The Promise of Rest

This has been quite a week!

First there was the continuing trauma of the earthquake in Haiti. We watched in shock as pictures of death and destruction too horrible to imagine flooded our consciousness. Despite our prayers and giving, we wrestled with feelings of helplessness and inadequacy to meet the needs of the victims.

Meanwhile, our own nation struggled with issues that left us feeling helpless and inadequate: healthcare plans, elections, controversial bonuses using government bailout money, and a sluggish economy. The week ended with the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and the commemoration of the 50+ million babies lost to abortion!

As if all that weren't enough, each of us had our own personal and private issues threatening to drag us into despair.


BUT GOD PROMISES REST!

The incarnate God, Jesus Christ, knows our need for rest. He said:

"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

If you are weary, go to Jesus and learn from Him. Jesus often retired from the busyness of His world to meet with God. There He found rest for His soul in committing His future to God's keeping. "Not my will, but yours be done."

Then, though His task was difficult beyond measure, God gave Him the strength to carry it out. Your assignment may be hard, but place it in God's hands. Then get some rest. There's no shame in resting. God Himself was our example: He took a day off to rest after creating the world!

Tomorrow is Sunday. Give yourself a day of rest, and honor the Lord's Day. It's not about legalism. It's about recognizing the gift God has given you!

The Promise of Victory

Today is the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the day pro-life people honor the more than 50 million babies who have lost their lives to abortion.

Thirty seven years! For thirty-seven years and even longer, some souls have fought against this evil. Others have joined the movement along the way. When will it all be over? When will victory be achieved? When can these warriors lie down and rest?

Maybe soon. A new Knights of Columbus (Marist survey) shows that there is a strong majority of Americans who believe abortion is "morally wrong." It breaks down like this among the various generations:

          Greatest Generation (those 65+) 60+%
          Baby Boomers (45-64)                 51%
          Generation X (30-44)                   60%
          Millennials (18-29)                       58%

Maybe pro-life individuals will gain the upper hand as generations join forces and voices.

I've been encouraged looking at the numbers of Gen X'ers and Millennials who are becoming involved in the battle for life . . . among them leaders like Lila Rose, Katie Walker, Abby Johnson, and Ann Cowan, to name a few.


On the other hand, if it takes longer, we can be confident that victory is ours. If we can't turn things around without God's direct intervention, we can be sure He will intervene. He is, after all, the Giver of life and the only one with the right to take life.

"On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,

the sheet that covers all nations:

He will swallow up death forever.

The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces,

he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth.

The LORD has spoken."

~Isaiah 25:7-8

Have you a pro-life victory you'd like to share?

                 

The Promise that God Cares for You

In this day and age, when everyone seems intent on caring for "me, mine, and ours," it's refreshing to see the outpouring of compassionate care toward the victims of the earthquake in Haiti! Still . . . many people around the world, even in our own communities, are suffering and feeling lost and alone. Their plights have not made the news. They think no one cares.

Many, young and old alike, worry about necessities of life and how they will survive in this economy. Jesus addressed these concerns in Matthew 6:25-33 just after telling His followers that they should be more concerned about their heavenly treasures than their earthly ones.

He told them not to worry, that God provides abundantly for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field. He will provide for you. "Are you not much more valuable than they? Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life."


How will God provide for you? 

• Sometimes by miraculously stretching what you do have to cover what you don't, or
  
• Sometimes by providing through the gifts of His people

Whether by miracle or by compassion, every good and perfect gift that we receive is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights" (James 1:17).

He cares!

Have you a story to share that illustrates how God cares for you?

The Promise of Acceptance

Everyone wants to be accepted--no one likes being the fifth wheel or odd-man out. Some people live their whole lives feeling as if they don't belong. Maybe you are one of them.

Well, good news! You do belong. You belong in the family of the King of Kings. Jesus said,

"If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come in and eat with him,

and he with me."
                       ~ Revelation 3:20

Notice He said ANYONE!

So if you're one of those people who feels out-of-place, there's a place of honor for you beside Jesus Christ. Hear His voice and open the door of your heart. You will never be alone again.

The Promise of God's Sovereignty

Move over Allstate! God's people are in Good Hands--the Best Hands!

Yet sometimes, when battered by the storms of life, our faith is tested.

Job had occasion to waiver in his faith. He lost everything--his wealth, his children, his health. Even his grieving wife took one look at his scabrous body and said something like Have you taken a good long look at yourself lately? Why don't you just get it over with--curse God and die.

In response Job said, "You're talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job acknowledged he was in dire straits, but rather than say (as we all do), "Why me?" he basically said, "Why NOT me?"

Good for him! Yet even Job had his moments of doubt. He felt if he could just present his case before God, He'd take pity on him and turn away the evil that oppressed him.

What's wrong with that, you may ask? Only this: Job either forgot, or never reckoned on, God's sovereignty. Meaning? Meaning God can do all things, He knows all things, He is ever present. He didn't need Job to fill Him in on the details of his plight. He didn't need Job's advice on what He needed to do.

It was only after God recounted His mighty acts that Job repented of his faithlessness saying,

"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. . .

My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 

Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." 

~Job 42:2-4

We all get a chance to drink at the trough of tough times. We all can relate to the truth expressed in Job 5:7, "Man is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward." Yet when those times come, we need to rest in this one thing--God is sovereign. Better yet, this sovereign God loves us. Nothing can happen in the life of a believer but what has filtered through His hands.

So be at peace, believer. You're in Good Hands.

Can you describe a time you saw God's sovereignty at work in your life?

The Promise of Overcoming Power

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, a dream that good would overcome evil, that love would overcome hate. This was not a pipe dream, but rather a dream based on the Word of God. Romans 12:21 tells believers not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good.

When Dr. King's house was bombed and his followers were dismayed, this godly civil rights activist urged them not to panic, not to fight back, but rather to turn the other cheek and love their enemies.

Dr. King would have been a champion of civil rights for the unborn. It is in his memory that I re-post this entry from Saturday's Pro-Life Tribe blog <http://Pro-LifeTribe.blogspot.com>

***

This is the week for all pro-life ministries to come together and commemorate the millions of babies whose lives have been lost to abortion. Fifty-one million little ones received no funeral or burial; yet they deserve to be remembered and mourned. Their blood cries out to us as a call to be strong and vigilant, to overcome evil . . . with good.

How do we do that? Keep doing what we're already doing--working within the law to peacefully change the minds and hearts of the public.

Whether you're working for change

• in a pregnancy center, 
• in the political realm,
• on college campuses,
• in the public square,
• at abortion clinics, and even
• in your churches

remember that life is sacred. And the sanctity of human life extends to all, even those who don't yet recognize they're made in the image of God.

Polls show that public sentiment toward abortion is turning. The day is coming when all will be free.


To modify slightly the text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech:

"All of God's children, 

black men and white men, 

Jews and Gentiles, 

Protestants and Catholics, 

born and unborn [italics mine]

will be able to join hands 

and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 

"Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."