Daily Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word today. Show me how to build into my life that which will protect me in every area. For Your Word is good. I desire to fill my heart with it now, whether I think I need it or not. So that I will be able to fill my mouth with; I need Your Word at all times. There is not a moment that I can think of, that I wouldn't need it to abide in me. In all that I do, let me begin and end with Your Word. In Jesus' Name, amen.
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www.biblegateway.com
Mark 6:30-32 (NLT)
TIME FOR REST
30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn't even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone.
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When the disciples had returned from their mission, Jesus took them away to rest. Doing God's work is very important, but Jesus recognized that to do it effectively we need periodic rest and renewal.
The hard truth for us is that, many of us aren't even doing God's work. We're out doing what we desire to do, and we're wearing ourselves thin.
Whether in purpose or out of purpose, God's desire for us is, NOT to burden us. How effective are we in anything when we're worn out? This is how the devil loves us. Busy, tired, self-centered, doing good things but not purposed and ineffective for God's Kingdom.
Time for a check up: First, is God's work your priority? (Do you know what God's work is? Is what you do, throughout your day for the Kingdom?) Second, when do you rest?
Review your answers to each of these questions and then pray. Take whatever is missing to God. And in the meantime, make time to chill out and rejuvenate yourselves for what lies ahead.
Personally, I've added rest to my schedule and it's awesome. Since the start of the year, I've been resting once a week. My rest consist of no emails, no blackberry, no phone calls, no studying- nothing with effort. There is a lot of quiet, appropriate sleep, some easy reading at times (no notes involved), a light movie/t.v. program, and a lot of talking to God. I'm not going to leave Him out of my rest; He is included in everything for me.
Now there is a negative to TOO much rest; it's called lazy. God didn't put us on this earth to do nothing at all times. "Anything, taken to the extreme- leads to error," so be careful. BALANCE is key.
God desires us to accomplish, succeed, achieve and fulfill. If some of us keep going the way we're going, we'll live a life of mistakes, failures, and resentment towards God- when it's really only ourselves to blame.
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Prayer: Hallelujah LORD, thank You for rest. It is an honor to serve You and do Your work here on this earth. I am so thankful You are not a man; for a man would work me to death, only to please another man. But, You, dear LORD, are the complete opposite. You are a Master, worthy of serving. You do not abuse or misuse me. You have my greatest interest at heart. You encourage me through serving to be all I can be and then You give me Your Holy Spirit to empower me to become so. You laid down Your life for me. You make me a full, complete human being; filled with Your image, Your amazing mentality; and while teaching me to be more like You, I become more of whom You created me to be. So awesome! So as You directed the disciples to rest, I ask you to direct me in getting into a quiet place to just rest while; so that I can be a fully charged able body for You. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
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Resources: biblegateway.com, NIV Women's Devotional Bible- Classic Edition, Life Application Study Bible.
Spread The Good News: www.thegoodnews4yourlife.blogspot.com
"Providing you with what you already have access to in the most convenient way. So that we all can continue to grow in wisdom & understanding of God." LT
Peace comes when our minds stay on Him.
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