September 04, 2022

Jesus, I am working, working

September 04, 2022/ jan

I'm such a worker bee...how about you? I get great satisfaction out of accomplishing something. It can be a "driven" thing if I'm not careful. By the time I realize it, I'm really dragging! And rather than being satisfied, I'm disgruntled and out of sorts!

Being the worker bee is especially dangerous when it comes to the spiritual life. I lived for a long time under the yoke of what I call "to do list" Christianity. What a bondage! Self-effort doesn't work when it comes to doing what only God can do...which is anything and and everything of any spiritual value.

December 22, 2020

REST! Yes, Despite the Holiday Craziness

December 22, 2020/ jan

Today I awoke with this thought, this scripture, and this song:

REST, enjoy His love …

Jesus came to give us His rest of spirit, so we could enjoy God’s love):

I praise You, Father …

December 05, 2019

REST! Yes, in the Midst of Holiday Craziness

December 05, 2019/ jan

Today I awoke with this thought, this scripture, and this song:

REST, enjoy His love …

Jesus came to give us His rest of spirit, so we could enjoy God’s love):

I praise You, Father …

July 06, 2019

Resting While You Work Today

July 06, 2019/ jan

I’ve always been a worker-bee. Well, perhaps not as a child. As an adult, though, and especially as a Christian, I’ve been a worker-bee. I found great pleasure in life by accomplishing a goal, but there was a driven-ness in this way of living. I’ve discovered that being a worker-bee is especially dangerous, spiritually. I’ve lived for a long time under the yoke of what I call "to-do list" Christianity. What a bondage. Self-effort doesn't work when it comes to doing what only God can do,which is anything of any spiritual value. That's why I love the Lord's invitation to the weary, burdened folk who followed Him:

July 05, 2019

An Invitation to Rest Today

July 05, 2019/ jan

Ah! REST...what a glorious word! I inhale and exhale deeply at just the sound of it. And oh, how we humans need deep, glorious rest... Moms especially need it...as do dads. Single folks need it; workers need it; retirees do, too..Even kids need it (although they would protest most loudly...especially in the midst of the frenetic-ness of no-sleep sleepovers!)

I remember as a mom of an infant how I longed for rest, praying my crying-in-the-middle-of-the-night baby would just fall quietly back to dreamland. Or my napping toddler would stay napping so I could lie prostrate for just a few more moments (Please, God!) And now, even as a senior retired adult, that beautiful rest calls my name more often than not in the midst of my afternoons. So I often take to my overstuffed couch and doze as I watch the old westerns from my childhood.

February 09, 2019

Resting While You Work

February 09, 2019/ jan

February 07, 2019

An Invitation to Rest

February 07, 2019/ jan

July 28, 2018

Quiet Places

July 28, 2018/ jan

In his book The Way of the Heart, Henri Nouwen spoke of silence as a portable cell or sanctuary, a place of transformation that can be carried into ministry. Yet true as that is in active ministry, my ministry now is mainly to family and those that God brings across my path. Even when I’m with family, my heart longs for a quiet place in the midst of chaos. In my oldest daughter Karen’s home it is her sunroom, decorated in a nautical theme. I search for things in the beach painting in front of me – the shapes of the clouds, the rocks at the edge of the water that soothe my soul and help clear my mind.

July 26, 2018

My Continuing Need to REST

July 26, 2018/ jan

Here I am again. I got up too soon from a "sick bed" to start my usual "moving & shaking." I can't help but remember (and probably misinterpret) verse 2 from the beloved Psalm 23:

He MAKES me lie down in green pastures...

And my "green pastures" is again my big, soft green couch, for yet another week.

May 21, 2018

Revisiting my "Words" ... wanting them to find me afresh!

May 21, 2018/ jan

I'm weary and blank. The death of a friend, new health issues arising, aging making itself felt, even good things piling up beyond energy levels, desires to do too much and then paying for it ... all of it. So I'm revisiting my "words" of recent years. And I'm especially parking on this year's word "REST." Journey along with me?

February 06, 2018

Finding Rest: Wearing the Yoke that Fits

February 06, 2018/ jan

Finding REST, yes! Oh yes!

Rest is my "word of the year," yet it is still a quest for me. You too? Actually, rest is both a gift and a quest while on this earth. Let me explain.

When we come to Christ by faith, He gives us rest, in fact He Himself IS our Rest -- rest from the penalty and power and one day, the presence of sin. As a result, we are totally acceptable to God, born into His family, beloved children of His who live by His indwelling life. I am IN Christ, and He is IN me. And this rest is a free gift ... given! Not earned!

January 08, 2018

Quiet Places: Shared Wisdom from a Guest Branch

January 08, 2018/ jan

Today and next time here at the Branch in the Vine, I am honored to share words of wisdom from a new friend, Mary Petzinger. Mary and I met at the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove in Asheville, NC this fall. As we shared with each other bits and pieces of our lives, we discovered that we had much in common humanly and spiritually. And our husbands also have a common interest, "Evidence of the Creator in the Creation" (Intelligent Design).

December 31, 2017

A New Word for 2018... my word found me!

December 31, 2017/ jan

...Now what about this year 2018? Well, my Word found me.

In the midst of some long-lasting, deep grief from life circumstances and relationships, my blood pressure has shot up again. It had been low and totally good for months and months. It was in the midst of this broken mess that my word came. I wasn't even looking for it.

October 24, 2015

Jesus, I am coming, coming...for rest!

October 24, 2015/ jan

Come to Me...and I will give you rest...Matthew 11:28

Rest is a fragile thing!

The thoughtless slight, the smallest disappointment, the embarrassing mistake, the insecure thought...as well as the big stuff of life, like health, marriage, family, financial crises...

All can dispel our peace and rest. And anapausis, that inner tranquility of soul, can be gone in a flash!

Over the years, as I've "struggled" at times to be at rest, I have come back to several readings in O. Chambers' uplifing devotional, My Utmost for His Highest. All of the entries are based on Jesus' invitation and promise in Matthew 11:28.

As you read, may you be encouraged, as I always am, to respond to our Lord's COME and receive His anapausis (inner rest) for your soul. [Note: these are excerpts; to read the devotionals in their entirety, click on the title of each]:

Self-Consciousness

...Self-consciousness is the first thing that will upset the completeness of the life in God, and self-consciousness continually produces wrestling. Self-consciousness is not sin; it may be produced by a nervous temperament or by a sudden dumping down into new circumstances. It is never God’s will that we should be anything less than absolutely complete in Him.

Anything that disturbs rest in Him must be cured at once, and it is not cured by being ignored, but by coming to Jesus Christ.

...Never allow the dividing up of your life in Christ to remain without facing it. Beware of leakage, of the dividing up of your life by the influence of friends or of circumstances; beware of anything that is going to split up your oneness with Him and make you see yourself separately.

Nothing is so important as to keep right spiritually. The great solution is the simple one – Come unto Me....

Completeness

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once and ask Him to establish rest. Never allow anything to remain which is making the dis-peace.Take every element of disintegration as something to wrestle against, and not to suffer. Say – Lord, prove Thy consciousness in me, and self-consciousness will go and He will be all in all.

Beware of allowing self-consciousness to continue because by slow degrees it will awaken self-pity, and self-pity is Satanic. Well, I am not understood; this is a thing they ought to apologize for; that is a point I really must have cleared up. Leave others alone and ask the Lord to give you Christ-consciousness, and He will poise you until the completeness is absolute....

If we try to overcome self-consciousness by any common-sense method, we will develop it tremendously. Jesus says, "Come unto Me and I will give you rest," i.e., Christ-consciousness will take the place of self-consciousness. Wherever Jesus comes He establishes rest, the rest of the perfection of activity that is never conscious of itself.

After Surrender— Then What?

True surrender is not simply surrender of our external life but surrender of our will— and once that is done, surrender is complete. The greatest crisis we ever face is the surrender of our will....

Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— Come to Me. And it is a voluntary coming....

October 23, 2015

Jesus, I am resting, resting...or at least wanting to!

October 23, 2015/ jan

Ah! REST...what a glorious word! I inhale and exhale deeply at just the sound of it! And oh, how we humans need deep, glorious rest... Moms especially need it...as do dads. Single folk need it; workers need it; retirees do too...even kids need it (although they would protest most loudly...especially after no-sleep sleepovers!).

I need it!

This is the time of the year that I begin to really drag, needing my rest! The energy of summer has passed. (Maybe I'm really wanting to hibernate like the bears?)

But there is work to be done, students to teach, deadlines to meet, and of course, grandsons to love on...

So let me say it again -- we humans ALL (especially this writer!) need deep, glorious rest...no matter what our role in life. And we need rest, not just for our bodies, but for our souls most of all!

I don't know about you, but I am going to the only Place I know to go for the rest I need...and that place is my Lord Jesus Christ! HE is Rest! I'm responding to His gracious invitation,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 NASB

We can receive eternal, spiritual rest as we come to Jesus and receive eternal life as a free gift. We don't work to exhaustion for it (through good works, religious or otherwise) but embrace it for the taking when we come to Him who is our rest.

And we believers who are burdened and work to exhaustion can also findanapausis (RESTin Greek). But this is not just the "take a nap" kind of rest...it goes much deeper:

In Matthew 11:28-29, the Lord promises "anapausis" (inner tranquility) to the weary and heavy laden who come to HIM while they are engaged in necessary labor. Spiro Zodiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament, p. 156

Isn't that good news, dear friend? Even when we cannot take a break from our duties, we can have inner tranquility because of our relationship with our Lord Christ.

And there's an interesting emphasis in that short phrase, Come to Me, in the original Greek. Literally, Jesus says,

HERE (Hither, KJV)...to ME!

That's right, the word COME isn't found in the original! It's just implied...and I think, for a reason.

I picture Jesus Himself beckoning to the battered and beleaguered crowd of ordinary people following Him. He points to HIMSELF as the source of spiritual rest: HERE...to ME...for rest!

The religious rulers, who hounded them, burdened them with duties above and beyond what God required. Jesus, on the other hand, joins (yokes) Himself to His people to give them rest on every level. So in a sense, He says,

Don't go to THEM! HERE...to ME!

And the same is true for you and me, dear friend. What is hounding and harassing you?

Is it the pressures of mothering? ...the stress of financial needs? ...the guilt of not being spiritual enough: reading the Bible, praying enough? ...the confusion and grief of relational rifts? ...the concern for struggling/straying loved ones? ...the fatigue/uncertainties of your job? ...struggles with ill health? ______[fill in the blank]______?

In every situation and in every stage of life on this earth, He Himself is our Rest. Join me in responding to His invitation: HERE...to ME!

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

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Suggestions for your COMING...from the mundane to the sublime [and I am practicing what I preach :) ]

Play instrumental hymns/praise/classical music softly in the background all day. It's amazing how the music sets a peaceful atmosphere. This is one of my favorite things to do when I'm home...keeping my music softly playing all day!

Memorize and recite often Psalm 23. This is especially good when falling asleep or waking in the middle of the night! Visualize the scene, and let the peace of your Shepherd wash over you!

Take a break from social media for a period of time...however the Lord leads. Call it a fast if you like and slow down the inner craziness to focus on the Lord. Maybe just fast from it each day until after you meet with the Lord :) And if you are a blogger and hit bloggers block, let it be for awhile until the Lord breaks through with something fresh :)

Moms...get up earlier than your children, even if that means putting the coffee pot in the garage to brew (my son as a toddler/preschooler would wake up within 15 minutes of brewing my morning Joe). Have your Bible, journal, devotional, &/or hymnbook in a handy spot. And commune with your God...COME to HIM for your anapausis (rest while you go about your needful work) for your day! If little people do interrupt your time, let them join you...with their own Bible and journal :)

Home-school moms...when I was homeschooling and hit exhaustion, I would "take to my bed" for a whole day... homeschooling my son and daughter from the place of rest (my bed!). They were a bit older and worked well on their own. So I'd give them assignments, read with them, checked work (or have them check their own) etc. with them sitting next to me on the bed. Then they would go off to complete assignments on their own. Trust me, it really worked. Then I'd be refreshed to continue on normally the next school-day!

Singthis wonderful hymn...focusing on the words to help in focusing on the Lord:

Jesus! I am resting, resting In the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, And Thy beauty fills my soul, For, by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.

Jesus! I am resting, resting In the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness Of Thy loving heart.

Oh, how great Thy loving kindness, Vaster, broader than the sea: Oh, how marvelous Thy goodness, Lavished all on me!

Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, Know what wealth of grace is Thine, Know Thy certainty of promise, And have made it mine.

Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art, And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, Satisfies my heart,

Satisfies its deepest longings, Meets, supplies its every need, Compasseth me round with blessings, Thine is love indeed.

Ever lift Thy face upon me, As I work and wait for Thee; Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, Earth's dark shadows flee.

Brightness of my Father's glory, Sunshine of my Father's face, Keep me ever trusting, resting, Fill me with Thy grace.

November 04, 2014

Obsessive thoughts...where is the Rest?

November 04, 2014/ Jeremy Loyd

The closest I've come to a full-blown anxiety attack in 30 years! Thoughts grabbed hold of my mind...obsessively, relentlessly...

Round 'n round...on 'n on...ad infinitum, ad nauseum...just miscellaneous nothings as well as daytime uglinesses in the darkness ...they wouldn't let go! Robbing of sleep all night...then all day...then ready for the next night!

Where's the reprieve? the relief? the release...the Rest?

In the engrafted word that saves the soul:

But we have the mind of Christ.

I have the mind of Christ! Do you hear that, O my soul?

I have the mind of Christ! Right here...right now!

Those obsessive thoughts are not the mind of Christ!!!!

And so I reflect and journal:

The Mind of Christ is a Present-Tense-Mind...not past, not future...

because Christ is a Present-Tense Person, the Present-Tense God!

The great Jehovah...the great I Am!

He was in the past when it was present. And He will be in the future when it is present.

He is also the Present-Tense God made Man, Emmanuel. He is the fullness of God...in bodily form...and that's huge!

So He knows what it's like to live in time...my present tense!

And He always lived it in present tense with His Father...so I can too, because He lives in me and through me, as me!

He is forever the indwelling I Am...

Living Water for my thirsty soul right now,

the Bread of Life for my hungry heart in this moment,

the Light of my world today,

my Good Shepherd for this situation,

the Resurrection and the Life for my present "deadnesses,"

the Way, the Truth, the Life for the path I take right now,

the True Vine in whom I am now abiding...

He Himself is my indwelling Peace, my ever-present Joy!

So I bathe myself in HIM and His Words. I sink myself down in Him who is in me...I rest in Him, and I am set free!

The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 1 Corinthians 2:15-16 ESV

Thank you, Lord, for that Word grafted in by Your Holy Spirit that delivers my soul from the darkness!

August 06, 2014

Jesus, I am coming, coming...

August 06, 2014/ jan

Come to Me...and I will give you rest...Matthew 11:28

Rest is a fragile thing!

The thoughtless slight, the smallest disappointment, the embarrassing mistake, the insecure thought...as well as the big stuff of life, like health, marriage, family, financial crises...

All can dispel our peace and rest. And anapausis, that inner tranquility of soul, can be gone in a flash!

Self-Consciousness

Anything that disturbs rest in Him must be cured at once, and it is not cured by being ignored, but by coming to Jesus Christ.

Nothing is so important as to keep right spiritually. The great solution is the simple one – Come unto Me....

Completeness

Whenever anything begins to disintegrate your life with Jesus Christ, turn to Him at once and ask Him to establish rest. Never allow anything to remain which is making the dis-peace.Take every element of disintegration as something to wrestle against, and not to suffer. Say – Lord, prove Thy consciousness in me, and self-consciousness will go and He will be all in all.

After Surrender— Then What?

Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). It is only after we have begun to experience what salvation really means that we surrender our will to Jesus for rest. Whatever is causing us a sense of uncertainty is actually a call to our will— Come to Me. And it is a voluntary coming....

August 05, 2014

Jesus, I am working, working

August 05, 2014/ jan

Come to Me...and I will give you rest...Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me...and you will find rest for your souls... Matthew 11:28-29

That's why I love the Lord's invitation,

Take my yoke upon you...and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30

Rest is a gift. Anapausis, the inner tranquility of soul while engaged in our necessary labors, can only be mine when I respond to Jesus' gracious words, Come...Take...

But how can rest be mine while I am working...doing what needs to be done? It's all wrapped up in the image of the yoke.

A yoke is a bar or frame of wood to attach two animals (such as oxen or other draft animals) together for work.

I love this image of being yoked to Christ. Notice who takes on Whose yoke -- Jesus calls me to take on HIS yoke...I don't try to get Him to take on MY yoke.

But isn't that what we often do? We "invite" Him to take on OUR yoke...we take on a project and then ask the Lord to bless and prosper it! But the question always needs to be...is it HIS yoke? He is the source of the work and the power behind it all. He invites me to join Him in HIS work because of my union with Him.

The late Maj. W Ian Thomas describes this taking on Jesus' yoke as the faith-rest life:

...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. The Indwelling Life of Christ, p 99

Fellow worker bees, join me in responding in a new way today to Jesus gracious invitation:

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:29-30

RESTING

Once my hands were always trying,

Trying hard to do my best,

Now my heart is sweetly trusting,

And my soul is all at rest.

Once my brain was always planning,

And my heart, with cares oppressed,

Now I trust the Lord to lead me,

And my life is all at rest.

Once my life was full of effort,

Now ‘tis full of joy and zest;

Since I took His yoke upon me

Jesus gives to me His rest.

A.B.Simpson

August 04, 2014

Jesus, I am resting, resting...

August 04, 2014/ jan

This is the time of the year that I begin to really drag, needing my rest! I'm a teacher, not really looking forward to the beginning of the new school-year. But I'm also a wife, mother, grandmother, friend, sister, etc. And right now, as an author, I'm hitting Blogger's Block/ Writer's Block -- that brain-draining fatigue that hits everyone (including students) who has put pen to paper regularly.

So let me say it again -- we humans ALL need deep, gloriousrest...no matter what our role in life. And we need rest, not just for our bodies, but for our souls most of all!

I don't know about you, but I am going to the only Place I know to go for the rest I need...and that place is my Lord Jesus Christ! HE is Rest! I'm responding to His gracious invitation,

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

We who are burdened and work to exhaustion can find anapausis (RESTin Greek). But this is not just the "take a nap" kind of rest...it goes much deeper:

In Matthew 11:28-29, the Lord promises "anapausis" (inner tranquility) to the weary and heavy laden who come to HIM while they are engaged in necessary labor. Spiro Zodiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary, New Testament, p. 156

Isn't that good news, dear friend? Even when we cannot take a break from our duties, we can have inner tranquility because of our relationship with our Lord Christ.

And there's an interesting emphasis in that short phrase, Come to Me, in the original Greek. Literally, Jesus says,

HERE (Hither, KJV)...to ME!

That's right, the word COME isn't found in the original! It's just implied...and I think, for a reason.

I picture Jesus Himself beckoning to the battered and beleaguered crowd of ordinary people following Him. He points to HIMSELF as the source of spiritual rest: HERE...to ME...for rest!

Don't go to THEM! HERE...to ME!

And the same is true for you and me, dear friend. What is hounding and harassing you?

In every situation and in every stage of life on this earth, He Himself is our Rest. Join me in responding to His invitation: HERE...to ME!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Suggestions for your COMING...from the mundane to the sublime [and I am practicing what I preach :) ]

Memorize and recite often Psalm 23. This is especially good when falling asleep or waking in the middle of the night! Visualize the scene, and let the peace of your Shepherd wash over you!

Moms...get up earlier than your children, even if that means putting the coffee pot in the garage to brew (my son as a toddler/preschooler would wake up within 15 minutes of brewing my morning Joe). Have your Bible, journal, devotional, &/or hymnbook in a handy spot. And commune with your God...COME to HIM for your anapausis (rest while you go about your needful work)for your day! If little people do interrupt your time, let them join you...with their own Bible and journal :)

Sing this wonderful hymn...focusing on the words to help in focusing on the Lord: