We Need Time Off

 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mk 6:31 NIV

We are under so much pressure, so overwhelmed. That's just how it is in this life.

In the Old Testament, God prescribed many days of rest, but even holy days can put pressure on us.

A world-renowned church leader in the Pentecostal movement had founded a church that simply grew massively and planted a network of missions around the world.

But not everything in his life was okay. His wife was overwhelmed and his marriage fell apart. 

God spoke to the preacher. He needed to have one day of rest per week and rebuild his relationship with his wife. Sunday was not a day of rest for him, and on Saturday he had to prepare everything for Sunday. 

Monday became his day of rest, and his marriage was restored.

Some insist that we must strictly obey the Sabbath commandment to this day, but this is by no means clear in the Holy Scriptures.

Paul and John wrote several epistles to non-Jewish Christians, and I find no mention of the Sabbath commandment in them at all. Theft, murder, lying, idolatry, adultery, and greed are strictly forbidden in these epistles, but there is no mention of the Sabbath commandment. 

Of course, the Sabbath came from God, and the Sabbath remains a great blessing for many Jews and some Christians to this day.
 
But more important than the day is the principle. We need time off, time off for God, time off for family and friends, and time off for relaxation and rest.
 

You can strictly observe the Sabbath but neglect important loving relationships.

About ten years ago, I was very active in a church and attended two services every Sunday, but I had a guilty conscience. I was in church three times a week, but I didn't even visit my elderly father once a week. 

For many Christians, church services and meetings can be anything but restful, although they are intended to be refreshing. You can strictly observe the Sabbath, but never learn to simply relax. 

For some Christians, relaxation is a sin. They are always busy. Doing nothing would be idleness. Sleeping late means being lazy. 

But if you are overwhelmed, traumatised, even exhausted, you need real time off.
 
Otherwise, you could get burned out or even in hospital. Some people think this is shameful, but it is not.

If you need help and rest, you need help and rest.
But shouldn't we expect our help only from God?

Sure, but if our misguided Christian attitude has only continually entangled us in duty and effort, and if we find little support or understanding in the church, then God provides us with other means of help. 

There are Christians who are misled by non-believing therapists, but there are also Christians who find more understanding and help in psychiatry than in the church. 

Thank God for good churches, good pastors, and miraculous healings! 
But I also thank God for good doctors, and good therapists.
 
In God's order, everything has its time. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Ecc 3:1 NIV

Suffering can become a Blessing.

 A Peruvian man had a hunger for adventure. Adventures can be exciting but they can also be fatal.

This man lost his way in the Amazon jungle. His family was sure he was dead, but he was adopted by an indigenous tribe and learned to live in the jungle. He not only learned their language and customs, but he learned to use jungle plants to treat tropical diseases. 

After seven years, he somehow found his way back to his own people, but he found a community in a tragic crisis. People were in the grip of an epidemic. Modern medicine was not working and many people were dying. 

He was not a doctor but he applied his knowledge of natural medicine he had learned in the jungle. It proved so effective that many lives were saved. 

The news of this success spread far and wide. Many botanists and medical experts came to learn from him. 

This man, who had been given up for dead, lived to the age of 91.

I have never known anyone who was lost in the jungle, but there are different kinds of terrible experiences which can lead to great blessings.

I have met people who have come out of prostitution, long prison terms and terrible drug addictions, but they have found faith in God and become a life saving help for many people.

I had a Christian conversion experience in my twenties but the first church I joined turned out to be a cult, where people were brainwashed and spiritually abused. After I was expelled from the cult, I spent a whole year in intensive full time psychiatric treatment.

It took me many years to recover, but God did not give up on me.

Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch Christian woman whose family protected Jews in the wartime Nazi occupation. She and her sister were captured and spent nearly a year in German prisons and concentration camps. Her sister died in the camp but she was released due to a clerical error. 

After this terrible suffering, she toured the world, bringing faith and hope to people without hope.

What kind of suffering have you been through? Prison, domestic violence, rape, human trafficking, cult brainwashing, severe mental illness?

No matter where you are, God loves you and has a plan for your life. In heaven there are murderers, ex prostitutes, people who have been witches, and also victims. 

In heaven there are babies who were aborted and mothers who aborted their babies.

No matter what you have been through, no matter what you are going through now, never, never, never give up.

Gaby Wentland is a German missionary preacher. She ministers to prostitutes and victims of abuse. She says there is more prayer in brothels than in many churches. 

God loves you no matter where you are, who you are, what you are doing, what you have done or what has been done to you.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSVue

No matter whether you are the worst abuser or the most broken victim, Jesus died to take your punishment on himself. He hung naked on the cross to bare your shame.

But there is a condition. You must be willing to turn away from your cruelty, your selfishness and dishonesty. God loves you but you must be willing to change.

Call to me, and I will answer you and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. Jer 33:3 NRSVue

God is waiting to hear you cry for help.

Not only does God want to save you from guilt, from shame and abuse. He wants to use your painful experiences to help others. I have been wonderfully encouraged by people who have been in very dark places. 

The Peruvian man learned jungle medicine to save lives. If you have been in prison, in psychiatric treatment, in drug addiction or prostitution, God can use your experience to help people with similar experiences.

God's Treasure Hunt

 King Saul of Israel had failed miserably. God commissioned Samuel, the prophet and high priest, to find a new king. God sent Samuel on a treasure hunt. He was to find the young man chosen by God and anoint him as the next king.

Where was Samuel sent? Not to Jerusalem and not to a noble family. God sent Samuel to a farm. The farmer had strong and handsome sons.

Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 1 Samuel 16:10 NIV84

The farmer had another son, but he was only a boy.

Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.” 

“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”

So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes. And the LORD said, “This is the one; anoint him.” 1 Samuel 16:11–12 NLT

Samuel was directly led by the Holy Spirit.

Today many of us are so wise in our own eyes. We are taught that we have the whole Bible and theological training. We think we no longer need the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Or else we do what we think is right and assume we are led by the Spirit.

Some Christians are too easily led by emotional impressions, but it is dangerous to rely on our own human understanding of the Bible without the help of the One who inspired it.

And what are the results of this educated Christianity? In many formerly Christian countries, Christians are merely tolerated. The power and glory of God are not found in most churches.

Many churches have excluded the Holy Spirit, just like King Saul, but God is looking for outsiders and children like David who will continue His work with the love and power of the Holy Spirit.

 Agostino d' Antonio, a sculptor of Florence, Italy, wrought diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. "I can do nothing with it," he finally said. Other sculptors, too, worked with the piece of marble, but they, too, gave up the task. The stone was discarded. It lay on a rubbish heap for forty years.

Out strolling one day, Michelangelo saw the stone and the latent possibilities in it. It was brought to his studio. He began to work on it. Ultimately, his vision and work were crowned with success. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the world's masterpieces of sculpture—"David!" (cf: 1 Samuel 16:13)

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF 15,000 ILLUSTRATIONS SIGNS OF THE TIMES By Dr. Paul Lee Tan  

 You may be rejected by the world and even other Christians as a worthless stone. God still has good plans for your life.

Love One Another

 No community can function without leadership. As Christians, we need leaders, elders, preachers, teachers and managers. Parents must have authority over their children. But when Christianity is dominated by hierarchy, we have lost our way.

But he said to them, “The kings of the gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 
But not so with you; rather, the greatest among you must become like the youngest and the leader like one who serves. Lk 22:25–26 NRSVue

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. Jn 13:34 NRSVue

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Jn 15:12 NRSVue

I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. Jn 15:17 NRSVue

Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. Rom 13:8 NRSVue

Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Rom 14:19 NRSVue

Welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. Rom 15:7 NRSVue

For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 1 Cor 7:4 NRSVue 

The essence of Christian marriage is not male dominance but equal partnership. 

… being subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Eph 5:21 NRSVue

There is no longer Jew or Greek; there is no longer slave or free; there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. Gal 3:28 NRSVue

Gender based hierarchy violates the key biblical principle of mutual love and respect.

Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, Eph 4:26 NRSVue

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you. Eph 4:32 NRSVue

Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Col 3:13 NRSVue

Now concerning love of the brothers and sisters, you do not need to have anyone write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 1 Th 4:9 NRSVue

Therefore encourage one another and build up each other, as indeed you are doing. 1 Th 5:11 NRSVue

See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. 1 Th 5:15 NRSVue

God wants you back.

 If you have ever had a son or daughter who turned against you and disappeared, you know what heartache feels like. 

Jesus told a story about a young man who claimed his inheritance while his rich father was still alive and travelled to a foreign country. There was no internet and there were no mobile phones. The father did not mount a search party but every day he went out and looked down the road to see if his son would come back. 

One day he looked out and he actually saw his son in the distance.

I don't want to share personal family secrets but I know what this father went through.

Jesus also told a story of a farmer with 100 sheep. One sheep ran away and was lost. The farmer left his 99 sheep behind and searched for his lost sheep until he found it and took it home.

Today I read a news story about a young couple who went for a holiday on Kangaroo Island off the coast of Australia. They took their one year old pet dachshund with them. One day their beloved Valerie escaped and disappeared into the bush.

They were heartbroken and after searching for 5 days, they had to return home without their pet. The people on the island were very compassionate and deeply concerned. They searched with video cameras and drones for over a year. 

A farmer set up a trap with food for Valerie’s owners were afraid their spoilt house dog might not survive in wild country where snakes and other predators were a constant danger. Finally, a strong, muscular little dog got into the trap. The farmer saw Valerie on his remote video camera and pushed the button to shut the door and lock her in.

Valerie’s owners were beside themselves with joy to get their Valerie back. They had a pet cat and two other dogs but they loved Valerie like their own child.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NRSVue

If you are not in a personal relationship with Father God, He wants you back. He will stop at nothing to win your trust.

(Jesus said…) “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Jn 10:11 NRSVue

If you are not sure you believe, you might be like Valerie, the little dog that panicked and went wild. If you are not sure, you can talk to God. 

“If you are real and you do love me, please help me to believe.”

God wants to forgive you, to love and care for you.

If Christians have bullied you, abused you, or betrayed you, God did not do it.

For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” Lk 19:10 NRSVue

God Promises to Help in Dark Places

 When you are going through hard trials, God promises to help. Here are some Bible promises that you can rely on. 

You are weak, but you refuse to stop believing.. God will reward you.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:3 NIV

You are broken, misunderstood, mistreated, but you refuse to blame God. God wants to comfort you.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Mt 5:4 NIV 

You are in a dark place. You see no way out, but the light of God's love shines in the darkness.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Jn 1:5 NIV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Ps 23:4 NASB95

You are in trouble, but Jesus is on your side. Don't give up!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jn 16:33 NIV

What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Rom 8:31 NIV

When you are mistreated, never give in to hate and bitterness. God still loves you. Never give in.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:21 NIV

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. Jas 1:12 NIV

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Ps 23:4 NASB95

 God is our shelter and strength,. always ready to help in times of trouble. 

So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken. Ps 46:1-2 Good News Bible
 

You Can Pray for Everyone

 I was reading a book of daily devotions by Max Lucado, when I was inspired by his teaching on this verse. 

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 1 Ti 2:1 NRSVue

He encouraged me to pray for people all around me.

The name of man immediately came to mind, a man who was in my class at school 60 years ago. I looked him up on the internet and read the story of his amazingly successful career. 

There was no mention of Christian faith, so I prayed for him to have a direct personal encounter with Jesus Christ. You can have everything in this life and have no hope for eternity.

What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Mk 8:36 NIV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jn 11:25–26 NIV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jn 14:6 NRSVue

God is your creator. If you have been successful, it is because God gave you talents and you used them. But never forget who gave you the ability.

I prayed for this man, and I am sure God will answer.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. 
For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Mt 7:7–8 NRSVue

If you have faith in Jesus, you can ask for blessings for yourself and God will answer. 
You can pray for your family and friends and God will answer.

But don’t stop there.

Pray for everyone. But that is surely impossible. True. But when I go for a walk or go shopping, I often notice someone who looks sad or broken and I quietly pray. I am sure, that when I go to heaven, I will meet some of those sad and broken people who caught my attention and I prayed.

If you follow Jesus, never underestimate the power of God to answer your small prayers.