MATTHEW 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
I was reading 'My utmost for His highest' this morning and was reminded of this verse. I was struck by the first part 'come to me' and comforted by the last 'for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light'.
Have you felt the Lord's burden is light in your life struggles and daily tasks? I know I had had trouble with this verse in times of struggle and difficulty in my life. It doesn't feel light or my burden easy????? It feels difficult, confusing, HEAVY.
But then I was reminded of the first part 'come to me'. We can come to God with our heavy and difficult burdens. He wants to make them light. But the key is we have to 'come to him'. He will never force us to give Him our burdens. He will never reach down from heaven and take our burdens from us. We need to come to Him with our lives and place it at His feet. We need to say 'Not my will Lord (Lord: a man of high rank, a king, a man of renowned power and authority...) but yours' (Luke 22:42) We need to make the choice. Are we going to carry our burdens and be constantly confused, pressured, angry, scared, hostile, burdened...or are we going to give our lives over to the Lord who wants to make our burdens light?
What a gift we have been given. We don't need to suffer with our heavy yoke of this life. We have a worthy Lord who knows how to make our burdens light and He wants to do that for us. If we would only sacrifice our pride and admit what we already know, that we can not handle these burdens of life on our own and turn our lives over to a glorious Lord who made us. He will make your burdens light. He make not make everything in your life perfect, but He will lead you down the path He has made for you and He will give you peace and comfort in your times of need.
Lets get on our knees and pray Gods will for our lives today and trust Him with our burdens and except His gift of an easy yoke.
Blessings
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Goodness of God
Exodus 33:19
And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Psalm 23:6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
God is good. He is. I know it to the bottom of my soul. I don't always see His goodness. I am blinded to it by the circumstances of this life. I see so many people struggling today. So many of us are struck by tragedy and trials it is hard to see the goodness in God. We might even have begun to wonder if God really is good?
The thing I have learned in my own trials is that when we decide to keep our focus on the Lord it becomes easier to see His goodness. When we begin to focus on our circumstance or trial it is harder to find His goodness.
God is good. No matter what we think. God is good in His nature. He does not need us to believe that He is good for Him to be good. He is good despite what we believe. So we can trust God in His goodness and place our lives in His hands, or we can go our own way worrying about the details of our lives we can not control.
I did not say it is easy. Struggles will come. We don't get to live life's full of all happy days. But, if we begin to put our happiness in the goodness of God and allow his good and perfect plan into our lifes we just might begin to see our circumstances differently. We might begin seeing the goodness of God.
Blessings
And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Psalm 23:6
Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
God is good. He is. I know it to the bottom of my soul. I don't always see His goodness. I am blinded to it by the circumstances of this life. I see so many people struggling today. So many of us are struck by tragedy and trials it is hard to see the goodness in God. We might even have begun to wonder if God really is good?
The thing I have learned in my own trials is that when we decide to keep our focus on the Lord it becomes easier to see His goodness. When we begin to focus on our circumstance or trial it is harder to find His goodness.
God is good. No matter what we think. God is good in His nature. He does not need us to believe that He is good for Him to be good. He is good despite what we believe. So we can trust God in His goodness and place our lives in His hands, or we can go our own way worrying about the details of our lives we can not control.
I did not say it is easy. Struggles will come. We don't get to live life's full of all happy days. But, if we begin to put our happiness in the goodness of God and allow his good and perfect plan into our lifes we just might begin to see our circumstances differently. We might begin seeing the goodness of God.
Blessings
Monday, August 13, 2012
Whatever you do
Whatever work you do, do your best, because you are going to the grave, where there is no working, no planning, no knowledge, and no wisdom.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Facing cancer can really change your prospective on life. Any major bump in our roads can change our prospectives on life. We all face them. We all have difficulties that rock our world. We all have moments and seasons in our lives that change us. I would even say we have moment over and over again that change us.
We are constantly evolving into more mature people. If we are Christ followers we are to be evolving to become more like Christ. We are told to be examples of Christ. To be His witness here, where ever we are, of His love and grace to all who seek Him. "Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1.
I was thinking on Ecclesiastes 9:10. We so often struggle with what God wants us to do with our lives, our ministries, our children, our families, our spouses. But, I think sometimes we forget that God is sovereign. He already knows what He has for us to do. He said so...."For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
It got me thinking. If God knows my plans, and I don't what am I suppose to do then? "...whatever you do, do your best...." God has plans for us. He has placed us where he wants us, so He must have something for us to do there. So should we go around focusing on figuring out what God has planned for us? Debating amongst ourselves on what God thinks about this or how as Christians we should feel about that. I think the better thing would be to focus on God and let His plan play out. The rest of Ecclesiastes 9 was interesting. It talked about enjoying ourselves. To enjoy those around us. It said we all have the same end and that is the grave. God gave us now to enjoy as well as to work hard. To make the most of today. I think it might even be telling us to relax, stop stressing about what God wants us to do and let it happen. God has given us so much direction in His word that that alone should keep us plenty busy. I am sure if we started with John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We could spend our lives working on that alone.
Maybe if we stopped trying to figure out what it is God has for us to do and just left that up to Him and did the things all around us that need taking care of, like loving and enjoying those around us, we could be used by God in a mighty way.
Blessings
Ecclesiastes 9:10
Facing cancer can really change your prospective on life. Any major bump in our roads can change our prospectives on life. We all face them. We all have difficulties that rock our world. We all have moments and seasons in our lives that change us. I would even say we have moment over and over again that change us.
We are constantly evolving into more mature people. If we are Christ followers we are to be evolving to become more like Christ. We are told to be examples of Christ. To be His witness here, where ever we are, of His love and grace to all who seek Him. "Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:1.
I was thinking on Ecclesiastes 9:10. We so often struggle with what God wants us to do with our lives, our ministries, our children, our families, our spouses. But, I think sometimes we forget that God is sovereign. He already knows what He has for us to do. He said so...."For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11.
It got me thinking. If God knows my plans, and I don't what am I suppose to do then? "...whatever you do, do your best...." God has plans for us. He has placed us where he wants us, so He must have something for us to do there. So should we go around focusing on figuring out what God has planned for us? Debating amongst ourselves on what God thinks about this or how as Christians we should feel about that. I think the better thing would be to focus on God and let His plan play out. The rest of Ecclesiastes 9 was interesting. It talked about enjoying ourselves. To enjoy those around us. It said we all have the same end and that is the grave. God gave us now to enjoy as well as to work hard. To make the most of today. I think it might even be telling us to relax, stop stressing about what God wants us to do and let it happen. God has given us so much direction in His word that that alone should keep us plenty busy. I am sure if we started with John 13:34-35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” We could spend our lives working on that alone.
Maybe if we stopped trying to figure out what it is God has for us to do and just left that up to Him and did the things all around us that need taking care of, like loving and enjoying those around us, we could be used by God in a mighty way.
Blessings
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Store up Treasures
I have a job.....I will have the privilege to substitute teach for preschool teachers at our church. Wow. God has been getting me ready for this for a while. I knew that if God really wanted me to go to work he would be kind and gentle to me. I knew He would give me a job I could really love. I really never thought I would go back to work. I mean I am a wife and a mom. That is who I am. Before I had my babies (well....they are 6 & 9 but will always be babies to me.) I worked in retail. I loved it at the time, but selling clothing can take a bit of an insignificant place in your life when raising a family. My husband is a firefighter and it was hard to come home and talk about a hard day when I would compare it to what he did for the day....."I had a customer who was so unhappy today...." was me...."oh, we saved a baby today..." I was really losing my desire to sell clothing. So I hoped that whatever I was given the opportunity to do would be something that could make an impact in life. I wanted to do something that felt worthwhile not just to make some extra money.
Today my kids and I read a devotional that talked about storing our treasures in heaven. The bible talks about storing our treasures in heaven:
Today my kids and I read a devotional that talked about storing our treasures in heaven. The bible talks about storing our treasures in heaven:
Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The devotional talked about how we invest our money. It spoke about how we can either spend our money or we can invest it to make a gain on it.
That really made sense to me. If we use our time and money here on earth we just end up leaving it here. It is like the cash we just spend and it is gone. But, if we invest our time and money in things of God we are investing in heaven. When we give our time to tell someone about God, to pray for them, or give our money to help support those who do, we are storing up treasures in heaven. Our money and time is increased greatly and we will enjoy our investments for eternity. What a wonderful thought on what we should spend our time and money on.
I am thankful I will have an opportunity to invest in some little people...only if it is just on a substitute amount of time. I think we all have something we can give to others, some sort of investment in heaven and Gods purpose we can give. Some can give money to missionaries or the local church, some have time they can give to impact a life for Jesus. Even a prayer sent up for a friend in need, someone hurting or going through a struggle.
Won't it be fun when we get to heaven and get to enjoy the return on our investments for eternity! I am looking forward to it.
Go and make some of your own investments today. You will be blessed today for your time, and for eternity we will all be enjoying the dividend of your investments.
Blessings
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Strange happenings
"Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but don't notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,' when you yourself don't see the log in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the log out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck in your brother's eye. (Luke 6:41, 42 HCSB)
I have been noticing some strange things lately. I don't think they are only just happening lately, it is just that I have become more aware of it lately. Isn't that how it goes. Things go on in your life and you never notice it and then all of a sudden it becomes glaring and it is all you see.
I have been so aware lately how we as the body of Christ just have trouble loving one another. Now, I have noticed it about myself to begin with and then it is just something that keeps showing up around me. I understand it, we are all made unique individuals. We all have a different reference on most of the things that happen in our lives. So the same thing can happen to two different people and you will have two different opinions about what has just happened. What a wonderful way God made us. So it is easy to see why we have so much difficulty loving one another. We all have our opinions on how events are taking place based on our frame of reference. And we are selfish creatures by nature so we each believe that our reference is correct. I mean that is how we see it, right?
So we go around telling our fellow brothers and sisters how they should be acting, what they should be doing to improve themselves without once taking a look at ourselves and maybe saying " I wonder how I can change to be more loving, I wonder how my brother sees that from their perspective" or even...
What does the bible say about that?
"But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks from you, and from one who takes away your things, don't ask for them back. Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36 HCSB)
This is what He says to do to our enemy. Do we even do this to those who are in our own families? I know I don't. I get annoyed when things don't go the way I think they should go, when those around me don't act like I think they should act. But I have begun asking myself, why should they act the way I think they should? The bible gives me an example to follow in Luke 6 that I am pretty sure I have never followed in my life. It is radical. But, what if I started to just meditate on those words, those examples that Christ gave. Maybe that would help me to think of others before myself. Maybe to consider their needs, their thoughts above my own.
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not [only] for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4 HCSB)
When we are thinking of others needs it is much easier not to focus on ourselves. And not focusing on ourselves for a brief time might just do us all a little good.
Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:36 HCSB)
Blessings
I have been noticing some strange things lately. I don't think they are only just happening lately, it is just that I have become more aware of it lately. Isn't that how it goes. Things go on in your life and you never notice it and then all of a sudden it becomes glaring and it is all you see.
I have been so aware lately how we as the body of Christ just have trouble loving one another. Now, I have noticed it about myself to begin with and then it is just something that keeps showing up around me. I understand it, we are all made unique individuals. We all have a different reference on most of the things that happen in our lives. So the same thing can happen to two different people and you will have two different opinions about what has just happened. What a wonderful way God made us. So it is easy to see why we have so much difficulty loving one another. We all have our opinions on how events are taking place based on our frame of reference. And we are selfish creatures by nature so we each believe that our reference is correct. I mean that is how we see it, right?
So we go around telling our fellow brothers and sisters how they should be acting, what they should be doing to improve themselves without once taking a look at ourselves and maybe saying " I wonder how I can change to be more loving, I wonder how my brother sees that from their perspective" or even...
What does the bible say about that?
"But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone hits you on the cheek, offer the other also. And if anyone takes away your coat, don't hold back your shirt either. Give to everyone who asks from you, and from one who takes away your things, don't ask for them back. Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do what is good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is gracious to the ungrateful and evil. Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:27-36 HCSB)
This is what He says to do to our enemy. Do we even do this to those who are in our own families? I know I don't. I get annoyed when things don't go the way I think they should go, when those around me don't act like I think they should act. But I have begun asking myself, why should they act the way I think they should? The bible gives me an example to follow in Luke 6 that I am pretty sure I have never followed in my life. It is radical. But, what if I started to just meditate on those words, those examples that Christ gave. Maybe that would help me to think of others before myself. Maybe to consider their needs, their thoughts above my own.
If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look out not [only] for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. (Philippians 2:1-4 HCSB)
When we are thinking of others needs it is much easier not to focus on ourselves. And not focusing on ourselves for a brief time might just do us all a little good.
Be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. (Luke 6:36 HCSB)
Blessings
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Judging
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. (Romans 14:4, 10-13 NIV84)
I really wanted to put the entire chapter of Romans 14 in here. Read it. You will be challenged!
I read this this morning. It was very timely, as Gods word always seems to be. This has been something God has been challenging me on lately.
We are all judges. We judge our neighbors, those we see in the grocery store, those we work with....really it goes on and on. We are always deciding what we think of this person or that person. We are forming opinions about them. Making assessments about them. It seems to be our nature to do these things.
It seems to me God has layed out a better plan. He tells us not to judge. Not to make assessments or decisions on people. To love them instead.
Ok, so obviously we are not God. God IS love. We are not. But, when challenged to become more like Christ I think it deserves looking at.
God clearly says in His word we are all accountable to him for our actions. He is Holy so He holds us to a pretty high standard. Thankfully we have a Savior who died on the cross so that we have a hope. Without Him there is no way we will ever please a Holy God.
God wants us to focus on Him. He doesn't want us wasting our time judging others. He wants us to use that energy focusing on getting to know Him more and more every day. We don't know a person like God knows that person. We don't know what is truly going on in their lives. We don't know their hurts, struggles. We don't know what God is doing in their lives. And it really isn't our job to know what is going on in their lives. He has instructed us to love one another, not understand one another, not to fix one another, to love.
This is hard for me. I have a lot of opinions. I don't think they are all right, but I have a lot. I want to judge less. I want to love more. Maybe that is just the idea. Maybe God was just trying to tell some of us,through Paul, to get over ourselves and our opinions. To realize we don't have all the answers for life. Paul knew who did know all the answers and He IS love. Let's try to love more and judge less. It won't be easy but I think it is worth the effort.
Blessings
You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat. It is written:
“ ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will confess to God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. (Romans 14:4, 10-13 NIV84)
I really wanted to put the entire chapter of Romans 14 in here. Read it. You will be challenged!
I read this this morning. It was very timely, as Gods word always seems to be. This has been something God has been challenging me on lately.
We are all judges. We judge our neighbors, those we see in the grocery store, those we work with....really it goes on and on. We are always deciding what we think of this person or that person. We are forming opinions about them. Making assessments about them. It seems to be our nature to do these things.
It seems to me God has layed out a better plan. He tells us not to judge. Not to make assessments or decisions on people. To love them instead.
Ok, so obviously we are not God. God IS love. We are not. But, when challenged to become more like Christ I think it deserves looking at.
God clearly says in His word we are all accountable to him for our actions. He is Holy so He holds us to a pretty high standard. Thankfully we have a Savior who died on the cross so that we have a hope. Without Him there is no way we will ever please a Holy God.
God wants us to focus on Him. He doesn't want us wasting our time judging others. He wants us to use that energy focusing on getting to know Him more and more every day. We don't know a person like God knows that person. We don't know what is truly going on in their lives. We don't know their hurts, struggles. We don't know what God is doing in their lives. And it really isn't our job to know what is going on in their lives. He has instructed us to love one another, not understand one another, not to fix one another, to love.
This is hard for me. I have a lot of opinions. I don't think they are all right, but I have a lot. I want to judge less. I want to love more. Maybe that is just the idea. Maybe God was just trying to tell some of us,through Paul, to get over ourselves and our opinions. To realize we don't have all the answers for life. Paul knew who did know all the answers and He IS love. Let's try to love more and judge less. It won't be easy but I think it is worth the effort.
Blessings
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
a new start
for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. (Philippians 1:19 NIV84)
I have just passed through a valley. I have traveled on a road I did not ask for. One that I would have never thought I would travel along. I have come through my treatment and I am healing from this valley. I had many blessings in this valley. God was good to me. I know He walked me through this valley for my deliverance in many areas of my life. I found many friends along the way. Many people who prayed for me and my family. I know I was blessed by their earnest prayers and Gods constant guidance.
I began blogging through my valley and felt God taught me a lot. I wanted to continue with a new blog on the other side of my valley. So I have decided to start Moment of Blessings. I don't know what God has for me on this side of my valley but I know He is always willing to reveal Himself to us when we are seeking Him.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
To read more about my valley please visit:
www.WhatifthetrialsofthislifeareGod'smerciesindisguise.blogspot.com
Blessings
I have just passed through a valley. I have traveled on a road I did not ask for. One that I would have never thought I would travel along. I have come through my treatment and I am healing from this valley. I had many blessings in this valley. God was good to me. I know He walked me through this valley for my deliverance in many areas of my life. I found many friends along the way. Many people who prayed for me and my family. I know I was blessed by their earnest prayers and Gods constant guidance.
I began blogging through my valley and felt God taught me a lot. I wanted to continue with a new blog on the other side of my valley. So I have decided to start Moment of Blessings. I don't know what God has for me on this side of my valley but I know He is always willing to reveal Himself to us when we are seeking Him.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
To read more about my valley please visit:
www.WhatifthetrialsofthislifeareGod'smerciesindisguise.blogspot.com
Blessings
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