REST!

^{Matthew 11:28 - 29, 
28} “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ 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.

Jesus often took time to rest from His ministry - and He was the Son of God! Why is it we pack our schedules so full we often forget to take time to just rest in His presence? Jesus set the example. We need to not be so busy that we don't have time for Him, and that we rest in Him and nothing else.

Easy to say, tough to do? I know, I've been there. Done that. I think if we all took time out to rest we might be better believers - resting in Him and taking time to be alone with God. Vacations are in fact necessary, otherwise we burn out and we're no good for our families, our friends, but most importantly if we are burnt out we are no good for God's Kingdom work.

So REST! :)

Family Day BLOG - Who are my family?

In honour of Family Day...

Family Day is Monday, and in honour of that, I thought I would ask the question... Who are my family? Jesus has an answer...

Matthew 12:47-49 (NIV-1984)

⁴⁷ Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” ⁴⁸ He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. ⁵⁰ For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Was Jesus being mean? No. He was making a point about the family of God. Yes our physical family is important down here, for sure, no doubt. Never neglect them. But where does family stop? According to Jesus our family extends to anyone who is a believer. Male or female. Old and young. Think about that, as believers we have a HUGE family to celebrate! The family of God! It's no coincidence that wherever we go in the world, as soon as two people find out they're Christians, they can relate in a way that no other people can - because they're family!

This Family Day, yes, by all means celebrate with your family. But for those who are distant from parents or kids or siblings, etc. Just remember, Family Day can be celebrated with anyone who is a believer! You don't have to be alone! We are part of the biggest family on Earth! In history! 

Have a great Family Day everyone! God bless!

May our Abba, our heavenly Daddy, be with you all!

God's Discipline = His love?

^{Hebrews 12:5 - 8 (NIV) says, 5} And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
    and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
⁶ because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
    and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

⁷ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?⁸ If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.

Sometimes there is a big debate over whether God disciplines or punished His children for their actions. Hebrews makes it clear that God will allow us to go so far but at some point God draws the line and if we cross it we end up under His discipline/punishment. There are times when God needs to reign us in as Galatians 6:7 (AMP) says, ⁷ Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked ^[a]by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) God won't allow His name to be mocked, especially by His kids! When we feel God's punishment for something we have done on a continual basis, just remember - God is showing His love by correcting us. Don't resent it.

The fact He does this shows we ARE His kids! We can take comfort from that, and take it as proof of our salvation when the enemy tries to plant seeds of doubt in our minds such as, "You can't be saved! Look what you've been doing!" We can remember this passage and say, "You're wrong, I am a child of God because He loved me enough to come after me!"

Do we sometimes need a donkey?

In Numbers 22 we see how the false prophet, Balaam, was used by God to show God's glory and protect the Israelites. Frustrated he set off on his donkey and three times the Angel of the Lord stood in the donkey's way, and after the third time Balaam started to beat his donkey not realizing what was happening. You have to love the dialogue:

²⁷ This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.

²⁸ Then the Lord gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

²⁹ “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

³⁰ “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?”

“No,” Balaam admitted.

Now first of all, Balaam should have been shocked by his donkey talking to him in the first place, but that seemed to go right over his head because he was so steamed at the beast. The animal was only protecting his master. Sometimes we can get so frustrated with our lives that we can miss out on the miraculous and we need a donkey to get our attention. 

Hee-haw!