2003 Devotion 5

{WELCOME}
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Matthew 11:28-29
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Matthew 24:6a
"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled:"

John 14:1-3
"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

II Corinthians 7:5-7
"For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more."

John 12:27
"Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour."

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I'll never forget December 16, 1962. When I came home from highschool my mother met me at the door and told me to sit down because she had some bad news. She told me one of my best friends had gone down in her father's private plane somewhere over the Bermuda Triangle. The plane had crashed into the Atlantic and the authorities were still searching for two of the bodies. There were no survivors. Mary Ann Burgess, her father, mother, grandmother and cousin all died in the crash. I was devastated. Less than ten months later, on Thursday afternoon, October 3, 1963, I came home one evening and, she once again met me at the door. She said, "Did you hear?" I answered, "Did I hear what." She told me to sit down; I was filled with a sense of dread. Then she told me President Kennedy had been assassinated. At first I didn't believe her, then she turned on the TV and I saw it for myself. At that time I thought things could not possibly get worse than this. I was wrong. Since then, I have lost my only brother (to cancer), all my grandparents, my father, my mother, five aunts and uncles and another best friend. I have seen America go to war several times, I have watched as buildings full of people were blown up or crashed into by terrorists. I've watched as we allowed the atheists take God and prayer out of our schools and I've cried as our children carried guns to school and shot their classmates and teachers. And I bow my head in shame as I watch our government take the Ten Commandments out of our public buildings and our people stop saluting our flag for fear of offending someone. And each time I have cried out to God, "What next? What could possibly be worse than this?"

What do we do when these devastating things come to pass. Where do we go? How do we cope with the turmoil all around us. It seems there is trouble everywhere I look today. Every night when I sit down at ten to watch the news, there is something terrible going on somewhere in the world. But in the midst of all this trouble, we can find peace. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28 that when we are heavy laden, burdened down with the cares of this world, we should just go to Him. He said He would give us rest from our burdens. Jesus did not mean we would receive physical rest but rest for our souls. When we are worried about all that is going on around us, our souls are troubled. Even Jesus' soul was troubled at the thought of dying. You see, it is only human to have a troubled spirit, a soul that is burdened, when we hear of all the strife and violence that is going on in the world. But, we don't have to be upset by the wars, the acts of terrorism, children shooting their school mates and destruction in space. There have always been evil men like Saddam Hussein and Ossama Bin Laden trying to crush Christianity and Democracy; when we kill them, there are always more to take their place. So, what do we do in the face of all the terror going on in our world today?

We take Jesus at His word! We go to Him. If we take the yoke of Christ - pull for His Kingdom - read, study and pray to learn of Him, we can lay down in peace at night, trusting the world we live in to His care. If you are heavy laden, if you are laboring or working for God, then your soul can have rest. Matthew 24:6 says not to be troubled at wars and rumors of war. In John 14:1-3 Jesus said He has gone to prepare a place for us. He is even now making a beautiful place ready for us to go and be where He is! (What an awesome thought!) He wants us to come to Him, bringing our troubled souls so he can comfort us!

In II Corinthians 7, Paul said when they had come into Macedonia they "were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears." Then he said something that I had never really thought about before. Oh, I have read this verse a hundred times, but I didn't get this thought from it until recently. He said, "Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus." God comforted the disciples through Titus, and not only through Titus but by others from the church at Corinth. God uses people to comfort other people! When my mother died last year, my soul was heavy. But, I had many friends and relatives around me who comforted me. God used these people to give rest to my soul! We should allow God to use us to comfort others, too. When you know someone is suffering, their heart and soul are burdened down with care, allow God to use you to comfort that person by sending them a card, calling them and telling them you are thinking about them or even visiting if you can! And if they do not have God in their life, invite them to learn of Him. Tell them of the wonderful rest He has given you!

So if your heart is heavy and your soul burdened down from all the wars and strife in the world, come to Jesus, learn of Him, He will give rest to your troubled soul. He has gone to prepare us a beautiful place so we can go to live with Him. Everything in this world is going to pass away some day. No one knows how or when but I'll be surprised if it lasts very much longer! As wicked as man has become, I'm surprised it hasn't already come about! But, if we have Jesus, He will receive us to Himself and we can be with Him forever in paradise.

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COME UNTO ME

Hear the blessed Savior calling the oppressed,
"O ye heavy laden, come to Me and rest;
Come, no longer tarry, I your load will bear,
Bring Me every burden, bring Me every care."

Are you disappointed, wandering here and there,
Dragging chains of doubt and loaded down with care?
Do unholy feelings struggle in your breast?
Bring your case to Jesus, He will give you rest.

Have you by temptation often conquered been,
Has a sense of weakness brought distress within?
Christ will sanctify you, if you'll claim His best,
In the Holy Spirit, He will give you rest!

Come unto Me;
I will give you rest;
Take My yoke upon you,
Hear Me and be blest;
I am meek and lowly,
Come and trust My might;
Come, My yoke is easy,
And My burden's light.