"What religiosity had perverted, Jesus promised to restore."

A thought by Charles R. Swindoll, from his book, Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 87). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Yes, He has.

Charles says, "Religion says, Work more. Try harder. Do this. Don’t do that. Give until you have no more. God isn’t yet pleased with you. Push, push, harder, longer! Jesus looked into the hearts of exhausted, overburdened, anxious, stressed-out people and offered a better way."

Jesus said, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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

Later Charles says, "Jesus said, in today’s terms, 'Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace' (Matthew 11:28–29 MSG).

"Jesus described His yoke as chrestos, which means 'excellent,' 'serviceable,' 'useful,' 'adapted to its purpose,' 'good.' Frequently, a carpenter was commissioned to custom-carve a yoke to perfectly fit a particular animal. With a chrestos yoke, an ox or donkey could pull a plow for many hours without chafing or blistering. Furthermore, Jesus promised that His 'burden' (based on the same term as 'heavy-laden' in verse 28), would be light, or easy to bear. Jesus’ 'yoke' illustration conveys an invitation with three parts:

- He invites us to exchange the tiresome burden of legalism ('strict obedience to a host of rules and regulations') for a lifelong Sabbath of the soul.

- He invites us to accept Him as our teacher so that we might learn how He coped, how He managed stress, how He faced the pressures of the world with tact and grace, how He forgave, how He ministered to others, and how He remained connected to the Father.

-He invites us to reject slavery to religiosity, wealth, status, relationships, or anything else that burdens us so that we might become a slave to Him."

Charles then says, "The best word to describe servitude to Jesus Christ is refreshment."

Refreshment, now that is what we all need, isn't it? Yes, yes! #continuethought

Swindoll, Charles R.. Jesus: 09 (Great Lives Series) (p. 88). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

Comments

“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference. You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book, Winning the War on Worry (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

Just Continue That Thought...

Search This Blog