Resting in God ... Reflections & Resources

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.
I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.
Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.
Matthew 11:28-30 MSG

karen’s lovely patio

 Dear READERS,
Thank you for reading along with us in this short series, Resting in God. And thank you to my friend Karen who gave me the opportunity to present this message to a precious group of ladies on the patio of her lovely home.
I’m sharing the extras from that session in this post. But in case you missed any of the sub-topics, catch up right here. And may you find your rest in Him as you respond to His tender invitation.
Duty or Devotion

Staying Stuck or Starting from Scratch?

“There to Them” or “HERE to ME”?

Trying or Trusting?

QUESTIONS for Reflection:

• Do you feel a need to “start from scratch?” What change can you make to begin the process?
• Have you RECEIVEd the gift of rest of SPIRIT in UNION with God that Jesus gives as a gift?
• Are you embracing total forgiveness of sin, past, present, and future?
• Are you walking in newness of life as a beloved child of God?
• Are you living from your fullness in Christ IN whom you live and who lives IN you?
• Are you regularly FINDing rest for your SOUL in communion with Christ?
• What is your “yoke-trap”?
• Are you finding rest of soul in your attachment to Christ, LETTING HIM live through you?

Significant QUOTES:
All true spiritual experience begins with rest! (Watchman Nee, Sit, Walk, Stand)

Relaxing in God is the forgotten spiritual discipline. (Andrew Farley, Relaxing in God)

...Christ is in action, and you in your humanity are simply the clothes of His divine activity. This is the rest of faith...it is your hands with which He is at work, your lips
with which He is speaking, your eyes with which He sees the need, your ears with which He hears the cry, and your heart with which He loves the lost. (Major Ian Thomas, The Indwelling Life of Christ)

Discipline in the spiritual life is the concentrated effort to create time and space where God can become our master and we can respond freely to God’s guidance. Thus, discipline is the creation of boundaries that keep time and space open for God…where God’s gracious presence can be acknowledged and responded to. (Henri J.M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey)

Your spirit is where you receive God’s life, your soul is where you experience God’s Life, and your body is where you express that Life. (Matt Smith, Alive and Free)

Private prayer should be practiced by every Christian. Long periods of Bible meditation will purify our gaze and direct it; church attendance will enlarge our outlook and increase our love for others. Service and work and activity; all are good and should be engaged in by every Christian. But at the bottom of all these things, giving meaning to them, will be the inward habit of beholding God. A new set of eyes (so to speak) will develop within us enabling us to be looking at God while our outward eyes are seeing the scenes of this passing world. (A.W. Tozer, Pursuit of God, “The Gaze of the Soul”)

All great spirituality is about letting go. (Richard Rohr, Everything Belong Belongs)

Detachment finds its true home in attachment to Jesus alone.(Adele Ahleberg Calhoun, (Spiritual Disciplines Handbook)

RESOURCES:
For more about Rest & Matthew 11:28-30 (from A Branch in the Vine):

The Invitation to Rest: https://bit.ly/2Ni2dFh

Resting while You Work: https://bit.ly/2GydFfv

Watching and Waiting (Rebekah Van Buskirk): https://bit.ly/2GRvFAZ

Wearing the Yoke that Fits (Christine Wyrtzen, Daughters of Promise): https://bit.ly/2TRVZyj

Attachment: The Secret of Detachment. https://bit.ly/4ooa45G

BOOK Recommendations:

The Indwelling Life of Christ, Major Ian Thomas

The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has You Worn Out, Dan Stone

God’s Best Kept Secret: Christianity is Easier Than You Think, Mark Maulding

Classic Christianity, Bob George

Relaxing with God: The Neglected Spiritual Discipline, Andrew Farley

Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer

Sit, Walk, Stand, Watchman Nee

The Normal Christian Life, Watchman Nee

The With-ness of our God: Relationship in Every Dimension, Jan Loyd

Glory in Disguise: Seeing God in our Every Day, Jan Loyd