Look Who's Talking.....
Reading Plan: The Book of Matthew
June Memory Chunk: Psalm 23
Prayer Requests go here.
New to SHINE? Go here.
“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 11:28-30
Sometimes we just need a reminder of who Jesus is. This verse sums it right up.
He is gentle, and humble in heart. He is rest. He is easy. He is light.
Why is it that we make Him out to be so complicated and hard to figure out?
Why do we make it seem like He is so hard to follow?
Really, He's not complicated. We just twist Him all up in our heads sometimes, and get really confused.
We see things, we listen to things, we read things that are contrary to His Words, and it confuses us.
I was just telling my friend the other night that the reason it is important that we KNOW God's Word, is so that we will not be deceived with false teaching. We get a lot of things thrown at us on a daily basis, and we must be careful to filter it through the Word of God.
Over time, this false information builds up in our brains, and we slowly turn away from Truth.
We begin to justify things, because well, everyone else seems to be doing the same thing.
My children are notorious at this. They often try to "explain" their way out of trouble by giving me the reasons "why" they had to do what they did.
I always stop them and say, "Did you do this? Yes or no."
The back story is not important, it's our actions that tell the story.
We try desperately to defend our guilt, when really it doesn't change the outcome of our action.
All of this takes a lot of work!
Defending our crime is exhausting.
"Come to me all who are weary and burdened..."
Can I add exhausted too?
I'm not sure about you, but I can get downright weary and burdened. A lot.
Much of our weariness comes from listening to the wrong voice.
A very good friend and mentor gave me a piece of paper one day as I met with her.
This is what it said:
God's Voice:
Stills you
Leads you
Reassures you
Enlightens you
Encourages you
Comforts you
Calms you
Satan's Voice:
Rushes you
Pushes you
Frightens you
Confuses you
Discourages you
Worries you
Obsesses you
I will just be honest and tell you that I heard Satan's voice a lot last week! I heard every single one of the accusations on that list. Every last one.
You know how it left me feeling? Weary, burdened, exhausted, stressed, difficult, and confused.
We have to be in tune with God's Voice, so that we can be crystal clear when it's the enemy speaking.
If you are confused, discouraged, worried, obsessed, frightened, fearful, rushed, pushed....
You are hearing the wrong voice.
We can go through trials and still hear God's Voice. We can go through trials and still feel His calm, peace, reassurance, and stillness.
Read Psalm 23 again. And again. And again.
Memorize it.
Get familiar with God's voice, and you will be sharply keen when it's NOT His voice you are hearing.
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
guarding my ears,
jill
***Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you! ;)
June Memory Chunk: Psalm 23
Prayer Requests go here.
New to SHINE? Go here.
“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 11:28-30
Sometimes we just need a reminder of who Jesus is. This verse sums it right up.
He is gentle, and humble in heart. He is rest. He is easy. He is light.
Why is it that we make Him out to be so complicated and hard to figure out?
Why do we make it seem like He is so hard to follow?
Really, He's not complicated. We just twist Him all up in our heads sometimes, and get really confused.
We see things, we listen to things, we read things that are contrary to His Words, and it confuses us.
I was just telling my friend the other night that the reason it is important that we KNOW God's Word, is so that we will not be deceived with false teaching. We get a lot of things thrown at us on a daily basis, and we must be careful to filter it through the Word of God.
“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves" Matthew 7:15
Over time, this false information builds up in our brains, and we slowly turn away from Truth.
We begin to justify things, because well, everyone else seems to be doing the same thing.
My children are notorious at this. They often try to "explain" their way out of trouble by giving me the reasons "why" they had to do what they did.
I always stop them and say, "Did you do this? Yes or no."
The back story is not important, it's our actions that tell the story.
We try desperately to defend our guilt, when really it doesn't change the outcome of our action.
All of this takes a lot of work!
Defending our crime is exhausting.
"Come to me all who are weary and burdened..."
Can I add exhausted too?
I'm not sure about you, but I can get downright weary and burdened. A lot.
Much of our weariness comes from listening to the wrong voice.
A very good friend and mentor gave me a piece of paper one day as I met with her.
This is what it said:
God's Voice:
Stills you
Leads you
Reassures you
Enlightens you
Encourages you
Comforts you
Calms you
Satan's Voice:
Rushes you
Pushes you
Frightens you
Confuses you
Discourages you
Worries you
Obsesses you
I will just be honest and tell you that I heard Satan's voice a lot last week! I heard every single one of the accusations on that list. Every last one.
You know how it left me feeling? Weary, burdened, exhausted, stressed, difficult, and confused.
We have to be in tune with God's Voice, so that we can be crystal clear when it's the enemy speaking.
If you are confused, discouraged, worried, obsessed, frightened, fearful, rushed, pushed....
You are hearing the wrong voice.
We can go through trials and still hear God's Voice. We can go through trials and still feel His calm, peace, reassurance, and stillness.
Read Psalm 23 again. And again. And again.
Memorize it.
Get familiar with God's voice, and you will be sharply keen when it's NOT His voice you are hearing.
His yoke is easy, and His burden is light.
guarding my ears,
jill
***Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you! ;)
