The way of the Lord

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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

Do you feel overwhelmed?  It's not the Lord who is overwhelming you.  Maybe it's you, or somebody in your life, or the devil.  But it's not God.  It's not Jesus.  It's not the Spirit.

God's Spirit lightens your burdens; "His commands are not burdensome."  How does He do this?  By you coming to Him and simply telling Him what's on your mind and heart.  You know how this happens.  Have you ever talked to a really good friend, one who listens and doesn't focus on giving you advice (unless you ask for it?)  Or have you ever been to a good therapist?  A good pastor?  A good counselor?  You know how it feels to leave the presence of someone who really listens.  You feel lighter.  If imperfect humans can lighten your burden, how much more The Lord, the Wonderful Counselor?

That's what prayer is and should be--us giving our burdens to the Lord.  God tells us in the scriptures to "cast our cares on Him, because He cares for us."  He says that when we are sorrowful we should pray.  When we are anxious or worried, we should pray.  When we are angry and need justice, we should pray.  Praying is simply talking to God from our hearts about everything in our hearts. He hears us.  He's listening.

Talk to God.  This is the way of the Lord.

How to Overflow with Hope

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13 NIV

I've been seeing that hope is the key to life, at least for me right now.  If I don't believe I can expect anything good today, tomorrow, or for my life, it weakens me intensely.  I read a verse today that gives me the promise of the hope that I need to live a meaningful life.  I hope this helps you as much as it helped me.

GOD IS A GOD OF HOPE
God is a God of hope, a hopeful God.  A God who "knows the plans He has for us, plans for good and not evil, to give us a future and a hope."  As you have probably heard to the point of it sounding cliche, "God has a wonderful plan for your life."  He actually does.  He is hopeful about me and you because He knows the good plans he has for us.  He causes "all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose."  We love Him, don't we?  Aren't we called according to His purpose?  Then how can we lack hope when our God is a hopeful God, the source of our hope and of all hope?  We don't live in a hopeless world of fate and chance like some do.  If there is no God, no good and hopeful God, then we might as well commit suicide.  But there is a good and hopeful God, the God of hope, from whom hope comes.  Because of this we can be filled with joy and peace.

GOD'S HOPE FILLS US WITH JOY AND PEACE
What is hope?  It's knowing that something good is waiting for us.  As I write, Christmas approaches.  And there are kids full of joy and peace, at least some of them.  Why?  Because they have hope of something good waiting for them under the Christmas tree.  So they are happy and relieved, full of joy and peace.  That's what hope does.  When we know we have money coming, if we really need money, we are full of joy and peace.  Joy because our need or desire will be able to be met.  Peace because our anxiety about our unfulfilled need or desire has been relieved.  But how does this happen?

WE HAVE HOPE WHEN WE TRUST IN THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT
It is written, "Faith is the assurance of what we hope for, it is the evidence of what we do not see."  We have hope when we can trust in the promise of goodness.  And we trust a promise when the one who promises is perfectly trustworthy and capable.  For example, if you need money, and you ask someone for money who is wealthy, and that wealthy person loves and likes you, then you will have assurance of what hope for--the money you need.  The person has a lot of money, they like and love you, and you ask them for something they have in abundance  They say yes, and based on their yes alone, you are filled with joy and peace, and thus overflowing with hope. 

The Spirit loves and likes you.  He is God Almighty. Everything belongs to Him.  So when you ask Him for something good and God glorifying, if that's what you're really hoping for, you can be sure of what you hope for.  God's promise and goodness is the evidence of what you don't see--the check in the mail, the gift under the tree. 

God is a God of hope, a hopeful God, from whom all hope comes.  Because He has good plans for us, we can be filled with joy and peace.  We can overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit if we put our trust in Him and His promises.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."  Romans 15:13 NIV

How to find and fulfill your calling today

"Through Him we received grace and apostleship to call all Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name's sake." Romans 1:5 NIV

I learned something from the Spirit today.  Here it is:  Before I can fulfill my specific calling as a believer, I must fulfill the general calling of all believers.  That means you and I both have the same calling, and if we obey it, we will find our specific, individual calling.  We have the same calling as Jesus' first followers.  His Spirit gives us this call.  Here it is--the Spirit's call to you and me:

"Follow me."

Another way to put it would be this:

"Obey me."

Paul said that we, the "Gentiles," the believers who are not Jewish, are called to obey God as evidence of our faith in Christ.  Paul also said that "to whom we present ourselves slaves to obey, we are that one's slaves whom we obey, whether sin leading to death, or righteousness leading to life."  Paul then says that we are "slaves of God."  This means God owns us, defines us, and determines all of our actions.  He alone controls us.  This is our first and foremost calling, the call of all of who believe in Jesus:  Obedience to God.

If we don't obey the Spirit, or follow the Spirit, in the same way the first followers followed Jesus did, we have no right to ask God for our specific calling.  In fact, for now, we should assume that our specific calling is nothing else but this:  Follow the Spirit. Or obey the Spirit.

Some of you may wonder how to practically do this.  Think of it this way.  If you want God's specific commands in your life, you must obey His general commands in the specific areas of your life.  Here are His two commands that we can all obey today and right now:

Love God with all of your heart and soul and strength.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus said these two commands are the summation of all of God's commandments.  Now if we obey these two commandments to the best of our ability in our specific situations and relations, we will be led by the Spirit in the specific areas of our lives.  In other words, we will find and fulfill our calling today.

This is what God showed me in the scriptures, and what I pass on to you who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.