Wow, its been almost ten months since our last post, so sorry! We all get stuck sometimes. It can be from so many things like: hitting the snooze button, writers block (not the case here), being too busy, too overworked, too stretched thin, too many late nights and early mornings, too broke, too many kids (wait, can one have too many kids?), too many adults (I once read a sign that said, "Never grow up, it's a trap!"), too many of anything is always a disaster waiting to happen. Even too much rest can go wrong! I know, right?! Sometimes rest is my best friend and I love to rest.
Rest is a requirement of the human body, I mean, we are made in the image of God and He even rested on the seventh day! So resting is definitely something we have to do from time to time, its even a commandment! How about that? We are supposed to rest one day for every six that we work! Let's see... that is 14.2% of our time on Earth spent resting. There is a balance to it though.
When we rest and honor what God commands us to honor it fills us with fellowship, which in turn fills us with: Peace, Joy, Hope, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness and Willingness to Forgive, and Love. The fellowship I'm talking about is Fellowship with the Holy Word of God. In John chapter one it speaks to us that Jesus is The Word, He was there in creation, He was with God and He was God. Then, since Jesus is The Word, the best place to fellowship with Him would be reading and studying the pages of the Holy Bible and prayer throughout our day and study time.
The Bible is filled with God's Revelation of His Character, of His Spirit, and His Will for us all. It is filled with people and their lives, with wisdom, love, war, blessings, tragedy, and great hope. The Bible comes to life when you open its pages, because it is a living Word! Different things leap off the page at different times of life.
If we have fallen asleep? You see, everyone must from time to time. We need an alarm clock to wake us back up. Passages like, Proverbs 6:10-11 come to mind as a gentle reminder to wake up before your tragedy arrives: "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." If you are anything like me (likes to hit the snooze button), the gentle alarm works sometimes and other times the back up alarm must be used because I sleep straight through the first one. God put that very same verse in the Bible again! Proverbs 24:33-34.
Isn't it neat, that God sets our alarms the same way we do on our cell phones (anyone that uses their cell phone as their alarm clock knows...) There is however a time in the Bible that God wakes us up more profoundly. We do the same thing with our loved ones. They don't listen until the point comes that drastic measures must be taken (like a glass of water or a squirt gun) or be late for school.
Here's a profound wake up call in the Bible. Lazarus was sick and his sisters sent for Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus waited and didn't go right away. Then when the time came, Jesus traveled to Lazarus and the sisters. Lazarus had been dead four days. The sisters had faith that Jesus could have healed their brother but the thought never crossed their minds that he could live again with the command of Jesus. Could you imagine becoming so complacent with the miracles of Jesus that your would just expect healing but nothing beyond it? The Bible is full of impossibilities being made possible! If we stop imagining the endless power and possibilities God is capable of, I think we've fallen asleep!
Then the climax of Lazarus' fate. Jesus told him to: come forth... and he did. Let me say that again. The Word spoke, the same Word John talked about in chapter one. The same Word that created the Heavens and the Earth. The Word spoke and it was so. That is one very loud alarm! This event caused the sleepers and the faithless to turn their heads. Some turned their heads away, (John 12:10 - But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;) but some looked towards Jesus, (John 12:11 - Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.) This alarm sounding was very close to the end of Jesus' life and the start of our birth!
Rest is wonderful and to be done, it should be spent with the Almighty God who made salvation available to us! If there is nothing left in you, know that He is Everything, He is the Work, He is the Rest, He is the Light, He is the Forgivness. We are full of His Glory! We are full of His Love! If you are stuck, step away from the snooze button! Dive into The Word!
Is new life really past what we expect? Pray today for a new beginning, a new life, a new prospective, a new spouse, a new child, a new family. Nothing is beyond the power of God. Wake up and ask.
One last note to put it in prospective. On Saturday mornings as soon as the kids wake up they run to our room and I'm expecting, "Good morning", or "I love you", you know, some such greeting after a hard week of working, or cooking, or cleaning, just keeping the kids alive in general. Saturday is my day to rest! Anyone know what comes instead? The first thing out of their beautiful mouths is: (keep in mind I'm in the bed, not the kitchen), "I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?" Really? Did my wonderful, selfless children ask me that of all things! Of course! It's the most logical thing they can think of. All I can do is laugh. (Eventually everyone makes it to the kitchen for breakfast) After teaching my kids years of manners they now say, "Good morning, I love you, whats for breakfast." It's a slow process, but they are teachable. I imagine God to say the same about us: "It's a slow process, but they' re teachable."
Rest is a requirement of the human body, I mean, we are made in the image of God and He even rested on the seventh day! So resting is definitely something we have to do from time to time, its even a commandment! How about that? We are supposed to rest one day for every six that we work! Let's see... that is 14.2% of our time on Earth spent resting. There is a balance to it though.
When we rest and honor what God commands us to honor it fills us with fellowship, which in turn fills us with: Peace, Joy, Hope, Grace, Mercy, Forgiveness and Willingness to Forgive, and Love. The fellowship I'm talking about is Fellowship with the Holy Word of God. In John chapter one it speaks to us that Jesus is The Word, He was there in creation, He was with God and He was God. Then, since Jesus is The Word, the best place to fellowship with Him would be reading and studying the pages of the Holy Bible and prayer throughout our day and study time.
The Bible is filled with God's Revelation of His Character, of His Spirit, and His Will for us all. It is filled with people and their lives, with wisdom, love, war, blessings, tragedy, and great hope. The Bible comes to life when you open its pages, because it is a living Word! Different things leap off the page at different times of life.
If we have fallen asleep? You see, everyone must from time to time. We need an alarm clock to wake us back up. Passages like, Proverbs 6:10-11 come to mind as a gentle reminder to wake up before your tragedy arrives: "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." If you are anything like me (likes to hit the snooze button), the gentle alarm works sometimes and other times the back up alarm must be used because I sleep straight through the first one. God put that very same verse in the Bible again! Proverbs 24:33-34.
Isn't it neat, that God sets our alarms the same way we do on our cell phones (anyone that uses their cell phone as their alarm clock knows...) There is however a time in the Bible that God wakes us up more profoundly. We do the same thing with our loved ones. They don't listen until the point comes that drastic measures must be taken (like a glass of water or a squirt gun) or be late for school.
Here's a profound wake up call in the Bible. Lazarus was sick and his sisters sent for Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus waited and didn't go right away. Then when the time came, Jesus traveled to Lazarus and the sisters. Lazarus had been dead four days. The sisters had faith that Jesus could have healed their brother but the thought never crossed their minds that he could live again with the command of Jesus. Could you imagine becoming so complacent with the miracles of Jesus that your would just expect healing but nothing beyond it? The Bible is full of impossibilities being made possible! If we stop imagining the endless power and possibilities God is capable of, I think we've fallen asleep!
Then the climax of Lazarus' fate. Jesus told him to: come forth... and he did. Let me say that again. The Word spoke, the same Word John talked about in chapter one. The same Word that created the Heavens and the Earth. The Word spoke and it was so. That is one very loud alarm! This event caused the sleepers and the faithless to turn their heads. Some turned their heads away, (John 12:10 - But the chief priests consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death;) but some looked towards Jesus, (John 12:11 - Because that by reason of him many of the Jews went away, and believed on Jesus.) This alarm sounding was very close to the end of Jesus' life and the start of our birth!
Rest is wonderful and to be done, it should be spent with the Almighty God who made salvation available to us! If there is nothing left in you, know that He is Everything, He is the Work, He is the Rest, He is the Light, He is the Forgivness. We are full of His Glory! We are full of His Love! If you are stuck, step away from the snooze button! Dive into The Word!
Is new life really past what we expect? Pray today for a new beginning, a new life, a new prospective, a new spouse, a new child, a new family. Nothing is beyond the power of God. Wake up and ask.
One last note to put it in prospective. On Saturday mornings as soon as the kids wake up they run to our room and I'm expecting, "Good morning", or "I love you", you know, some such greeting after a hard week of working, or cooking, or cleaning, just keeping the kids alive in general. Saturday is my day to rest! Anyone know what comes instead? The first thing out of their beautiful mouths is: (keep in mind I'm in the bed, not the kitchen), "I'm hungry. What's for breakfast?" Really? Did my wonderful, selfless children ask me that of all things! Of course! It's the most logical thing they can think of. All I can do is laugh. (Eventually everyone makes it to the kitchen for breakfast) After teaching my kids years of manners they now say, "Good morning, I love you, whats for breakfast." It's a slow process, but they are teachable. I imagine God to say the same about us: "It's a slow process, but they' re teachable."