Tag: rest

Are You Soul Tired?

Leave a comment


“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;”

‭Psalm‬ ‭37:7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The Hebrew word used for “be still” in this verse doesn’t mean for your body not to move, it means to be silent.

It means to silent your mind, quiet the overthinking and obsessive worrying.

Stop talking about it.

Stop thinking about it.

Stop dwelling on it.

Calm your mind.

Clear your thoughts.

Create space in the silence.

Rest.

Enter into a quiet space and fill your soul in the love of God.

He is there waiting to meet you and you don’t need words, you need Him.

The longer you stay there, the stronger this “stillness muscle” grows, the more you will capture the grace of God to apply and live in today.

It is how to restore your tired soul.

Recover Your Life

Leave a comment

Life often demands that you keep going even when you are tired.

When you are burdened with grief, you still have to go to work.

When you are battling anxiety, someone still has to do the dishes.

When you are restless to go but must stay right where you are.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Jesus invites us to walk with Him, work with Him, and watch how He lives in the fullness of God’s love every day while bearing a great burden.

Your world may be dripping with unmet expectations, foundation-shaking experiences, and unbearable obligations.

Or it may be boring and frustrating with endless monotony.

Whatever is happening around you, Jesus wants to walk with you through it.

Lean on His strength and let Him love you right where you are.

However you get away with Jesus – time in the Word, time in prayer, time in worship, time in silence- lose yourself in His love and recover your life.

Invest in Rest

Leave a comment

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

Matthew 11:28 NIV

This is Jesus’ invitation to you to stop striving and rest.

The Greek word for “rest” in Matthew 11:28 means:

1) to cause or permit one to cease from any movement or labor in order to recover and collect his strength

2) to give rest, refresh, to give one’s self rest, take rest

3) to keep quiet, of calm and patient expectation

It is His invitation for you to take a minute or an hour to simply stop.

Stop producing, stop creating and simply breathe.

Close your eyes to look at what is going on inside of you.

Remember that your value to God is not what you do but who you are.

You are His beloved child.

He loves you when you are “doing good.”

He loves you when you are struggling.

He loves you when you are failing.

He loves you. 

It is not a one-time invitation, it is a a daily invitation to come to Jesus and be reminded who you are.

Are you tired?

Come to Jesus, His arms are open.

Reset Your Soul

Leave a comment

Don’t let a bad attitude rob you of a good opportunity.

When the world crowds in on you and makes you feel claustrophobic with all the “things needed ASAP”, it is good to take a moment to chill out and remember that God is good and has been good to you.

Breathe in the truth that He loves you right now, where you are.

His love can reset your perspective and return your internal state from “fret” to “rest.”

“Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” – Psalm 116:7 NIV

Unwind your worry.

Reset your soul.

God has called you to be a change-maker where you are.

The very best way to change your attitude is by reminding yourself who God is and who you are in Christ.

He will give you everything you need, including reminding you to get out of the way.

Let go of all the things you can’t control today and reset the one thing you can – your attitude.

What does re-setting your soul to rest in Jesus look like for you today?

Burden Bearer

Leave a comment

“Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.”PSALM‬ ‭68‬:‭19‬ NIV

Every day also brings old memories that linger, mistakes still bearing consequences, fears that refuse to die, emotional baggage that demands space and attention.

Every day brings new choices to make, new challenges to face, new fears to conquer, new burdens to bear.

God will bear your burdens every day. 

Old, new, heavy or light.

Everyday.

You may not know what burdens will be thrust upon you today but God does. 

He stands with open arms and strong shoulders to bear them for you.

What burden do you need God to bear today?

The Journey To A Sacred Place

2 Comments

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.” PSALM 84:5 NIV

A pilgrimage is the journey to a sacred place.

A pilgrimage for a Jesus follower is not about going somewhere that God has been before, it is inviting Him into where you are:

Your home.

Your job.

Your relationships.

Every place you invite God into becomes sacred.

When you walk with Jesus, He will give you what you need for every step: His abundant love, cross-forged forgiveness, sustaining strength, perfect peace, deep joy, and unrelenting hope right where you are.

Transformation lives on the way with Jesus.

It is a journey that will test your strength, challenge your tenacity and grow your faith. 

What do you need to invite Him into where you are today?

He is Peace

Leave a comment

“May God look you full in the face and make you prosper.”

Numbers 6:26 MSG

The word for “prosper” here in the original Hebrew is “shalom.” 

It has become one of my favorite words. 

At its core, “Shalom” means the type of wholeness that comes after being broken.

I think that the most difficult moment to look God full in the face is when you are broken. 

When you have failed or fallen or lay wounded at another’s hand.

That is exactly when you need Him the most.

That is when you need to see the face of God and how He sees you.

That is when you need to see His love, mercy and grace as He gazes at you.

You need to know that when He looks you full in the face, He is looking at someone He loves, believes in and will put back together through the power of His love.

May God look you full in the face and make you prosper.

Shalom

He is the peace you are looking for.

Dare to Trust

Leave a comment

“When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn’t do but on what God said he would do.”ROMANS‬ ‭4:17-18‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Dare to trust God wherever you are and in whatever you are facing. 

Even if you’re feeling hopeless.

Stay on the journey.

Though everything in Abraham’s life seemed to indicate otherwise, he chose to focus on the power of God and not on the impossibility of the promise God had given him.

I am sure that there were times that Abraham barely believed and struggled with massive doubt. I am sure that there were days that he was holding on to a thread of hope, he was human.

God will not take away your humanity or your emotions.

His plan is to work through both.

God has called you to trust Him, lean on Him and rely on Him as you walk the road before you. 

Stay on the road.

Keep going.

Walk forward with the confidence that you may not know where you are going, but God does. 

His promises come with His power. 

Power to base your faith on what God can do, not on what you can see.

Hold on, my friend, you may have only had a thread of hope but in Christ, that thread is stronger than what you face and will hold against that which you fear

Security

2 Comments

“A grasping person stirs up trouble, but trust in GOD brings a sense of well- being.”‭‭ PROVERBS‬ ‭28:25‬ ‭MSG

The original Hebrew word used for “trust” in the verse above means “secure.”

Security that is found in the love of God.

You will find more peace by focusing on God than you ever will by focusing on yourself and what you lack.

You do not need more of you (or a better you, a better relationship or more stuff) to be more secure- you need more of God.

You are His precious child. That doesn’t mean life’s journey will be easy, it means that He will supply you with what you need to live it.

You can stop trying to feel secure in who you are and embrace the reality of “whose” you are.  Your identity comes from Jesus, not your family or lack thereof, not from your accomplishments or shortcomings, not from your success or failures but from Him.

My prayer for you today is that you will begin to unfurl the grasping grip of insecurity in your life. May your focus shift to who He is and who you truly are in Him

Around the Corner

Leave a comment

I grew up about an hour or so from some of the best beaches in Southern California.

The beaches were beautiful but the journey there was not.

In fact, unless you knew that you were going to the beach, it just felt like you are stuck in the worst freeway traffic of your life because you were.

There is nothing worse than the standstill traffic on a Los Angeles Freeway with smog.

But then you turn a corner and there it is – the sand, the waves and the beauty of it all.

My friend, I don’t know what you are dealing with today and maybe you feel stuck in traffic and that your life is going no where.

I want to encourage you to not give up.

Keep on the path God has put before you.

I know it has been difficult and you want to pull off, turn around and go back.

Don’t do it.

Keep going.

“Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow.”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭25:4‬ ‭NLT‬

Don’t give up.

Hold onto God and put your hope in Him.

There is more for you than you can see around you and for all you know, God’s good destination for you may be just around the corner.

And when you see it, when you get there- it will be worth the trip.

I’m am praying for you today to sit tight and trust God to get you where He wants to you to go.

And in the meanwhile, do I what I used to do on the way to the beach- roll down the windows, crank up the worship music and chill out.