Posted on Leave a comment

He Gives His Beloved Rest

In my morning devotional I saw this quote and it reminded me of the sweet rest that Jesus died to give His children.

So often, especially now a days with social media, we can fall into the comparison trap. Whether we fall into comparing ourselves to others or maybe we feel that we haven’t yet reached that level of success we thought we should be at. We end up heavy burdened, overloaded, schedules busy with an empty heart, and void of what is truly important.

Jesus didn’t die so we could strive for greatness here on earth or be the best of the best. His plan wasn’t for us to have a full schedule of what seems to be godly activities but empty of His presence that comes from the mountain. Jesus died so we would no longer strive but simply abide. It was to have fellowship with us. It was and still is, relationship that He desires.

Let us not get so busy that it takes away what is most important. May we not miss the mark by viewing and chasing worldy success rather than reaping an eternal reward. Let our heart posture be understanding and living from the place of what is most important in the heart of the Father.

Being One With Him —
Resting In His Presence By Knowing & Trusting His Character —
Trusting That It Really Is Completely Dependent On Him —
Surrendering It Isn’t Dependent On Us —
Knowing He Will Finish What He Started —

Our king’s pace isn’t the world’s pace and hustle culture is not kingdom culture.

He gives His beloved rest.

Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones.
Psalms 127:1‭-‬2 NLT

🖼: Ruth Chou Simons

Posted on Leave a comment

Choosing The Greater Portion

Martha was serving…

Serving: diakonía – ministry; active service, done with a willing (voluntary) attitude

But she was also distracted.

Distracted: to draw around (περί, III. 1), to draw away, distract; passive metaphorically, to be driven about mentally, to be distracted: περί τί, i. e. to be over-occupied, too busy, about a thing

Jesus spoke that Martha’s service (ministry) took her away from the ONE thing that is NECESSARY — to be with Jesus.

What was meant to once glorify God was the very thing that was drawing her away from Him. We too, can easily fall in this trap.

Our identities can be misplaced in what we do and results, rather than whose we are. We can fall for the deception that it’s dependent on us. If we don’t keep it all together, it will all fall apart. Forgetting that it is GOD who gives the growth and His purposes are already finished.

May we purposely choose to be undistracted. May we refuse to check off the boxes of religion that leaves us empty rather than choosing true intimacy with the Father.

May we purpose to choose what Jesus says is necessary, to simply be with Him.

Posted on Leave a comment

Soul Rest (Devotional)

When so much is happening around us or even to us, it can be easy to fall out of the place of rest found in Abba.

Let us think upon the goodness of God.
Remembering that our soul can be at rest with our heavenly Father who is with us every step of the way.
He is not surprised or taken off guard.
He is never weak nor tired.
He is trustworthy & abounding in faithful love.
His track record will never change. He is forever reliable.
Our souls can return to rest because of who He is💕

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
Psalms 116:7 CSB

Posted on 4 Comments

An Open Invitation To Be Still.

I came across a scripture I had read many times before. Maybe you know it too.

Psalm 46:10 NKJV reads:

“Be still, and know that I am God;

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”.

With my eyes barely open and my coffee beginning to grow colder, I read Psalm 46:10 like this:

Be still.

And Know.

That I am God.

I continued to say it over and over and over. Hesitating, I fessed up to the Holy Spirit, “I am not even sure I know what that means.”

With gentleness and wisdom, the Holy Spirit asked me if I would like to find out.  As we began to study together the Holy Spirit revealed that to be still means to cease and relates to the word, rapha. God is also known as Jehovah Rapha, our healer. In other words, to be still means to cease, be repaired, or to be healed. To know, is to know through firsthand experience. The last part, I am God, is to display that God is exceedingly and mighty!  

All together this verse was more than just knowing of God and understanding that He fights our battles for us. To “be still and know I am God” means to cease, be repaired, be healed, through firsthand experience our exceeding and mighty God.

I had memorized this well-known verse many years before. In the stillness of what normally would be a busy morning, I began to see the impact that not being still has had on my life. At times, we can glance over known well passages of scripture without asking Jehovah Rapha to come in and do His mighty work. We go through the motions of our daily quiet time, where it becomes routine and religious. We check prayer, church, fasting, and even reading our bible off our list and fail to experience the transforming power it is meant to carry. All too often we glance over the scripture we have known for years and fail to see what Holy Spirit is trying to speak to us. The very ministry God had gifted to us through His grace becomes an idol. Our busyness can look spiritual and even look good to the outside world, but God knows our heart.

My coffee went from lukewarm to cold. Now, I could visibly see my relationship with God was beginning to grow to be the same way. While it was something that I had never intended, it was the reality of my present circumstance. I began to weep and ask for forgiveness. Unknowingly, I was about to taste freedom that my heart had been desiring. I was about to begin to hope once again.

The Holy Spirit spoke that it was time to stop going through the motions and fall back in love with Him. I had been in the wilderness for a long time. It was in the wilderness and through much suffering that I would be reintroduced to my first love. That morning was a marker to cease from the busyness, repair where things went wrong, and be healed of the hurts I had endured. It was time to get to know Abba again firsthand. It was time to see Him in an exceeding and mighty way that would blow my expectations.

I share this with you today because the same invitation that has been extended to me, has also been extended to you. Our perfect heavenly Father always has a listening ear for your questions. In fact, I believe He not only has an open ear, but desires you to ask questions. There are places in your heart that need to be mended and that need healing. God is not ashamed of where you are and you should not be either. Unlike worldly love that tries to change us to be loved, God loves us because it is who He is. As we get to know Him once again, we are transformed from the inside out.

Let’s boldly join together and welcome in the Holy Spirit to have His way. Let us cease from busyness. Only then will we begin to encounter God’s love and develop intimacy with Him once again.

Posted on Leave a comment

Take The Day Off: Receiving God’s Gift of Rest-Robert Morris (Book Review)

Book Information

  • Title: Take The Day Off, Receiving God’s Gift of Rest
  • Author: Robert Morris
  • Publisher: FaithWords
  • ISBN: 1546010165
  • Price: $19.80 (Hardcover)

Book Review:

Robert Morris’ Take The Day Off is a book that will bring you from a place of weariness and burn out to a place of faith and understanding of what a true rest from God the Father is. This book has the ability to change your life when the wisdom found inside is applied. The one thing I admire about Morris’ books are that they are jammed packed with biblical wisdom. For me personally, he brought me a revelation of what ‘sabbath being made for man’ truly means. This book was published at a time in my life where I was weary and needed a true rest. I was working 70+ hours a week as a salaried employee and felt that there was no way out. However, my desire was to honor God on the Sabbath because while reading this book I knew the benefits and what a gift sabbath truly is. In Take The Day Off some of the profound points that Morris had made is that we so easily stray away from the importance of Sabbath when God placed Sabbath in the 10 commandments. He also shared some of his testimony on how observing the Sabbath was learned and how it drastically changed his life.

Overall, I love this book and the wisdom found on every single page. This is a book that I prayed for. Before reading this book, I did not understand Sabbath or how to observe Sabbath. But with Robert Morris greatest book yet, Take The Day off I was given revelation of what Sabbath is and how much it can benefit every single one of us. This book goes in my top five favorite books because it has changed my life. I give Take The Day Off 5 stars and recommend it to everyone who deals with the world we live in today.

Side Note…

Be on the look out for further testimony about how this book and observing the Sabbath has revolutionized my life in upcoming posts.