Put That Burden Down

            “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

            What kinds of burdens weigh you down?  How can these verses be applied to your life?

 

            There are many different kinds of burdens we carry around that we were never meant to carry.  And we need to put those burdens down and take Jesus’ yoke upon us instead.   

Denying the Lord

            “‘You will all fall away,’ Jesus told them . . .

            Peter declared, ‘Even if all fall away, I will not.’

            ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘today – yes, tonight – before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.’

            But Peter insisted emphatically, ‘Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.’  And all the others said the same.’  (Mark 14:27-31)

           

            Peter was so sure that he would stand by Jesus’ side through thick and thin.  He spent 24 hours a day with Jesus for several years.  He knew Him to be a supernatural being, capable of miracles and healings and casting out demons.  He knew Jesus was the Truth in a sea of lies.  There was no way Peter would deny the Lord.  Knowing Him that well and having a deep faith and personal, intimate relationship with Him, who could possibly deny Jesus?

            Each and every one of the disciples. 

            And each and every one of us, too - that’s who!

Two Simple Words (one of the hardest things about faith)

I was praying today about something that has been bothering me for awhile.  Not knowing what to do about it has been causing me anxiety, nearly daily.  I talk to myself about it over and over again, sorting it out, looking for answers, for guidance, for help carrying the burden.
 

And in the midst of this mental struggle, I heard two tiny words.

 

Two tiny words from the very core of my mind, as though God was speaking them to me, whispering quiet comfort …
 

When You Don't Feel Like You're Enough

2 Chronicles 13:18:  “… and the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord …”

            The men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord!

            Oh, how I needed to hear that this morning!  Oh, how I needed to be reminded that my efforts don’t matter nearly as much as my willingness to rely on the Lord!

            In this Bible passage, Abijah (king of Judah) had gone into battle against Jeroboam (king of Israel and an adversary of Solomon, Abijah’s grandfather).  Abijah had 400,000 men and Jeroboam had 800,000 men.  It seemed pretty hopeless.  And to make matters worse, while Abijah was giving a speech to Jeroboam at the battle line about how Jeroboam has forsaken the Lord and how Judah has not, Jeroboam’s men snuck around the back to hem in Abijah’s troops from both sides.

            When Abijah’s men realized that they were trapped, what was the first thing they did?

            Did they draw up a battle plan?  Did they start attacking indiscriminately?  Did they run away, throw up the white flag, or curl up in a ball and start crying?  Did they panic?

God Is Love, But Love Is Not a god!

Our society doesn’t get this.  We have it backwards.  We have turned love into its own god, even redefining who God is, according to how we think love should look, act, and believe.

But love is not a god. 

But God is love.

Our view of God should not be based on how we define love; our view of love should be based on who God is, on how He believes and operates.

If we seek to understand who God is according to His Word, we will also understand what true love is.

But if we try to redefine God according to our own ideas of love, we will understand neither.

  



Christian Polyamory?

It seems that there are “Christians” who are engaging in, supporting, and encouraging the idea of “Christian polyamory,” claiming that it’s ok to have multiple sexual relationships between consenting adults in a marriage.  And they point to the fact that famous biblical people had polygamous relationships as support for this view, while dismissing the biblical truth that marriage is to be between one man and one woman.

Hmm?  Sounds to me like a classic case of “Wouldn’t it be fun to read about the mistakes that other people made in the Bible … and then go out and make them myself, even though I read all about the problems and consequences it caused and even though I know that Jesus Himself said that marriage is between a man and a woman?”

And if Jesus even said that anyone who divorces His wife and marries another commits adultery … how much more so is it adultery to open the marriage bed up to others?

Unfortunately, there’s really no point in confronting them with what the Bible really says because I don’t think any amount of reasoning from Scripture will change their minds.  They will not listen because they want what they want and they will find ways to excuse it.  They will twist Scripture in whatever way they can so that they can sleep well at night (next to multiple people, of course). 

I wonder what Bible passages they will point to when they stand before God trying to find an acceptable excuse for why they chose as they did? 

             “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”  (2 Timothy 4: 3-4)

What I've Learned About Trials