Rest A While

“And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.” Mark 6:31

Wow, we just got through another Christmas season.

Does your life really seem to ramp up every December as you prepare for Christmas and New Year’s? Boy ours sure does. Between parties, events to attend, kids coming home from school and our Christmas services at church our schedules are booked solid. Life can get that way and what is supposed to be a great time with family and friends comes and goes without really appreciating it as much as we should because we never took time to rest. Did you know that is no surprise to God? In fact, He is the One who designed us with a need for regular times of rest and relaxation even during busy seasons.

Jesus knew that in the midst of a busy ministry schedule that He needed to make room for His disciples to get away and rest. But resting didn’t begin with Him it started at the time of creation. Remember what God did on the seventh day? Sure you do, He rested. We know that God never sleeps nor slumbers so why did He need to rest? Well, He really didn’t need to but was actually just giving us a pattern to live by. It’s the idea of working really hard when we work, and then making time in our lives to rest from it. In fact, God made a point to include rest as one the Ten Commandments. Can you imagine that? He made resting a commandment. Here’s what it says about it:

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:11

A Sabbath is primarily a period of rest for the purpose of spiritual, physical and mental enrichment. The Jewish word for Sabbath is "Shabbat" and it comes from the root Shin-Bet-Tav, meaning to cease, to end, or to rest. In modern language we’d say, a time to disconnect from the normal day to day stuff, to get off the grid awhile and see that life really does go on without Facebook or Twitter.

World-class athletes understand the importance of resting their bodies. Farmers know that there are seasons where their land needs to rest. Horse trainers understand that between training and races that their animals need to be rested. Athletes know that their muscles need to re-build, farmers know that their land need to be replenished with nutrients, and horse trainers know that without rest their animals may face injury. If all of those folks understand the value of rest, how come you and I fight it?

This week we closed our offices and gave the staff time off just to chill and get some rest. Some took trips to see family; others used the time just to hang out with friends. I’ve read a couple of Tom Clancy spy novels. I have to admit that at times I felt a little guilty of not doing something more spiritual than reading about Jack Ryan saving the world, but it actually has been good to my soul.

What do you like to do that brings you rest? What can you engage yourself in to get away from the day-to-day routine? I urge you to make a point to set aside time this next year for regular times of rest. Jesus did, and so did his disciples, so why not you? You need to make time to “Rest A While.”

The Great Exchange

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes on HIM should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16 This week at our annual staff Christmas party we always have a fun white elephant gift exchange where you can steal someone else’s gift or go for an unopened present. It’s always a blast to watch people maneuver to get the gift they really want, rather than leaving with something lame. It reminds me of the very reason for this time of year. It’s the season when we celebrate God’s greatest gift of all—His son Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus did for us we’re blessed to have the greatest gift exchange ever. You see Jesus didn’t just come to be born in a manger; He was destined to die on a cross for all of us. And because of what He has done this exchange has already happened. Now all we have to do is receive these gifts by faith. Here are just a few of the gifts that we get to exchange: (1) For Sin we received Forgiveness In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7, NKJV) (2) For Death we received Life And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins…. (Ephesians 2:1, NKJV) (3) For Depression we received Joy …for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace andjoy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17, NKJV) (4) For Anxiety we received Peace Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NKJV) (5) For Lack we received Abundance For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9, NKJV) (6) For Sickness we received Health But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5, NKJV) (7) For Defeat we received Victory But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57, NKJV) Wow, those are some pretty awesome gifts. Just think about it. God loves you so much that He wants you to experience His gifts—of forgiveness, life, joy, peace, abundance, health and victory. I’d say that we’ve got a lot to be thankful for this Christmas season.

Prepare For More

"Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtain of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your sake. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited." Isaiah 54:2-3, NKJV Have you ever noticed that people who accomplish a lot in life prepare for it? We just spent a couple of days of strategic planning with our executive team here at our church. Our focus wasn’t on how to better manage what the Lord has given us, but on how to manage what’s ahead. We were preparing for what’s coming, not what’s already here. That’s a huge paradigm shift for a lot of people. It seems like a lot of people spend all their time looking around at what they have and then use all their energy rearranging the furniture rather than making plans to knock out a wall and make room for more. That’s why I love the verse above from Isaiah so much. It speaks of the importance of enlarging the place of your tent, stretching out your curtains, lengthening your cords, and strengthening your stakes—all in preparation for an increase that hasn’t come yet. That’s what faith does. Faith prepares. Faith sees things before they get here. Faith sees a future with more, not less. What do you see in your future? Do you see more, or just more of the same? Maybe it’s time to start thinking different? Maybe it’s time to start seeing things differently through the eyes of faith. Proverbs says,“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV) So in other words, our thoughts can either keep us small, or they will allow us to dream big. It’s time to start thinking bigger, to start seeing more in your life—starting today. What do you need more of? More friends, more time with your family, more influence in your community, more opportunities at work, more customers/clients, or even more money in the bank? Whatever it is for you then start planning for it. Start stretching your thoughts, your dreams and desires and begin to prepare for their arrival. What would you have to adjust to accommodate more in your life? It’s time to think different, and to get ready for more. Can you see it?

His Love Will See Us Through

"For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, angels nor principalities nor power, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38, NKJV Here’s something to think about. God loves you, and there is absolutely nothing that can ever take that away. I don’t know about you, but that truth really ministers to my soul. Maybe it’s just me, but I so often equate God’s ability to love me based upon my performance. But God’s love for us is never based on what we do; it’s simply without conditions. He loves us, period! That concept is a bit hard to wrap our minds around because we tend to put conditions on everything we do. I’ve been a bit discouraged lately with some things and I’ve realized that it’s been negatively affecting my relationship with God. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been feeling like God’s just not that into me, that He doesn’t really care about me that much. But the truth is that He’s never stopped loving me, because that would be impossible for Him. He is love and He loves every one of us—all the time! So remember that God loves you whether you hit a home run, or you strike out. Whether you hit the three-pointer, or throw up a ridiculous looking air ball. Whether you blow it up, or just blow it. Whether you appear perfect, or you come with a few scars. God loves you because…well He just does! He loves you because He is the One who made you. He loves you so much that He purposely made you different than every other person who has ever lived. You are unique, and you are special, and God’s love for you is without limits and without end. Don’t ever let anyone or anything steal this truth from you. There is nothing you can do to earn it. Nothing you can do to deserve more of it. Nothing you can ever do to have it taken away. Nothing can ever separate us from God and His love. There is a verse in Hebrews 13:5 in the Amplified Bible that really speaks to this. My favorite part says, “…for He, God Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. I will not, I will not, I will not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let you down or relax My hold on you….” That kind of commitment can only be explained by one word—Love. Because of God’s love for us He promises that He will never ever give up on us. So be encouraged today—no matter where you are, no matter what you’re going through—God’s love, His unconditional, unchanging, and unending love will see you through.

Quiet Down

"Then He said, 'Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.' And behold, the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks is pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a still small voice." 1 Kings 19:11-12, NKJV I remember my teachers in school shouting, “Quiet down!” over the roar of our classroom. Our teacher knew that she couldn’t talk over the noise of those kids. She knew that if anything was going to get done, we all needed to be quiet. Do you ever have trouble stopping all the noise in your life? Does it seem like there is always some sort of noise running in the background? The trouble with commotion in our lives is that it makes it extremely difficult to hear from God. The passage of scripture above is showing us that we have a tendency to always look for God in the wind, the earthquakes and the fires of life. But that’s not His primary way of speaking with us. He’s looking for those times where we quiet down our lives so that we can hear His still small voice. I don’t know about you, but I long to hear God’s still small voice. It reminds me of two verses that talk about getting quiet or getting still so that we can hear: “…meditate within your heart on your bed and be still.” (Psalm 4:4, NKJV) “Be still and know that I am God….” (Psalm 46:10, NKJV) How can we ever have a quality “quiet time” when we don’t build margin in our lives to get quiet? How can we ever hear from heaven if we keep turning up the noises here on earth? I want to encourage you this weekend to carve some time in your life to hear from God. Would you be willing to do an experiment with me? Will you set apart some time to find a place to get quiet and spend some time with God? Block out at least two hours – four would be better – and get yourself somewhere that you won’t be distracted by the wind, an earthquake or a fire. The first thing to do is quiet your mind and your heart. This may take more than a few minutes. Don’t try to get here too quick. It’s a time to really put your focus upon God. The second thing would be to write down some questions that you would like to know from God. Don’t be too generic or superficial, but write down real, heartfelt questions about your life. Then pray and ask God to bring clarity to you during this time. Ask Him to open up your heart to revelation knowledge about His plan and His will for you. Let this be a time where you are drawn closer to Him. He says that if we seek Him, we will find Him. Now it’s time to start reading your Bible. I would suggest to start by reading a few Proverbs, a few chapters in Psalms, and then some chapters out of the New Testament. Then begin to journal your thoughts. What are you seeing in the scriptures, what are you hearing? Then just go back and forth between reading then writing, writing and reading, and reading and writing. You get the picture? And please, whatever you do, don’t be in a hurry, don’t get distracted, but stay focused. Remember, God’s not in the wind, the earthquake or the fire – He’s in the still small voice. So quiet down, and listen!

A Work In Progress

"But now, O Lord, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8, NKJV Will it ever stop? Will my need to hop up again on the Potter's wheel for a re-shaping ever end? I don't know about you, but it seems like I'm always finding myself challenged to either stay the same or allow God to mold and shape me into the person He wants me to be. You see, we're the clay and He's the Potter. We don't get to shape ourselves—He does! I've found that sometimes His re-shaping hurts. It hurts my ego, it hurts my pride and it even hurts my feelings. (Call the waaambulance) But in the end, it makes me a better person. How about you? Can you relate to this, or am I writing this just for me? Did you know that God is always working in our lives? Sometimes He is very obvious and at other times He is working more behind-the-scenes shaping us into who He created us to be. Philippians 2:13 (NKJV) tells us, “…for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” It all starts with our willingness to be open for God to work in our lives. So where do we start? Where does our Potter need to do His most important and vital work? It starts in the heart. I love the cry of David in Psalm 139:23-24 (KJV),“Search me O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” A natural potter works to shape the outside of his project, but our Potter knows that His work is an inside job. If we’ll let Him, He will shape our hearts in such a way that we can become a reflection of His Son Jesus Christ. In Ezekiel 36:26 God tells us that when we are born again He replaces our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh. He takes out our hard and immoveable hearts and gives us a pliable and moldable heart of flesh. That’s the kind of heart that He can work with. For so many years my heart was hard. It was hard toward others, and even hard toward God Himself. But when Jesus became the Lord of my life, He began to soften my heart in an amazing way. The really cool thing is that the Potter’s work on the inside began to show itself on the outside. So now some thirty years later I find that I still need the Potter more than ever. I just love it when the Potter does His thing in my heart, because He’s always working to make my heart look more like His. I admit it; I am a work in progress. So today, will you join me in presenting our hearts to God? Let’s ask Him to do a work in us in ways that will please Him, and Him alone. A work that will cause us to be more like Jesus in everything we do.

Which Way Do I Go?

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV

Life’s way too short to ever head down the wrong road. Why? Because it takes so much extra energy and effort to turn around rather than just take the right path in the first place. God’s got a straight path for every one of us; He always has the best route to get from point A to point B. I love the simple plan that God lays out for us in the opening verse of this devo in terms of following His direction for our lives. Let’s walk this out together: 1. Trust in the Lord It all starts with us trusting in Him more than we trust in ourselves. We are taught early on to trust ourselves, our ideas or even our instincts. But that’s not always the best. It’s best when we put our trust in the Lord. He sees the big picture. He sees things that we don’t see. He sees the roadblocks, the things in the road that will cause us to be delayed. When we choose to trust God with our decisions and the direction, it opens up the door for His guidance. It’s called faith. It’s when we get to the point when we seek God’s direction rather than coming up with our own. In John 16:13 Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will actually, “show us things to come.” He helps us to see further and better than we can see by ourselves. And this leads us to point number two. 2. Lean not on your own understanding. This just means that we need to learn to “lean into God” more than we lean on our own brainpower. The way we lean into God is by presenting every part of our lives before the Lord in prayer. It’s something that we need to do daily through our quiet times, through journaling or those times we take extra time to prayer through our decisions. The Good Shepherd does speak to His sheep, but we have to be willing to listen. This brings us to point number three. 3. In all your ways acknowledge Him. This is what happens when we bring our “issues” before the Lord. We’re just acknowledging our dependence upon the Lord. And by the way, that’s not for His benefit, it’s for ours. Because He knows that we need Him, we just need to consistently remind ourselves that we’re helpless without Him. Philippians 4:6 is a great reminder that we don’t have to worry that we’re making a wrong decision as long as we bring everything to Him in prayer. This brings us to point number four. 4. And He shall direct your paths. This is our confidence. If we will trust in the Lord, lean not on our own understanding, and always acknowledge Him, we’ll stay on the right path. We won’t get off course. We can trust that He knows more than us and that the road we’re on will result in us staying in His perfect will for our lives.