exchange burdens for blessings

Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”

Powerful words read often. Shouted and shared in many places and in many ways through the years. Since I became a Christian this truth has been a great reminded, and that is why I give it back to you today. God is for each of us.

SAFE PLACE — God offers safety to His children. We are God’s kids! And because His we know that we are made by Him and saved by Him. He offers shelter, warmth, safety and peace. When people live in without those things, there is no safety. They constantly live in a mess and with trouble. They live in fear.

Faith replaces fear when God is in your life. The first concept of these verses says “come to me”. Come to God because He is our safe place.

BURDENS — We all have burdens, some bigger than others. Daily we deal with them, but what are we going to do with our burdens? By ourselves we will fail. With God’s help we win. With God’s help burdens become blessings in time.

God says that our burdens are His and not ours. Exchange ours burdens for His blessings. When we worry less, we will trust Him more.

TEACH US — There are many more truths to these verses. Like the disciples learned from Jesus, we learn from Him. We learn to deal with our struggles. We learn to rest instead of being stressed. His burdens are light.

With God our lives are different. Our passion will be different. Our path with be different. Our purpose will become evident.

But those things aren’t true until we come to God. Then we will not know His best for our lives. This this … bring your burdens to God and exchange them for His blessings!

Catalyst ticket arrived

My ticket to the Catalyst Conference, in Atlanta Oct 8-10, just arrived. I'm excited!

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you ...

wash feet, sharing hope

John 13:4-5,14 NLT So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him… 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. Jesus set the example we follow. He served. He valued and gave value to others. That is why we choose to serve. For 18 years our church has shared an outreach called back2school, and for 16 of those years we have chosen to give students brand new shoes and socks as well as washing their feet. It is one of the most important parts of this event. Washing feet is a humbling experience where both the give and the receiver learn how to share some moments that might change their lives. Jesus said we should do this. See the verse above. Follow His example, do what He did, and give far more than you will ever know....

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

Search This Blog