Showing posts with label burdens. Show all posts

Happy Thanksgiving from the CAST Team!

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

I Thessalonians 5:16

Beautiful Flower Pendant by ZudaGay

The verse above is not just something nice to do. It's a command.

In the United States we set aside this day to give thanks, but for many it also heralds in a season of sadness and pain. For those who are suffering sadness, hurt, heartaches, burdens and grief, remember that God wants better for you. He commands better for you and of you. The Creator of the Universe, the Great Healer, can change your grief to joy. He has given you permission to rejoice ALWAYS.

Unleash Joy Word Block by CROSSyourHEARTau

by Sue of SueRunyonDesigns

7:00 AM | Category: burdens, heartach, joyfulhandknits, pain, prayer, rejoice, suffering, thanksgiving | 10 comments

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, 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)

Matthew is my favorite Gospel....

The well known composer Georg Friedrich Handel put these word's so beautiful, beautiful to music and I will be singing them soon in early December, when we perform the "Messiah" composed by him.

Like the heavy, smoky air from the wildfires in Florida that have engulfed some of us this past summer, I feel there is a weariness that is cast over our world. I can feel it. Perhaps you can feel this weariness too. We are a people who are weary from our declining economy and inclining cost of living. We are weary of increasing demands on our time and attention and decreasing availability of resources to meet those demands.

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My church is supposed to be a place of refuge. The sanctuary of God is supposed to be a place where, each week, I can come and be filled to overflowing instead of drained dry – where I can be reassured of God’s life-giving presence instead of feeling like I am dying a slow death from the enormous, life-stealing burdens I carry day to day.

And yet, the church is sometimes just another repository for the weariness that I bring into it. It affects us all. And it drags all of us down. It can engulf us in as real a way as the pressures of the world around us. Jesus has a response to this weariness. He says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
There is no qualifying of who may come. No one is left out of Jesus’ invitation. If you are weary, Jesus is calling.
If you are carrying heavy burdens and can’t carry them anymore, Jesus is calling.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80160773/sound-asleep-5x7-scripture-print

If you need rest, Jesus is calling.
God had our weariness in mind when he rested on the seventh day of creation and gave us Sabbath rest. Jesus had our weariness on his mind when he invited all who are weary to come to him and find rest.

But, there is another element of God’s Word that is part of this passage; that we take Jesus’ yoke upon ourselves and learn from him. I understand this as a reminder that responding to Jesus’ invitation to come to him, means that I will find myself in the nearness of his presence. So near, in fact, that I can take the yoke he offers and place it on myself.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/84801034/bible-verse-pendant-my-yoke-is-easy-and

In the Bible, a yoke is a symbol of belonging, of obedience, of service. Jesus offers me rest from my weariness, but he also offers me a place of belonging in his kingdom. Belonging in the kingdom means caring for one another and caring for your/my church.

This time of the year, I will try to find rest from my weariness. Find rest on vacation – time off – time away.
I will receive rest from Jesus.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75731163/wordz-from-the-heart-snippet-ornament

Once rested and renewed, I devote myself to caring for the world, my neighbors, my friends and family, and my church.
Receive the yoke of belonging from him also – the yoke of obedience and service.

I am with you finding rest for my soul and praying you will find the same.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/27435789/8x10-original-sepia-photograph-of

http://www.etsy.com/listing/78894662/soul-word-block

Spread the WORD....

Until next Monday, find your rest...in Jesus

Monika of Myeuropeantouch

7:21 PM | Category: burdens, come to Jesus, heavy heart, Rest, weary, yoke | 15 comments

Easy Burdens

Flower design pillow box by NewCreationsNZ

By Phyllis Ducey of pftoriginalartworks

"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 (NIV)

I love this verse and it is especially meaningful to me right now as I struggle with some of my personal burdens. Christ is so loving that He gave us word pictures that each generation could comprehend the meaning of what He said. With them we don’t always have to be stressed as to the derivative of each word. But we do need sometimes to take ourselves back into the world where He walked the earth to understand fully.

The reference to the yoke back then was so commonplace everyone understood its meaning. You would harness oxen to a yoke.It was like a curved wooden bar in front of them that they would lean against to pull a cart or plow. Behind the oxen was another wooden piece that was straighter and had wooden prongs poking out - that was the goad. If one ox slowed down, it would be goaded making him uncomfortable and giving the ox incentive to move faster.

Everyone knew the importance of properly pairing up the oxen. They needed to be similar in size and in stride because if they weren’t, one ox may pull forward on the yoke, take all the weight of the load and wear itself out faster while the other would be jerking as it hit the goad. The loads were not meant for one ox to carry the weight and become exhausted. It was meant for the weight to be distributed, making each one’s load lighter.

I find that when I start pulling ahead, taking the full burden on myself I am exhausted… mentally, physically and spiritually. What a stubborn ox I can be! Jesus says to take up His yoke. Imagine it, yoked together with Christ carrying our burdens. It is interesting He does not promise to take them away but does say if we yoke with Him that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. How comforting knowing that if we choose to walk with Him, match His stride for us, we will find rest for our souls!

Rest for our souls… worth repeating, isn’t it? As you know I try to link this blog post with some of our wonderful crafters. I could not find anyone with oxen… not really a surprise .But since it is about our burdens here are some items that can help us carry things.