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Blessed Quiet For Your Soul
Andrea Lende • July 19, 2020
Matthew 11:28-29
Blessed Quiet For Your Soul
You can also listen to the meditation and prayer at: https://anchor.fm/andrea-lende/episodes/Blessed-Quiet-For-Your-Soul-egvfmf
Daily Word:
Matthew 11:28-29
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]”
“Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls.”
The Lord always brings me to the perfect reading in His Word as I have need.
I have read the verses today time and time again.
And, yet, every time I read them, they mean more and more and are the perfect Word in due season.
Jesus calls us to come to Him.
He calls the tired, overburdened, and overworked.
He says that He will give us rest.
He will rest our minds and brings peace to our souls, which in turn, relieves stress from our bodies.
I love the Amplified Bible’s definition of the kind of rest Jesus offers.
“[I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]”
If we allow the Lord to help us in this difficult time, He will, indeed, ease our minds and refresh our souls.
His words and His promises are ready for us to partake of.
He also says that He is gentle and humble.
The Amplified definition of these words is meek and lowly.
Jesus is not complicated.
His Kingship is not one of pride, vanity, and materialistic things as so many are.
His Kingship is one of peace, care, and love.
He says, “Take my yoke upon you”.
Imagine the yoke that bind two oxen together.
And then imagine being bound together with Jesus.
He is beside us and lifting the load for us.
He also tells us to learn about Him.
The more I learn about Him, the more I love Him.
I am able to let Him help me.
As I allow Him to help me, the more I trust Him.
As I trust Him more, I learn that He will carry my burdens and take care of me and all that I need.
My soul can then rest in Him.
The Amplified Bible defines rest in this last verse of our reading as, “relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet”.
As I come to the Lord each day with my burdens, He replaces them with “relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet”
if I allow Him to.
Today I choose to give my burdens to the Lord and allow Him to fill my soul with His peace, rest, and blessed quiet.
May you find His mercy ready to bring peace, rest, and blessed quiet to your soul.
Daily Prayer:
O Lord, my God, thank You for replacing my burdens, trials, and worries with Your peace, rest, and blessed quiet. Thank You for quieting my soul as it spins out of control with the worries of this day and the days ahead. Help me stay in a place of peace, Lord. Keep the burdens from overtaking my mind and the chaos from ruling my life. I desire peace. I desire rest. Your Word says that as I learn of You and take Your yoke upon me that I will find quiet for my soul. Thank You, Lord, for this gift. Help me receive it wholly and completely. Help me rest in You and stay in Your rest. Help me not take back the burdens that I place at Your feet. Keep my eyes on You as I move through this day. Lead and guide me in all that I do and keep my heart at peace. Help me serve with joy and give to those around me, Father. Help me do all that You have for me to do today and do the best that I can do in service to You. Strengthen me in every way, Lord, so that I do not waiver. Help me bless someone this day. Thank You for hearing my prayer.
Answer: My peace is yours, My child, and I will ease your burdens.
Response: Thank You, most gracious and merciful Lord.
We start a New Year! How exciting! Paul had just finished telling the Ephesians to put off their old nature. They had been run around by their feelings and desires. He told them to be renewed in their spirit. The Amplified Bible defines this to be “having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude.” As we say goodbye to this year, let us put on the new and leave the old behind. We have an opportunity to reflect on what to bring forward into this New Year.
This is a great message for the New Year. We can be in control of our own words. As a mother, I used to tell my children to use their words to explain what was happening in their minds. I tried to help them find the right words. Words that would help the situation and not make it worse. I must do the same thing when talking to them. It’s important to use words that do not damage their spirits. Words that lift up instead of tear down. Even though my children have grown, I still want to be careful how I speak to them because my worlds will impact them for the rest of their lives.
As we approach the New Year, it is a perfect time to take inventory of what part of our lives, our hearts, and our souls are not bearing fruit. What can we give up as this year comes to a close? What do we need to give to the Lord for His cleansing and pruning? The answers to these questions take time. Time with the Lord. We are creatures of routines and habits which serve us well. But we can also change our routines and habits to serve us and the Lord better. So, we can ask God to show us what He wants us to give up so that He can have more of us.
I cannot think of a better verse to meditate on as we approach the New Year. Jesus said, "the kingdom of God is within you [in your hearts] and among you [surrounding you]." For so many years I believed I had to wait to go to heaven to experience the kingdom of God. I have longed to step into heaven and meet the Lord and His Son. However, as we read the Gospels and study Jesus and all that He said, we begin to understand the kingdom of God is all around us. The kingdom of God is within.
Paul wrote to the Colossians and told them he was praying for them. He prayed they would be refreshed, renewed, and invigorated. He also prayed they would be strengthened. May his prayer be heard by the Lord God Almighty on our behalf today just as it was received two thousand years ago. God is the Source of all things beautiful and wonderful. There is no shortage of renewal, refreshment, or inspiration in His kingdom. And as the Creator of this universe, He continues to pour all good things into His people. Paul wrote that refreshment and strength are needed so we may have endurance.
This verse is the perfect verse to reflect on as Christmas comes to a close. The Lord sent His Son to us. He sent Him to this world as a babe. Jesus was given the task of growing up. A difficult one for all of us. He endured the awkward stages we all go through as we grow past them. I look back at old picture and cringe, yes, I cringe. This life provides plenty of opportunities to feel awkward and just plain weird, but our Father loves us as though we are perfect every day of our lives. This is why Jesus came. He came to make us perfect in God’s sight.
God made Himself flesh so He could take away the sins of the world. The story of the very first Christmas was humble, yet the most powerful and loving birth ever recorded in history. All humanity changed in an instant. When Jesus was born, love filled the earth. Love came down and lifted us up. The angels came to tell the shepherds of this beautiful birth. The stars in the heavens also told the story. As we do all tasks that we do to ensure a beautiful Christmas day, may we remember the miracle that God sent long ago. The miracle of all miracles.
The first Christmas was going to be documented, so that it could be read many times over for all Christmas’ to come. It was also documented so the prophecy of the Messiah’s birth would be known to be fulfilled. Prophets of old foretold Jesus would come from the house of David. They also prophesied that He would be born in Bethlehem. And all this came to pass. Even though Jesus would be known as a Nazarene, His beginning began in Bethlehem. God’s divine plan was set in motion with the first census while Mary was at the end of her pregnancy.
What a wonderful passage to read during Christmas week. Our passage touched my heart as I read it through the lens of Jesus’ birth. “It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself.” We have so much to be thankful for in these few short words, “restoring the world to favor with Himself.” So undeserved and yet so graciously given. We are offered favor with the Lord. Imagine having favor with the almighty God, the Creator of the universe. Jesus chose to leave heaven’s door where all was perfect. He chose to be born into this dusty messy world.
Jesus had just spoken to a fig tree and deemed it unworthy to live because it had no fruit on it. His disciples were amazed when they saw the fig tree wither and die. Then the Lord talked to them about prayer and belief. He told them that whatever they asked for, if they had the faith and belief, they would receive it. I remember the day I started hearing music and lyrics. I had just bowed my head at the piano and asked if the Lord would bless praise and worship music. As soon as I prayed that prayer, the Lord bestowed the gift of song writing upon me.