Where Is Your Focus

                                                     When The Door Slams

So Peter, turned around, saw the disciple Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays You? Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, "But Lord, what about this man?"                                                                             John 21:20-21    

        The first thing you do after God speaks to you is critical. Jesus was telling Peter what type of ministry he would have and what type of death he would suffer (John 21: 18-19). It was a sacred moment in Peter's life, as his Lord pulled back the curtain to his future. His was not to be an easy life, but a life ordained and blessed by his Lord and Master.

        Rather than responding to what Jesus told him, Peter looked around at his fellow disciples. His glance fell upon John, the disciple whom Jesus loved. "But, Lord, what about this man?" Peter asked. Peter had just been given the somber news of his future death. How natural to compare his assignment with that of the others!

        This is the great temptation of God's servants: to compare our situation with that of others. Did God give my friend a larger house? Did God heal my friend's loved one and not mine? Did God allow my friend to receive appreciation and praise for his work while I remain anonymous? Did God allow another Christian to remain close to her family while I am far removed from mine?

        Jesus assigned Peter and John to walk two different paths, but both Peter and John have enriched our lives. Jesus knew how dangerous it is when a servant takes his eyes off the master to focus on a fellow servant. Where is your focus? Have you become more concerned with how God is treating someone else than you are with how He is relating to you?    

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                                    Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                                            Never Rest Ministries            

God Answers Us In Various Ways

                                                       When The Door Slams

And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is Your will, remove this cup from Me; Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done." Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.           Luke 22:41-43 

        God answers our requests in various ways. He can say yes, no. or grow, depending on the request, the circumstances, and how it fits in His overall plan. When God chooses to answer yes, most of us are overjoyed. However if He chooses to say no or grow, our reaction may be quite different. It is easy to interpret a no response as He does not really care or maybe He didn't really understand what I asked for.

    In this passage, Jesus asked if He could forego having to drink the cup of death and be placed on the cross. God's answer to His Son was no. God the Father knew Jesus had to die to take our place, so we wouldn't have to pay for our own failures and sins.

    However, notice the next verse. When God said no, He sent an angel to strengthen Jesus. When God says no, He has a reason, but He also desires to be supportive. 

        Think about this: The angels God sends to us often come in the from of another person who can help to sustain us. "Angels can be found in a Christian Twelve Step group, in therapy or support groups. Sometimes the "angel" is a family member or close friend. Sometimes it is also our guardian angel. 

May God grant me the serenity and courage not to fear His answer to my prayers but help me to grow when confronted with a "no."        

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                                             Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                               Never Rest Ministries

Joy and Peace of Mind form the Holy Spirit

                                                     When The Door Slams

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.                              Revelation 22:18-19

        Revelation contrasts the serenity and blessings of believers to the severe plagues and pain that will come to those who refuse to accept Christ. There is also a final warning to all people not to mess with God's Word. 

       Think about this: The Bible is under attack in our world, even by very "religious" people. Some discredit it completely, but others are more subtle. Does your own pastor believe in the inerrancy and inspiration of the Bible? Even seminaries often belittle God's Word. Cults crop up every day. Manipulative men want to control others' minds. Some claim to have written new books to the Bible. They take advantage of the naïve.

        God's Word is complete. It is God's inspired love letter to us. It guides us to recovery from our negative tendencies, sins, and addictions. It teaches us to reach out to God and our peers. It teaches us our significance and promises a glorious future. It is God's completed gift and our personal path to joy and peace. May God grant us the serenity that comes from trusting His Word and not being fooled by those who would discredit it or add to it. 

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin                                  Acknowledge these to the Lord and Thank Him for His forgiveness.

                                                                                                                Never Rest Ministries         

Unreasonable Failure and Badness

                                                     When the Door Slams 

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.                                          If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.                                                                            1 John 1:8-9

        The truth is that we are both good and bad. Our friends have outstanding strengths that attract us, but they also disappoint us at times. We are created in God's image and have talents and abilities, but we also let ourselves down when we fail. None of us are all good or all bad. True wisdom comes from accepting that we are both good and bad. 

        This remind me of a story about a person after trying to build an image that he was all good. He could not tolerate the idea of having any weakness or failure. He pressured himself to always be perfect. For this "all or nothing" thinking set him up far a fall. And like Humpty Dumpty in the nursery rhyme, the fall came. 

        He felt absolutely helpless and hopeless. He not only saw how he had failed, he now felt like a total failure. He was deceived by denying the truth and believing his own lies. The simple believes every word, But the prudent man considers well his steps. A wise man fears and departs from evil, But a fool rages and is self-confident. He who is quick-tempered acts foolishly, And a man of wicked intentions is hated. Proverbs 14:15-17. 

        His perfectionistic tendencies and inability to tolerated weakness, failure, and "badness" both in himself and others finally brought him to the hopeless point of completely mad: insane, crazy or just deranged. We all know someone like this.

        Think about this: We can admit we are unreasonable, foolish or just dump, because God has a solution for that. Our failures can be forgiven and we can go on to face life. We don't have to pretend to be all good, or have all the answers. We can be real and allow the Lord to heal. Thank You Lord Jesus, that you accept me the way I am, so I don't have to pretend to be something or someone I am not.  

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin. Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank him for his forgiveness.                          Never Rest Ministries

              

His grace, His Mercy, His peace.

                                                     When The Door Slams 

To Timothy, my true son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace                                                              from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.                             1 Timothy 1:2 

        How you pray for your family members, friends and neighbor is important. There is no better way to pray for someone you love than by following the example found in Scripture. Paul often asked for specific gifts from God for those he cared about . On Timothy's behalf, Paul requested grace, mercy, and peace.

        Grace is the unearned gifts the Father God bestows on His children. The Lord relates to us only by His grace. His grace provides salvation though we deserved destruction (Eph. 2:8). His grace blesses us with the riches of heaven. His grace brings us peace in troublesome times. His grace brings us good things every day (1 Tim. 1:14).  

        Mercy is God withholding the punishment we deserve because of our sinfulness. The consequences of our sin is death, yet Jesus paid this penalty for us (Rom. 6:23). God is long-suffering and will delay giving us our just punishment in order for us to have every opportunity to repent and to receive His gift of salvation (2 Pet. 3:9).

        Peace is the state of mind and heart we experience when we are confident of God's grace and mercy toward us. Peace comes in knowing that God's grace will sustain us, even in our most difficult crises  (Phil. 4:7). God assures us that even when we fail miserably in our commitments to Him, He will show mercy upon us. This assurance gives us peace.

        The peace God gives is fundamentally different from the peace the world offers (John 14:27). The world seeks to sedate us from the problems we face through counseling or drugs or temporary pleasures. The peace that God gives goes right to the soul, relieving the heart and mind.

        How are you praying for your loved ones? There could be no better request than asking the Lord to give them abundance of His grace, His mercy, and His peace.

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                                    Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.                                                                                                                                                              Never Rest Ministries  

    

New Years Resolutions

                                                      When The Door Slams

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of Jonah do you love Me more then these?" He said to Him, "Yes Lord; You know that I love You." He said to him, "Feed My lambs."                                                                                                    John 21:15

        Jesus has a wonderful way of restoring us when we fail Him! He does not humiliate us. He does not criticize us. He does not ask us to make a resolution to try harder. Rather, He takes us aside and asks us to reaffirm our love for Him.

        Peter miserably failed his Lord when he fled with the other disciples from the Garden of Gethsemane. Later, he publicly denied that he even knew Jesus. Peter must have wondered if he had been capable of being Jesus' disciple when he was unfaithful to Jesus in His most crucial hour.

        Think about this: As you begin a new year, you may be painfully aware that you have failed your Lord in many ways. Perhaps you were not faithful. Perhaps you disobeyed His word to you. Perhaps you denied Him by the way you lived. Jesus will take you aside, as He did Peter. He will not berate you. He will not humiliate you. He will ask you to examine your love for Him. He asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" 

        If your answer, like Peter's is "Yes, Lord," He will reaffirm His will for you. If you truly love Jesus, you will obey Him (John 14::15). Jesus does not need your resolutions, your recommitments, or your promises to try harder this year. If your resolve to obey God last year did not help you to be faithful, it will not make you successful this year. Jesus asks for your love. If you truly love Jesus, your service for Him in the new year will be of the quality that He desires 

        I have not been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. I do not consider myself yet to have attained it, but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and stretching forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Ask the Spirit to search your heart and reveal any areas of unconfessed sin.                                    Acknowledge these to the Lord and thank Him for His forgiveness.                                                                                                                                                    Never Rest Ministries