Three Signs That Point To A Need For Rest

The holidays are quickly approaching. Are you dreading another family gathering? Do you get exhausted just thinking about all the planning, preparation, and energy it will take to keep it all from unraveling?

God has a way of "pulling us away" to a place of rest and restoration.  

Sometimes it is by invitation, or by His divine appointment.  Other times it is through His grace and coercion. When the weight of the world is pressing down and a sense of heaviness invades your soul, steal away time to refresh yourself. 

Oftentimes the outdoors will rejuvenate you. Go for a walk, take in nature's wonders, and reflect on your heavenly Father's love and care for you. Steal a few moments to separate yourself from others. Take a short nap, or put on your favorite praise & worship music. Read His Word, delving into the Psalms or the gospel of John which is His love letter to us. Discover God's powerful presence and attributes as you meditate on His Goodness.

Here are three things that can indicate a real need for rest:

1.  Lack of focus 

     ~ You are increasingly unable to think clearly due to fatigue, distraction, or over commitment. You have a difficult time staying on task and often drift away mentally. You can barely put one foot in front of the other to finish a task.

2.  Lack of purpose

     ~ Go back in time and reflect on the early days of your spiritual conversion. Recall that God-given mandate you received from the Lord. Re-evaluate your spiritual gifts and remember the contentment and fulfillment you once enjoyed.

3.  Lack of passion

     ~ Identify what drives you to do what you do. God gives you a divine zeal. He loves to reveal His purpose for your life. Let His Word and Spirit direct your heart and pathway ahead. Remember, His way is easier and less burdensome. 

Scripture is full of examples for the need to rest and be refreshed...

King David often petitioned God in the Psalms to give him courage, strength and rest.  In Psalm 37:7 he tells us "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him...". 

The prophet Jeremiah quoted the LORD Himself: "Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16)

Jesus spoke to the crowds that were pressing in all around Him and comforted them with these words, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)

The apostle Paul tells his Hebrew audience, "For we who have believed do enter that rest... There remains therefore a rest for the people of God." (Hebrews 4:3, 9)

In the book of Revelation, John writes down what the voice from heaven spoke to him: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on...that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (Revelation 14:13)


Below is a poem I wrote in the spring of 2003. 

  Enter My Rest...

Family and workloads, deadlines and tests,

weary and tired, surely hard pressed;

other's demands and schedules left

weighing on shoulders meant for much less.

Daughter of Mine...enter My Rest.

Steep is the path of life's daily trek -

hard is the road that leads to His best.

Often no thanks or kindness is shown,

only a sharp reply they confess.

Daughter of Mine...enter My Rest.

Lay aside weights and all heaviness,

leaving behind the hurt and the pain.

Let me restore what value is left.

Come...pull away - be free and be blessed.

Daughter of Mine...enter My Rest.

DL McCarragher - April 2003

"Oh, that I had wings like a dove!  For then I would fly away and be at rest."  (Psalm 55:6)

Life comes at us hard and fast... be sure to slow down and refresh your soul.  

A moment of rest can make all the difference to you and those around you. Rest in the Lord today!

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It was written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.  Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

If you have been encouraged by this post - please take time to share it with others.

Three Signs That Point To A Need For Rest

The Walking Dead

Zombies are all the rage... 

With the success of popular TV shows like AMC's  The Walking Dead  - our fascination with death and corpses is on the rise. Based on a comic book series by the same name, The Walking Dead focuses on a post-apocalyptic world where flesh eating zombies rule.  

Night of the Living Dead was a popular horror movie made in 1968 featuring zombies, and still boasts a cult following today.  So what fuels our culture's obsession with death?  Could part of it be denial of our own mortality?  

Halloween seems to bring out the worst in morbid costumes and decorations. Death and gore are glorified. Zombies, demons, witches and spooky monsters abound. What are Christians to do with this "holiday" that is celebrated from infancy to adulthood?

First of all - a little history lesson on Halloween:  It was a Celtic pagan festival, and then became the Christian holiday known as All Saints' Day, but later morphed into the secular celebration of today. 

Halloween activities include trick-or treating, wearing costumes, carving Jack-o'-lanterns, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, committing pranks, telling ghost stories or other frightening tales, and watching classic horror films.

In traditional Celtic festivals, large turnips were hollowed out, carved with faces and placed in windows to ward off evil spirits.  The carving of pumpkins is associated with Halloween in North America where pumpkins are both readily available and much larger – making them easier to carve than turnips. Many families that celebrate Halloween carve a pumpkin into a frightening or comical face and place it on their doorstep after dark.  

The practice of dressing up in costumes and begging door to door for treats on holidays dates back to the Middle Ages.  Trick-or-treating resembles the late medieval practice of souling, originating in Ireland and Britain.  Poor folk would go door to door on Hallowmas (November 1st), receiving food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (November 2nd).

The early Christian church moved a festive celebration called All Saints' Day from May to November 1 and renamed it  All Hallows' Eve, from which we get the word Halloween.  This was an overt attempt on the part of believers to infiltrate pagan tradition with the truth of the gospel.  It was a bold evangelistic move designed to demonstrate that only the power of the resurrected Christ could protect men and women from the destructive ploys of Satan and his demons.

An article posted on ChristianityToday.com  in 2009 cited a Barna Research study which had this to say:

“The majority of American Christians do not believe that Satan is a real being or that the Holy Spirit is a living entity, the latest Barna Research survey found. Nearly six out of ten Christians either strongly agreed or somewhat agreed with the statement that Satan “is not a living being but is a symbol of evil,” the survey found.  40 percent strongly agreed with the statement while 19 percent of American Christians somewhat agreed.  In contrast, about 35 percent of American Christians believe Satan is real.  20 percent strongly disagreed with the statement that Satan is merely symbolic and about one-tenth (9 percent) somewhat disagreed. The remaining 8 percent of American Christians responded they were unsure what to believe about the existence of Satan.”

Anyone who is not in Christ is one of the "walking dead" already (in the spiritual realm).  What can we as believers do to counter-balance a society that deems Halloween “harmless?” For starters, we can have an open door for evangelism and education. The deception of a holiday such as Halloween, with its witches, vampires, demons, skeletons, and overall theme of evil, can become an opportunity to demonstrate the dynamic power of Christ to redeem us from death.  Halloween distorts the reality of true spiritual warfare, and glorifies the dark side of the under world.  

Although death and the grave are very real, evil has been defeated by Jesus Christ through His death on the cross. We are more than conquerors over the powers of darkness, demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection Colossians 2:15, and the Holy Spirit’s power in us as believers Ephesians 6:11-17.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life – He is Lord of the living, as death has no power over those who believe on His Name. If you want to have a life changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ - please visit  Steps to Peace with God

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus… For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.”   I Thessalonians 4:14; 16

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”. It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together. Visit  http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

If you have been encouraged by this post - please take time to share it with others.

The Walking Dead

Celebrate Mothers From Ancient Times to Today

Mother's Day is a holiday with an interesting history.

Mother's Day began nearly 150 years ago in the United States, when Anna Jarvis, a homemaker from Appalachia, organized a day (Mother's Work Day) to raise awareness of something mothers hold near and dear to them:  poor health conditions in her community.

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else. Julia was a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic,

When Anna Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."

Anna began to lobby politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers.  In 1913 the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day.  In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

Mother's Day was first observed by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed greed and profit was overtaking the original intent of the holiday. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.

However, the holiday of Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. The second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to celebrate and show appreciation to their mothers. Telephone calls, cards, and flowers break all records for Mother's Day.

 A Biblical Portrait of Motherhood:

In Exodus 2 we are introduced to Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, born to him in Egypt.  She was the wife of Amram and was the mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses.  Her courage and ingenuity saved her son Moses from the wicked mandate of Pharaoh to kill every male Israelite child.  She cleverly hid him for three months, before placing him among the reeds in a water-tight basket along the Nile River.

As she watched Miriam approach Pharaoh’s daughter, she must have been relieved to hear that she would be nursing and weaning the child herself before handing him over permanently.  Those few early years were no doubt full of Godly teaching and a loving example to that little Hebrew child.  Can you imagine the pain and sacrifice she endured as she watched her young son disappear into Pharaoh’s exotic palace to be raised as an Egyptian?

I believe Jochebed was an important part of Moses’ life as a young child and into the reaches of adulthood.  She no doubt had an influence on his character, integrity and love for the Lord God of Israel.  She also raised Miriam (the eldest) and their brother Aaron, who appeared with Moses in front of the great Pharaoh of Egypt prior to releasing the children of Israel.  Were her children perfect?  No way.  They all displayed major character flaws.  All were reprimanded and punished by God for their disobedience.  However, all three witnessed God’s Sovereign power, deliverance and blessing in their lives and in their future destinies.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”  We must teach by example and pray for their spiritual growth.  We are to “watch over the ways of our household, and not remain idle” – but stay balanced as we lead our children into adulthood one step at a time.  May we look to our Heavenly Father for His guidance and strength.

Famous Quotes:

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life."
-Abraham Lincoln 

 "My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her." 

-George Washington 

 "The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."
-Author Unknown 

Do you have a special event or family tradition that you observe on 

Mother's Day?  Share with me your memories or plans 

for this special holiday...

 

Deborah is the author of a Christian non-fiction book titled “Mission Possible”.  It is written for women who love the Lord Jesus, but their spouse doesn’t share their passion.  It will encourage and challenge the reader to embrace God’s promises for their spouse and future together.  Visit

http://www.spirituallyunevenmarriage.com

Celebrate Mothers From Ancient Times to Today