Come and rest

13 February 2013

 

Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

I heard the voice of Jesus say come unto me and rest. Tired, weary, worn and sad, come lay your head upon My breast. How sad it is that we have such wonderful opportunities to come to Jesus and to simply be in His presence, yet in the busyness of life we just keep on and on and on. The result is a thousand voices all crying out telling us what to do, demands from all, urgent for them and panic for us as we try to be all things to all people. No wonder we breakdown, meltdown and live from one crisis to another.

How many times have you had the opportunity to come and be still with Jesus but more important things came along, how many times. Even now in this moment Jesus is asking for you to come to Him for rest. Yet you worry about the family, about the work, about all those temporary things, not understanding that He will take care of all of them if only you would trust Him and come to Him.

Be encouraged today and to hear the voice of Jesus come unto me and rest.

David

Point to ponder: Jesus said, come unto me and rest.

Question to consider: Do you believe there is no rest for the wicked?

The upward call

31 January  2013   

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Each person has a specific call in Christ Jesus and each person has a goal to achieve through this call. We do this by keeping our eyes on the goal, and this goal is to reach towards the perfection of Jesus Christ who in His perfection has already reach out to us. Each day is part of reaching that goal, and when we take our eyes off of Jesus we loose focus and so do not attain the goal of our calling in Him.

Everyday we need to see our purpose in that day, we do not move aimlessly, but we move and live with purpose in Christ Jesus. We will on occasion seem to be struggling with our goals, our purpose and the temptations along the way. We then need to stop and remind ourselves of the reason for our salvation, and return our focus to Christ Jesus crucified for us.

Be encouraged today to set a goal as you respond to the upward call of Jesus Christ.

 

David

Point to ponder: You have a goal in Christ Jesus.

Question to consider: Do you understand your upward call?

Be Blessed

30 January  2013   

Lamentations 3:21-24 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him."

This morning as I was walking to the office, I saw a spiders web so beautifully spun, glistening with morning dew it shone in the sunlight showing each perfect form of the web. The water in the fountain providing a backdrop of sound as it water tumbled into the pond. The roses white pink like a young bride filing the air with sweet perfume, and the birds chattering in the trees; telling all of the delights of a new morning.

How often do we walk paths that we do not see the beauty around us, ears closed to the whispers of God, noses blocked by the strength of the morning coffee, that we miss the beauty of the new day. Each day we have new blessings, a new day, the old is gone and the new is here, and it is in this moment that we have the ability to experience a newness. We need to stop for a moment, catch our breath, and just let ourselves be part of the splendour of what God is doing today.

Be encouraged today to enjoy God’s blessings, no matter how small they may be.

 

David

Point to ponder: God gives new blessings everyday.

Question to consider: Do you enjoy God’s blessings to you?

Some people are blotting paper

29 January  2013   

Titus 3:1-2 Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for any honest work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all men.

Have you ever walked into a room and said ‘good morning’ and the person you greet does not even look up, and just grunts some noise? There are just some people no matter what find nothing to admire, everything is never good enough, and no matter how you try to please them, they just remain their miserable selves. Now this is fine if you could just leave them and allow them to be their miserable selves, the problem is that they are in community with you, either at work or at home.

Sadly depression is contagious, negativity erodes goodwill and despondency kills hope, and if you allow these people to continue in your space before long you grunt just like they do. We all need to take stock of how our behaviour affects others around us, and the effect of our behaviour determines the response that others have towards us. We need to separate ourselves from those that steal our hope and destroy our cheerfulness, for they are like blotting paper and before you know where you are you are dry in the spirit.

Be encouraged to be cheerful and greet one another with the love of Jesus Christ.

 

David

Point to ponder: God loves a cheerful heart .

Question to consider: Are you naturally miserable or are you that for effect?

God will make a way

28 January  2013    

Psalms 106:9-12 He rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry; and he led them through the deep as through a desert. So he saved them from the hand of the foe, and delivered them from the power of the enemy. And the waters covered their adversaries; not one of them was left. Then they believed his words; they sang his praise.

There is a popular chorus that has the words God will make a way where there seems to be no way, most of us sing this, yet for many it is a lovely tune and the words are great, but sometimes we just miss the point. When we think about God and we consider His words to us in the bible, how many times have these words been true in the past. Think back in your own life, when things were a struggle and you did no know what to do, did God not make a way?

The Israelites faced the wilderness and God led the way, they faced the enemy or the sea, and God made a way, in the desert He gave them water and He gave them food. It was God that led them, and it is God that leads us today. We too need to believe His words and to sing His praise, as God makes a way for us where there seems to be no way.

Be encouraged to allow God to make a way for you through the journey you are on.

David

Point to ponder: Go will make a way..

Question to consider: Do you believe God will make a way?

Make a plan

25 January  2013   

Luke 14:28-30 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.'

There are a few reasons why people are successful in what they do. There are two main reasons for success in every successful programme, the first is planning, the better the plan the more likely a person will succeed, the second is control. The checking and ensuring that the plan is adhered to is very important, and if you have staff always check what they do no matter how good they are at what they do. The reason they are good at what they do is because someone is there to check them; The moment you do not check, something will do wrong.

The same applies in our Christian life, we often do not plan our day, or even our walk with the Lord, we plod along aimlessly and never plan what we are going to do for Jesus. when we do have such a plan, how well do we follow through and who is the person we trust enough to supervise what how we are doing? Most of us have plans at work, at home, but how many of us has a plan on how to please Jesus today?

Be encouraged to be successful at work, at home and most especially in your daily walk with Jesus.

 

David

Point to ponder: God has a plan, be part of that plan.

Question to consider: How good are you in having success in your life?

Joy in work

22 January  2013   

Proverbs 12:14 From the fruit of his words a man is satisfied with good, and the work of a man's hand comes back to him.

Whether you are a lawyer, physician or grass cutter there is very little difference when it comes to being good at what you do. When we see the work of a grass cutter that takes joy in his work, the lines of cut grass are straight and there is little chaff left, when we see the work of a lawyer we see integrity and justice, and the work of the physician brings healing and comfort to the sick and dying. In all of these we see the common thread that a person no matter what the employment is in control of how well they do what they do.

It is in these things that we learn as we grow older that all that we do we do as best we are able, because we do all to please God. It is in this that we as Christians start to actually realise that our true employer is Jesus Himself. So we do all to please Him. So when you see a tidy and neat home, a place of work where things are done properly, we should be mindful of the person. In all you and I do, we do it to please Jesus.

Be encouraged to be joyful in what you do.

 

David

Point to ponder: Be joyful you have work and a place to sleep.

Question to consider: Are you joyful in what you do?