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Found my rest

Matthew 11:28-30 (AMP) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation]. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.”

In a time where it is easy to give up, do not quit. There are times that we are going to get tired and exhausted, that is why Jesus said to yoke up with Him. I use to think that He would carry all of the burden, but that is not what it means to be equally yoked and that is not us allowing the transforming work of Christ in our lives. He said to take His yoke and to learn from Him. It was in my surrender that I started to yoke up correctly.

I did a quick google search on ‘yoking two different animals together’ and the AI overview showed “Yoking two different animals together, or ‘unequally yoking’ them, can cause discomfort, pain and injury. When animals are properly yoked, they are usually the same type, height, and strength, and are attached together so they can pull together on the load. However, if the animals are different, one might be stronger, taller, or have shorter legs than the other, causing them to pull unevenly. This can lead to chafing and discomfort, and eventually animals might not be able to pull together at all. For example, if an ox and a donkey are yoked together, the ox might carry most of the load, and the donkey might refuse to move, veer to the side, or leave important seeds unplanted.” When I decide to yoke up with Christ, He is not doing all of the work and that is what makes it easier, it is because I am aligning my life with His.

Jeremiah 6:16-17 (AMP) Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the roads and look; ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is; then walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it!’ I have set watchmen (prophets) over you, Saying, ‘Listen and pay attention to the [warning] sound of the trumpet!’ But they said, ‘We will not listen.’

My rest is not in the absence of action, it is in the obedience to Christ. When we look to anything else to satisfy us, we become hardened. Our burdens in life become too heavy and even though we may love Christ, He is not what we have yoked up to. Instead of waiting and becoming we look to satisfy the right now. It is like Esau when he sold his birthright. What made him do it? A momentary discomfort that he could not take his mind off of.

Genesis 25:29-34 (AMP) Jacob had cooked [reddish-brown lentil] stew [one day], when Esau came from the field and was famished; and Esau said to Jacob, “Please, let me have a quick swallow of that red stuff there, because I am exhausted and famished.” For that reason Esau was [also] called Edom (Red). Jacob answered, “First sell me your birthright (the rights of a firstborn).” Esau said, “Look, I am about to die [if I do not eat soon]; so of what use is this birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear [an oath] to me today [that you are selling it to me for this food]”; so he swore [an oath] to him, and sold him his birthright.Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew; and he ate and drank, and got up and went on his way. In this way Esau scorned his birthright. 

In Hebrews 12:15-17 there is a reference to this very lesson for us, “See to it that no one falls short of God’s grace; that no root of resentment springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled; and [see to it] that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that later on, when he wanted [to regain title to] his inheritance of the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance [there was no way to repair what he had done, no chance to recall the choice he had made], even though he sought for it with [bitter] tears. (AMP)

There is something to these verses that should give us a wake up call to the meaning of God’s grace. A root of resentment comes from the seed of offense and/or anger, which ultimately is rooted in pride. When I yoke myself with Christ, I have given Him permission to help me break up the hardened ground so that the seed of His Word can be planted there. Being yoked up with Him is what makes the soil good for planting (Read the meaning of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:18-23). Do not take for granted the grace of God, it is not meant for a license to do as you want, it is an empowerment to overcome. We can do that because of Christ. He did not promise a life absent of trials, He did promise us peace in the midst of them (John 14:27).

John 15:4-5 (AMP) Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. 

Christ wants us to be united in Him. I encourage you to read all of John 15 if you have not had the chance, or read it again if you have. Jesus gives some rich teaching to His disciples in that chapter. My prayer has been for God to align my heart with His, I want to love how He loves so that it is all that flows out of me. Now in doing that, it does not mean that people can abuse you. Bowing down to a narcissist or someone who is always playing the victim is not love and it is not being peaceful. God said blessed are the peacemakers (those grounded in His Word) not the peace keepers (compromisers of His Word). My greatest love for others is to point them to Christ, in doing so I have to be united with Him. I am yoking up to Him. We are in this together and peace abounds there. This is how I have found my rest.

Father, our Creator and our Banner. You are Mighty and Holy. Thank you for Your Son to be our Redeemer. Thank You for the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Teacher. Thank You for Your Word and the revelation that You desire for us to know You more. We repent for not aligning our hearts with Yours. We repent for not abiding on the vine and allowing our hearts to be hardened by this world. We choose to yoke up with Your Son. We are choosing a life of surrender and abiding. We are choosing to forgive and not allow the seed of resentment to take root. We are thankful for Your grace so that we make be overcomers. We choose love today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose hope today. We choose joy today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Hello Sunflower

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (AMP) “Blessed [with spiritual security] is the man who believes and trusts in and relies on the Lord and whose hope and confident expectation is the Lord. “For he will be [nourished] like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out its roots by the river; and will not fear the heat when it comes; but its leaves will be green and moist And it will not be anxious and concerned in a year of drought nor stop bearing fruit.

What happens when we go through the tough parts of life? Can we still have joy? As I was preparing for this past Sunday’s message, that was my hearts desire for those that would be listening. May is Mental Health Awareness month. Lately I have been listening to Neil T. Anderson and some of the things he placed on YouTube in his Freedom in Christ channel. A lot of it had to do with the mind and the battle of depression that many believers have to overcome.

Four and a half years ago I was rocked. I had already been going through some things at work. I was promoted, demoted, talked down to, shunned…then terminated. My character was tarnished. How could I put myself out there in the community? Our vision for Connect Church is to touch the world through our community. I am constantly encouraging the body to look for opportunities to glorify God.

Our first gut reaction is to hide. I did, but I did it differently. I hid in the Word. I did not occasionally open my Bible any more, I really set out to get to know the Word. I ran to the Word. In doing so, I did not hide myself for protection from the hurt. I was able to stand free and with confidence of who I am in Christ. When I stand up and speak in front of people it is not to share how much I know, but who I know.

So when I was walking the track, listening to worship music a couple of months ago, God spoke to me about what I needed to share for Mother’s Day. He told me that I needed to share why I am so passionate about His ways. Why do I speak with such boldness and conviction when it comes to His Word? The secret comes in what you are rooted in.

John 15:5 (AMP) I am the Vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him bears much fruit, for [otherwise] apart from Me [that is, cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (AMP)  May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

To abide in Him means that I have replaced my roots in Him, I give Him first place. When I looked again at the parable of the sower in Mark 4, He spoke to me that we have placed ourselves in the story that was not what He intended. We wanted to be the good soil, but He is. When we allow ourselves to be in the love that He is, everything changes. Do branches have roots? No, the vine does. Where do the nutrients to grow come from? The soil. We have called the soil our hearts for so long. We are responsible for allowing the Holy Spirit to remove the rocks and the thorns. All soil has potential. Just like all of us do. There is only one that can be called good, and that is Jesus. Do not limit your perception of “in Christ” as a follower or just a position, BE in Christ. We are loved by Him and nothing can take that away, you are in that position, but we have put it on. We have to abide in that love. When we do, we are truly abiding in Christ.

I love sunflowers. They would have been the flowers for my wedding if a farmer did not give us 1000 gladiolas. I had chosen sunflower bracelets to give away that day. Sunflowers show their seeds. Sunflowers are sun worshipers. They need 6-8 hours of direct sunlight per day. They actually track the sun (desire His face). A single seed planted in the spring can produce many seeds. They grow so fast that they will choke out weeds. Sunflowers droop when they are not drinking enough water. The sunflower is a tap root. It is an elevator of nutrients. It brings water and other microbes from deeper soil layers closer to the soil for subsequent crops to have better access to. Sunflowers produce oil, and lots of it.

This was my summation: the seed (Word, Jesus is the Word John 1:1) from the sower (us), is planted in Christ (the soil) and we allow the roots (love in Christ) and the fruit we bear become more seeds because we are abiding on the vine (in Christ)…but they will have to be continued to be watered by the Living Water (Jesus, His Word).

I have more to this message, but for you to even get to the part of being free in every area of your life, you first need to know that depth of His love. To be in that love because you are in Christ. You have to realize that Jesus came for more than to save you from hell, that He came to restore you. Then you will no longer allow the things to shatter you and cause you to go into a cave of hiding. We are in Christ, He is all we need.

Dear God, our Creator, You are so full of majesty. We honor You today with our thanksgiving. Thank you for Your Son. Jesus took on every part of our lives so that we can walk in fullness. We are sorry that we have not walked in the fullness of that love. Let us be rooted in grounded in the love of Christ. We choose to abide in Him today. Holy Spirit, lead us to the areas of rocks and thorns that we need to be set free of. Renew our minds. We submit to You today. Let us be sowers of the Word. When we sow in Christ all of the ground is good ground and all that we sow is good. The Word is always good. Thank You for the Word. Thank You for the Word becoming flesh. Thank You for being the vine. We desire to bear fruit that glorifies You. We choose Love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.