"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 12:28-30
This passage gave me such comfort, I kept reading it over and over. It's amazing that the Lord, who is all powerful and destroys entire cities like Sodom and Gomorrah with burning sulfur is gentle and humble and wants us to come to him to give us rest from our burdens.
It reminds me that I have to give my burdens to the Lord and he will make them light and help me overcome them.
"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
i love this. one of my favorite movies, Pollyanna (watch it. or read it. so good.) talks about how God says to be joyful or rejoice over 800 times. its such a comfort to know that when im down, or my heart is hurting, God doesnt change, and therefore we can always be glad and rejoice in Him.
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
These two verses really spoke to me today. Over and over you see Jesus have such compassion for those who struggle and are burdened beneath the weight of this world. His reassurance of "rest" in this verse is such a sigh of relief and so comforting when you feel overwhelmed by life. It's also wonderful to know that God will never forsake those who seek Him. God is completely trustworthy. Love that. :)
I feel like my comment is going to be very different. I almost don't want to write it. I have never read the bible. I went to church for 2 years in college and have not been in about 5 years because of moving so much. I have to say that I am having such a hard time already! There are so many words that I don't know the meaning of. I also feel like I have such a hard time taking it all in and understanding what;s going on. I read a lot as it is, I'm not illiterate, but this is a challenge for me.
I so appreciate your comment because it is honest and true, in some part, for all of us. The bible is often hard to grasp in its entirety, and sometimes leaves us with more questions than anything else!
Here's a resource I found that might help you along the way:
It is an online commentary, you just click on the passage you are reading or struggling with, and the commentary may bring some light to it for you. (There are a couple of different versions to choose from in the drop down menu at the top of that page.)
(Actually, the whole biblegateway.com site is awesome.)
I hope that helps. We're all here to help and support you if you have tough questions along the way... so please don't be afraid to speak up or bring them to the table!
I love how Jesus was a witness to the cities and proved He was the son of God by the miracles He did. It's amazing that He healed everyone of every disease and sickness, and then calls us to do the same. It's extremely convicting for me.
I've gone to church my whole life, but a few years ago God began to tell me that He was about to start using me to have faith to heal the sick, only by Him. I began to step out in faith and pray for people in public that were clearly injured and sick, and pray for those in my family. It was amazing how quickly people were healed (instantly most of the time) and how many people came to the Lord through those miracles. It's convicting because I should be walking in that faith now like I was for so long.
I love this! He's called us to do more miracles than He ever did because His spirit is in us now and wants to continue the miracles He performed while He was walking.
I found it kind of funny how Abraham kept asking the Lord the same question. "What if there are forty rightious people, thirty rightious people, twenty rightious people, ten rightious people." In the precense of the Lord I doubt I could continually ask him that question. I would be scared.
I was baffled at the story of Lot and His daughters. The Lord had just spared them from death and destruction and yet such a sick plot unfolds in a cave in the hills.
I found myself being judgmental about Lot and his daughters and thinking to myself, "How disgusting, how could they do such a thing, especially after the Lord had just spared them."
After much pondering and reading some commentary, my heart changed. I realized the importance of community with others and more importantly with our Lord. Lot was all alone in a cave, living in fear with no one around to hold him up. (A very very dangerous place for any man) Lot was no longer trusting in God's provision, nor were his daughters. Temptation came knocking. In Lots case the temptation was to become drunk. He gave in even to the point of drinking himself unconscious. In his daughters case, the temptation was fear. One sin led to another and another.
We must remember, none of us are far off from this story. We all have the same broken heart that leads to sin. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Our strength and hope is only found in Christ Jesus. He is the only one who has the victory over these kinds of behaviors. We put ourselves in a very very dangerous place, when we live in fear and withhold our trust from our Father, and even more dangerous when we isolate ourselves and become self sufficient.
We are all capable of such actions. No one is exempt from temptation.
I love the story of Abraham and God's patience with him, as well as the faithfulness of God in regard to fulfilling the call He had for Abraham. No matter how many times Abraham made the wrong choices, he ultimately believed God and God blessed him for it. Considering how much I make mistakes, it is encouraging to see that God is faithful to what He calls us to, no matter how bad we mess things up. He just gently reminds us...and in Abraham's case, multiple times (even by changing his name so he would be reminded even more!)...haha
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?" No! Wooo hoooo!! :)
------
Re: the story of Lot...
I think the Psalm we read sums it up: "The Lord is known by His justice; the wicked are ensnared by the works of their hands."
Lot CHOSE to settle near Sodom, even though he knew what kind of people they were. His daughters were raised around those wicked people.
In the end, he reaped what he sowed. The sons born to his daughters grew to be people groups who were enemies to the people of Abraham. Enemies of God.
-----------
Lastly- on the scripture about God's yoke being easy and His burden being light:
Put yourself in the place of those people back then. Prior to Jesus, God's yoke was H E A V Y. You had to sacrifice your choicest animals to atone for sin. You had someone who went into God's presence for you. You knew the wrath of an angry God first hand. It was not an easy life.
Just think of how radical Jesus' words were to those people!! God's burden was now LIGHT?! How life changing, how revolutionary! He is so good.
Melyni- Last night I was doing this reading and I turned to my husband and said "I feel so dumb when I read the Bible, I am judging each person and I just don't get some parts" I had to look up words, stories, commentaries and then bounce a bunch of questions off my husband in order to understand a lot of what I am reading. You are not alone. Chris- I did the same thing, becoming so full of judgement and even some intense anger at Lot (first that he just offered up his daughters and then the whole cave scenario) but finally after fuming and shutting my Bible I talked with my husband. He reminded me of just what you said- apart from God and not trusting we are capable of all of this. Sin is rampant when I stray, I am no different. What a thought to sleep on...
It was almost jarring to go from reading about Sodom and Gomorrah to Psalm 9: "I will praise you Lord, with all my heart." I had to take a break and re-focus... like someone had commented earlier, this show how our God is so multi-faceted.
13 comments:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 12:28-30
This passage gave me such comfort, I kept reading it over and over. It's amazing that the Lord, who is all powerful and destroys entire cities like Sodom and Gomorrah with burning sulfur is gentle and humble and wants us to come to him to give us rest from our burdens.
It reminds me that I have to give my burdens to the Lord and he will make them light and help me overcome them.
"The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble." Psalm 9:9
2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
i love this. one of my favorite movies, Pollyanna (watch it. or read it. so good.) talks about how God says to be joyful or rejoice over 800 times. its such a comfort to know that when im down, or my heart is hurting, God doesnt change, and therefore we can always be glad and rejoice in Him.
"Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."
These two verses really spoke to me today. Over and over you see Jesus have such compassion for those who struggle and are burdened beneath the weight of this world. His reassurance of "rest" in this verse is such a sigh of relief and so comforting when you feel overwhelmed by life. It's also wonderful to know that God will never forsake those who seek Him. God is completely trustworthy. Love that. :)
"come to me...." - there is a song made from this bit of scripture. i LOVE it. look it up! Casey Hurt-Come to Me. it is such a good reminder.
I feel like my comment is going to be very different. I almost don't want to write it. I have never read the bible. I went to church for 2 years in college and have not been in about 5 years because of moving so much. I have to say that I am having such a hard time already! There are so many words that I don't know the meaning of. I also feel like I have such a hard time taking it all in and understanding what;s going on. I read a lot as it is, I'm not illiterate, but this is a challenge for me.
melyni-
I so appreciate your comment because it is honest and true, in some part, for all of us. The bible is often hard to grasp in its entirety, and sometimes leaves us with more questions than anything else!
Here's a resource I found that might help you along the way:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/index.php?action=getMainPage&source=2
It is an online commentary, you just click on the passage you are reading or struggling with, and the commentary may bring some light to it for you. (There are a couple of different versions to choose from in the drop down menu at the top of that page.)
(Actually, the whole biblegateway.com site is awesome.)
I hope that helps. We're all here to help and support you if you have tough questions along the way... so please don't be afraid to speak up or bring them to the table!
:)
I love how Jesus was a witness to the cities and proved He was the son of God by the miracles He did. It's amazing that He healed everyone of every disease and sickness, and then calls us to do the same. It's extremely convicting for me.
I've gone to church my whole life, but a few years ago God began to tell me that He was about to start using me to have faith to heal the sick, only by Him. I began to step out in faith and pray for people in public that were clearly injured and sick, and pray for those in my family. It was amazing how quickly people were healed (instantly most of the time) and how many people came to the Lord through those miracles. It's convicting because I should be walking in that faith now like I was for so long.
I love this! He's called us to do more miracles than He ever did because His spirit is in us now and wants to continue the miracles He performed while He was walking.
I found it kind of funny how Abraham kept asking the Lord the same question. "What if there are forty rightious people, thirty rightious people, twenty rightious people, ten rightious people." In the precense of the Lord I doubt I could continually ask him that question. I would be scared.
I was baffled at the story of Lot and His daughters. The Lord had just spared them from death and destruction and yet such a sick plot unfolds in a cave in the hills.
I found myself being judgmental about Lot and his daughters and thinking to myself, "How disgusting, how could they do such a thing, especially after the Lord had just spared them."
After much pondering and reading some commentary, my heart changed. I realized the importance of community with others and more importantly with our Lord. Lot was all alone in a cave, living in fear with no one around to hold him up. (A very very dangerous place for any man) Lot was no longer trusting in God's provision, nor were his daughters. Temptation came knocking. In Lots case the temptation was to become drunk. He gave in even to the point of drinking himself unconscious. In his daughters case, the temptation was fear. One sin led to another and another.
We must remember, none of us are far off from this story. We all have the same broken heart that leads to sin. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Our strength and hope is only found in Christ Jesus. He is the only one who has the victory over these kinds of behaviors. We put ourselves in a very very dangerous place, when we live in fear and withhold our trust from our Father, and even more dangerous when we isolate ourselves and become self sufficient.
We are all capable of such actions. No one is exempt from temptation.
Sobering...
I love the story of Abraham and God's patience with him, as well as the faithfulness of God in regard to fulfilling the call He had for Abraham. No matter how many times Abraham made the wrong choices, he ultimately believed God and God blessed him for it. Considering how much I make mistakes, it is encouraging to see that God is faithful to what He calls us to, no matter how bad we mess things up. He just gently reminds us...and in Abraham's case, multiple times (even by changing his name so he would be reminded even more!)...haha
"Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
No!
Wooo hoooo!! :)
------
Re: the story of Lot...
I think the Psalm we read sums it up:
"The Lord is known by His justice; the wicked are ensnared by the works of their hands."
Lot CHOSE to settle near Sodom, even though he knew what kind of people they were. His daughters were raised around those wicked people.
In the end, he reaped what he sowed. The sons born to his daughters grew to be people groups who were enemies to the people of Abraham. Enemies of God.
-----------
Lastly- on the scripture about God's yoke being easy and His burden being light:
Put yourself in the place of those people back then. Prior to Jesus, God's yoke was H E A V Y. You had to sacrifice your choicest animals to atone for sin. You had someone who went into God's presence for you. You knew the wrath of an angry God first hand. It was not an easy life.
Just think of how radical Jesus' words were to those people!! God's burden was now LIGHT?! How life changing, how revolutionary! He is so good.
Melyni- Last night I was doing this reading and I turned to my husband and said "I feel so dumb when I read the Bible, I am judging each person and I just don't get some parts" I had to look up words, stories, commentaries and then bounce a bunch of questions off my husband in order to understand a lot of what I am reading. You are not alone.
Chris- I did the same thing, becoming so full of judgement and even some intense anger at Lot (first that he just offered up his daughters and then the whole cave scenario) but finally after fuming and shutting my Bible I talked with my husband. He reminded me of just what you said- apart from God and not trusting we are capable of all of this. Sin is rampant when I stray, I am no different. What a thought to sleep on...
It was almost jarring to go from reading about Sodom and Gomorrah to Psalm 9: "I will praise you Lord, with all my heart." I had to take a break and re-focus... like someone had commented earlier, this show how our God is so multi-faceted.
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