The Appointment Has Been Made

Habakkuk 2:3

For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.

As we wait to see the providence of God in answers to our prayers, we must be careful not to become impatient with God.  His ways are greater than our ways.  His timing is perfect.  He has the perfect appointment set for the resolution of our prayerful solicitations.

The prophet, Habakkuk, was frustrated that God was not dealing with the iniquities that he saw in the world around him.  He was impatient because those that he prophesied to were not responding to the Word of God.  In this scripture, the Lord reminds Habakkuk that he must be patient because the visions and promises that God gives are sure to come.

We probably have not had a vision like Habakkuk had.  But if we have been diligent in seeking the Lord's hand in our lives, we are likely to have found some type of confirmation of God's providence through His Word, through urgings of His Holy Spirit or through the progress we see in our own lives or in the lives of those that we have been praying for.

Let us be joyful.  The things that we pray for in the will of God and in accordance with His promises will come to us.  Though the fruit of our prayers may be deferred for a long time, the fruit will come at last.  And, hallelujah, the longer wait usually means a greater harvest.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your providence in our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus who has insured that the favor of Your promises will never be withheld from us.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to rest on Your Word and will strengthen us when the promise of the Word is long in coming.  May we persevere to the end through the graces that You provide.  We ask all these things in the name of the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus Christ.

Governed by Eternal Hope

2 Corinthians 5:7

for we walk by faith, not by sight.

From time to time, we truly experience the exhilarating feeling of God's presence in our lives.  We cannot see God, but we know that He is with us.  These moments are precious.  These moments are important building blocks in the foundation of our faith.  These moments are glimpses of things not seen, but things that are eternal.  These are the moments that will carry us through our daily duties and trials when we do not feel the presence of God with us.  

On the other hand, the things that we see are only temporary.  How can we put our faith in the things of the flesh that will be here today and gone tomorrow?  How can we put our faith in the calamities of life?  How can we put our faith in all those things that will be stripped away at our death?  

Let us be governed by the things of eternal hope and not by the appearance and lure of present things.  Let us walk by faith as we look to Jesus Christ for righteousness, peace, pardon, and eternal life.  Let us live in the fullness of life offered by Our Savior.

  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the times that You allow us to experience Your presence in our lives.  We pray that You will use those moments to build our faith in You.  We pray that You will use those moments to strengthen us when our burdens are heavy and we do not feel Your presence.  We ask, Lord, that we will be filled with joy even when You have called us to tedious tasks.  May the Holy Spirit remind us how pleasing it is to You when we are obedient to Your calling in our lives.  We pray that we will be living vessels of those moments in Your presence so that the world around us may experience who You are.  We ask all these things in the name of our eternal king, Jesus Christ.

All That We Need

Romans 8:32

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Is it hope that we need today?  Are we seeking hope to relieve the pain that we are suffering, or hope to relieve the concern over the financial woes that are hounding us or perhaps hope to ease the torment of conflict in a relationship that we are feeling? 

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God.  He sent the fallen angels from His kingdom forever because of their sins.  He flooded the earth because of the violence and evil of all mankind.  He destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness.  Yet He spared us from our sins by giving us His Son.  Through His Son, He provides us with all our temporal needs and all of our spiritual blessings.  It is all given freely according to His good will and pleasure.

For while we are without strength, all that we need is provided through Our Savior.  While we are sorrowful, we can always rejoice.  While we are poor, we can experience His abundant riches.  While we may have nothing, we can possess everything through our blessed hope and assurance, Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with all of our needs, both temporal and spiritual.  We exalt the name of Jesus for providing us with that which we do not deserve and could never earn except through His death for our sins.  We praise You for the blessed hope and assurance of Our Savior.  He is all that we need.   We pray that through Your grace and through the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will find the peace and strength that we need in all circumstances.  We ask all these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Living in the Love of God

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.

God is love.  His love is unconditional and without end.  His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. 

We are able to love because God loved us first.  He created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him.  He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us.  He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring.

When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us.  When we try to live by the world's standards, we will choose to serve ourselves first.  The spontaneity of our love and service will tell us where we are living.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally.  We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly.  We exalt the name of Jesus, who is the full expression of Your love.  We pray, Father, for the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love.  We pray, Lord, that You will reveal to us anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives.  By Your grace, may we repent of everything that is keeping us from living in the fullness of Your love.  May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Rising Up from What's Left

Daniel 4:14-15

He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.

 (a summary of a sermon preached by Jentezen Franklin)

King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly.  In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way.  But because of Nebuchadnezzar's unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him.  The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away.  Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.

In the scripture above, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree.  God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit.  But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.

Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss.  No loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it.  But our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of "what's left".  So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that something be left from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives.  We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness.  Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from "what is left" in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us.  We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Where the Weary Find Rest and the Sorrowful Find Joy

Jeremiah 31:25

For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

What a tremendous promise we have from the Lord.  The promise was first spoken to draw the Jews out of bondage back to their homelands and back to Himself.  Through His prophet, Jeremiah, Almighty God was assuring the Jews that they would find a rest and joy in their new settlement if they set aside their idols and returned to Him.

The promise still holds true for all of us today as the Lord encourages us with His extraordinary promise to give us the strength that we need to break away from all the bondage in our lives - bondage to the personal idols that we have set ahead of the Lord.  He gives us the spiritual inspiration that we need to renew our devotion to Him when it is lagging.  He calls us to live in a higher place, a place where His presence brings us complete comfort, peace and satisfaction.  He calls us to a place where the weary find rest and the sorrowful find joy...now that's a promise!!

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself.  We bless the name of Jesus who  provides all that we need to be one with You and one with Your Son.  We pray that You raise up in us the desire to bring to you the fullness of love and devotion that You seek from us.  Lift us up, Lord, to a higher place - a place that we cannot reach without You.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to leave behind the things of the world that we place ahead of our devotion to You.  We ask all these things in the name of our Most High Savior, Jesus Christ.

Under His Influence

Colossians 2:6-7

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

We are called to walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ who dwells within us.  We are to mirror in every way His love, patience, humility, meekness and faithfulness in carrying out His duties.  But more than that, we are to lean on Him.  We are to derive from Him the grace and strength that we need to live under His influence, by His direction and through His assistance.

In Jesus, we find beauty, glory, fullness and everything suitable for living our new lives in Christ.  We should not consider our own plans ever again, unless they are derived by seeking the guidance of Our Savior first.   We must learn not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord to make our paths straight.

Once we acknowledge Our Lord and receive the benefit of the good and perfect plans that He sets aside for us, we must express our gratitude for all that He has provided.  For God justly withdraws His provision from those that receive it without thanksgiving.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to dwell within us.  Make us mindful of His presence at all times.  Teach us to gladly, joyfully and willingly seek the plans that have been set aside for us through Our Savior.   Mold our hearts so that we will be ready to receive the fullness of Christ into our lives.  Fill our hearts with continuous gratitude and thanksgiving for our ever present King, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His mighty name.

Who Could Endure Such a Test?

Genesis 22:2

He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

To lose your child by the act of your own hand, who could endure such a test?  Only a person of great faith in the promises of God could.  When Abraham headed up the mountain with Isaac, he held the promise from God that God would make Abraham a great nation.  This promise could not be fulfilled without Isaac.

Abraham makes two comments that indicate that he faced his trial girded by faith in God's promises.  The first comment came when he saw the place of sacrifice from afar.  He told the servants that had joined him and Isaac, "Stay here with the donkey.  I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."  The second comment came when Isaac asked where was the lamb for the sacrifice.  Abraham responded, "God will provide the lamb for Himself for the burnt offering, my son."  And so it was that Abraham became a great nation through his son, Isaac.

God will test each of us.  He wants us to build up our faith in Him.  Take strength from the story of Abraham and Isaac.  God will always provide a way for us to fulfill the plan that he has for our lives and for the lives of those that we serve.  He will provide all that we need to endure that which we think is unbearable.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for covering us in the many promises of comfort, provision and strength that You have revealed to us in Your Holy Word.  Test us, O Lord, to build our faith in who You are.  Strengthen us, O Lord, that we may pass the tests that prepare us for our place in Your eternal kingdom.  Comfort us as we endure the trials.  Build up in us the faith of Abraham.  May we rejoice in seeing the fruits of our faith.  We ask all these things in the name of our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.  

The Light of the Spring

Song of Solomon 2:11-12

For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.  

Just as the earth goes through seasons, so do we.  Remarkably, our supernatural seasons tend to coincide with the natural seasons.  As we respond to the gloominess of the dark winter days, we tend to become inactive like the flowers and the trees.  As the spring arrives, we tend to become more lively.  We enjoy a sense of calmness and peace and we look forward to a fruitfulness in our works.

We should be alert in the spring of the year to seek the new things that God is trying to bring into our lives.  If we are growing in Christ, we will always be taken to higher levels in service, praise, worship and fellowship with Our Savior.  May we turn away from the darkness of the winter past and turn toward the light of Jesus Christ.  May we look for the arrival of the harvest around us as the cold, hard ground of winter becomes the fertile, soft soil of the spring.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the seasons in our lives.  We thank You for taking us through the dark of the winter so we can see You more clearly in the light of the spring.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to seek the newness and boldness in Christ that You have planned to raise up in us this spring.  We pray that You will use us to harvest the souls of the men and women surrounding us as You prepare their hearts to be fertile grounds for Your Good News.  May new fruit come from our growth as Jesus' disciples this year.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. 

Overcoming the Enemy Without Being Overcome by Pride

Luke 10:20

Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

When Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, they all came back with stories of victory against the enemy.  Jesus had to fore warn them not to be overcome by their success.

When following the Lord's calling on our lives, the blessing and power of Jesus Christ will be ours to use to overcome the enemy in our lives and the lives of those that we serve.  We must be careful not to call our victories our own for all the glory is for Our Savior.  If our pride allows us to claim the glory, our fall is certain.

We cannot take a commercial view of the things that we do for Jesus.  That is, we cannot measure ourselves by the results of our work.  Our work for the Lord is not about success.  It is about the deepening relationships that we are forming with Him as His disciples.  It is about our preparation to join Our Savior in His heavenly kingdom.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the power and blessings that You release in our lives through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus.  We ask You, Lord Jesus, to show us how to become Your true disciples.  We ask You to give us the power to overcome the enemy in our lives and in the lives of those to whom we bring the salvation message.   We ask that You open the eyes of those around us that they may see and seek Your Spirit that lives within us.  May we all be prepared for the time that we stand before You to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  We ask all these things, Lord Jesus, in Your precious and holy name.

Co-laborers in Christ

1Corinthians 3:9

For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

The first day on any job is generally very exciting and also somewhat stressful.  Immediately, we are naturally concerned about the results that we are going to be able to produce in our new job.  Consider how liberating it would be if the first thing our new boss told us was, "Just follow my instruction and do not worry about the results.  I will be responsible for the results.  You will be richly rewarded for following my instruction no matter what happens." 

If the boss we choose to serve is Our Father in heaven, then we have found the liberating boss that we have always longed for.  More importantly, this is where God wants us.  He wants us to serve Him without any concern about the outcome other than to have the faith that He will fulfill what He asks us to do for Him.  He simply wants us to be instruments of His work, living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness.  

It may be entirely possible that we are taking on work for which no man is sufficient.  Yet in submission to the Father, we are only asked to be diligent and faithful in carrying out our calling.  We are certain to find that we have a co-laborer in Christ.  Though we will partner in the labor, we bear no responsibility for the harvest.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to join You in Your work.  We rejoice in knowing that You receive great honor and glory when Your children surrender to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in their lives. Open our eyes so that we may see what You are calling us to do in Your kingdom.  Release in us all the power and authority that is ours through Jesus Christ.  Shield us from taking on destructive personal pride as we see success when doing Your work.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Provider, Jesus Christ.

The Author and Giver of All Blessings

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

There you have it - the summation of all of our blessings.  God the Father is the author and giver of all blessings.  Jesus Christ is the medium that God the Father uses to dispense His blessings.  The sphere of coverage is every single blessing in heavenly places.  

The fullness of everything that we need and the fullness of everything that will satisfy us originates with God the Father.  Every iota of these blessings is held in the hands of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ.  And He dwells in us as the dispensing fount that we may draw on at any time.

Why should we ever look elsewhere?  Man can never be counted on to stand by us through all circumstances.  At some point, all men will fail one another.  The Lord, Jesus, never fails us.  He is with us even under the direst circumstances, even the ones that we have created ourselves.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You provide to us through Your Son.  We pray that You show us how to turn to Jesus first in all things.  Strengthen us, Lord, so that we may leave behind our reliance on a fallen world.  Prepare us, Father, to stand before You one day and receive the fullness of Your kingdom in heaven.  We ask all these things in the name of our mediator, Jesus Christ.

Seeking Our Father in Heaven

John 14:9

Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?"  He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, "Show us the Father"?

The greatest treasure of all time is ours.  The treasure of knowing Almighty God will satisfy our hearts forever.  It is ours for the taking.  Magnificent gifts of grace and anointing are awaiting us.  All we have to do is step beyond being satisfied with head knowledge about our treasure and into the world of a discovery of the heart.

Philip had seen Jesus with His eyes, but he had not fully discovered Him with his heart.  We must be aware of the importance of truly seeking a relationship with Almighty God.  He is our loving Father.  He is eager for us to approach Him as Our Father in heaven.  He longs for us to seek intimacy with Him.  

God exerted His great power when He resurrected Jesus from the dead and seated Him at His right hand.  He has reserved a place in heaven for all who believe in the Son and surrender to Him to rule and reign in their lives.  May the desires of our heart be quickened by our hunger for a deep personal relationship with Almighty God.  

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son as our Lord, Our King and Our Master.  Through Him we receive our hope in knowing that His power will strengthen us and that His presence will bring us a sweet calm in time of trouble.  Open our eyes, Lord, that we may seek the fullness of the presence of Jesus in our lives.  We pray that the Holy Spirit take us beyond the knowledge of Your Son to the high places where we experience an intimate relationship with Him daily.  Help us, Father, deepen our relationship withYour Son so that we may know You according to the fullness of heart that You have set aside for us.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Listening Only to the Father

Matthew 16:21

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

Jesus fulfilled everything that He was called to do.  Even though He was tested beyond human imagination, He never faltered once in His obedience to the plans of God for His life.   Through the process, it was a blessing to us all that Jesus did not listen to the voice of others around Him.  Peter specifically rebuked Jesus for proclaiming such an forbidding ending to His life.  Jesus let Peter know that he spoke Satan's language when he suggested that Jesus step away from His mission.

It is very easy to say, "I give up.  I cannot do it."  This is especially true when we allow others in our lives to suggest that the values of man should be given more weight than the callings of God upon our lives.  In essence, if what we are pursuing is of God, then giving up is denying the promises of God Himself.

Jesus overcame all of His trials because He was one with the Father and He trusted in the promises of the Father.  And indeed, He did rise on the third day, fulfilling all of God's promises for mankind.  In the same way, we are to be anxious in nothing for God promises to take care of our every need and He promises to finish anything that He has called us to do.  Our victories are in fact complete before we are even aware of our calling to their pursuit.  All we have to do is stand firmly on the promises of God Almighty just as Jesus did.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son to be the guarantor of Your promise of eternal life available to each of us.  We exalt the name of Jesus for His complete obedience to His calling as Our Savior.  We pray for the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit so that we may be obedient to the completed purpose and plans that You have set aside for our lives.  May we stand firmly on Your promises.  We ask these things in the name of the one who secured our victories on the Cross, Jesus Christ.

Looking For God in Our Lives

Exodus 3:4

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

Moses was going about his normal business of shepherding the flock when he came upon the burning bush.  He could not see anyone who might have started the fire.  Moses could have run away in fear or he could have simply walked away thinking that this is no concern of mine.  

Instead, Moses approached the bush to discover more of this mystery unfolding before him.   He heard a voice but there was no human there speaking it.  But it was unmistakeable to Moses, He was being addressed by someone who knew him and knew His name.  When the Lord saw that He had Moses' attention, He called out to him and Moses responded, "Here I am."

Moses was alert to look for God in his daily life.  More importantly, Moses was ready to hear and act upon whatever the Lord asked him to do.  So it should be with us.  We should look for God at all times.  We should expect to be surprised by Him showing up in the smallest details of our everyday lives.  Most importantly, we should be ready to respond to His calling.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for always being present with us.  We exalt Your Name for being our ever present God.  We pray that You will open our eyes so that we can see You in every detail of our lives, from the grandest places and moments to the lowliest of places and moments.  May Your Holy Spirit prepare us to be alert to see Your presence and to hear Your calling.  May we always be eager to be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We ask all these things in the name of our ever present Lord, Jesus Christ.

Giving Up What is Precious and Dear

Matthew 20:28

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus came to give His life as ransom for many.  He came to give what was most precious and dear - a life free of sin in union with the Father in exchange for the salvation of many.  To each of His disciples, Jesus gave the command, "Come and follow Me."  He not only meant for them to join Him in His work but to follow the model of service that His life exuded.  He was asking them to give up their lives which were surely precious and dear to them in order to follow Him.

This, of course, is exactly how Jesus calls us.  He calls us to give up our lives in the flesh in order to live our new lives in Christ.  He calls us to be humble servants of the world around us.  He calls us to assist in the execution of the salvation plan.  With all that Our Savior did for us through His suffering, the shedding of His blood, His death and Resurrection, how can we deny the Lord when He calls us to serve in any measure, large or small?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the perfect model of servanthood, Your Son, Jesus.  We praise and exalt the name of Jesus for all that He has done for us.  We pray that we will clearly hear the voice of Jesus as He calls us to join Him in humble service.  May the Holy Spirit convict us to be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We ask these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

The True Foundation

1 Corinthians 3:11

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

In construction, if a beam is one degree out of level it is no longer true.  There is no tolerance for this measure.  The beam is either true or it is not true.

Political correctness teaches that there are many ways to heaven besides accepting Jesus Christ as Savior.  It is sad to say that Satan has done a remarkable job selling this line of thinking, putting a large portion of mankind in danger of missing the way, the truth and the life that is only found in Jesus. 

We, Christians, must be extremely careful not to bend the Word of God to fit today's culture.  The Word of God is the truth.  God's Word is the same today as it was yesterday and as it will be tomorrow.  Making God's Word more pleasing to others is not being tolerant.  It is abandoning what is true.  More importantly, massaging God's Word to make it more acceptable to the world endangers the eternal lives of those that we may be trying to appease. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Word is true and that Your promises are certain.  May You open our hearts to receive the fullness and truth in the precepts that You reveal to us through Your Holy Word.  May You embolden us to speak the truth about Your Son as the world around us rejects Him.  May You strengthen us to stand firmly on the foundation that only He provides.  We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.

All Means All

Matthew 22:37

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 

To love God with all of our heart, soul and mind requires that all of our physical strength and all of our intellect and understanding be fully engaged in turning all of our affections toward our heavenly Father.  May we always be mindful that God provided His Son to die for our sins because we can not measure up to the law.  We have to look no further than the great commandment that Jesus spoke of.  We simply do not have the capacity, except through Christ in us, to love God to the extent that our love consumes our whole heart, soul and mind.

We should also be mindful that God is completely aware of our weakness.  He provides His Holy Spirit to dwell within us to guide us along our path of sanctification.  The Holy Spirit will not rest when we depart from making God the love above all loves in our lives.  The Holy Spirit will not accept us living with one foot in God's kingdom and one foot in the world.  It is all or nothing with the Holy Spirit.  The good news is that the Holy Spirit's job is to follow through on God's promise to perfect His strength in our weakness.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the mercy and the endless grace that You provide to each of us.  We bless the name of Jesus who allows us to fulfill the law that we cannot fulfill on our own.  Help us, Lord, to be keenly aware of the urgings of the Holy Spirit.  Help us to humbly accept the corrections that the Holy Spirit is asking us to make in our lives.  We pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit will take us to the high places that can only be reached when our hearts are fully consumed by Your love.  We ask all these things in the name of the Exalted One, Jesus Christ.

Accepting Our Place in the Yoke of Christ

Matthew 11:29

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

In days of old, the yoke was used to pair field animals together.  The yoke enabled the pair to work together more efficiently.  In this passage, Jesus invites us to join Him in His yoke. He then points out that He is gentle and lowly in heart.  Thus, He is telling us that He is a willing servant that welcomes us along side, where He will teach us about His demeanor and bring us rest.  How could we pass on such an invitation from our Servant King?

Notice that Jesus did not place any limits on the burdens that He would share with us.  He is always along side us to bring us comfort when we are under the greatest level of stress or experiencing pain at the limits of our ability to endure.  Truly He offers us the endless joy that He shares with the Father.  When we surrender to the yoke of Our Lord, the joy of the Lord is our strength when we would have none otherwise.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to get through our troubles.  We rejoice in knowing that we can find joy in the heaviest of burdens when we accept the yoke that is offered by Your Son, Jesus.  We pray that You teach us how to be lowly in heart so that we readily accept our place in the yoke. We ask these things in the name of Our Comforter, Jesus Christ. 

His Children Shall Not Fail

Psalm 55:22

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

It is obvious from this verse that we are to have burdens in our lives.  But God in His mercy promises us that He will not give a burden that is larger that the provision that He will grant to overcome the burden.  

God gave His own Son a cup of sorrow and suffering that was so intense that Jesus sweat blood as He faced His upcoming crucifixion.  But Jesus did as the verse commands, He cast His burden upon the Father.  Thus He was provided with all He needed to face the Cross and rise from His trial in victory.

To cast our burden upon God, is to rest upon his providence and promise.  Our Heavenly Father will not let His righteous children fail.  It is indeed His promise to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us cups of sorrow and suffering that we must swallow.   We thank You for using our trials to build our faith in who You are.  We thank You for insuring our righteousness through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  We pray for Your mercies to be granted us each day as You release fresh supplies of strength and comfort just as we need them to overcome our trials.  We ask these things in the name of our all sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.