VIDEO Rest and Refresh

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” John 7:37

They were nuns, monks, hermits, and ascetics, and were known as the Desert Fathers (or Desert Mothers, for nuns). Beginning with Anthony the Great who moved to the Middle Eastern desert around A.D. 270, thousands of others followed in his footsteps, seeking spiritual purity, enlightenment, solitude, and perfection.

Their pattern of retreating contributed to today’s practice of taking a retreat to refresh oneself spiritually. Thankfully, it’s not necessary to retreat to the desert or a mountaintop, either temporarily or permanently, to find spiritual refreshment. Jesus said if we would but come to Him—for living water or for rest (Matthew 11:28-30)—we would find it in abundance. We can create that place of rest in a place of prayer or Bible study or meditation or worship, anywhere we can retreat from the cares and busyness of life. When we turn over those cares to God in prayer through Christ, His peace will guard our heart and mind (Philippians 4:6-7).

If you can retreat to a serene spot in nature—wonderful! If that’s not possible, retreat with Jesus wherever you can. He will meet you there.

You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they rest in you. Augustine

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Opposed by the Religious Rulers – John 7:37-52

Joy and Wisdom

I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Ecclesiastes 8:15

Sweetly fragrant cherry tree blossoms flood Japan with exquisite pale and vibrant pinks every spring, delighting the senses of residents and tourists alike. The short-lived nature of the blossoms cultivates a keen awareness in the Japanese to savor the beauty and scent while they linger: the very brevity of the experience heightens the poignancy of it. They call this deliberate enjoyment of something that will change quickly “mono-no-aware.”

As humans, it’s understandable that we’d want to seek and prolong feelings of joy. Yet the reality that life is riddled with hardship means we must cultivate the ability to view both pain and pleasure through a lens of faith in a loving God. We needn’t be overly pessimistic, nor should we fashion ourselves an unrealistically sunny outlook on life.

The book of Ecclesiastes offers a helpful model for us. Though this book is sometimes thought to be a catalog of negative statements, the same King Solomon who wrote that “everything is meaningless” (1:2) also encouraged his readers to find joy in the simple things in life saying, “There is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad” (8:15).

Joy comes when we ask God to help us “know wisdom” and learn to observe “all that God has done” (vv. 16-17) in both beautiful seasons and in difficult ones (3:11-14; 7:13-14), knowing that neither is permanent on this side of heaven.

By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray

What kind of “season” are you currently in? How can you find joy in it?

Dear Father, thank You for being the source of beauty and joy in my life.

God Remembers Us

It is impossible for God to forget us—we are His children and are inscribed upon His hands Isaiah 49:13-18

Does it ever seem as if God has forgotten about you? Do you ever feel overlooked, abandoned, or unimportant? In seasons of suffering, it’s easy to think He doesn’t see or care about what we’re going through. With Jerusalem destroyed and most of its inhabitants sent into Babylonian captivity, the people of Israel were also tempted to think God had forgotten and abandoned them.

Today’s passage, however, directly challenges the assumption that pain and hardship are indications of His absence. After God acknowledges that He knows all about Israel’s fear of abandonment, He counters by asserting His unconditional love. He is as near, attentive, and giving as a mother with her nursing baby, and it is impossible for Him to forget us. To make this point clear to the apprehensive, weary Israelites, God gave reassurance that He had inscribed them upon the palms of His hands (49:16). Does that image sound familiar?

Centuries later, Jesus Christ hung on a cross with nails driven into His hands—proving that God’s words were true and that we are worth more to Him than we could ever imagine. We are God’s unforgettable, beloved children. How would it change our daily lives and our relationship with our heavenly Father if we lived safe in the knowledge that we are always on His mind?

The Light Brigade

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” (Colossians 1:12-13)

By His grace, we have been snatched from Satan’s darkness and been placed in the kingdom of light. However, we still live in a dark world hostile to the light. We are therefore soldiers of light, but as with any army, we are not to act independently but instead “as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy 2:3), we must follow the orders of our commander and act in accordance with established guidelines.

The supreme commander in this battle of light versus darkness is none other than God the Father, for “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?” (Psalm 27:1).

Perhaps, in this analogy, the field commander can be considered to be none other than Jesus Christ, carrying out the will of the supreme commander. He said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). “I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38).

We, of course, are the infantry, the light brigade, as it were. “Ye are the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). “Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober” (1 Thessalonians 5:5-6).

Our marching orders, our objective, and our methods are all found in the war manual, the Bible. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105). “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light” (Proverbs 6:23). What more could we ask? JDM

God’s Response To Pride And Humility

From the 14th floor of my apartment I am looking out over the City of Singapore on an early morning as the sun peaks its way through the clouds.

Across the heavily trafficked road beneath me lies a mud-soaked lot a city block in size that is under preparation for the building of a massive apartment complex.

Boxcar-type housing of clapboard construction dot the edges of the property where imported laborers live. Like ants below, I can observe 2 or 3 of them as they pick their way through the mud while moving from one wood-framed living structure to the next.

In juxtaposition to this mired lot lie high rise apartments 25 stories in height that are architecturally modern, and possess a breathtaking view of the harbor. The expensive cars parked below give evidence of easy affluence.

In my reading this morning from Isaiah 40, I was struck with the fact that God has great contempt for anything that smacks of man’s pride, while possessing limitless compassion for the weak and downtrodden of this earth:

• “He brings princes to nothing and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing… (He) sweeps them away like chaff.“(verses 23, 24)
• “He gathers the lambs in His arms, and carries them close to His heart; He gently leads those that have young… He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.“(verses 11, 29)

Appearances of course can be deceiving and only God knows the condition of the heart, as people of every station in life represent both the proud and the humble.

But one must admit that humility does not come easily when one possesses what the world esteems as status and success.

So, if you happen to be among the so-called “successful“or “privileged“of this world, you may want to keep in mind God’s admonition:

“Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight.“(Jeremiah 9:23, 24)

“Lord, help me.”

Matthew 15:21-28

Matthew 15:21

Though he did not go out of Palestine, which was the sphere of his ministry, he took care to go to the very edge of it.

Matthew 15:22, 23

His silence tried her faith, but did not conquer it; she pleaded still.

Matthew 15:24

He seemed to deny her, and to give a reason for the denial; yet she would not be put off.

Matthew 15:25

Short, urgent, and to the point was this petition. As we grow more earnest our words usually become fewer.

Matthew 15:26

The miracles were for the Jews, the favoured children, and not for Gentile dogs.

Matthew 15:27

As much as to say, the boon which I ask, though very great to me, is but as a crumb to thee. Favour me with a dogs portion, since thou hast called me a dog. She broke the hard bone of our Lord’s apparently harsh speech, and speedily found marrow of comfort in it. Oh, blessed faith which will not be repulsed!

Mark 7:31-37

Mark 7:35

This was an acted sermon suitable for a deaf and dumb man. He took him aside—for grace makes men feel their personality, and sets them as units before God; he put his fingers into his ears and touched his tongue to let him know where the evil lay, for we must know something of the disease, or we shall not value the remedy; he spit—for the means of grace are simple, and to some even disgusting; he looked up to heaven, for thence our help must come; he sighed, for he heals us by bearing our sorrows in his own person. The whole gospel is set forth in this deaf and dumb mans alphabet.

Mark 7:37

When a beggar is relieved at any door he tells others, and so many more come; thus the crowds around our Lord increased daily, but he was able to meet all their needs. Blessed be his name, he is still quite as able and willing to supply all our necessities. Let us tell him at this time all our wants and woes, and we too shall soon be astonished by his wonders of grace.

The men of a place where Jesus hath been,

Acknowledge his grace which saves them from sin,

To others discover the power of his word,

And all the land over they publish their Lord.

The cure we have found through faith in his name,

The country around we gladly proclaim,

The worst, if he pleases, to Christ may draw near,

Who heals our diseases, and hushes our fear.

To those that believe salvation is sure,

Come all and receive immediate cure.

Ye now may approach him, and calling him Lord,

The moment ye touch him your souls are restored.

God Knows the Hypocrites

Let us therefore not judge one another anymore. (Romans 14:13)

I do not consider that it is my place as a Christian to stand around making judgments and calling other people “hypocrites.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the only man I know who was holy and perfect enough to call the religious leaders of the day hypocrites.

I am just a man with faults and shortcomings of my own, and I must always consider myself lest I be tempted!

I preach to my own congregation about our faults and our failings, with the warning that some of our professions of blessing and victory may get into the area of “unintentional hypocrisy.” Through the grace of God and the kindness of our spiritual ancestors we may have spiritual light that some others do not have—but in all honesty, we are wretchedly far below what we should be in living up to it, day by day.

It helps us to be honest and frank and humble to know that the great God Almighty knows the secrets of every person’s heart!