Rest In Peace

I don't know about you, but it seems life is in fast forward motion. The busyness off life can often become wearisome and even heavy at times. When life gets like this, I often find myself exhausted and tired, but as soon as my head hits the pillow I'm wide awake. How do I get myself to the place so I can rest peacefully without my mind racing about all the "to do's" to be done?

In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us that he wants to give us rest. It says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (NLT) What is it that we can't seem to grasp these words? Why can't we receive the rest that Jesus wants to give us? Instead, so many are living with sleep deprivation and even using sleep aids rather than going to the One who created sleep. The interesting thing about our Heavenly Father is, he doesn't sleep. Psalm 121:3 & 4 says He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. ⁴ Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps." That is why we should be able to sleep. He is watching over everything that concerns us twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

I am guilty lately of sleepless nights. Just the other night I found myself tossing and turning with so many things on my mind. Finally, I got up and decided to go to the One who never sleeps. We had a good conversation and after talking with Him, I went back to bed and had a restful rest of the night.

If you are finding yourself in a season of sleeplessness or even just anxious because of things going on around you that may seem heavy, let me encourage you to go to Jesus with those concerns. One of the schemes of the enemy is to keep you exhausted because when you are exhausted it is not likely you will display the fruit of the Spirit. Take your cares to Jesus. He said he wants to teach you how to find rest for your soul.

Every night before Jordanne goes to sleep, we pray this verse. It is Psalm 4:8 "I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone O Lord, make me dwell in safety." I want to encourage you to say this if you are having trouble sleeping. Even if you are not having trouble with sleep, it doesn't hurt to sow more Word into your spirit. With so many commercials advertising prescription sleep aids, this prescription won't have any side effects except that it will do exactly what it says, help you rest in peace.

Stocks and Bondage

This past Sunday, Pastor Jeff spoke on "Money Matters" in our Praxis series. What was so interesting about the fact that he was teaching on money is that one year ago this week is when some of our country's largest banking institutions filed bankruptcy and caused a crash on Wall Street, similar to the crash in the 1920's. The reason I know this is that I had written it down last year in my Bible. It is this weeks Life Journal reading. The particular chapter that happens to fall on September 15th is Isaiah 19 which is titled "A Prophecy About Egypt." I highly recommend you take a look at it because if you put America or American in the places where Egypt is named, it sounds like God is speaking directly to us.

I've been pondering on this thought for a few days now. In Pastor Jeff's message, he showed a video clip of John McAfee, the inventor of a well known anti-virus software. This man was worth millions and lost it all and eventually filed bankruptcy. When asked in an interview if he had bought into the consumer culture he said, "the more you buy into the consumer culture, the more you bond with it." The key word here is "bond". Which immediately made me think about stocks and bonds and how people will invest their whole life savings into the stock market. I'd like to call this "Stocks and Bondage".

King Solomon had every material pleasure on earth available to him. In the book of Ecclesiastes, which was written by him, chapter 2 verses 10 and 11 he says this, "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. 11 Yes when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to acheive, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun." What is it about material wealth that just makes us go crazy? John McAfee said that once the money was gone and all the things he had acquired were taken from him, he said he felt a freedom. It seems the more money one gains in life, the less freedom in his soul. Yes he may be free to spend without limits, but eventually he will run out of enjoyment of purchasing things. Instead, he begins to shackle himself and hold on tightly to the things he has acquired and now they have become a bondage that not only keeps him bound emotionally, but spiritually. When a rich young man asked Jesus how he could inherit eternal life, Jesus told him the only thing he lacked was that he needed to go and sell everything and give to the poor and he would have treasure in heaven. Then he needed to follow Jesus. (Mark 10:17-21) The scripture says when Jesus said this, the young man's face fell and he went away sad because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:22)

The bondage so many wealthy and poor live under, even after receiving salvation is the fear of what they do have will be taken away or stolen. Jesus said in Matthew 6:19 & 20 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." One would say Jesus was telling them to invest in heavenly stock because in heaven there is no such thing as a stock market crash. Not to be silly, but Jesus is like heaven's stock broker telling us what we should invest in that is a guarantee.

In that same Chapter Jesus concludes his discussion on money with verse 33 "But seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all of these things will be given to you as well." I pray that you will invest your life into seeking after God. Don't spend one more day of your life in bondage worrying about your future. So many followers of Jesus may be free from the curse of death, but they are still living in bondage to their past, their finances, their health, their fear. Don't waste one more day of life on the lies of the enemy. Jesus came that you may have a more abundant life (John 10:10). Philippians 4:19 says "God will supply all of your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Jeremiah 29:11 says that He knows the plans He has for you, to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.

If you are one who is struggling in one or more areas of the investment you have made into this world and want to be free from it, repeat this prayer with me.

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that You sent Your Son Jesus to deliver me from the bondages and slavery of the things of this world. That I have no fear of not having enough because Your Word says You WILL supply all of my needs and You won't forsake the righteous (those in right standing) or leave their children begging for bread. I believe that by Jesus stripes I am healed. That the power of life in the blood of Jesus is the only medication that can bring complete healing and wholeness to my body. That I can stay in perfect peace if my mind is stayed on You! Thank You for providing for me and healing me because you are Jehovah Jireh and Jehovah Rophe. Jesus is my deliverer and because he came to give me LIFE and LIFE MORE ABUNDANT! In the precious name of Jesus, the name above all names! Amen!

Duck and Cover

Warm days and Cool nights. What does the weather have to do with anything, you might ask? For those of us who have lived in California for any period of time, we would call this earthquake weather. Just like the South has hurricane season and the Midwest has tornado season, we too have earthquake season. It is because the ground expands during the day when it is warm and contracts at night when it cools down. I believe there are seasons in our spiritual lives as well.

For the past few weeks, I personally have been sensing "spiritual earthquake weather". Many friends that I have talked with lately seem to be experiencing tremors. Just the other night as I was talking with my parents, this topic came up and I truly believe in my heart we need to prepare for the earthquake that is coming in the "spiritual realm." The Lord is going to shake things up to see who is standing firm on the Rock of Jesus. What confirmed this to me was my daily Bible reading in Isaiah yesterday. This actually shook me up a bit. No pun intended. It says, "You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They are full of superstitions from the East; they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans. ⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold;there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. ⁸ Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. ⁹ So man will be brought low and mankind humbled— do not forgive them. ¹⁰ Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! ¹¹ The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. 12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), ¹³ for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, ¹⁴ for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, 15 for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, ¹⁶ for every trading ship and every stately vessel. ¹⁷ The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, ¹⁸ and the idols will totally disappear. ¹⁹ Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. ²⁰ In that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship. ²¹ They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty, when he rises to shake the earth. ²² Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:6-22) What's that phrase we learn as children in school? Duck and cover? I think that is what verse 19 means.

For those of us who have experienced earthquakes, most of the time we don't see too much damage. Partly because here in California we have built our buildings and prepared our land to handle them. There are some places that experience such devastation when an earthquake hits that it can wipe out a whole city. As a follower of Jesus, this is why it is so important to be in the Word, in worship and prayer every day. We are building a foundation that will withstand any spiritual earthquake that may come our way. If we will hide the Word of God in our heart, then when the earth is shaken under our feet, it's like having a spiritual earthquake survival kit on hand. It's all stored up and ready to be used in time of need.

Speak Words of Life

I have not had much to write over the past few months as the words of my heart have been few. In May I lost both of my dear grandparents. With two funerals within 3 weeks of the other, it was a time of reflection. I had the honor of speaking at both my grandparents funerals and sharing about all the wonderful things about them. I am glad to say they both entered into eternity knowing how much they were loved by their family.

On the other hand, Just a few weeks after my grandma passed away so did pop icon Michael Jackson. As I was watching the Michael Jackson memorial service and was pleasantly surprised at the many references to the hope of eternal life in Jesus. What was so interesting was the personal testimonies of friends of Michael's that shared what a kind and loving person he was. As I listened, what I heard was he did what Jesus said to do, take care of the widows and the orphans, and if you do it unto the least of these, you've done it unto me. Yet, we would probably say Michael never professed to be a follower of Jesus, but walked out that part of Christianity probably better than most Christians do. I know he did that better than I do.

I have recently wondered why it is that after a person has left this life, we can't tell them enough how much we loved them and what we loved about them. It's silly now to stand before others and rave about how wonderful the person was when they aren't even here to hear it. Instead, it is while they are alive, we only tell them what we "don't" like about them. I've always heard that it takes 10 good things to out weigh 1 bad thing said about a person. Proverbs 18:21 says "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Why is it when we are alive, we hear "death" words and it is after we die, words of life are spoken. There is something wrong with this picture. James 3:9 says "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness."

Why is it, even knowing we've been freed from the power of death's grip, we still live under the words of death that have been spoken over us? Or maybe on the other hand, you are one who has spoken words of death over others. I know I am guilty on both accounts. I am asking today that we each bring our "words" to the Lord. We confess to Him that we have been living out the words of death that have been spoken over us, either by friends or even worse family members. I believe family members do the most harm to one another. Husbands and wives, parents and children, and siblings being the harshest on one another. We who bless the name of Jesus and speak praises to our Heavenly Father, need to be doing the same to those the Lord has placed in our lives. And we need to ask for forgiveness when we have spoken words of death over others.

Michael Jackson went to his grave hearing the words of death the media spoke over him. I want to challenge you today to live your life telling those you love truly what you love about them everyday and let the negative things go. We often say we want to see the power of the Holy Spirit in the Church today. Well, maybe it begins with us speaking "life" to one another. Beginning with those who live in our homes. Ladies we are the heart of our homes or maybe I should say, the womb, whether we are single, married, mothers, sisters, daughters, and/or roommates we as women are the carriers of "life". Women are the ones who God made to conceive a life in the womb to carry and to birth. Why shouldn't we be the ones to carry and birth "life" in our words. It starts with us. I hope you see the picture I am trying to draw. Words of life can begin with us.

You can start right now by saying this prayer with me.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you that You sent your son, Jesus to free me from the power of eternal death. That because of the blood of Jesus that is life, I am free from the grip it has on me. Father, I ask you to forgive me for living my life through the eyes of others who have spoken death words over me. I am more than a conqueror and I can walk in victory in the power of Jesus name. I ask that You would give me the strength to believe the words that You have spoken over me. That You love me so much that You sent Your only son to take my place on death row. That You have a plan for my life and that it is for good and not for evil and that I have a future and a hope. I ask for Your forgiveness for using my tongue to praise You and to curse others. I ask that You would forgive me for allowing words of death to leave my mouth to hurt others so I can feel better. I speak blessing over those I have hurt and that their lives might be released from the power of the death's grip. Thank You that with You, all things are possible and that You can make all thing work together for good. I ask this in the name above all names, the name that gives the power of life, in the mighty name of Jesus! Amen.

If you said that prayer with me, then lets walk together today along the path of life. A life of freedom and joy that only comes from our Heavenly Father. It's not going to be easy at times, but I believe that if we hold each other accountable to guard our hearts and tongues that we are going to see the power of God we so long to see become greater in our lives.

When In Doubt, Clean It Out

This morning I woke up singing that song "Create in me a clean heart...." Do you remember that one? As I was reflecting on my day yesterday, I believe that was something the Lord was reminding me to do.

I woke up yesterday with a plan to spend my morning with the Lord, reading my Bible and worshipping. It started out as planned. I went to the gym and there I had my worship time on the treadmill as I listened to worship music, not only exercising my physical heart, but also preparing my spiritual heart for a time of prayer. I got home and while I was in the shower, I heard a loud crash. With my head full of shampoo, I couldn't jump out to see what it was, but the whole time worried as I just knew my closet shelf had collapsed. Sure enough, everything I had piled on top of my top shelf had come crashing down. Bedding, purses, shoes, old clothes, a box of books, even a box of candles and holders came down with it. Oh my goodness, I was not planning on cleaning out my closet yesterday.

For months, I've needed to do some throwing away, but have put it off just because I knew what kind of work it would take. As I stood there among the past, present and future, I felt a moment of grief. I knew that it was time to throw away those purses that I would never carry again and those cute shoes that are just to high for me now. Even those candles that I never burned. And it was hot and stuffy in my closet! I told the Lord that I didn't plan on spending my morning cleaning out the closet, but that I wanted Him to have my undivided attention, but now I had to clean it out. The rest of my day seemed quite heavy and it wasn't as joyful as I had planned on it being. Something about that closet cleaning stirred up an anxiety in my heart. For some reason, fear crept into my spirit and the rest of the day I worried about things I could not do anything about. Do you ever have days like that?

I wonder if God allowed that closet cleanup to happen so I would take some time to clean out the closet of my heart. Our hearts get so cluttered with the things of the past, present and future, that it distracts us from the things God wants to speak to us. How many times have you had things come up in your heart that you know you need to throw away, but you put it off because of work it would take to do it? It's too overwhelming. I think the work of cleaning it up was the Lord's way of helping me get rid us those unnecessary items not only in my physical closet, but in my heart. Why was I holding on to them, knowing full well, I'd never use or wear them again? How many times have I just pulled it out to look at it? At least I know it's there IF I should need it. I think God was showing me I do that with fear. That I may "put it away" for a time, but I keep it stored because I might need it. If fear isn't apart of my spiritual wardrobe anymore, then why don't I just put it in the trash for good?

This morning, that song was in my heart. I looked up Psalm 51:10-12 and I love what the New Living Translation says, "Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you." I started thinking about the word create. My definition means to start something new, something original. I think the words "create a clean heart" means that we give God an opportunity do something new and original with our hearts. I love the word loyal used in this translation. Again, my definition of loyalty means trustworthy for life. Renew a life long trustworthiness spirit in me. Lord, help me to trust you with everything. Verse 11 says not to "throw me out of your presence and don't remove your Holy Spirit." Instead God wants us to get rid of the clutter and make room so that He may dwell there. Rather than fill my heart with clutter from the schemes of the enemy, restore in me the joy of my salvation. The joy which represents, forgiveness, wholeness, peace, health, protection, security and strength to conquer. But even more so in verse 12, it says, "make me willing to obey you." We all know obedience is not natural to our flesh. We have to ask the Lord to help us to be obedient to His ways. When we are then we keep the clutter from backing up in our lives.

I pray as we move into this fall season, like the leaves must fall from the trees in order to prepare for new growth in the spring, that you too would allow the Lord to remove those things in your heart that may hinder new growth in you spiritually. Philippians 1:6 says "being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." God is about restoring and renewing. Allow Him that place in your life. Jesus came so that we could live a life to the fullest. Start today by examining the clutter in your heart. Don't wait until it comes crashing down on you.