LIFE

LIFE WITH GOD IS EASY AND LIGHT :

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. - Matthew 11:28

It always warms my heart to know that Jesus sees the cares we carry in our hearts. He knows the worries you have for your family and for the future. He feels the heaviness in your heart as you struggle with the sickness in your body. He says to you, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus wants to give you rest. And He says that the way you receive rest is to be yoked with Him, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:29–30)

What does it mean to be yoked with Jesus? Imagine a pair of oxen yoked together. The younger ox sees what the lead ox does and follows. If the lead ox turns left, the younger ox turns left. If the lead ox stops, the younger ox stops. When the lead ox starts moving again, the younger ox follows. Likewise, Jesus wants us to follow His leading and flow with Him.

It is not hard to flow with Jesus because He will not lay anything heavy on you — “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30) When you are yoked with Him and you flow with Him, you will find that there is nothing heavy-hearted, ill-fitting or burdensome from the Lord. When you flow with the Lord, you will find that things fall into place. You will not be weighed down, anxious or distressed.

You might say, “But Pastor, God has given me this heavy burden. It is weighing heavily on my heart!”

My friend, if the burden is heavy, it is not from God because Jesus said that His burden is light. The devil has probably given you the burden to crush you!

“Oh, Pastor, you are making light of how serious my burden is.”

No, I am not. Jesus did say that His burden is light and His yoke easy. So a life yoked with Him is anxiety- and worry-free.

Beloved, follow His leading and flow with Him, and you will find rest for your soul!

Thought For The Day :
The way you receive rest is to be yoked with Jesus, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

LET YOUR LOVE GROW :

We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing. - 2 Thessalonians 1:3, NIV

God’s desire is to see you grow and increase in every area of your life—especially in your love for others. That’s because love is the greatest thing, and it is all that matters in eternity. At the end of the day, at the end of our lives here on earth, love is what will last forever!

Notice that this verse tells us that love and faith are connected. It says in another verse that faith works by love. Love isn’t about feelings and emotions; it’s about the choice to treat people the way God tells us to in His Word. The more we know Him, the more we know His Word, the more we will walk in love.

Today, I pray that your love will continue to grow and build a solid foundation for your faith. I pray that through your connection with the Father, you are strengthened in all of your relationships as you move forward into the life of blessing He has for you!

BEAT THE ODDS WITH THE FAVOR OF GOD :

RUTH 2:2 - So Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.”

Do you look at yourself and see only lack in the natural? Do you say, “I don’t have a good education”, “I am poor”, “I am too old” or “I am a divorcee”? I have good news for you. As a blood-bought believer and child of God, you have the supernatural favor of God!

In the Bible, Ruth was a poor Moabite widow who went with her mother-in-law to live in Bethlehem, a Jewish town where the inhabitants considered Moabites outcasts. But she did not wallow in self-pity and moan about being a poor widow of the wrong race in the wrong place. Instead, she believed that God would favor her and she declared, “I will find favor in the field that I glean from.”

In the natural, Ruth had everything going against her. But because she trusted in the favor of God, she not only became the wife of Bethlehem’s richest man when Boaz married her, she also became the great-grandmother of David and had her name included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ even though she was not a Jewess! That is what God’s supernatural favor did for her. That is the kind of blessing God’s supernatural favor can give you.

A church member shared how, due to unforeseen circumstances, she was late for a job interview. But she confessed God’s favor on herself before the interview and miraculously, the interviewers shortlisted her for a second interview.

There were about 40 other applicants with the right experience. And though she lacked the relevant experience, by the favor of God, she got the job which came with better pay and a car allowance that fully subsidized her car loan. Her new company was even willing to pay for her petrol and cell phone expenses—all because she believed and confessed that she had the favor of God!

Do not look at what you do not have in the natural and see lack. Trust in the favor of God and you will see blessings which your natural abilities cannot bring!

ASK OF ME :

“Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession” - (Psalm 2:8, NIV)

Did you know it pleases God when we pray bold prayers and ask Him for big things? The God we serve doesn’t want us to just barely get by in life. He wants us to thrive and experience the fullness of His blessing. He wants us to not only have our needs met, but be in a position to reach out and help meet the needs of others, too!

When we ask God for something, a supernatural door is opened. We are showing our faith in Him, and faith gives God something to work with. In fact, scripture says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. He wants us to come to Him and know His goodness. He wants us to believe that He is good and that He has good things in store for us.

Today, I encourage you to get bold with your prayers. Ask God for big things. Believe that He is working behind the scenes on your behalf. Put your faith to work because God is faithful. He has big things in store for you and promises to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that you can ever imagine!

SIN STAINED...OR BLOOD WASHED?

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. – Hebrews 10:16-17

The Bible tells us that under Levitical law, an animal had to be offered every year to atone for the sins of the people. That word atone means "to cover" and it's used continually throughout the Old Testament.

But let me tell you something exciting. It's never used in the New Testament. The Greek word used to describe what Jesus did for us on the Cross is a different word altogether. It doesn't just mean "to cover"--it means "to remit; to do completely away with something."

Do you know what that means? It means there is no longer a sin problem. Jesus solved it!

When you made Him your Lord, He didn't just cover your sins, He put you into right standing with God and recreated you by the Spirit of God as if sin had never existed.

Many believers haven't fully grasped that magnificent truth. Are you caught up in what I call sin consciousness? Do you keep thinking of yourself as sin stained instead of blood washed?

No, you're not. You were an old sinner, but grace changed you forever into the very righteousness of God. You are now His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus! As far as God is concerned, your past life is forgotten. It died the death of the Cross.

Think about that. Let it sink into your consciousness until you rise up boldly and receive the freedom from sin that's yours in Christ Jesus. Receive the righteousness that only the Lamb of God can give

HELPERS NEEDED

The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things. —John 14:26

To some people, the term helper carries with it second-class connotations. Classroom helpers assist trained teachers in their classes. Helpers assist trained electricians, plumbers, and lawyers on the job. Because they aren’t as skilled in the profession, they might be viewed as having less value. But everyone is needed to accomplish the task.

The apostle Paul had many helpers in his work of ministry. He listed them in his letter to Rome (ch.16). He made special reference to Phoebe, who “has been a helper of many and of myself also” (v.2). Priscilla and Aquila risked their own lives for Paul (vv.3-4). And Mary, Paul said, “labored much for us” (v.6).

Helping is a spiritual gift, according to 1 Corinthians 12:28. Paul listed it among the gifts from the Holy Spirit that are given to believers in Christ’s body, the church. The gift of “helps” is just as needed as the others that are listed.

Even the Holy Spirit is called a “Helper.” Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, . . . will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you” (John 14:26).

In whatever ways the Holy Spirit, the Helper, has gifted you, let Him use you for His honor.

Dear Lord, thank You for the gifts You have given me so that I might serve the body of Christ. Help me to be faithful to use my gifts to bring You glory.

You are a necessary part of the whole.

BIBLICAL PRAYERS FOR CHRISTIANS

EPHESIANS 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,
16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers:
17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power
20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church,
23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

EPHESIANS 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height ---
19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.