If we are hung up in this world searching for the place of peace, retirement, relaxation in the tropics with no cares, we are only fooling ourselves. This world is in a fallen state. It is deteriorating and corroding (come here if you want to see corrosion.) If you are a child of God, I don’t believe you will ever find peace in this world. You will never find a place you can fully relax and enjoy. I believe God will have you stirred to do. To do things He planned for you long before you were born. Things that bring Him glory and you the fulfillment of following your King and Saviour. The rest we as Christians will experience is a rest in Him no matter what we are physically being challenged with. Our peace is from Him through events that no earthly peace can exist. Our paradise is not found here on the earth, but with Him!

Take courage my brothers and sisters, God does not overburden us. He allows us to find rest, strength, energy and peace while serving Him. Take your burdens to the cross and carry His burdens because they are light.

May our Lord and Savior grant you His peace today.

The Lord revealed something to me by bringing up this verse in my memory and what it means for us who believe and follow him.

John 13  ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

 ⁷Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

 ⁸“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”
      Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

 ⁹“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

 ¹⁰Jesus answered, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean,

 Now go back and read that part of verse 10 again.

Peter wanting to be a part with Jesus did not refuse, but didn’t understand what Jesus was doing. I know the main part of the message we are taught about is His service, He served and we should serve each other as He gave an example of, but that isn’t the point I am getting to. Daily washing or forgiveness! How blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!

If you believe in Him and have received his forgiveness you are clean, BUT we will need our feet cleaned because we are still walking in this world were we get our feet dirty. Each day we get in contact with the world and sin, and each day we need to be cleaned of that. Come to Jesus who will wash your feet because you are already clean!

What a wonderful Lord we serve!

To me many of God’s blessings are like a welcome rain in the barren desert, if you stay in a shelter you will miss out on the life giving waters poured out so freely.  If you were in need of the life giving water would you not run out and abandon all else to quench the thirst?

I don’t limit God’s ways of blessing us, but sometimes I think we can miss out on the obvious. First off we are blessed solely by the salvation that Jesus paid for by His blood, this blessing alone is enough, but why limit God in our lives?  So get out of the sin that keeps you from the blessing, so often we miss out when we are unwilling to walk away from something that does not bless but only keeps us from communing with our Heavenly Father who loves us.

Quite often those who are suffering from depression, can find relief by letting go of the chains of sin that bind. I think most Christians who have walked with the Lord for some time could attest to this in their own lives. Something had kept them down and was held onto at the cost of peace and joy. Repent and enjoy your merciful Father, bask in the rays of His glory! Find yourself running out into the rains of His blessings and thirst no more! Read Psalms and see how David dealt with the turmoil of sin and the joy of repentance. See the walk of the apostles as they walked in the spirit and enjoyed the power of God being shown through their lives.

¹ I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: ² Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. ⁵ But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.  (These verses from Biblegateway.com)

Paul warns Timothy about what will be coming in verse 3. People will not endure sound doctrine. Why? Because it will be hard to accept, we don’t like feeling pain or guilt or displeasure, we want to feel good and not have to admit we are wrong. We want to hear things that make us feel good about ourselves.

I try not to judge even the pastors on TV, but as a follower of Christ we do have to call out those who are wrong – especially if they are doing it in Christ’s name or representing Christ. First if they are also a follower of Christ they should be corrected and set back on the right path, you will find Paul does this on a few occasions once even with Peter who walked with Jesus before Paul ever knew the truth. Secondly, if they are not of Christ we need to proclaim that they are not teaching the true gospel.

One example I have recently ran into was with seeing some of Joel Olsteens show. Not much, but what I did hear him say was true, but I never watched a whole program or sermon. One day I came across a video of him where he had a verse referenced on the screens for his church to read along with and the video was stating it wasn’t even correctly shown, so I even looked up the verse and found that it was re-written to support his sermon that “God helps those who help themselves.”  My first thought was “did anyone there even notice or do they not open up a Bible???!!!”

Many mega-churches with TV broadcasting seem to have very similar teachings. They teach about wealth building, self-promotion, and a God who does not judge. How many people are going to church because it makes them feel good? Why do people even bother going if they don’t want to hear the truth? Those who can stand before thousands and proclaim their fables as God’s truth obviously do not believe in God. How could you believe in God who judges and purposely mis-quote His book? I challenge Joel to read the Bible and teach the truth.

What does this mean? Let’s read a couple of verses from Philippians 3:

18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.

If you have been seeing the news, watching rock stars, movie stars, politicians and the general population to some degree you will see that people are proud of their sins. The sin is what their whole life is about. They march for their sin, try to pass laws to benefit their sin, complain about the medical issues caused by the sin, and basically glory in their sin.

The sin in our lives should be the shame, not the glory!

It is so sad to me to see those who live for a sin. What will the end be? Their sin will be all they had in life and when they meet the Lord that sin will be the ultimate shame for them. No longer will they glory in that sin. Our God has so much more for us even while we are living here on earth. We can experience joy, peace, love, hope and more while living for Him.

What should we do then? Not too much further in the next passage of scripture we read this:

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

We should focus on the Lord and all that He has. Basically I read those verses as a description of God through Christ Jesus.

Be blessed.