[ecko_quote source="Isaiah 30:21"] And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, This is the way, walk you in it when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left[/ecko_quote]
One day my wife asked me to drop her at a particular school in South Auckland. Since this area was unfamiliar, I chose to use my map booklet rather than Google maps on my phone. Because there were newly added roads my map book was of no use to me in this instance. I was left with no choice but to use Google Map -App to proceed further. The Google Maps asked me two questions. The first was about my current location and the second was about my destination. As soon as I filled my current location and destination details it immediately showed me the travel time, kilometers and current traffic situation. The App kept speaking to me and gave me instructions I needed to reach my destination. This process taught me a spiritual significance and a lesson for my Christian journey towards our Lord.
As men and women of God, we must know our current location first, in other words, our current spiritual condition. Unless this position is confirmed, we will not go to our destination that is towards our Lord. Hence, we should first examine ourselves and ask the Lord to search our hearts. Unfortunately, people refuse to know their true position not knowing that it would become a hurdle to their journey. Revelation 3:17 states that “You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked”. My dear ones it is better for us to know our true current position and ask God for forgiveness when we still have time. Once we know our current position we can set our journey towards our Lord otherwise, we would be called “lost”.
Secondly, during the course our journey we needed to follow the instructions otherwise we would not have reached our destination. Many of us are reluctant to hear the whispering voice of the Holy Spirit and refuse to yield completely to the Lord. In the Old Testament Israelites on their journey to the promised land murmured in their tents and did not heed to the voice of the Lord (Psalm 106:25). As a result, their journey took 40 years instead of a month because of their disobedience. Sadly, all of the Israelites from twenty years old and above died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb. Similarly, when we refuse to obey the voice of God we just prolong our journey and may even fall as Israelites.
Therefore, my dear ones obey the instructions as instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is. Delayed obedience is disobedience. The only way we can obey is to obey” in the self-same day “as Abraham did. It’s better to do this way than not to do it at all. A postponed duty can never bring the full blessing that God intended as it would have brought if done at the earliest possible moment. Martin Luther says that” a true believer will crucify the question, ‘Why?’ He will obey without questioning.
When we look at the lives of many great men and women of God in the Bible we can see that each one of them had to follow a long, arduous road. But it led to a wonderful place, to a wonderful conclusion, to nothing less than heaven itself. George Matheson says that even through sorrow, hardship, and fiery trials, the road is still leading home – and we need to keep walking by faith and not by feeling or sight. Always remember that Our Lord Jesus Christ is walking with you.
Image Source:
[http://www.freelargeimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Google_map-6.png EDITED]
[ecko_quote source="Matthew 11:28"]Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest [/ecko_quote]
The Bible is the greatest book ever written. In it, God Himself speaks to mankind. It is a book of divine instructions. It offers comfort in sorrow, guidance in perplexity, advice when we face problems, convicts us of our sins, and inspires us daily to cater for all our needs.
The above scripture is known as the greatest invitation to the humanity by our Saviour Jesus Christ. It is also said that no religion on the face of this earth has ever provided such an invitation. No great leaders, rulers, or Kings have ever made such an invitation. Jesus is asking us just to come to him, but most often we would not go to him until we finish our attempts and secure our defeats. This is our continuous human tendency. Even going through tough times, we are reluctant to put forth our problems at His feet. Instead, we do whatever is possible. We even seek help from the friends and families, including doctors (for particular problems) but refuse to surrender and submit our troubles to him. There is nothing wrong in seeking help from other sources… provided, we seek Him first.
My dear ones, It is an open invitation without any conditions attached to it. Christ invites all of us to come to Him to receive rest for our souls. He alone gives this invitation; men come to him when feeling their guilt and misery, believing his love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer. Thus, it is the duty and interest of weary and heavy-laden sinners, to come to Jesus Christ. This is the gospel call; Whoever will, let him come. All who thus come will receive rest as Christ's gift, and obtain peace and comfort in their hearts. Jesus is simply asking us to come to Him with our burdens and labor. In turn, He is assuring us the provision of rest. Whatsoever our problems that are causing us unrest, despair, or even depression. Our Lord is saying to us that we cannot overcome or solve our problems, the one who fallen into the well, needs help from above and he cannot help himself. The world says “help yourself”, but Jesus says come to me… I will give you rest. The rest what Jesus provides is beyond our understanding and comprehension. The scripture states “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).
Jesus is saying to us “come to Me”.So, How can we go to Him? We have to go to Him in prayer and pour our hearts out to Him. If that seems difficult, then I don’t think there is any other way. God draws our attention in several ways. I once, read a story of a well-trained dog who loved water. One day the dog was playing in the lake. Its owner went out to call him, but it wouldn’t come. It was a good and a well-trained dog. After several attempts of calling him, the man finally threw a stick in the water. When the dog saw it, he swam over, grabbed the stick, came back and laid the stick next to his master. Likewise, It just may be that God who is our master had given you a burden because he can’t get your attention. He is calling us to do what he wants us to do. Our Master wants us to come and lay it at his feet.
My dear ones, God, might be seeking your attention because of the situations you are in. The best way for us to come to Him is to lay down our burden at His feet. Then, surely the peace of God will take control of our lives.
Is your heart aching today?, Come to Him and cast your burden at His feet and allow His peace to fill your heart. (Psalm 55:22)
Image Source:
[http://www.heopenedmyhands.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/hands-jesus-light.jpg]
[ecko_quote source=" Philippians 4:6"]Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God[/ecko_quote]
In this present generation, people are anxious about many things, and they have been greatly disturbed and troubled in their hearts. Anxiousness is the first symptom of impatience. If people continue at it, they will end up in the second stage, and that would be the state of “worry”. If this continues for a long, they would be disheartened and enter into “depression”. Depression is almost the final stage before people end their lives by suicide or mentally incapable of doing anything. We can easily identify these people by simply looking at their faces or listening to their conversation.
The above is the description of the problem but Glory to God we have the Word of God with us. The answer is very simple if we take what the Word of God says. We make our position difficult by adding our knowledge to the issues. But our heavenly Father says, receive it with a childlike faith.” Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). The word states " be anxious for nothing, but everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your problem to God". Therefore, prayer is the solution to our problems of anxiousness, worry and depression. Prayer is our greatest Christian privilege, but we may as well admit it is our greatest Christian failure. Because we won’t pray and wait for the response from our Father.
William Ewart Gladstone ( Former British Prime Minister - elected four times), on being questioned for the secret of the unusual serenity (calmness) he was able to maintain in spite of situational stresses, replied “ At the foot of my bed, where I can see it on retiring and on arising in the morning, are the words, “ You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” (Isaiah 26:3)
Therefore, my dear saints, prayer is a powerful and effectual worry-caretaker. Men and women who have learned to pray with childlike sincerity, literally talking to, and communing with the Heavenly Father, are in possession of a great secret whereby they can cast their care upon God, knowing that He careth for them (1 Peter 5:7). A clear conscience is a significant step toward barricading the mind against neuroticism (negative emotional state). Once we hand over our problems into our heavenly Father’s hand, our job is done. It would be time for Him to step into the picture to take care of things.
Obey the word and follow it - It will work no doubt about it. Jesus himself challenged us “So why do you worry about these things...for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things (job, visa, settlement and finances, children future, etc..) - Matthew 6:25-32
Image Source:
[https://namelessintaipei.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/silent-prayer.jpg]
