Laying down Burdens
Let’s Never Walk away from the opportunity to follow Jesus!!!!
You are the only one who can unlock the door of your heart and allow God’s Love to enter in.
* “Circumcise then your heart, and stiffen your neck no more.”
Deuteronomy 10:16.
*Circumcision-Cleansing-
*It looks like God is the sculptor. But it also looks like we are the sculptors!
*Deuteronomy 10:16- Circumcise your own hearts!
*Deuteronomy 30:6- God does the cutting!
*A massive issue in light of Israel trying to figure out their identity as they are moving into God’s promises and into the land. As the plot unfolds, God IS the architect on what life should look like.
*God wants a people set apart (a distinctive of circumcision), God wants a people who are Clean (a result of circumcision).
*God will work in and through us as we work out our own Salvation.
God’s Love for us is the same yesterday, today and forever.
* “…you who have been borne by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years…I shall carry you…”Isaiah 46:3-4
When we allow Jesus to be lord of ALL—when we cast ALL our cares upon Him,
fully trusting in His Word and resting in His love—our appearance should
undergo a deep change.
A quiet calm should begin to radiate from our countenance.
Scripture gives us many examples of this: When Hannah laid down her burden,
“. . . her face was no longer sad” (1 Samuel 1:18).
When Stephen stood before hostile, angry men in the Sanhedrin, [they] “. . .
saw his face as the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15). Stephen stood among unbelievers with the shine of Jesus Christ and the difference was clear to all!
I am convinced that we have a duty to let our countenance speak of God’s
faithfulness in our lives. But the problem is, our facial features and body
language often say just the opposite!
Many believers’ faces say, “My God
has failed me! He doesn’t care for me anymore. I have to carry all my burdens
and problems alone because God doesn’t come through for me!”
***You may not consciously say such things to yourself but they will show on your face.
God’s Word say’s that what you are going through is not new. Someone else has been exactly where you are:
***“My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; my soul refused to be comforted. . . . I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. . . . I am so
troubled that I cannot speak. . . . Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He
be favorable no more? Has His mercy ceased forever? Has His promise failed? . .
. And I said, ‘This is my anguish’” (Psalm 77:2-10).
Yet the psalmist eventually comes out of his trouble with his happy countenance
restored. Why? It is because, he says, “I cried out to God with my voice . . .
in the day of my trouble I sought the Lord” (Psalm 77:1-2).
**Lift up your eyes and look beyond the visible to the realities of God.
**Live in the full dimensions of life, as God intended life to be.
**Life can never be explained entirely in terms of the natural. We are left impoverished and despairing if all we have to depend on is our natural resources, natural power.
But God is rich in grace, rich in power, rich in inward strength and sympathy.
1 Peter 2:9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
We don’t have anything to offer God that He doesn’t already have. God wants YOU and me. And by asking us to give of our time and money or desires, He is really asking us to give Ourselves.
Many people have walked away from God sad, like the rich young ruler because all they could think about was what they would have to “Give Up”.
Mark 10:21 Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
ALL, yes ALL of our achievements and possessions are nothing compared to what God offers us in exchange.
*Stick with God. Don’t just walk away!
*Wouldn’t it be a shame to live your life for Jesus only to be told before His Throne that YOU disqualified Yourself because You held on to something so tight that it interfered with You having a genuine relationship with Jesus?
We a need to do an inventory of those things we count “too important” to let go of and that be the thing that keeps us out of eternity with Jesus.
Let’s Never Walk away from the opportunity to follow Jesus.
Lord, thank you for reminding me what it means to be a Christian – someone who has given Total Control over his/her life to Jesus, the Lord and King of the Universe(All In). Forgive me for thinking that it is okay to live another day without coming before you in the morning to acknowledge your Lordship by totally surrendering to you and depending on your power to carry out another day’s task. Lord, forgive me for thinking that I can obey you on my own. Help me not to be fooled like the rich young ruler who thought he could earn God’s favor by obeying your commands on his own strength. Lord help me each day to take the step of faith and Respond to Your gentle call. Help me to Desire to know You More and to seek You ALL the days of my life. Amen