what comes first, our search for Jesus, or His search for ourselves?
Matthew 11:25-30
at that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure."all things have been committed to Me by My Father. no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. "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."
this gospel for me shows that the Father sent Jesus into this world to search for man. to search for him, to comfort him and to give him rest. for we have our own demands and pressures, we are stressed within our daily lives, running from pillar to post, always active, always doing and always with someone or something else putting even more pressures upon us. our natural response to this, the natural response of man is to put all this at the feet of our Lord, to surrender our problems and concerns to Him, to trust in Him in the knowledge that He knows what is best.
do we therefore come to prayer with our Lord thinking that God demands we love and that we are to fulfil all Christian obligations? do we burden ourselves with this, do we feel that we have to oblige God in love, since 'He loved us so we have to love Him' i use love here as a classic example but there are many ways we can and do feel obliged to act for God, there are many differing ways that the Lord has helped each and everyone of us, each individual all with a common ground of love. so it is that we feel we have to do this and that as we have received so we must give.
please do not mis understand me, for i do feel that it is important that we love the Lord, nah i feel that it is critical that we love our Lord. as it says in Luke 10:27 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself'
what i am asking is are we also open to listen to God? are we open enough to give God thanks for all we are, and all we do? are we thankful to God for the life we have in Him?
for we should love in a thankful spirit not in a mood of obligation. we should want and desire to be with God, we should want and seek His word and pray upon its meaning and genuinely and gracefully act upon this word, allowing its graces to apply within our souls and our lives. we should not come to the Lord in a sense of duty, we should not read the stories within the Bible and try and act upon them ourselves out of a kind of duty. in short, we should not attach extra burden to our already demanding lives by feeling that we have to do this for this is what is decreed. for Christ HImself said 'come to Me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest'
rest them, rest peacefully in the arms of Christ. allow His love to flood into your lives, giving you comfort from the burdens placed upon you, releasing you from the failings we all make each and every day, bringing peace to a troubled life.
the rabbis spoke of the yoke of torah and the yoke of the kingdom. are we yoked into service? are we oppressed into serving the Lord? do we feel a need and a must to do this and to do that, for it must be so?
Jesus tells us to 'learn from Me'
the discipleship of Christ is not one of a burden, it is not one of a yoke of oppression and depression. it is one of love for us. God knows that each and everyone of us has our own weaknesses, and that we all have our limits. does He worry about this, does He demand more from us because of this? or does He love us even more because He knows this?
Christ does not and will never condemn us, He came to save us so that we may eternal life with Him in our Fathers kingdom. He will never demand from us any more than what we are, knowing what we can and do freely give.
Christ asks us to come to Him with an open heart. He invites us to learn from Him, to learn how to do Gods will. He invites us to rest with Him, to love with Him and to live with Him in peace. He wants, not demands, that we are free; free to love, free to trust, to love and trust in our Father.
may we all find this peace that Christ came into this world to bring. may we all find security in Him. may the Lord bless us all with a humble, contrite and loving heart, open to Him and His love. may we live in this love freely loving God and all of His creation, without burden but with joy, without demands but with freedom, without sadness but with hope, without anxiety but with happiness. with joy, with freedom, with hope and with happiness for these can and do only some from the love we receive and share in trust and in peace.
so my friend be at one with the Lord, be in love with the Lord, for the Lord desires to be one with you, and he truly loves you!
God bless
scrappy
Matthew 11:25-30
at that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure."all things have been committed to Me by My Father. no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. "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."
this gospel for me shows that the Father sent Jesus into this world to search for man. to search for him, to comfort him and to give him rest. for we have our own demands and pressures, we are stressed within our daily lives, running from pillar to post, always active, always doing and always with someone or something else putting even more pressures upon us. our natural response to this, the natural response of man is to put all this at the feet of our Lord, to surrender our problems and concerns to Him, to trust in Him in the knowledge that He knows what is best.
do we therefore come to prayer with our Lord thinking that God demands we love and that we are to fulfil all Christian obligations? do we burden ourselves with this, do we feel that we have to oblige God in love, since 'He loved us so we have to love Him' i use love here as a classic example but there are many ways we can and do feel obliged to act for God, there are many differing ways that the Lord has helped each and everyone of us, each individual all with a common ground of love. so it is that we feel we have to do this and that as we have received so we must give.
please do not mis understand me, for i do feel that it is important that we love the Lord, nah i feel that it is critical that we love our Lord. as it says in Luke 10:27 'love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbour as yourself'
what i am asking is are we also open to listen to God? are we open enough to give God thanks for all we are, and all we do? are we thankful to God for the life we have in Him?
for we should love in a thankful spirit not in a mood of obligation. we should want and desire to be with God, we should want and seek His word and pray upon its meaning and genuinely and gracefully act upon this word, allowing its graces to apply within our souls and our lives. we should not come to the Lord in a sense of duty, we should not read the stories within the Bible and try and act upon them ourselves out of a kind of duty. in short, we should not attach extra burden to our already demanding lives by feeling that we have to do this for this is what is decreed. for Christ HImself said 'come to Me all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest'
rest them, rest peacefully in the arms of Christ. allow His love to flood into your lives, giving you comfort from the burdens placed upon you, releasing you from the failings we all make each and every day, bringing peace to a troubled life.
the rabbis spoke of the yoke of torah and the yoke of the kingdom. are we yoked into service? are we oppressed into serving the Lord? do we feel a need and a must to do this and to do that, for it must be so?
Jesus tells us to 'learn from Me'
the discipleship of Christ is not one of a burden, it is not one of a yoke of oppression and depression. it is one of love for us. God knows that each and everyone of us has our own weaknesses, and that we all have our limits. does He worry about this, does He demand more from us because of this? or does He love us even more because He knows this?
Christ does not and will never condemn us, He came to save us so that we may eternal life with Him in our Fathers kingdom. He will never demand from us any more than what we are, knowing what we can and do freely give.
Christ asks us to come to Him with an open heart. He invites us to learn from Him, to learn how to do Gods will. He invites us to rest with Him, to love with Him and to live with Him in peace. He wants, not demands, that we are free; free to love, free to trust, to love and trust in our Father.
may we all find this peace that Christ came into this world to bring. may we all find security in Him. may the Lord bless us all with a humble, contrite and loving heart, open to Him and His love. may we live in this love freely loving God and all of His creation, without burden but with joy, without demands but with freedom, without sadness but with hope, without anxiety but with happiness. with joy, with freedom, with hope and with happiness for these can and do only some from the love we receive and share in trust and in peace.
so my friend be at one with the Lord, be in love with the Lord, for the Lord desires to be one with you, and he truly loves you!
God bless
scrappy
