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For anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Hebrews 4:1
Maybe it’s a guy thing, but I have the tendency to hesitate to ask for help. It doesn’t matter how heavy the object is to lift or how hard the task is, if there is any way I can do it on my own I’ll do it! I’ve had plenty of sore backs and pulled muscles to prove it!
The ridiculous part about being driven to do things by ourselves is that it often causes physical pain, frustration and even damage to people and property. Still each of us is inclined to risk our physical and emotional health to do things on our own.
Sometimes we do that because we see the need for help as a sign of weakness. Sometimes we do it ourselves because we have that ‘pride thing’ going on inside us that says: (1) My way is the best way; and (2) No one can do it as well as I can!
What is true for us in the physical realm can also be true in the spiritual realm. In fact the two intersect in some ways. Those of us that are Christ-followers agree that we are sinners and willingly rest on God’s promise of forgiveness and grace for our eternal lives. However, for some reason, if we aren’t careful we think that once we receive this ‘free gift’ of grace we need to work hard to keep it or earn it.
We do this by taking responsibility to make sure our job is right, our kids are healthy and responsible, or homes are fancy and well kept, we have all the right toys and latest gadgets. We even work hard to make sure our ministry or church is stronger, larger and has more technology than the people across the street. Not all of these things are bad unless they become the sole reason for our existence. When they become all we live for then frustration sets in because we can’t possible achieve all we want!
Jesus says, in Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus isn’t necessarily talking about physical rest here. He’s telling all of us who are spiritually tired and emotionally spent that we can come to Him for rest. He wants to comfort us and encourage us when we are struggling to keep afloat.
One of the mysteries of our human existence is that when we are at peace with ourselves on the inside, the things that bring stress on the outside aren’t as powerful. When I allow Jesus to completely control my thoughts, my attitudes and my feelings about people, places and things I have the strength to endure the attacks that are thrown at me.
God’s rest is both present and eternal. His rest gives us freedom to live life to the fullest while we are here on earth. When we rely on God’s power nothing that comes our way brings complete despair. This is true whether the circumstances we face are a result of our own failures or the attacks of others.
God’s rest is also eternal. As Christ-followers we have a hope that reassures us that no matter how bad things are now, someday all the pain and frustrations will be gone. Our physical lives will end, but will usher in an eternal life of peace, happiness and health, all in the presence of God Himself!
PRAYER: Father God. I’m tired. I’m tired physically, emotionally and spiritually. The things that are happening around me have taken away the joy I thought I was supposed to have in you. I confess that I’ve been struggling at my spiritual life all alone and not accepting the help you have promised. Forgive me for trying to do it alone. Empower me by your Holy Spirit to accept your comfort, your power and your help to make it through the daily grind that seems to pull me down. Thank you for your understanding and your rest. Amen.
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Revelation 21:5
Everyone likes to have ‘new things’. We dream of winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune and most of us begin to think of all the ‘new things’ we would buy and ‘new things’ we would do with our new found fortune and power. Money is power!
In reality though, there really is nothing around us that is ‘new’ in the way God talks about ‘newness’. Our idea of new is, in reality, modifications to something that has already existed. There’s nothing really ‘new’ under the sun, as the cliché goes.
God’s view of ‘new-ness’ is vastly different than ours however. When God says He’s going to make something new He isn’t referring to modifications of something that already is. When He created the world there wasn’t something to model it after. It was His own creativity that formed the life we see around us. What a marvelous thought!
That makes the statement John writes down in Revelation even more exciting. From a prophecy standpoint John is telling us that what lies in the future is NEW! It’s nothing we’ve ever seen or experienced before. When you consider the vast love God has for us and when you think of His promise to make all things NEW it should excite you. When someone makes new stuff for those they love they don’t make junk! His promise of ‘new-ness’ makes what we look forward to so much better than we can imagine here on earth, and there is nothing we can compare it to.
But God’s idea of newness didn’t skip from creation to eternity. His newness is available to each of us as well. Paul tells us that through Jesus we are ‘NEW CREATIONS’. When you accepted Jesus as your personal savior He didn’t simply revamp the old you. He made a new one! A nice shiny new you. No past. No failures. No flaws. NEW.
Don’t let past failures or poor decisions keep you from realizing the potential you have to be new in Jesus. Your new-ness isn’t the result of anything you have done or said. It’s all because of God’s great love for you.
PRAYER: Father God. As I think about what it means to be a ‘new creation’ I’m in awe of your love and power. I’m so undeserving of your great love! I fail you and others constantly. I make poor choices and demand my own way. Still, in the face of all this you love me! Thank you for your great love and compassion. Help me from this day forward to live in the newness you have planned for me. Amen.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) Ephesians 5:8-9
No one would blame you for bumping into things in the dark. You can’t see where you are going. You don’t see obstacles in your path. You make choices and decisions based on what you know.
Sometimes, if you are in familiar surroundings, you can do pretty well walking in the dark. You remember where the obstacles were and can plan accordingly. But even then, your chances of miscalculating are great. We can end up in places we never thought we’d be if we rely on our instincts in the dark.
Perhaps the Apostle Paul was thinking of the times he wandered in the dark when he wrote these words to the church in Ephesus. He may have been reminded of the times he’d escaped with his life, or the times sitting in the dark, wet, smelly prisons. Darkness was no stranger to Paul.
Paul also knew the warmth and safety of light. Light enables us to steer clear of obstacles. Light enables us to make clear, rational decisions. Light keeps us from being deceived by the shadows that lurk when darkness surrounds us.
Paul says, “Now we are children of light”. That means things are different now. We can’t be blamed for the actions we did in the dark. We didn’t know better. But now. Now we can see. The mistakes of our past, the poor decisions we made in the darkness are behind us. In another letter Paul says “I set aside those things in my past and press on.” What he is saying is that when he was in darkness he did things that now he regrets. But he’d been forgiven. He was free. He was in the light.
As a Christ-follower we no longer need to regret the things of our past. Because of Jesus love and forgiveness we can come to Him and ask forgiveness. Then, moving on in the light, we can trust Him to guide us into making decisions that are better for us and those around us.
Don’t let the shadows of your dark past continue to haunt you. Because of Jesus we can now walk in the light!
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, I thank you that because of you I can walk in the light. While I was in darkness there were so many people I hurt. So many things I regret. So many stupid decsions I made that I still have scars from. Forgive me for those choices. Enable me, through your Spirit, to walk boldly in the light. Remove the shadows of my past from me so I can live free in you. Amen.
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24
Normally we think of healing in a positive sense. Healing removes pain and makes us healthy. But for any of us who have ever had surgery we know that sometimes pain is required in order for us to be healthy. It isn’t fun to go through the pain, but we have to do it in order for us to be able to function.
Just as pain is sometimes is necessary for healing in the physical realm, so it is in the spiritual realm. The reality is, the only way to receive spiritual healing is death. In the garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve broke the relationship with God through their sin, He killed a calf, offered a sacrifice and clothed them with the skin of the animal. From that point on Adam and Eve had a renewed relationship with God.
The problem was they still suffered the consequence of their sin. The relationship with God was never the same for Adam and Eve, or their descendants. From that point on sacrifices had to be made for the sins mankind committed. Every sacrifice meant the death of an animal. But those sacrifices were temporary and had to be repeated time after time in order for mankind to enjoy relationship with God.
When Jesus came, all that changed. The poor choices and sins of mankind still plagued the human race. The difference is that One person offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice for ALL of the sins of mankind. The sin I bear is like a cancerous tumor. It’s a fatal disease with no cure. There is no hope for cure except for my death.
But Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead paid the debt for our sin. His wounds heal us from the fatal spiritual disease that threatens to keep us from heaven and fellowship with God. We have a new, healthy spiritual life because of what Jesus did for us on the cross.
Now, imagine that you have suffered from some terrible disease that kept you in a wheelchair. One day a cure was found for your disease and you were free to walk about as normal people. You could run, jump, swim and play just as you’d always hoped you could do. Would you stay in the wheelchair? Of course not! Because of the healing you no longer need it. You are free. You can throw that wheelchair away and never ever think about it again.
In the same way, in the spiritual realm, we are healed. We don’t need to carry the burden of our past with us. Others may say, “Hey, shouldn’t you be in a wheelchair?” But we can say with confidence. NO! I’m free now. None of the things of my past matter. I’ve been healed because of Jesus.
Live life free of your past. Don’t allow the disease of sin to keep you captive any longer. Jesus suffered death so you could have full, abundant life. He sent His Holy Spirit to empower you to live above the effects of the deadly disease of sin.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father. I thank you for the healing and freedom I have in Jesus. I’m forgiven because of His death. He has healed me of my sin. Empower me now to live with the power I have through the Holy Spirit so sin will no longer have dominion in my life. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen.
‘and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us’. Matthew 6:12 (NLT)
“I forgive you”. Three of the toughest words we will ever say and perhaps the toughest to live out. There are sometimes when forgiveness is easy. Those times when someone does some small infraction that really had no effect on us. They feel far worse than we do. We forgive them, they feel better and that’s the end of it.
It’s those other times when forgiveness is tough. Those times when we’ve been let down by close friends or family. Once is hard, but then it happens over and over again and we begin to doubt their sincerity. They say they are sorry. They say they will try harder or they will ‘never do that again’ but the more they fail the less we believe their words.
There are times forgiveness seems to be completely impossible. You’ve been hurt. The hurt may be physical. The bruises will heal, but the trust has been broken. While physical hurt is painful, the real pain is in the emotions. Emotional scars heal much slower than physical. Sometimes emotional scars never heal. People you meet on the street everyday wear masks and smiles that hide unbearable pain. They are in the coffee shops and restraints. They are in the doctor’s office and the post office. They are in the schools and the churches. They bear the weight of emotional scars and the baggage of not being able to forgive and move on.
Forgiveness is toughest when it isn’t asked for. You’ve been hurt-badly. Once the physical pain is gone the emotional goes on. The perpetrator knows. He/she just doesn’t care. You are left in a pool of pain, sorrow, embarrassment and hurt. Forgiveness certainly isn’t warranted or deserved. It’s not even asked for! But if you don’t forgive, the pain grows like a painful, cancerous growth producing anger, bitterness and hate.
We don’t forgive others because they ask for it or even deserve it. We forgive to free ourselves from the pain. Forgiveness isn’t about them. It’s about you. To forgive the undeserving isn’t about reconciliation, it’s about freedom.
Jesus says we should pray: ‘and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us’ Matthew 6:12 (NLT). To forgive as we’ve been forgiven! Some forgive conditionally: “If you do this again…”; Others forgive under obligation: “God said I have to forgive you, so I guess I do…”; Others forgive but reserve the right to remind you of this fault at a later, more convenient date.
Jesus says we are to forgive as He does. His forgiveness is complete. All we have to do is come to him, confess our faults and ask forgiveness. Then we move on, trusting His Holy Spirit to empower us to try harder. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we struggle and fail. Always we are forgiven by Him.
There are some people who have hurt you deeply. Forgiveness won’t come through your power. It won’t come overnight. It will some as you rely on God to empower you with the ability to let go of the pain caused by others and be free to let go. Forgiving doesn’t make you less of a person, it makes you more like Jesus.
PRAYER: Father God. You know my heart. There are people in my life that have hurt me deeply and continue to do so. I’m angry, I’m frustrated and bitter. I know I should forgive but have no power to do so. I want to be free of this pain. I want to let go and live more like Jesus. I confess my inability to you and ask you to forgive me. Empower me with your Spirit to forgive and live free of this burden. I Jesus name, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 