In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Day 16
“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 1:28-30 (NIV)
Jesus not only makes a great point in this breathtaking and strikingly bold passage, but He points out something obvious that most of us already realize. We tend to make things hard. And sometimes that happens by way of us trying to make things easier for ourselves. If that isn’t a psychological puzzle, I don’t know what is. In essence, God requires very little of us—to repent and obey.
When you get down to brass tacks, after believing in Christ and accepting Him as our Lord and Savior, we must choose to follow Him. In our striving to be like Him, the enemy loves to swat us down like flies, but thanks to Jesus’ unending mercy and bountiful supply of grace, we might tumble, but we will get up again. Don’t let the enemy hold you down. You are a child of the Lord God Almighty—an heir to all of His promises. When Jesus died, He made available to us the many promises in God’s Word. All we need to do is dive in and receive the good things He has already given us.
Are you burdened and weary? Has life become so heavy that you don’t know if you can bear the load alone anymore? Great news. You don’t have to. Give it all to Christ. Slide your mountain of problems over to Him and let Him deal with them all while you enjoy yourself, find peace, and rest under the shadow of His glorious wing. And when things don’t seem to be moving as quickly as you’d like, correcting themselves at the pace you desire, slide that concern over to Him, too. Press into the Lord like never before. He wants you to. His Word invites you to do just that. Pray bold prayers. The psalmist recorded some of the boldest prayers of them all, his own. They were wracked with tears and agony, but rife with praise and exultation for the One who would hear them. He loves you. He cares deeply for you—so deeply that He asks you to let go of your heavy load and exchange it for something light and easy. Learn from Him and rest your weary soul.
Lord, thank You that You willingly take our burdens, that You work things out for our good, that You care about the desires of our hearts. Lord, we lay at Your feet our agonizing trials, our burning heaps of trouble, the chaos and problems in our lives that can feel never-ending. Lord, we don’t know how to fix them. We can’t carry this heavy load anymore. We are in need of supernatural assistance that only You can provide. Our hearts and minds are open to You alone. We surrender our heavy burdens to You and wait in quiet rest while You work things out in Your time, in Your way. Thank you for generously offering to bless us in this way. You are more than we could ever dream of. Praise You!
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
Day 17
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4:19 (NIV)
There are times in our lives when the list of things we need to survive is so long it seems it can wrap around the earth, twice.
God knows what we need and when we need it. It’s our responsibility to lean hard on Him during those seasons of desperation in our lives. He cares about our needs from parking spots to healing diseases. He cares about our heart’s desires. He cares deeply about the needs of our spirit. He cares for you. He wants you to have unstoppable faith in Him that He will do what He deems is best in all situations, no matter how impossible they seem. He hears your cries. He cares about the agony you’re in. He is well able to assist you. There is nothing He will not do for you if you ask with the right motives, and it is in His will for you.
He is your father and He loves you intimately—intensely—with His whole heart, with His entire being. Stay close to Him all day. Don’t waver in your faith. Lay it all out for Him and then just breathe God. We know His timing is perfect, and if He asks us to wait for things and situations to work out, He is sanding down our rough edges, making us who we need to be in Christ—who we were destined to be all along. Be joyous in this season of waiting. Find your joy in Him, in His Son, His divine Holy Spirit who dwells within you. Lean hard on Jesus who has ALL authority of everything in heaven and on earth, for whom nothing is impossible. Know that He has your best interests at heart. He will complete His good work in you. In the meantime, be a light for Jesus, a beacon of hope in this dark world for others. It’s what the enemy hates and what the Lord loves most.
Lord, praise You for caring about our troubles, our needs both small and great, and our heart’s desires. Thank you for giving us Jesus who intercedes on our behalf, our Savior, our attorney and our judge in the heavenlies. Thank you that through Him we are bound for victory. No man, no hell can hold us back from the glorious plans You have for us. We are the head and not the tail. We are alive now
