TODAY'S PROMISE

"Then Jesus said, '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 NLT). 

GET OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND

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Like my self you have noticed that life throws major

problems at people.  Things that hurt and hurt bad.

You have noticed it about people around you or following

people on "Facebook" or some other social media.

It seems like almost a daily routine.  You know, moan and

groan.  Then they are going to get a positive attitude and 

grit their teeth pretending all is well.  But of course that

does not work so it is back to moaning and groaning.

What is the answer?

GET OFF THE MERRY-GO-ROUND.

What do I mean by that?

Consider this example.  Several thousand years ago there

was a king named David.  You know.  The one that thousands

of boys have been named after, king David of Israel.

One day David and his men returned home only to find 

their town burned to the ground and the families taken

captive.  And if that were not enough, by now even his

own men were talking about stoning David to death.  

So, what did David do at probably the lowest point in his

life?  He "got of the merry-go-round".  "But David

strengthened himself in the Lord his God." (1 Samuel 

30:6 NASB)  And yes, they were able to recover it all.

Or consider even Jesus Christ and his disciples.  Things

had been going well.  Perhaps too well.  They were busy,

too busy doing God's work.  They were getting tired and

Jesus said,

"Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest

a while." (Mark 6:31 NASB)  In other words lets get

off the merry-go-round.  And if you have paid any 

attention to the life of Christ you noticed that often he

would go out by himself to a secluded place to be with

God the father.

Got problems.

Get off the merry-go-round and spend some time with

God.  It will straighten things out for you.

There is a Hebrew word in the Holy Bible translated

"wait" in Isaiah 40:31.  At this particular place the 

Hebrew word used meant "a prim. root; too bind together

(perh.  by twisting)"  Do you see the togetherness of it.

"Yet those who wait for the Lord

Will gain new strength;

They will mount up with wings like eagles,

They will run and not get tired,

They will walk and not become weary."

Get off the merry-go-round and go hide with

God for a while and see how it helps you.

PATH TO REST

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Rest.  Real rest for my body, mind and soul.

Especially this time of the year.

The merchants are hounding you to get your money.

Your family is pushing you to keep up with the season.

And the politicians are screaming at you because they

want you to help them in their folly.

And all we want is real rest through and through.

I don't know about you, but I am sick of new fangled,

complicated gadgets that are more difficult to use and

less reliable in addition.  It seems that anytime I let

my computer be "updated" I'm further behind.

Location and peace and quiet help.  But we need

something that goes deeper than that.  Yet most of

us have turned aside from the real source of rest.

Like the nation of Israel of old, we have gone our

own ways, and we are paying the price for it.

God's recommendation to them is valid for us today.

"Thus says the LORD,

'Stand by the ways and see and ask for

the ancient paths,  Where the good way is,

and walk in it;

And you will find rest for your souls."

(Jeremiah 6:16 NASB)  

Do you want REST, real REST.

Turn from the way you are going now and 

go to Jesus Christ.  He said,

"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,

and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you

and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble

in heart, and YOU WILL FINED REST FOR YOUR

SOULS.  for My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

(Matthew 11:28-30 NASB)  

REST VS. INSANITY

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Why on earth should I turn to God and 

enjoy rest, quietness and strength, when

I could ignore him and go crazy?

"For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,

has said,

'In repentance and rest you will be saved,

In quietness and trust is your strength.'

But you were not willing,"

(Isaiah 30:15 NASB)  

TODAY'S PROMISE

Jesus Christ,

Son of the living God

said:

"Come to me, all who are weary and heavy-laden,

and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you

and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in

heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR

SOULS.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is

light."

(Matthew 11:28-30 NASB)

TODAY'S QUOTE

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 "You have made us for yourself,

O Lord,

and our heart is restless until it

rests in You."

-Augustine

TIRED

"Don't you know?  Haven't you heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God;

he created all the world.

He never grows tired or weary.

No one understands his thoughts.

He strengthens those who are weak and tired."

(Isaiah 40:28,29 GNT)

Jesus said,

"Come to me, all of you who are tired

from carrying heavy loads, and I 

will give you rest.

Take my yoke and put it on you,

and learn from me, because I

am gentle and humble in spirit;

and you will find rest."

(Matthew 11:28,29 GNT)

SATISFY THAT LONGING

I used to work with a man who always wanted to 

travel some place else.  He was never satisfied with

where he was.  If he was not on vacation, he was

pouring over maps trying to see where he wanted to

go.

That seems to be our human nature.  Never satisfied

with what we have or are.  We are always longing 

for more.

Some of us always wanted more speed.  We wanted

to go faster than the other person.  That is, until we

went so fast it killed us.

Some always want more; money, fame, power, love,

enjoyment, rest.  You name it.  But we want more.

There never is enough.  But the cost is always high.

Contrast this with God's invitation to those in need 

and his desire to satisfy that need or longing.

"The Lord says,

'Come everyone who is thirsty-

here is water!

Come, you that have no money -

buy grain and eat!

Come! Buy wine and milk -

it will cost you nothing!

Why spend your wages and still be hungry?

Listen to me and do what I say,

and you will enjoy the best food of all.

Listen now, my people, and come to me;

come to me, and you will have life!"

(Isaiah 55:1-3 GNT)

COMFORT IN DEATH

First realize that this Scripture passage is taken out of context.

As it is said, a Scripture taken out of context is a pretext.

This then raises the question who is "good"?

Good according to God, or something that

a person has concocted in their own mind.

In this case it is someone who has been walking and

living with and for God.  And in todays time setting,

that would be someone who has been born of the

Spirit of God.  That is, born again and living with

and for God.

If that describes you,

then this Scripture is for you when  that day comes.

"Good people die, and no

one understands or even

cares.  But when they die, no

calamity can hurt them.  Those

who live good lives find peace and

rest in death."

(Isaiah 57:1,2 GNT)

"Death has nothing terrible which life

has not made so.  A faithful Christian

life in this world is the best preparation

for the next."

- Tryon Edwards

GOD'S REFRESHMENT

I met a man a few nights ago who works long hard days -

seven days a week.  Right now he is young (By my standards.)

and strong.  But you and I both know that in time it will kill

him.  Then, who gets his farm?

That is the why they work political prisoners so hard in slave 

labor camps.  They work them to death.

When I was a kid I worked in what we called a packing house.

This one packed the growers lemons.   One of the "bosses" told

my dad that by giving the women a ten minute break in the 

morning and another one in the after noon, they got more work

out of them than if they did not have a break.

Years ago I read that Andrew Jackson said he could march his

men further in six days than he could in seven.  Are you getting

the point?

Even Jesus said,

"The Sabbath was made for man, 

and not man for the Sabbath."

-Luke 2:27 NKJV

What is the "Sabbath"?  A day of rest.

Hey!  God himself rested on the seventh day.

And he made you so that you need a day of rest.

I am not pushing for some particular day over another

as a Sabbath or day of rest.  Nor am I pushing for a

return to the old Jewish laws.  If you will look it up

the "Sabbath" was given even before the "Law" that

was given up on the mountain. 

But I am asking you why you insist on pushing yourself

into a premature death when God wants you to take a

break every week?

THERE IS A REST

     

                                                    REST

                       REST. Yes, there is a rest.

The image above is where I probably get the most rest.
An old recliner.  And, the chair I am sitting in now that
looks out across the neighbor's field.  And of course the
bed in the next room.

Not forgetting the several rocking chairs and the swing
the wife has on the front porch.  Or several rock benches
I have placed around the yard under trees.  Or three chairs
in my office.

Or over at my "hide a way" or retreat in Madison County
there are two recliners, two overstuffed chairs, two
straight back chairs and a bed inside.

Outside, two rock benches and a swing under the trees.
Not counting the chair I drug across the ravine up the
hill and put at the back of the property so I could sit and
rest while looking across the neighbor's fields.

But these are for the body.  What do we do when life is
overwhelming us.  We are swamped and about to go
down and out?  When the needs of the body are only
a fraction of our problem.

God has a rest for his people.

I hate to admit it.  But here I am 80 years old now.  My
life is in the balance and the bills are pilling up over my
head.  Of course it looks like all my dreams and aspirations
are a thing of the past.  But I finally learned where the rest
God has for His people is.

Any Christian knows that we are to walk in the Spirit, not
in the flesh.  [See Galatians 5:16 - 25]  And most of us do,
at least sort of.  We don't do all those bad things that are of the
flesh and we try to do the right things.

Here God let me see something.  In verse 16 the word "walk"
is "peripateo" in the Greek.  (Cool, eh!)  And if you will look it
up you will see that the major thought is, "to tread all around,
i.e. walk at large...".  Thanks to James Strong.

Now that is what I do sometimes with the grand kids.  We
may walk all around through the woods looking at stuff.  And
we are walking together.  And that's the way most of us
Christians walk with God in the Spirit.

But look at verse 18.  "But if you are LED by the Spirit, ..."
Hey!   There is a difference between wondering around in
life and being "LED" by the Spirit.  Who is making the choices
or directing my life?  If I am led by the Spirit in EVERYTHING,
then every thing I do becomes God's problem - not mine.  And
I rest in Him.  I dump it all on Him.  Me and my mess up become
His to fix, if I will dump it on Him and allow the Holy Spirit
to do the directing in EVERY THING.

Jesus said,

"Come to Me, all you 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."
(Matthew 11:28,29 NKJV)

FUTILE EFFORT

"Unless the LORD builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early 

and go late to rest,

easting the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep."

(Psalms 127:1,2 RSV)

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MY DACHA

Russians have a fantastic tradition - the "dacha".

They are smart enough to want out of town.  To get out
into the country with it's fresh air and hopefully tranquility.
A place to slow down, get close to nature and relax.
Oh, and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.

That has been my desire for a long time.  A retreat away from
the crowd.  A place with a slowed down pace.  I just did not 
know it was called a "dacha".

Being a poor man it was not possible just to go out and
buy one.   So, what do you do?  "PRAY".  Pray to the 
God who created the world and all that is in it to start with.
He does hear and answer prayer.  The pictures in this 
post are proof of that.


Yes, it needs lots and lots and lots of work.  But that has 
been a blessing in itself.  I am the kind of guy that can not
just set and watch the sun raise and set.  So every time
I break out into a sweat I thank God while listening to
the birds sing and the wind blow through the trees.

The vegetable garden.  No its not in yet.  But the spaces 
are picked out in several clearings.

One other thing.  The principle of the dacha seems to be a God
inspired thing.  God wants us to get out of the fast pace
of life and spend time with him.  And to feast on his 
word and presence.

Christ himself said to his disciples,
"Come away by yourselves to a lonely
place, and rest a while."
(Mark 6:31 RSV)

You don't have a dacha.  That is O.K.  Go hide in
the closet.  Sit behind a bush or lock yourself in
a car.  Then relax and talk with God for a while.
You will come away refreshed.   

ARE YOU TIRED AND WEARY?

"Come unto me,

all you that labour and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;

for I am meek and lowly in heart:

and all of you shall find rest unto your souls.

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

-Matthew 11:28-30 I LOVE JESUS (UKJV)