1 Peter 2:5a, 11b "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house....abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;"

Because you have received the Son of God, you now have the life of God in you. You have been made a “lively stone” and you have your part, your call, in the house of God.  In order to fulfill your call and reach your destiny, you must stay a living stone.  You must be hot for God, for the things of God, and for the things of the Spirit.  The enemy is determined to steal the life and fire that was put in you.  He tries to do it by warring against your soul.  He will attack your mind, will, and emotions to bottle up the fire and life in your spirit so that you are ineffective in the natural realm. He wants to keep you out of the Word, out of church, and distracted from spiritual things, to get you to prioritize the wrong things in your life.  I have personally seen many come to the Lord, receive the life of God, go forth excited and hot for the things of God, yet one year later they were burned out, worn out, and had no fire left.  What happened?  They lost the battle of the soul.  Yes, they are still born-again, still have the life-giving Spirit in them, but they got zapped with the cares of this world and the natural realm.  Stay a lively stone!  Guard your heart with all diligence!  Renew your mind on the Word of God!  Stand on God’s promises to win the war against your soul.

Acts 3:19    "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

The day that you repented and came to the Lord, your sins were blotted out, wiped away, removed from you as far as the east is from the west.  You were converted from darkness to light, from death to life, from dried-out to being refreshed in spirit and soul.  Notice that, after the new birth experience, times of refreshing will come, and are needed in your life.  Jesus said “Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest for your souls.”  Jesus knew that weariness and fatigue would try to come against your soul.  He knew that times of refreshing would be needed in your life.  He went aside to a mountain place alone many times to pray and be refreshed.  God guarantees us times of refreshing, times of refueling, times of recharging your heavy-laden soul.  He was not talking about the physical weariness you may get from lack of sleep–-He was addressing soul-weariness that no amount of sleep will help.  When Christians get soul-weary, they usually try to cure it with natural activities that will not help the soul.  Some people eat, some go out seeking entertainment, some take a vacation, and some just go to bed.  None of these will help a heavy soul for any length of time; only times of refreshing, received by coming to the Lord, will revive the weary soul.  Come to Him – He will give you rest for your soul!

Isaiah 28:11, 12   "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.  To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing:  yet they would not hear."

Jesus desires to give you rest for your soul, to give you times of refreshing in your life.  With our daily activities and the busy-ness of our schedules, rest and refreshing become a must in our lives for us to stay in the Spirit.  Isaiah prophesied this rest, this refreshing.  One way to stay on fire, to stay in revival, to escape from weariness and a heavy-laden soul is with stammering lips and another tongue.  Speaking or praying in tongues is a powerful way of living in rest and refreshing in your daily life.  Most are filled with the Spirit, and have the sign of praying in tongues, but very few take the time to use the gift God gave them.  If rest and refreshing come through praying in tongues, then a lack of praying in tongues will cause weariness and heavy-laden souls.  This is the rest, this is the refreshing, this is a way God speaks to His people.  But they would not hear.  In other words, they would not practice it.  The result?  They live their life in a state of weariness.  But you do not have to be like them!  There is a rest, there is a refreshing, there is a way to have times (more than one) of refreshing from the presence of the Lord!  If you are Spirit-filled but do not speak in tongues, ask and receive it from the Holy Spirit.  He desires that you have it!  Why?  Because it is the rest, it is the refreshing, that keeps your life alive and the fire lit!

Mark 16:17   "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;"

One of the signs of a believer is that they will speak with new tongues.  Isaiah called it stammering lips and another tongue.  Either way, there is a sign of a Spirit-filled believer:  they shall speak with new tongues.  God knows what mankind would need to get victory and to keep it.  He sent Jesus to the cross so that you could obtain eternal life, to receive everlasting revival.  God also knew that in this world, your soul would come under attack through weariness and busy-ness.  So, along with the ability to heal the sick, to cast out devils, to take up serpents, He gave us the ability to speak in new tongues.  He gave us a way of resting, a way of refreshing, a way of supernaturally conversing with God.  You cannot spend too much time praying in the Holy Ghost.  You can pray anywhere, any time, out loud or under your breath.  It will refresh your soul and it will give you rest.  The believer has a great advantage over the rest of the world.  They have no way to relieve stress and weariness; pressure continues to weigh heavily on their souls.  But we have a different lifestyle, a life with the opportunity for times of refreshing.  It is up to you to live weary or refreshed, to live in turmoil or rest.  Use the means that God gave to bring you refreshing.  Take advantage of praying in tongues so you can win the war of the soul.