Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Day 176: Giving Out Does Not Mean We Are Giving In

Day 176: Giving Out Does Not Mean We Are Giving In

Read: Galatians 6:9 - 10

(9) 'Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.' "Keep it up!", "Keep on going", "What do you mean you are tired? You only just got started or just begun!", "You cannot possibly be tired already. You are doing such a wonderful job so far!" And this list could go on and on and on. People on the sidelines of life cheering you on. They are jumping up and down like nobody else's business. Rah Rah Rah and all the rest of that cheerleader stuff. You are out there thinking to yourself "I am not even allowed to get tired! Come on, Who do they believe I am - God or something!" Give it a rest already after all you are ONLY being a Christian! That is all of who we are!

You are out there in the neighborhood, in your community and you think God expects us to give of ourselves, give of our time, give of our finances. But one thing He does not require of us, and that is to “give in!”. "God is just not in the business of creating losers! And I am not going to be the first of His creations to be called a loser either." I have read in Ephesians that He has called and equipped us all to be champions! So, that is what I fully intend to be - Christ's own #1 chosen champion, above all others!" Let's see what else might we think: "We must not give in to the lie of our adversary who calls us a “failure.” "That is not going to be. I am not going to allow anyone to think that I am a failure."

How many other ways do we exhort ourselves to "Keep on Going?", to keep on doing the work of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in the world? "I will rest when I get to heaven and not before!" "God is counting on me to get the job done that He has called me to do. And I am not going to start letting God down now!" I need to stop myself and I so need to stop all of you 'superhuman' Christians out there right now! I mean are we taking the time to listen to ourselves? Are we taking the time to listen to our wives or our children, our friends or our Primary Care Physicians? I mean, cease and desist! I mean give your selves permission to rest. After all, as God knows only to well, we can only be human.

Here is something I believe God wants us never to forget: God saved us to do good works - yes, absolutely (Ephesians 2:8 - 10). But notice that God did not say to us: "I saved you 'by' good works". As good as we all think we are now and can become with hard work and a disciplined approach to life, we are guaranteed to fall short by the end of the day. Good day, great day, a forget it day, it will always be true. We'll fall short of 'super Christian' status the moment our bodies overcome our minds and we realize there is actually a bed to be slept in, a wife who loves us, children who'll need us. Guess what fellow Christians: giving out does not mean we're also giving in! It means we are surrendering to God!

Let Us Pray: O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world lies hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Lord, help us to know that while you may never need rest - we really do! Let us take on the mantle of God's rest and give ourselves a bit of peace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlVibpNfK-Q
Enter the Rest of God, Brian Doerksen
www.youtube.com
another beaut from Brian Doerksen....Thank you God for Brian...he has touched so many lives with his music...it's all about you, Jesus ♥

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