Soul Kitchen

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.) Matthew 11:28

Every year for as long as I can remember, the weeks leading up to Christmas have been crazy busy at work, not to mention trying to squeeze some personal time in to shop for gifts/ presents and attend various Christmas parties/functions.  Jesus gave us all such a wonderful model of what it is like to truly “rest.”  If you read the New Testament, Jesus typically went to spend time in solitude with the Lord after preaching, teaching, or performing miracles…

You see, we can be involved in inward activity as much as we are involved in outward activities.  God wants us to not only enter into His rest for our bodies, but our souls as well.  I am a believer that finding rest for my soul means “unplugging” and finding freedom from mental activities too.  Furthermore, it means submitting to God and not trying to figure out what I should do about every aspect of my life as I simply can’t keep trying to come up with answers I just don’t have.

At the end of each day, experience rest and peace for your soul by going to Christ and allowing Him to relive and refresh you from the inside out!  What an awesome privilege we have!!  

The Real Me

I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in the right path.  Proverbs 4:11

I have been pondering something recently-if our view of God is shaped by our circumstances.  If they are going well, do we have a positive outlook as it pertains to God?  What about  if things are going badly? Do we think negatively about God?

God sees the totality of our lives.  He knows us better than anyone-inside and out.  He knows our thoughts, feelings, our past, present and futures.  God sees the whole of who we are, what we are called to do and what circumstances we are facing at this very moment.

The more we see our lives from God’s perspective and not our limited understanding, the stronger our ability to discern the right way to go.  There is no one better qualified than God to guide our lives and lead us down the right paths.

No Compassion

Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble.  Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as the noon.  Isaiah 58:10

The Christmas season, in particular, presents many opportunities to help out those who are less fortunate or in need.  I am at a point in my life where I honestly have everything that I could possibly want or need and feel compassion for those who are really hurting or in need.

God promises that those who help the poor will be rewarded, both in this life and the next. God has compassion for the poor and the needy, so as followers of God, we too must also be compassionate for them.

Compassion means more than just giving some money and hoping that people are taken care of.  I honestly believe it means giving more of yourself-volunteering and taking the time to take care of people who are in need; our brothers and sisters. 

Helping those less fortunate is not an obligation, but a great joy!!

Watcher Of The Skies

We have a priceless inheritance-an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  1 Peter 1:4

As we decorate our home for Christmas, there are certain traditions that we like to keep in the Fisher household.  Alicia and I both have always purchased a fresh Christmas tree.  We both enjoy the smell of fresh Fraser Fir that fills our home with its sweet aroma.  Last Christmas, we batted around the idea of purchasing a pre-lit tree and eventually broke down and went with a plastic tree.  This change was very difficult for us as last Christmas was the first time in my lifetime that we did not have fresh tree in our home. Of course, the sadness sank in as we simply went to our attic and brought our tree down and re-assembled it for Christmas this year.

One thing that is certain is that things do inevitably change.  Some are for the better and some for the worse.  You can rest assured knowing that God and His Word NEVER change.

This gives us the assurance that every one of his promises will come true, including eternal life with Him in heaven.  There nothing will ever change for the worse.  Trust God's Word today and live with confidence to face today!

Hurt

So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.  2 Corinthians 4:18

It's hard to not be troubled by all that's going on in the world today.  Mounting tension growing in the Middle East, the economy still in dire straits, the number of foreclosures continue to grow every day, and our country's political system is full of corruption. 

Regardless, God promises us that the troubles looming in front of us will not last forever.  Our goal should be to shift our focus away from the trouble we now see and look instead to the things that will last forever-God's love, his gift of salvation, his care for us, and eternity in heaven with him.

When we live with a heavenly perspective, it puts the hurt and troubles we experience in this world in their proper place-temporary and we know they won't last.

We can live with confidence despite our struggles today knowing that God promises each of us a world where there is no more hurt or pain.

Joyful

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.  Psalm 30:5

I have done some soul searching lately and have pondered whether my happiness depends on everything in my life being just right.  Based on my present circumstances, and the reality of everything not going my way, I’d say that my happiness sometimes does depend on everything being ‘just right.’  If everything went my way, the children would always do what I asked them to do on the first time, my wife and I would never have disagreements,  I would close every sale that I pursued at work, and my Auburn Tigers would be National Champions every season.

We all experience times in our lives that we feel down, but we cannot let our circumstances control our emotions.  The enemy is a discourager and will stop at nothing to fill our minds with negative thoughts and emotions, but Jesus is our encourager and is always there to lift us up.  He came to give us all love, peace, righteousness, and joy-all the things that help lift our spirits up!

We all feel sad or down at times, but those feelings are only temporary because joy comes from above and makes everything better!

Seven Nation Army

In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall.  2 Samuel 22:30

We have all found ourselves there before...the 34 point underdog, the unqualified, not good enough, etc...every day brings a new challenge. While we may not be leading a nation or running a large corporation, we can still face difficult situations, difficult people, and temptations.

I have stated this before and still believe that challenges are good as they prevent me from becoming too comfortable in my faith.  In fact, I see challenges as opportunities to move into uncharted waters.

Without God's lead, challenges would be frightening, but with God it is always a great adventure.  No matter what difficulties you are facing, be sure to do it with God by your side!