Read, Reflect, Receive, Rest...

Linger with this version of Matthew 11:28-30 from the Amplified Bible. The Amplified Bible adds words as defined in the original text. It can get wordy, but when you are just wanting your daily manna, it is a great way to listen. Enjoy...

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and over burdened and I will cause you to rest---I will ease and relive and refresh your souls.
Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest---relief, ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet---for your souls.
For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good)---not harsh, hard, sharp or pressing, but comfortable, gracious and pleasant; and My burden is light and easy to be borne.

What stands out to you? I will cause you to rest jumped off the page at me. For those of you who have heard me teach on receiving our daily bread, you will remember that I encourage you to be present to the Lord inside the 24 hour window you are living and receive from Him what He has for you today. For me today, the heaviness is coming from my mom's struggle with cancer. She is having a really hard time and none of us can change that. It feels sharp, pressing and very uncomfortable; even harsh. I also cannot give myself rest in my soul. Only Jesus can do that.

So, what, realistically, is Jesus inviting me/us to? To come, and let Him give us what He promises. To come open and empty handed. To honestly pour out our hearts and let Him fill them with Himself. In that home I will experience grace, pleasantness, lightness and ease...true rest. And that state of BEing will go with me into the next 24 hours; and it is a home I enter any and every moment I set my mind on Him and not on things here. It is a mystery, I can't explain it and I can't create it any more than I can create a beautiful sky like the one pictured above, but I can experience it as Jesus promises.

Will you Come?

Today

Two weeks ago, I was in Denver with some of you. We were just miles away from the tragedy that took place in Aurora. Unfathomable. Our hearts are sickened by this pain and the devastation of what's transpired. Lives will never be the same. How do we respond? What do we do? How do we live in Jesus in this?

I have no big answers, or theological explanations...I am just reminding myself and you to open our daily invitations: COME TO ME; COME FOLLOW ME. And wait (expect). He is with you, He is with me, He is with them. We live in the questions WITH Him.

"...be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue.  Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them.  And the point is, to live everything.  Live the questions now."  (Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet).

Peace is not circumstances devoid of pain; peace is a gift. I can't explain it, but we can experience it as we come to Him and let Him teach us and give us rest (peace). Matthew 11:28.

Waiting with you,
g

Overlfow

This post is dedicated to the WOTH furlough retreat attendees, volunteers and our prayer team. I plan to post every Friday for the next month in honor of you and for our mutual encouragement. Please feel free to comment and connect! Remember this???

"I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey My commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey My Father's commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!" John 15:9-11

We spent a lot of time pondering what is means to abide, remain, live, dwell in Jesus; all that we are (cup) connected to the Vine (pitcher), allowing God to produce His fruit in our lives so that we will overflow Him to those on our saucer (loving others) and to share His love (testify) to the people on our plates in all parts of the world. It was truly a delight for me to process this miraculous invitation with you.

However, it didn't take long for the rubber to meet the road! Our road trip home was a test of my abiding for sure. How about you? Did REAL life slap you in the face as it did me? Phone calls, text messages, lousy sleep, relational stress and hot weather all invaded my space quickly. That's life. That's reality.

So, how do we stay in the flow of the Spirit? How do we keep our cup in position to receive ALL that He longs to pour in? How do we abide in those tiny moments that try to poison our cup and disconnect our branch from the beauty of His flow? We have to learn to LISTEN or PAY ATTENTION to His faithful Voice IN us. To wait on the Lord. Serve/submit to Him with our attitudes, words, actions, thoughts. It just takes a little moment...but the outcomes are HUGE. His path will always lead to peace.