers for us as Christians is that after we become partakers of His life, His glory, and His nature, that we would slide back into our old ways.  It is so easy to let the world around us mold and shape us.  It is so easy to fall back into our former ungodly lusts and desires.  Doing so will stop God’s work of transformation in us.  Secondly, note that transformation comes from the renewing of our mind.  Our mind can easily become clouded and polluted by the junk that spews out from the world around us.  Our minds must be renewed.  How can we renew our mind?  By study, prayer, and worship.  These will bring us near to God so that He can bring renewal and transformation.

Take a hard look at your life.  Are you being conformed or transformed?  Are you being molded and shaped by the world, or molded and shaped by God?  It is His desire to transform each of us into the image of His Beloved Son.  Will you invite God to go to work in you?            

— Scott Colvin

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