THE MESSAGE "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. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
Do you ever feel wiped
out physically? Do you ever feel
emotionally drained? Is your
spiritual life as vibrant and fresh as it once was, or is it lacking? Do you sense you need a refreshing?
God created us as three
dimensional beings. Body, soul and
spirit. We are spirit beings who live
in a body and have a soul (mind, will, intellect, emotions). It's important that we tend to all three
of these dimensions in our lives. Everyone
needs a place to rest, a time to rejuvenate, a restoration. Without rest we are vulnerable to doubt,
disease, and dread.
PHYSICAL REJUVENATION
There are times we need physical rejuvenation. The body gets tired. The spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak (Matt 26:41). Do you ever feel
like your body can't keep up with your spirit? When you are excessively tired
physically, sin can creep in. Sin
is usually preceded by temptation.
The way to overcome
temptation is to be alert to it and pray. Being alert means being aware
of the possibilities of temptation, being sensitive and aware
of its subtlety, being spiritually equipped to fight it. When one is physically exhausted it's
hard to be alert to anything. If
you are working through exhaustion, you may be missing God.
It's important to get the
necessary rest your body needs. Sometimes this will involve down time where
you do nothing. Your
resting place may be the quiet screened porch, where you relax with a cup of
coffee and a good book. For someone
else, a resting place may be a comfortable couch, a walk in a park or a
peaceful drive. No matter where
your resting place is take time to engage it! God often speaks to us in our place of rest
EMOTIONAL REJUVENATION
Satan desires to sift you as
wheat – to put you through the sifter! (Luke 22:31). He wants your walk with God to amount
to little. He wants your life
to have little affect on those you come in contact with.
There are those Satan will
use to bring you down (Joy suckers/Victory Zappers). Satan will scheme against you and try
to convince you that you are of little value to God. He will talk you out of doing things
for God. He will do his best to discourage
you in your walk with God. He'll try to
make you believe things that just aren’t true.
Stop right now and take an audit
of your soul. Is it strung out
and anxious? If so, rearrange
your schedule for rest before it rearranges you.
SPIRITUAL REJUVENATION
Jesus, Himself, made it a
point to have time away (Matt 14:13, 23, 15:29). Seeking solitude was an important priority
for Jesus. He made room in His
busy schedule to be alone with the Father.
Spending time with God in
prayer nurtures a vital relationship and equips us to meet life's
challenges and struggles. It's imperative
to have one-on-one quality time with God. Develop the discipline of spending time alone
with God – it will help you grow spiritually and it will help you become
more and more like Jesus.
A depleted spirit is
not primed for discernment, and decision-making. A depleted spirit can be dreadful during
times of duress. A resting
place is your protection from yourself, from evil influences,
and from lost perspective. Above
all else, your resting place reveals God in a refreshing way. His program takes on a new priority
in His place of rest. Your confidence
is resurrected. Your trust
takes on a new level of intensity.
Your patience leads to a deeper understanding of what it
means to wait on the Lord.
Scripture tells us “There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God” (Heb 4:9). We need to make certain we maintain our whole
person – body, soul and spirit.
If we are to have the impact for God that He desires us to
have, then we must be rejuvenated in body, soul and spirit. A non-restful pace is unsustainable,
and a restful place is necessary to persevere. A resting place is necessary to
experience God’s very best for you and your family.
Discover your resting place
in prayer, and go there often. Your
best and most creative ideas emerge from relaxed meditation on Jesus.
I encourage you to take time
to find the rest you need. I know Cindy
and I will be doing so. It’s time for a
complete rejuvenation!
Until next time…enjoy the
journey!
Ray
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