A Place to Rest

 A Place to Rest 

Matthew 11:28 says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burden and I will give you rest.”

        Sometimes I spend too much time stressing and worrying about the wrong thing. I know it is the wrong thing because it is meaningless to my purpose in life. It is meaningless because it is a worldly thing. I know I should not be concerned about the cares of this world because the cares I worry about are not of the Lord.  Therefore, they are meaningless to God’s mission and purpose for creating me.  

        We live in this world, but we are not of this world is what the scripture teaches believers. What this is saying is that my position in Christ, while on this earth, makes me different. I love this next scripture too. Psalms 139:13-14 says, "for it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother's womb, I praise You because I have been fearfully and wonderfully made." This says that I am set part from anyone else. There is no one else on the planet just like me. My lifestyle and behavior is to be different for He created my inward and outward parts unique and different. The care and attention God took to make me is simply amazing! I belong to Him- this is why He tells me to come to Him when I feel worried or burden with care. The created needs to go to the Creator!

        My behavior should be different because I know who I am and I know "Whose" I am. My behavior should always be godly and pleasant to my Creator. This world and the way it operates is not for me to embrace. I am literally a stranger here. The scripture teaches me so much about my relationship with the Lord.

        The way the world does things is not God’s way nor should it be my way. Just because my thoughts come from me does not mean they are in line with God’s word; unless, I  embrace and live by His word. I have to check my thoughts and decisions daily. When I pray and receive an answer for clarity, I usually know instantly if I am in the flesh or in the spirit. If I am in the flesh, I have to correct myself and abandoned my wrong behavior. I have to repent and ask for forgiveness.

        Praying with faith gives me a different perspective about life. If that godly perspective is different from mine I know mine did not come from God. What He gives me is always right, even if it is uncomfortable. My thoughts can seem right, but I need to be alert. Honestly, seeking and choosing His way is difficult to the flesh. Yet, I have to be obedient. I have to correct my wrongs because I know the flesh will and does mislead me. 

        His yoke is easy and His burden is light. I become infused with Him. I did not understand what this meant. I had to study and read more to understand it. He says, “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your soul.” When my soul is weary and burden, He is the only One who can give me perfect peace. When I let go and let God, there is no more stressing or worrying. My soul is at rest and my soul is at peace. 

        Whatever happens to be my situation at that moment, when I turn it over to Him, it belongs to Him. I release it and He receives it. I do not have to pick it back up. I become stress free and worry free. His yoke is easy like that and His burden is light.

Only You!

 Only You! 

Psalms 147: 3 says, “God heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.”  

Who does not want their broken heart healed and their wounds bound up? Who does not want relief from a broken heart? It is a blessed kind of freedom only God can provide? When life happens in the worst kind of way, and leaves my heart broken and leaves me bound up in my emotions and fears, I turn to my Bible and search the scriptures for comfort and hope. 

I take in what I believe the scripture is giving me, at the exact moment that I need it. I think about the words on the pages, a lot. I see past them; I internalize them; I repeat them out loud and silently. I think about them until I understand what is taking place on the inside of me. I feel and  understand the peace overtaking me. I began to feel a sense of calm and inner strength.

I emerge myself in the scripture because I want my broken heart to be put back together again. I want healing from the aching pain I feel in the pit of my stomach. I want wholeness again. I want freedom from sorrow. I realize my answer is established inside the scripture. I read and pray the scripture back to Him, the author of these comforting words.

I say to Him, "Father God, I know You will heal my broken heart and You will bind up my wounds. The sorrow I feel is real. The loss I feel is real, and my hurting heart is real. But I know You are my Healer and I trust You."

I also say, "When I feel all these things, I feel the strong presence of You- my Lord.  I know Your presence is real. I know Your promises are real!

                                        

God loves each of us and He does heal our hurting broken hearts, but we have to let Him into our lives so healing can take place. At that moment, the feeling of peace and calm I receive lets me know everything is going to be fine. I realize that my life is meant for me to live in peace with a blessed freedom from the worries and cares of this world. 

When I feel like I am going through the storms all by myself, I know that I have someone walking by my side during the turbulent times.  I know that I am not alone during the times that I feel all alone, because I have You Lord- and only You!

 

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I am a Growing Woman

 I am a Growing Woman

Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." 

I want to testify that I am a growing woman. I am learning to listen to my heart. I am  learning to be still. I am learning not to worry or carry around care. I want to grow out of my old way of thinking. I want to grow out of my old attitude. I want to grow up in the Lord. I want my mind to be transformed. I want to renew my mind whereas to be more like Christ.  I want to shed the old and embrace the new. Life is about change, nothing or no one stays the same. 

 Trusting in the Lord for me and many others is easier said than done. Trust, to me, has to be intentional and something I must continue to focus on. To say, "I trust the Lord" sounds good when I hear it. “I trust God; He is in control sounds biblically correct” when I hear it.  But do I really? I can say, emphatically- yes! I do now. Some years ago, not as much.  Life has been brutal and has taught me to trust God. Not because I did not want to or need to, but I had to trust Him. I just did not know how to get out of my own way. I had to get to know Him and believe in Him because life tried to crush me and rob my soul. I have been transformed, renewed, and approved! 

The scripture says God is Love- I say, know He is Love to me. I did not always have a relationship with the Lord. I learned that when you are in a close relationship with someone, you make time to get to know that person and spend time with that person, so you can grow and can comprehend, love and trust that person. Especially when all you begin to see is Grace wrapped up in pure authenticity.  

Trusting God is a daily conscientious decision. For me, it definitely requires personal reflection and honest interpretation of myself. Church people like me talk about trusting God so much until it sounds cliché.  It is the proper thing to say in a believer’s conversation. I had to allow myself to enter into the relationship phase with the Lord. I had to get alone with myself and examine my heart and soul so I could focus on our relationship. I had to abandon social media, especially Facebook. I had to do this for me and be as intentional about my quest for growth as possible.  I had to weigh the benefits of becoming a growing woman of God; I discovered there are loads of benefits,- and I want to experience them all. I like the woman I am becoming.

I am very connected to my Power Source; the more I read the scriptures the more I get- Him; the more I believed Him. I feel myself changing and growing in knowledge and wisdom. I can not place trust in my efforts to be a good person so I can grow in confidence. I realize that trusting God is a spiritual process that leads me to personal growth and confidence, at least it is for me- The Growing Woman. 

Temptation on Every Side

Temptation on Every Side

Hebrews 4:15 says, "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. NKJV"

        Today, I tend to think too much about how to avoid temptation, so I do not fall into Satan's traps. In my younger days, I did not think about needing to fight temptation. Being tempted by other kids was a real thing.  At that time, I did not see anything wrong with trying to hang and do what other kids did, within reason of course. It was never too bad or extreme, but Satan can take what we think is insignificant to trick us and trap us. I remember, as a teenager, saying, "Forget it; I'm going to have me some fun." Those were the words I told myself to explain giving in to temptation. 

        I was that teenage girl who occasionally defied my parents and did some of the things I wanted to do. My parents specifically told me not to do certain things or go certain places, and did. I was that young lady in college with the taste of freedom who did what I wanted to because I was away from my parents and thought I could. I was a clueless young lady who did not fully understand what it meant to be a wife and later a mother. I wanted everything my way, but I learned that it takes compromise when two people become one. Sometimes I can still be like her- that young wife. Yet, I am thankful, as I grow inwardly daily.

        I have had many weaknesses at different phases of my life. The saying goes, when you know better you do better. I knew better and still did things my way. Sometimes I still do what I want to do instead of what I should do. I believe God understands where I am in my growth and He knows my heart.

        Recently, I had an interesting conversation with a friend at work about how we are not unrelatable in our emotions and temptations. We were basically saying what Hebrews 4:15 says.  Sometimes when I mess up, I am harder on myself than I should be. Satan can tempt you and then beat you up about it, if you let him. I must remember that the High Priest understands me and sympathizes with me when I am tempted to lie, or tempted to tell that mean cashier the ugly truth about what I really think about her attitude. I am growing!

       Sometimes I sin when I am tempted, but Jesus (the High Priest) when tempted, did not sin. The good thing is He knows my weaknesses. We talked about Christ being an example for us and He demonstrates how we are to handle temptation; it is written in his Word. We can choose not to do what we are tempted to do. It is a decision. Christ was tempted in every way that we are and He experienced every emotion we have.  He understand us completely- certainly better than we understand ourselves.  He is the Creator; we are the created.

        Temptation comes in all forms and on every level of our life; it can show up on every side. The good news is we really can walk away from it and do the right thing like our High Priest, and we can feel good about our decision. 

Who's Waiting on Who?

Who's Waiting on Who?

Isaiah 40:31 says, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint. KJV"

        Who is waiting on who? I know for so many years, I thought I was waiting on God to make some things happen in my life. I prayed and watched- thinking that was all I needed to do. I thought I had done my part, and now it is time for God to do His part. I anxiously looked and looked while I waited for Him to move on my behalf. Eventually, I would get impatient while I waited and watched thinking to myself, “What’s taking so long for my prayers to be answered?” I did not realize God was waiting on me to participate. I did not realize that he had already provided everything I needed to have the results I needed. 

        I have read this scripture many times, as well as heard it preached and taught a few times. Hearing it made me happy and hopeful. It gave me something to look forward to in my situation. It told me if I waited on the Lord, my strength would be rejuvenated. 

        At first, I thought it meant I had to roll up my sleeves and continue to fight because my strength was going to grow stronger for whatever I was up against. In my human ability, I definitely grew tired, frustrated, and weary while trying to fight from my human abilities. I just wanted my situation to be handled and over with. Fighting, whether physical or emotional, is tiring and stressful; it is no fun for the victim. 

        Reading this scripture again in parts and thinking about each part, this is my prayerful conclusion. I am suppose to wait and rest in faith.  Applying my faith is my participation, not simply wait without doing my part. Neither am I to wait by doing something- like fighting the situation on my own. I realize, if I am in a relationship with the Lord and I know Him to be a Loving, Caring Father and Provider, I do not waiver in what I know because I have already experienced Him in the past. So while I wait, I rest in my knowledge of Him. I also, remember who He is; I remember the prayers He answered in the past which activates my faith for the future.

        I rest in my faith and in my relationship; I am like an eagle. I know from what I have been taught that He loves me and cares deeply about me. The scripture says that we walk by faith  and not by sight; in other words, we walk by what we believe and not by what we see. I have learned that my faith moves God into action for me.

        When I mount up with wings as an eagle, I need to rise up and do what is necessary to feel closer to the Lord. For me that means praying more, reading the Bible more, or turning off the tv and listening to my favorite worship album, Believe for It, by CeCe Winans- more. I have to eliminate the noise around me for a little while to elevate my spirit. Then I feel empowered. Once I feel empowered and strong, my flesh becomes weakened and obedient.

         When I take time to connect to the power Source, I expect to see change. Sometimes I have to be that change. Which means I have to do something different to receive something different. Spending quality time with the Lord is an investment in myself. Some changes I have seen recently is some of my debt have been eliminated. I have prayed about being debt free and owning no man nothing, but to love him, according to Romans 13:8. Within the last two weeks, God has removed almost fifty thousand dollars of debt from my record. I do not believe He is finished blessing me in that area. I am believing Him for complete debt cancellation. I am  believing Him that I am blessed to be a blessing. I asked the Lord how can I bless some- one if I am burden with bills or unpaid debt? 

        I am in a relationship with the Creator who created me for His good purpose and plan. He is Creator of all I can see or imagine. He does not get tired; therefore, I will not get tired. I feel stronger in some areas of my life to run the race and not grow weary and to walk and not faint. As I stay connected to Him, He is energizing me daily. I will mount upon wings like an eagle and wait. I will trust Him to refresh and energize me in so many other ways, as I rest and wait on the Lord.