Did I hear correctly? Did you say REST? Who has time?

God began convicting me of needing to rest recently.  I have this supermom, superperson mentality that drives me daily as I live in a very busy lifestyle.  Staying busy has always been what I do.  I don't really know how to rest.  I have always had to make every minute count.  I guess this started when I was working 3 jobs and going back to school to get my degree.  I had to learn to be very time conscious so I could get everything done.  So I wrestle with the concept of finding rest. 

God has such a great sense of humor.  Because I have developed such a fast paced lifestyle, my body (so used to running 120 mph every day)... has not learned how to slow down and rest.  Because of that I have many nights that I can't turn off my brain from thinking or I am restless and just can't sleep.  It was during one of these nights when I couldn't sleep that I decided to get out of bed and quit tossing and find a book to read.  Maybe that would help me get sleepy.  So I pick up a new book I had purchased but hadn't had time to start reading.  The book is "Walking with God" by John Elridge.  So I get comfortable on the couch and open the book to a chapter titled "Slowing down to Listen".  As I begin to read the chapter, I find it very amusing.  In this chapter, John is on summer vacation and he had made many plans for activities to do on vacation and it starts to rain that morning and he is on the porch watching it rain.  He is mentally tired and drained from always pushing. Always doing something.  He then realized that God sent the rain so he would "stop".  Stop to listen and stop to rest.   I just start to laugh. Ok, Lord, I get it now.. I am supposed to stop and listen and learn to stop and rest.   Doesn't God have such a sense of humor?  Here I couldn't sleep, pick up a random book to read and there God speaks His truth into my heart about rest. 

So I resolved to get up the next morning and do research on rest.  I wanted to know what God had to say about rest. Because as I began to ponder on the word rest, I realized that I really didn't know what God meant by rest and needed to find out how to rest.  The next morning I get up and looked up the definition of rest, looked up scriptures pertaining to rest and God began revealing many truths about rest and the importance of rest in our lives. 

Here are the truths that God revealed.  First, what is the definition of rest? 
Rest means refreshing quiet; sleep, inactivity, relief, freedoms especially from anything that wearies, troubles, disturbs,mental or spiritual calm. 

As I studied this definition I began to look at these words, and realized my life was full of the opposite of rest.  My life was opposite of inactivity but full of busyness and activities.  Calmness reflects a sense of peace and the opposite of peace is turmoil.  Turmoil is a state of great commotion, confusion, (disquiet).  Now that is definitely the opposite of refreshing quiet.  Turmoil is also feeling unsettled and stressed.  Stress is physical, mental or emotional tension or worry. That seems to be the opposite of finding freedom from anything that troubles or disturbs and finding relief.  Wow!  My life was totally the opposite of rest.  The constant busyness of my life, full of activities to fill my day, left me feeling totally drained, tired, and just worn out.  I realized I was missing the best opportunity to find even a moment of just quietness, just a moment to stop and truly give my body, mind and spirit time to be totally quiet. 

Because I had allowed the sin of busyness to enter my life, my whole body and mind was so tired I couldn't really enjoy life.  I was tired physically and emotionally and was totally drained.  Life did not hold any joy or enjoyment.  There was no pleasure because there were too many tasks to be done and I was just too tired to enjoy life.  How had I allowed that to happen?  I didn't even realize it was happening.  I just knew I was so dead tired that I dropped to bed from total exhaustion.  I had become so good at being busy that I realized I don't know how to rest or relax.  God had alot to teach me!!

God in all his goodness always wants to reveal His truth to us so I began to search scriptures about rest and even surfed the web to see if I could find out "how to rest and relax".  I found some great information.  I was surpised to find so many scriptures relating to rest.
First of all in Exodus 23:12 we find the divine command "Six days do your work but on the seventh day do not work.... so that your ox and your donkey may rest and the slave born in your household, and the alien as well, may be refreshed." (Isn't it interesting that God even wanted the animals to rest?)  Exodus 34:21 " Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest, you must rest"  God knew us so well... this was a command to rest.  He created our body and knew we needed a time to rest and be refreshed.  There in the scripture God used word "refreshed".  Remember the definition of rest was "refreshing quiet".  Isn't that so awsome?  We even see Jesus giving us examples of rest found in Mark 6: 31,32 " Come with me by yourselves for a quiet place and get some  rest".  We find in Matthew 8, Jesus was found "sleeping" in the boat during the storm. 

What I found on surfing the web regarding rest was interesting for I knew God needed to teach me how to rest.  What I learned:

• Rest is not laziness. 
• We must learn to build breaks into our lives before we collapse. 
• We must take frequent breaks (for example, take 2 to 3 minute break every hour). 
• Learn to take yourself offline
• Learn to find a quiet place with no activity and give yourself a mental break every day.

 Since I was having a hard time sleeping, I decided I needed to learn how to wind down and prepare myself to go to sleep.  I fixed myself a cup of hot chocolate, went to the back bedroom, turned on some soothing calm music and just sat down and let my mind go completely quiet.  I was so amazed that I felt really calm and relaxed.  I also realized I had been missing something really wonderful all these years.  I think I could really like this relaxation!! When I told my daughter this new revelation I had discovered, she just laughed and said "That is what "normal" people do"  So I resolved to try to be like "normal people" because I truly enjoyed this relaxation time!! 

As God began to deal with me about rest, I was convicted about the sabbath day and God's command for us to rest.  Therefore I decided to actually rest on Sunday.  So this past Sunday, after church and after lunch, I didn't want to lay down for a nap and decided to try to sew on my  quilt.  My sewing machine just wouldn't work so out of frustration, I decided to try to embroider something for a friend and started my embroidery machine and it would not allow me to copy the design from the computer to the embroidery machine.  All of a sudden, I chuckle as I hear the still small voice, "It is the Sabbath, a day of rest"  Ok, Lord, I get it.... I need to rest. So I took a nap instead.

Here are a list of books that I found on the web concerning rest that I intend on purchasing and reading.  "Sabbath Keeping: find freedom in the rythmns of rest" by Lynne M Baab and "Permission to Nap" by Jill Murphy Long.

The last scripture I will leave you with concerning rest is found in Lev. 23:21 " On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work.  This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, whereever you live" 

May we truly learn how to rest physically, emotionally and spiritually.  May we recognize the sin of busyness and that Satan wants to keep us busy so we will not have the quiet times to stop and listen to God speaking to us.  He wants us so busy, so that we collapse from total exhaustion and fatigue. But God gives us the opportunity to find rest, peace, calmness, refreshing quiet in order to rejuvenate our physical, emotional and spiritual beings.  Thank you God for commanding us to rest so we may be fillled with your Spirit and find refreshment for our souls!!   

Chosen, Summoned and Witnesses

Isaiah 43:1:  "I have summoned you by name; you are mine."   Isaiah 43:10 " You are my witnesses, declared the Lord and my servant whom I have chosen."

Looking at these 3 words, I searched the dictionary for clarity of their meaning.

Summoned means to call upon to do something specified.
Chosen means "selected"
Witnesses means to see, know by personal presence, to testify, give evidence of

As I look at these scriptures, I am in awe that the God of the universe would summon me by name.  That He would choose me and call upon me to do something specified for Him.  That He would want me to testify and show evidence of what He has done for me personally.  As I reflected on these words, I am reminded that God doesn't want me to preach a sermon to others but just to share with others what God means to me and what He has done for me personally.

 To see the words, "whom I have chosen".  What do those words mean to you? That God would "select" me to do something specific for Him.  Whew!!  What an awesome responsibility but also what a wonderful feeling that God chose me for Him.  What a wonderful Savior we serve!!

 God is so faithful in giving to us.  I must share with you a story from my grandson (out of the mouths of babes, God teaches us)  We were driving back from the Discovery Center and he said, "Nani, God just spoke to me and said, You get and get and get, what are you going to give?"  God gives to us in more ways than we can count.  God has chosen and summoned us to "give" our lives to Him and be witnesses for Him. To give our testimonies of what God has done for us.   What will we "give" for Him?  Will we "give" our testimonies to others? 

Thank you God for choosing us and selecting us to give to others and to share our lives with others.   Thank you God for calling upon us to do the specific tasks you have given to us.  Help us to be open to you and open to share with others about You.  Help us to share the many blessings you give us daily with those who need to hear it today. 

Who has control or influence in my life?

I want to share my heart and my experience with you. When I was younger, I attended a church that did not allow women to wear pants, wear makeup, cut your hair, go to ballgames or movies. These were the rules of the church. To not do these things meant you were holy, set apart and not "of the world". Jesus began to deal with my heart about these things.  He began to speak to me about the "outward appearance".  These things were not what made me holy but the Holy Spirit living in me and my heart being totally surrendered to Him, would I live a holy life.  I am not holy only His Spirit that lives within me is holy.  It was the condition of our "inward" heart that is important to God. How we allow God to help us live holy lives pleasing to Him is what God wants from us .  The church was acting like the Pharises with all their rules and regulations and their hearts were far from God.  I saw many people that "looked holy"  but acted unholy.  Jesus came to the earth to show the people that the rules and regulations from the Pharisees were not what God wanted for them.  He wanted totally committed and surrendered hearts committed to serving Him.  He wanted our "hearts" not our rules and regulations.  God wanted me to learn to "listen to Him and get guidance from Him for my daily living and to set me free from the bondage of rules placed on me by the church.  He wanted to set me free.  To experience His joy and live my life according to what He wanted from me and not from man-made rules.  Only God should have the power to lead and only God should have the power of influence in my life.  If I give that power or influence to someone else or to the church, then I give them power to control and manipulate me and that is NOT from God. 

For example. Only God can give us direction on fasting.  On when and what to fast from. That should come from God only and no one else has the right to do that.  For example when we look at the life of Daniel.  God directed Daniel to fast from the king's rich food and Daniel did not allow the king or the kings servants to influence Him from his conviction placed on him by God alone.  God had control in Daniel's life.  When we allow rules and regulations set upon us by people or a church that are not from God, we are allowing them to become hinderances from what God truly wants for us.  We are living to "comply with man-made rules"  instead of living to comply with God's ways, God's Word and God's leadership in our lives.  He sets us free from man-made rules so we can experience Him. So we can experience Him and  His freedoms from things that hinder us from being totally committed to Him. 

Who and what are we influenced by?  Who are we committed to?  Who do we allow to control us?  Are we allowing God to guide us, to be influenced by Him and Him alone? 

Let us allow God to guide us... Let us allow God to teach us... Let us allow God to show us His truth and be only influenced by Him alone. 

Psalm 25:4 - "Show me your ways o Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth, and teach me, for you are my God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. "

John 8:36 - "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

Get Wisdom, Get Understanding

Proverbs 4:5 says "Get wisdom, get understanding"

What do these words mean and how do I get wisdom and understanding?

First of all, let's look at the definitions of these three words:

Get means to receive, possess, to go after and take hold
Wisdom means knowledge of what is true and right, coupled with judgment and discernment.

Understanding means mental process of a person who comprehends, enlightened intelligence, superior power of discernment. 

So to put all those words together, we must go after, take hold and receive this knowledge of what is true and right and comprehend with the power of discernment. 

So if now I understand the definitions of these words, how to I "get" this wisdom and understanding?

1.  Ask and Seek It
 The bible states in James 1:5 "If any man lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously for all".  So to get wisdom, we must seek  and ask God for it.  In verse Proverbs 4:7, it says we should get wisdom though it cost all we have, get understanding.  We must seek for wisdom though it cost us everything.  In Proverbs 8:10 we must "choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than gold".  We must ask and seek for the wisdom that comes from God. 

2.  Listen to God's Instructions
In Proverbs 1:1, the bible says for us to "Listen to my father's instructions, pay attention and gain understanding.  In verse 2, it states that He (God) will give sound learning.  In verse 20, we must "listen closely" to God's words.  In Proverbs 1:5, "Let the wise listen and add to their learning."  In Proverbs 8:6 "Listen for I have worthy things to say, I open my lips to speak what is right.  My mouth speaks what is true. 

So we see in these scriptures that "God will instruct us and teach us with His words".  We are to listen closely as God's talks to us for what He is teaching is right and true.  While He is speaking to us, the scripture says in Proverbs 2:10 "Wisdom will enter your heart.  Discretion with protect you and Understanding will guard you. " 

These scriptures assure us that God will teach us and He will speak to us. We will hear His voice because He will speak to us and speak what is true and right. 

3.   Take hold with all my heart
We must hold on to the instructions that God gives us and not forsake it.  We must allow the words to go deep into our hearts, guard it and not forget it.  We must "pay attention".  In Prov 1:2, the scripture says "do not forsake my teaching". verse 4 says "Lay hold of my words with all your heart".  verse 5 say "do not forget my words"   His word also tells us as we take hold of this wisdom that God will guide in the way of wisdom and lead" (v11).  In verse 13, we are to "Hold on to instruction, guard it well".  V21 "Keep them within my heart". 

These scriptures tell us that God will teach us and He will speak words of wisdom to our hearts and we must take hold of these words because they are "true and right".  His words are words of truth.  In a world where there are many that speak lies and try to deceive, we know that God's instructions of true and full of life.  We know that God will lead us and guide us. 

May we today ask God for wisdom, listen to His voice of instruction and keep those words in our hearts and guard them well. 

Trusting in God during difficult times

Jeremiah 17:7:  "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is." 


Where do you turn when difficult times come?  When life seems hard and your heart and soul cries within.... turn your heart toward God and trust him. 


Pour out your heart to God:
Pour out your heart, your tears, your heartache to the Lord.  Allow God to soothe your pain and heartache.  Allow God to place his arms of love around you and comfort you and bring you peace.  When all else fails you, when others despise you and go against you, trust in the Lord.  He is in control of all things and He sees our tears and hears our prayers.  Even though we do not understand, you must trust that God.  He knows all and he knows every circumstance of our lives.

Seek Him:
Seek the Lord as stated in Psalm 9:10 " And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord hast not forsaken them that seek thee"   When difficulties of life overtake us, just seek the Lord.  Fall before him and seek Him and His righteousness.  He is always available when we seek Him with all our heart. 

TRUST HIM:
When you have poured out your heart and have sought Him with your whole heart... when you have done all you can do... just trust and put your hope in Him. 

2 Samuel 22:31 and Psalm 18:30: "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; he is a buckler to all them that trust him".  What is a buckler?  A buckler is a shield, protection, support, defend.  When we realize that God is our defender, our protection and our support, then we can look beyond our difficult times and trust him to defend us against all our enemies.  We know that God has his "grip" on us and will defend us against all enemies and those who wish to destroy us.  We can rest assured that He is with us always and will never leave us or forsake us.

Praise to our Lord Jesus that protects us and holds us close to Him through all the difficulties of life. 

What happens when we encounter Jesus?

In John 20, we find Mary Magdalene rising up "early" to go to the tomb where Jesus had been laid after His death.  Can you imagine the emotions and sorrow that Mary felt?  She was full of despair, afraid, hurting, and unsure of her future.  She went to be close to her Lord.  Mary was seeking refuge and was trying to find comfort in being near her Lord.    It is interesting that the men with Mary left when they found Jesus gone but Mary lingered and stayed behind.  What did Mary find in her despair in through her tears?  She first saw the angels and they asked why was she crying.  She explained her sorrow and then Jesus appeared to her.  He revealed himself to her during her time of need.  Jesus came to her to give her hope and assurance that He was alive!!  He then commanded her to go tell the others.  He sent her on her first mission to tell others what the Lord had done and that He was alive.  What lessons can we learn from Mary?

1.  In our sorrows and times of need, rise up "early" and seek the Lord
2.  Open our hearts to him and tell him about our need.  Give all our sorrows and hurts to him.
3.  Linger and wait for him to reveal himself to us.  Wait to hear his instructions to us. 
4.  Allow Him to comfort us.  Allow Him to work in our hearts and lives.
5.  Share with others what God has instructed us to share.

When Mary had an encounter with Jesus, she went from despair to having joy and hope and was full of excitement.  She was burning with a desire to share Jesus with others.  May we encounter Jesus today and share with others what He has done in our lives. 

When You Get the Blues....

In John 14: 25... Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  The Spirit of Truth will show God to us and will give us peace. 

Many times in life our hearts are troubled and downcast.  I am going to share from the the book, All Things Are Possible Through Prayer  by Charles L. Allen.  In this book, the author explains that there will be periods of life where our soul is downcast and disquieted.  He also gives 3 things we can do when we feel blue:

1.  Never forget that you are important.  No person created in the image of God is useless.  Maybe you have not found the place in life you want most.  But heaven has bestowed on you a personality that noone else can duplicate.  Because of who you are and what you are, you can afford to believe in yourself.  You are easily upset when you lean on other people.  When you learn to balance yourself on your own feet, you develop a stimulating independence.  If God had wanted you to imitate someone else, he would not have made you in the first place. Never let yourself forget that you are a person that God made and wanted at this time.

2.  "Remember you are needed.  There is at least one important work to be done that will not be done unless you do it.  God placed you on this earth to do His will and He has a purpose for you." 

3.  Hope thou in God. When you believe in God, there is hope and hope chases away the blues. In Matthew 14:23, it tells about Jesus hearing that John his closest friend had been murdered.  Surely it grieved Him.  What did he do?  "He went up into the mountain apart to pray".  Jesus knew that He needed the strength of the Father to help him.  "When a person has a firm hold on God's hand, he has the power and strength flowing into him to keep him on his feet. "  Just like a magnetic force, when we are out of line with the Almighty, we have no strength and we lose our grip.  We come discouraged and frustrated.  But when we come before the Father and our lives are lined up with him, He gives us the strength to hold on, grasp Him and conquer life through Him. 

When we set ourselves apart and spend time in prayer, God will give us strength and the Spirit of Truth will bring us peace beyond our imagination.  The Spirit of Truth will take away our frustrations and discouragement and replace it with peace and joy.  We must allow Him access to our heart and our emotions.  The Spirit of Truth will guide us and show Himself to us that we may see the glory of the Father and gain strength from Him alone. 

May we see God today and gain strength from him.  May he help drive away our blues today and bestow on us His power and strength to be used by Him today.