Good morning!
Greetings in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
Today is the Lord’s day. Although we might sail through a hardship, toils, worries, concerns, disappointment, and even sleepless stormy nights, we come to Jesus. In Him, we find rest for our souls. This rest is not like those rests that this world can offer, because it comes from the above. The rest from the below is subtly deceiving. It often makes us indulge in the earthly comfort, and being deceived as we were the captain of the ship sailing on a glassy sea. This is the moment that we are most vulnerable to Satan’s attack. Satan, who is really clever and exactly knows about our spiritual state, pumps up our ego and self sufficiency, which is the crafty attack targeting at the very center of our fallen nature. Soon the smoothly sailing sea turns into a stormy one. We are tossed around, and even the deepest part of our heart becomes unsettling. All confidences and our self-sufficiency are quickly evaporated, and worries and sleepless nights find us again. Unfortunately, we tend to continuously search for a way out by connecting dots with our own wisdom and strength, but it fuels ever increasing our worries in us. We become simply trapped in the vicious cycle getting deeper into the storm. Only is Jesus who can rescue us, and calm the storm. Jesus says “Come and Come to me. I will give you rest.” Yes, it is the time to lift up our eyes and see Jesus, who has been waiting for us with open arms even before the storm began. What a true friend and faithful companion! Come to Jesus and receive the rest that only Jesus can give. Learn and experience His gentle and humble heart. No more being deceived by our own self-sufficiency, humbly accept Jesus as our king. Then gladly take the yoke of Jesus, and give all control of the yoke to Him. Our master will gladly hold tight on our yoke to protect us, and take us to a green pasture and besides still waters (Psalm 23). We will have a peace coming from a gentle and humble King.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
The Bible says we are the branches and Jesus is the vine. If we, the branches, are detached from Jesus, the vine, then we cannot survive and soon wither and die because we cannot get nutrients from the vine. However, if we firmly attached to Him, we will get all good spiritual nutrients and nourishments from Him. In His love and cares, our inner person grows stronger, and gets into a deeper relationship with Him. Of course, we are always tempted by Satan — take off His yoke, and make us as own captain of our life. We must resist the sweet voice of Satan. As soon as we are detached from Jesus, we again be a prey to Satan, who is eagerly waiting for us to entice us. Yes, all of us are different. We are firmly attached, and are standing on the solid ground of the faith in Jesus Christ while resisting all temptations from Satan with the power of Jesus Christ.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Jesus renews and strengthens our spirit day by day (2 Cor 4:16), and our life is full fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The power of the Holy Spirit is so great that there is no law to keep from bearing such fruit. Yes, Satan continues enticing us with a sweet voice while attacking on what we treasure most. As soon as Satan’s voice is heard, resist with prayer and rapidly change our focus to Jesus. Hold on tight to Jesus as the branches are firmly attached to the vine. Then the power of Jesus guards our hearts and minds, and we will continue bearing our beautiful fruit of the Spirit. Praise the Lord, who are always faithful to us! His love is stronger than anything else on earth and even in Heaven!
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
Yes, we belong to Jesus, as the branches belong to the vine by being attached. Those who belong to Jesus have already nailed the passions and desires to the cross and crucified on the cross together with Jesus. Therefore, the old self is crucified and died. Then we are transcending the limitation of our old self, and becoming new in Christ, being filled with compassion, love and hope. Then our life glows in His love, shining His light around us. People see the light that separates from the darkness from the light, and can see the glory of God because we are different in Him, by Him and through Him. This light will attract people come to Him. Praise the Lord! Our mortal and sinful body becomes a holy instrument to glorify Him and bring people to Him. This is the power of the Love demonstrated on the Cross. Praise God! He sacrificed His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for us. Praise the Lord, whose mercy and love endures forever! His name will be glorified forever and ever!
Come, come to Jesus, and cast all our burdens and worries. We get rest in Him. We learn from Him who is gentle and humble in heart. Then gladly take His yoke, and remain in Him as branches attached to their vine. Then receive all spiritual nutrients, grow a deeper relationship with God, and bear fruit abundantly for Him. This is the blessing that God wants for us to have all the time. Let’s pray together to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ in every moment and every situation in our lives.