1.30.19 RECAP

Good Morning Beautiful Sisters, Praising Jesus this morning!!! My cup is SO full! His grace flowed like silk through our hearts, healing deep wounds and restoring and renewing our souls. The Holy Spirit knew exactly what each of us needed and delivered above and beyond what we could ask or think. Proverbs 4:22 tells that God’s Word is life to ALL who find it and health to all their flesh. Boy oh boy did we experience the truth of that promise! God’s divine Word was spoken to us, over us, and ran through us. We threw our cares to Christ and are praising Him for His promises. We turned our worry into worship and our problems into praise!

We were blessed and so thankful to have some beautiful new ladies join us last night. Tracie Crews, a friend of Rebecca Conlon, is a property manager with two sons. Nyle Nwainokpor and Grace German are seniors at Grace Christian School and were invited by our sweet Katherine Tharrington.

I am in awe of how God is sending His warriors to our study. This is the Benjamin generation and God is preparing and equipping us for our destinies. I believe we’re in the generation that will see the return of our Savior. These are exciting times sisters! How blessed we are to be chosen!

For those who could not be with us last night we missed you and covered you with an abundance of God’s grace, love and prayer.

We started our night with prayer and Psalm 71. My intention was to read a devotion I had written but the Lord had other plans. Proverbs 16:9 says, “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.” His way is always better! A friend sent me this Psalm yesterday morning and the Lord prompted me to share it with you. Please read it and meditate on it this week. It will provide great comfort and sustenance for your soul.

We then plunged into Chapter 4 entitled, “What is a Healthy Soul”.

Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt overwhelmed by the things of this world? Where life seemed so hard and no matter what you did, things just wouldn’t go right? If you have, then join the club with every other Christian on this planet. We all go through periods like that, and they are times of learning and testing that allow you to grow stronger in Christ. What is a healthy soul? A healthy soul is at rest. It is not emotionally distraught. It doesn’t worry or become anxious. It is not filled with guilt, shame, unforgiveness, anger or bitterness. It has found its home in Christ and trusts Him to take care of all of its concerns. The wonderful truth is that you can have JOY in the midst of your problems. You don’t have to wait for the storm to pass. Jesus gives you a supernatural rest that only He can give. When we are at complete rest in our mind, will, and emotions, we are free from the tyranny of circumstances and people that upset us. This is true freedom. Our part is to keep pressing forward and not give up. God promises in Philippians 1:6 that He will complete the good work He begins in us. Little by little, our soul finds rest in God. To learn how to rest in God takes time and it is a process. It’s like an onion. You peel through a layer and think that you have made it and learned what God’s rest is, only to find there is another layer for you to discover, learn, and enjoy. It’s a lifelong journey that only gets better and better if you let it.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says: "Come to Me, all you who labour 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.”

Let’s take a look at this Scripture.

The first thing that Jesus says to us is, “Come to Me…” We are allowed to come to God personally; there is nothing between Him and us.

Second, He is inviting us to come. God wants you, in fact, He wants you so much that Jesus died on the Cross just to prove it. Jesus didn’t have to come to this earth and die, but God’s love is so great, and He wanted us so much, that He chose to come.

Let that sink in for a few minutes. Take a moment to consider that. YOU ARE LOVED.

Third, God lets us know who needs rest: it is those who labour and are burdened, but what does that mean? In this context, those who labour means those who are striving to do it all on their own and failing.

I know that in my life, when I try to do everything with my own strength alone, it does not turn out well. When you are heavy-laden, it is like your spirit, mind, will, and emotions can’t function because there is this weight on you that you try to lift by yourself. It causes you to feel down, depressed, anxious, all those negative things that we do not want in life.

So what does God say when we are weary? He will give us rest, and the best thing is, He even tells us how: by taking His yoke upon us and learning from Him. What is this yoke? Rest for your soul (your mind, will, and emotions). So what are some of the things that God give us rest from?

1. Fear

We do not have to be afraid of anything in this world because God is with us and supernaturally protects us. Have you ever come so close to having a car accident and you were sure that it was going to happen, but the at the last moment it didn’t? That is God keeping you safe.

2. Hopelessness

In Jeremiah 29:11, God says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” God has good plans for your life, and you can rest knowing that no matter what your life is like now, if you trust God, it will get better.

3. Addictions

We all start out thinking that we will always be able to control that sin we are about to commit, whether it be alcohol, smoking, drugs, or pornography; and for a while, you can. Eventually, the addiction has you in its grasp and it now controls you. God wants to set you free and give you rest from the torture you are under. In Isaiah 58:6, we are told, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness,to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”

God can take that addiction and crush it in your life if you let Him. For some people, it will be instant, and for others, it will be a process as God heals your heart of the things that caused the addiction in the first place. Start speaking today, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ.” Those words contain God’s power and will begin to heal your wounded heart.

4. Depression

Depression is anger turned inward. It robs you of the ability to enjoy life and not only hurts you mentally, but physically as well. That is not God’s will for your life and you were not created that way. God wants you to live a full life and is able to heal your mind as you take those steps of faith to find His rest.

Finding God’s Rest

The book of Hebrews says that it is through believing that we can enter the rest of God (Hebrews 4:3,10). When we put our faith, trust, and reliance on God and His promises to us, we begin to experience rest and a healthy soul.

Our will is part of our soul and we can use our free will to obey God or not to obey Him. For example, if God’s Word tells us not to do something and we do it anyway, we won’t have rest in our souls until we have repented and received God’s forgiveness. Our own conscience condemns us. Self will and God’s rest do not work together. God wants us to believe Him, and in order to believe Him, we must believe that He loves us. When we believe Him, we will obey Him. When this happens, we have rest for our souls. We all start off in life with a LOT of self-will and trading that self-will for God’s will takes a lot of time and is painful to us. We come into this world as spiritual babies wanting what we want and pitching a fit when we don’t get it. Both spiritual babies and human babies want their way and behave badly when they don’t get it. Just as we have to train our children, God has to train us.

Every time you yield to God, saying no to your flesh, you are growing. Each time you let go of something that you have been desiring more than God, your life gets better. Each time your soul enjoys more rest.

Trusting God is the only doorway into the rest of God. The more we trust Him the easier life gets, because we find that what we release to Him He takes care of.

Right now make a decision to believe God more than how you feel, what you want, or what you think. His promises are greater and more worthy of our trust that anything this world can offer. Everything else in life we chase is like shifting sand. His Word is the only thing that last and endures.

Build your life on stable ground. When you build it on popular opinion or what you think or feel, you are building it on sinking sand. Jesus is the Rock. No one can avoid the trials and tribulations of life, but those who have their lives built on Jesus will come through the storms and still be standing strong.

As you take those small steps of faith (and they are different for each person), and God comes through for you, you KNOW that you can trust Him in that one thing which gives you the courage to try the next one. It is only as we experience God that we become more like Jesus and can rest in Him.

If you want to change your life, you must change the way you think. God has a GREAT plan for your life but in order for it to unfold, your mind must be renewed with His Word. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  

As we replace Satan’s lies with truth, we come out of the wilderness into freedom.

For daily encouragement go to sherrybraswell.org.

We post new DEVOTIONS on our blog each week. Wednesday night RECAPS are also posted there for those nights when you are unable to be with us.

We’re also on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We are so thankful for our new intern Brooke Hanshumaker.  She is working hard to increase our exposure and online presence through different social media platforms.

We personally invite you to become a Partner of Hope with our ministry. Every gift, no matter the size, is needed and appreciated. Your monthly financial partnership is important as it helps us to teach God’s truth, heal hearts, and bring hope to broken lives. You may donate online at www.sherrybraswell.org/donate.  All donations are tax deductible.

Next week we’ll cover Chapter 5, entitled, “Help Me! I Don’t Understand Myself”. You don’t want to miss this one sisters! Thales said…”The most difficult thing in life is know yourself.” Boy, is that the truth!

Do you do things and wonder why you did them or behave in certain ways and then wonder why? Learning to understand the root of our behaviors is vital to changing them.  

Enjoy your week beloved sisters, hiding Psalm 46:10 in your heart (our verse for 2019…”Let Go and know that I am God.")

Love,

Sherry :-)

Scriptures to meditate on this week:

Psalm 62:10

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.”

Psalm 57:1

“My soul rest in you, in the shelter of your wings I will make my refuge, until ALL of the calamities pass.”

Psalm 38:10

“The Lord longs to be gracious to you, therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice, Blessed are all who wait for Him.”