"Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." Mark 6:31
Sometimes the most Christ-like thing you can do is to get away and rest.
Jesus was teaching his disciples how to be like him and how to deal with many people who need things from you.
He didn't say, "When you've met everyone's needs come away and rest." or "When you are at the point of emotional and physical exhaustion, come away and rest. " or "When you think you've done enough to justify resting, then come and rest." or "When no one is looking, come and rest."....
"Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses.
BUT JESUS OFTEN WITHDREW TO LONELY PLACES AND PRAYED." Luke 5:20
Jesus came to live in front of us how we should live. He didn't let need dictate his pace.
I'm afraid we have come to see rest as weak, maybe even lazy. We equate godly with busy or worn out. We need to refind balance in our lives, to remember that our first call and first love is Him. We need to get by ourselves and rest!
I pray that you will find time often to follow this invitation to withdraw with Christ to a lonely place and pray.....and rest.
And in that rest I pray that your soul will be refreshed and you will discover a calm and intimacy that only time with Jesus can bring!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
People Are Listening
"When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him."
Mark 6:20
I've had Herods in my life before. I'd like to have more.
This was a man who did not know Jesus. He was far from God. But he obviously saw something in John that Herod felt drawn to. He didn't yet "get it" but he loved to listen.
I hope that people, who do not yet know the hope of a Savior, see us and recognize a hope that they are missing. Herod talked to John, a prisoner, and liked to listen to him. What must John have been talking about: getting out of prison, how hard his life had been, what all he had lived without, how inconvient this prison time was, where he'd rather be? We don't know. But his speech must have been full of hope and life and joy and peace. Herod saw something that he had never seen before and liked listening to whatever it was John talked about.
I have learned that most people who are living far from Christ hope that what we have is the real thing. They may not say it and may even communicate the opposite, but they hope you're right. Everything they have placed their hope in has come up short, guaranteed! When they lay their heads on their pillows at the end of the day, they do not have the peace that is available to Christ Followers.
That is why it is important for those of us who do place our hope in Jesus Christ to live with the peace that is available to us. The Herods of the world are watching and listening. We are Christ's ambassadors, representing His heart and hope to a lost and hopeless world.
What are you talking about as people listen?
I pray that this Christmas Season our speech will be full of hope and truth and peace before those who do not yet know Him, but for whom He came to seek and to save!
"Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:7
Mark 6:20
I've had Herods in my life before. I'd like to have more.
This was a man who did not know Jesus. He was far from God. But he obviously saw something in John that Herod felt drawn to. He didn't yet "get it" but he loved to listen.
I hope that people, who do not yet know the hope of a Savior, see us and recognize a hope that they are missing. Herod talked to John, a prisoner, and liked to listen to him. What must John have been talking about: getting out of prison, how hard his life had been, what all he had lived without, how inconvient this prison time was, where he'd rather be? We don't know. But his speech must have been full of hope and life and joy and peace. Herod saw something that he had never seen before and liked listening to whatever it was John talked about.
I have learned that most people who are living far from Christ hope that what we have is the real thing. They may not say it and may even communicate the opposite, but they hope you're right. Everything they have placed their hope in has come up short, guaranteed! When they lay their heads on their pillows at the end of the day, they do not have the peace that is available to Christ Followers.
That is why it is important for those of us who do place our hope in Jesus Christ to live with the peace that is available to us. The Herods of the world are watching and listening. We are Christ's ambassadors, representing His heart and hope to a lost and hopeless world.
What are you talking about as people listen?
I pray that this Christmas Season our speech will be full of hope and truth and peace before those who do not yet know Him, but for whom He came to seek and to save!
"Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:7
Thursday, November 8, 2012
He really is in control!
Regardless of how you voted this week or how you feel about the outcome, if you are a Believer, this applies to you:
"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity."
1 Timothy 2:1-2
God's goals for us are often different than our goals. God's goal is to bless us, but I don't think He ever wants comfort and prosperity for us to the point that we forget Him. His goal is for people to come to freedom through Jesus Christ and to intimate with Him.
"O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die.
First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty or riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For, if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name."
Proverbs 30:7-9
May we be marked by godliness and grace and dignity and may we never dishonor the name of our amazing God!
"I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.
Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity."
1 Timothy 2:1-2
God's goals for us are often different than our goals. God's goal is to bless us, but I don't think He ever wants comfort and prosperity for us to the point that we forget Him. His goal is for people to come to freedom through Jesus Christ and to intimate with Him.
"O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die.
First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty or riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
For, if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, 'Who is the Lord?'
And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God's holy name."
Proverbs 30:7-9
May we be marked by godliness and grace and dignity and may we never dishonor the name of our amazing God!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Mature Faith
Moses named the place Massah (which means "test") and Meribah (which means "arguing") because the people of Israel argued with Moses and tested the Lord by saying, "Is the Lord here with us or not?" Exodus 17:7
Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waters swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
Matthew 8:23-25
"If God's goodness and faithfulness come into question every time life gets hard, we are not going to get where we want to be in our faith." Rob Mehner
When life gets hard, is that where we go? Do circumstances and heartache make us ask:
Is God even here at all? Is God good? Is God really able? Does God care? Has God abandoned us? Did I miss a step somewhere and now He's left me?
IS JESUS SLEEPING AND NOT SEEING WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE????
The disciples "followed Him" onto that boat and "without warning" a storm hit them and they didn't think they would live through it.
Mature faith will take us to: I know God is good in spite of what I can see and understand, God's got a plan that is working in ways that I cannot see, He is with me and promised that He would never leave me......
I want mature faith, crazy trust in who He is, but I have to move past questioning His goodness and faithfulness. Otherwise I am like a rat running on a wheel, around and around but never really getting anywhere.
"Once I settled the issue of God's goodness and faithfulness after my 14 month old daughter's sudden and unexpected death, I was good for life! I never went back to that question again."
Pastor Thomas
God is good, always with us, navigating in ways we cannot see or could imagine. We can bank on that and move forward in faith and trust.
Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him. Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waters swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!"
Matthew 8:23-25
"If God's goodness and faithfulness come into question every time life gets hard, we are not going to get where we want to be in our faith." Rob Mehner
When life gets hard, is that where we go? Do circumstances and heartache make us ask:
Is God even here at all? Is God good? Is God really able? Does God care? Has God abandoned us? Did I miss a step somewhere and now He's left me?
IS JESUS SLEEPING AND NOT SEEING WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE????
The disciples "followed Him" onto that boat and "without warning" a storm hit them and they didn't think they would live through it.
Mature faith will take us to: I know God is good in spite of what I can see and understand, God's got a plan that is working in ways that I cannot see, He is with me and promised that He would never leave me......
I want mature faith, crazy trust in who He is, but I have to move past questioning His goodness and faithfulness. Otherwise I am like a rat running on a wheel, around and around but never really getting anywhere.
"Once I settled the issue of God's goodness and faithfulness after my 14 month old daughter's sudden and unexpected death, I was good for life! I never went back to that question again."
Pastor Thomas
God is good, always with us, navigating in ways we cannot see or could imagine. We can bank on that and move forward in faith and trust.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Measure
"The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration, but its donation."
Corrie Ten Boom
How do I measure my life? What is my standard of a life well lived? What do I hope to lay at the feet of my Savior and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." ?
I hope that whenever this life is lived and I take my final breath, that the measure will be love, generosity, having done for the least of these, having faithfully obeyed all that He asked of me.
I've got a long way to go. I've got to lay aside so many other things that compete to be the measure; things that keep me awake at night and in the end won't matter.
May the measure and focus of our lives be on donation, not duration or accumulation.
Corrie Ten Boom
How do I measure my life? What is my standard of a life well lived? What do I hope to lay at the feet of my Savior and hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." ?
I hope that whenever this life is lived and I take my final breath, that the measure will be love, generosity, having done for the least of these, having faithfully obeyed all that He asked of me.
I've got a long way to go. I've got to lay aside so many other things that compete to be the measure; things that keep me awake at night and in the end won't matter.
May the measure and focus of our lives be on donation, not duration or accumulation.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Nuggets of Wisdom
More wisdom from Pastor Thomas:
"God always knows what He's doing."
"As long as you give him the credit, He will continue to bless you."
Simple truths that stand on their own.
Thank you, Pastor Thomas!
"God always knows what He's doing."
"As long as you give him the credit, He will continue to bless you."
Simple truths that stand on their own.
Thank you, Pastor Thomas!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Downcast
"Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:5
I wish I could say that my soul never felt downcast or disturbed, that I never felt hopeless. But I can't. There are days when just the daily tasks seem too big and my heart feels heavy, and the future is a blur.
One of the greatest things about the Bible is that it tells the truth....the whole truth. And the truth is that we have a God who loves us more than we can imagine, who is intimately involved in our lives, who is patient and kind and faithful and good to the core. It's also true that humans living in a fallen world can feel downcast in their souls and hopeless. We have a God who "knows how we are formed and that we are made of dust" (Ps 103). He is patient and understands our downcast souls.
I get into trouble when I put my hope in anything other than God. If I start to put my hope in my own ability to handle things or figure things out and handle it all, or in a system that supposed to take care of my son's needs, or in teachers who are supposed to find answers, or in a church that's supposed to be perfect, or.....well you get the picture. God alone can be my hope, my Savior, my son's Savior, my husband's Savior.....
When my soul feels downcast and my heart feels heavy I have to pause and refocus my hope.
I pray that you will have the grace today to lay whatever feels heavy to you at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. And that you will find Him trustworthy and able to carry the burden with you. I pray that His peace will fill your heart and soul and that you will not be disturbed within.
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him,
my Savior and my God." Psalm 42:5
I wish I could say that my soul never felt downcast or disturbed, that I never felt hopeless. But I can't. There are days when just the daily tasks seem too big and my heart feels heavy, and the future is a blur.
One of the greatest things about the Bible is that it tells the truth....the whole truth. And the truth is that we have a God who loves us more than we can imagine, who is intimately involved in our lives, who is patient and kind and faithful and good to the core. It's also true that humans living in a fallen world can feel downcast in their souls and hopeless. We have a God who "knows how we are formed and that we are made of dust" (Ps 103). He is patient and understands our downcast souls.
I get into trouble when I put my hope in anything other than God. If I start to put my hope in my own ability to handle things or figure things out and handle it all, or in a system that supposed to take care of my son's needs, or in teachers who are supposed to find answers, or in a church that's supposed to be perfect, or.....well you get the picture. God alone can be my hope, my Savior, my son's Savior, my husband's Savior.....
When my soul feels downcast and my heart feels heavy I have to pause and refocus my hope.
I pray that you will have the grace today to lay whatever feels heavy to you at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. And that you will find Him trustworthy and able to carry the burden with you. I pray that His peace will fill your heart and soul and that you will not be disturbed within.
"Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
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