“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

Jesus has given us rest for our souls (grace.) And because of our acceptance, He has poured rivers of living waters into and through our hearts (the Holy Spirit.) We are not to hoard or hide the gifts He has given us, but to use them for His glory. Through our salvation we are God’s living temple. The Holy Spirit indwells us. In this passage from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is telling the disciples, and by extension, us, that we are the light of the world. We can’t hide that light, but must allow it to shine forth. How do we do that? By walking it out with Christ in our daily lives, using the gifts of salvation and ministry He has given us.

Flying insects are naturally attracted to light bulbs glowing on a dark night. It is hard for them to resist. So it can be with non-believers and strayed believers. God made us lights of the world, so that His light will shine through us for all to see. He knows our tendencies to hoard and to hide. It’s hard to do that when we have that supernatural attractive light bursting from our pores. We know that nobody can come to the Father, unless Jesus calls them. He doesn’t stand on a street corner with a bull horn and call out people’s names, or does He? He doesn’t just lean over and whisper in someone’s ear, “Come.” He does that sometimes. He also uses all the tools at His disposal. We are some of those tools in his toolbox. People see us walking in joy, unaffected by events around us, always finding good in everything, humble, gentle, patient, treating all with love. They are curious and approach to see where we get such gifts. That is Jesus using us to draw people to Him, assuming we don’t blow it because we were too busy, not paying attention, not seeking such opportunities, or put off by appearances.

How many of us hear a good message at church on Sunday, or receive some awesome advise in a small church life group, and go home, filing away what you heard or learned, never to be thought of again, maybe because it doesn’t apply to you? Maybe Jesus put you in position to hear that word, because someone who really needed that word would cross your path so that you could deliver that word. That’s why the light in us comes without an off switch. Just like some people may need to be baited into seeking God, some of us need to be put in situations where we have no choice but to minister. We must always be ready to respond with a word. That’s how we walk out being the light of Christ in this dark world. We often tell our GriefShare and DivorceCare participants to make every effort to attend all sessions in the cycle, even if they feel a particular session doesn’t apply to them. Either they might hear something that will come to mind some time in the future when talking to someone who could truly benefit from what you learned. Or someone at the session you felt was inapplicable is encouraged because you were able to share something they needed to hear.

Be bold, as Paul and Barnabas were in being rejected by the Jews, yet welcomed by the Gentiles while preaching in Antioch. They responded to the Jews in Acts 13:47 by saying, “For so the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'”

They were fulfilling their destiny. Are you? Be Blessed!

Referring to the coming of the Lord, Zechariah 14:8 states: “And in that day it shall be that living waters shall flow from Jerusalem. Half of them toward the eastern sea and half of them toward the western sea; in both summer and winter it shall occur.”

John 4 covers the Samaritan Woman meeting Jesus at the well. Jesus asks her to give Him a drink. She, in turn, asked Jesus why He, a Jew, would ask her, a Samaritan, for a drink from her. Jesus responds with, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:19)

Later, in John 7:38, Jesus spoke out at the Feast of Tabernacles, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38)

We saw in my last posts how the “rest for the soul” assured by Jesus before His crucifixion and resurrection, became His gift of grace after. Our acceptance of His gift assures our eternal salvation (John 3:16). We show our acceptance of His gift by confessing with our mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9)

Our salvation is assured, but there’s more. He wants us to mature from that salvation. That salvation does not hinge on what we do after acceptance, because it was a gift from God with no attachments. A gift not earned but freely given without strings attached. Along with that gift of salvation comes living water, as noted above in John 4:10. What is this living water? Part of that answer can be found in the verse after the above reference to John 7:38. John 7:39 continues. “But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

So, because we believe now, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (living water). But look at the end of John 7:38: “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” That’s little “h.’ This is Jesus speaking but he’s not talking about Himself or the Holy Spirit, but about the believer. Out of the believer’s heart will flow rivers of living water. Out of the heart will flow the Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit, God has placed Jesus Christ inside each of us. We are each the living temple of God. Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh (John 1:14.) Thus the Word is in each of us. Thus through the Holy Spirit, we have access to the Word, living and breathing in us.

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water! We are not to hoard this gift. This is a gift to be shared with others, believers and non-believers alike. We sharpen our swords by being in community with like-minded believers, sharing God’s Word and maturing in our understanding. We are to participate in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) by sharing God’s Word with non-believers and making disciples of all nations.

That is the general nature of the “living waters’ that flows through us. There are also specific aspects of the “living waters.” In addition to the general gifts God gives all of us as believers, He also gives us individual gifts and talents (Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-10) to equip us and appoints some of us specific duties (Ephesians 4:11-16.)

Thus, we are not to rest on our laurels or hoard the gifts given to us. God has called us to action. He calls us (Come to me), equips us (gives rest for the soul and indwells us through the Holy Spirit) and sends us out to spread His Word and gather disciples (action on our part.)

Next we’ll look at an aspect of spreading God’s Word through our actions. Until then continue to be Blessed.

Thanks for hanging in through Part 3 of Kingdom Rest. Today I will discuss my testimony of a recent “Rest” event.

In the last year and a half, I’ve had several surgeries: a golf ball sized cyst removed from my back, a venal closure in my left leg, a hernia repair and a gall bladder removal, not to mention contracting COVID-19 in Jul 2020 with my wife. Yet I’m still ticking. The only time I missed work was for COVID. Then in Jun of this year I was diagnosed with cancer in my left kidney for the third time. A third of that kidney was removed in 2010, polyps sprung up 4 years later and they were zapped away. So it was an easy decision, after determining my right kidney was 100% functional, to just remove the rest of the left kidney this time around. That happened on Aug 10. Something else also happened that day. God gave me true rest.

In the days between the diagnosis and the surgery, I wondered about what blessing God would present to me in the way of ministering to someone through this kidney cancer. Upon waking from the anesthesia in the recovery room, I soon discovered the ministering would be for me. As I came to and realized I was waking, I thanked Jesus, then began to launch into a larger prayer. I was stopped. I heard the words “Be Still,” and I fell asleep. This happened several times, until the medical staff determined it was time to fully awaken, and I was wheeled to my room. My wife joined me, we talked for a bit, and decided that she should leave and not worry about coming back to the hospital every day till my release. Visiting hours were over an hour after she would get off and she’d have to fight rush hour traffic. We’d stay in contact by text and phone. That was Tuesday afternoon when she left. I started to pray and give Jesus thanks again. This time I didn’t fall asleep right away. First God told me again to rest, that the Holy Spirit would pray in my stead for a few days. Then I fell asleep. When I was awakened a short time later for rounds, I realized I couldn’t keep my eyes opened because I felt a burning sensation, so I kept them closed, and fell asleep. A few hours later I was awakened because I started to vomit dried blood. They eventually elected to put a tube down my throat to remove the dried blood. That’s how I was for three days. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I couldn’t talk (which meant no phone conversations with Pat), and every time I tried to put some thoughts together, whether in prayer or not, I fell asleep.

That first night, as I struggled with the tube down my throat, and my eyes shut, I noticed something strange. You know how when you’ve been staring at the TV and you close your eyes, you see a reverse image, one that moves with the movement of your eyes and stays centered on the eyeballs? That’s not what I saw. With my eyes open briefly, I’d see the décor in my room, before I was forced to close them due to the burning sensation. In my mind, it was if the channel had changed in my vision. There was no reverse image of what I’d been seeing. It was a clear picture, usually of a white wall or dry erase board, with trees behind as a backdrop. As I moved my eyes around the scene would shift as if I was looking all around me with my eyes open. Occasionally indecipherable writing would scroll on the white walls/dry erase board. Whenever I would try to make sense of it, I’d fall asleep. That sleep would be short lived time wise, as anyone who has spent even a single night in a hospital knows, the medical staff is constantly making rounds like every hour or two. Yet every time I awoke, I felt so refreshed, as if I’d slept for 10 blissful hours. That was my Tuesday night, all day and night Wednesday and Thursday. By Friday, the tube was no longer sucking up dried blood from my stomach, so it was removed. I had to have a bowel movement before they would talk about being released. That didn’t happen Friday. I looked forward to a good night’s sleep without the tube down my throat, but no such luck, as my bowels began to waken and I was heading to the bathroom every half hour or so, just to make noise. Finally, as the sun rose, my bowels moved and I was released Saturday around noon.

It was sometime Friday afternoon, I was able to get prayers in without falling asleep. So I had a chance to ask God what had been going on. His response? He had some great plans ahead for me, plans that needed my body to have complete rest. So for three days, I could not see, talk, even think and pray. While awake or asleep, I was at complete rest. When I asked about the white walls, He said that was the new chapters ahead in my life. My future was going to be unlike anything I had ever experienced, that we would write that future together, and that was the purpose for the complete rest.

Despite the surgery being the toughest the surgeon has conducted in years because of the scars from previous surgeries, I healed quickly. Don’t tell anyone, but I was out and about by Tuesday, driving myself (someone had to pick the grand daughter up from school.) Despite not returning to work (I retired on the day I was released to return to work,) I quickly was back to the level of busy from before the surgery. I have not yet been clued in on what God has in store for me, but I am ready to respond without hesitation.

You see over the recent years, I have learned that the only way forward is to be all in, complete surrender to the will of God. Immediate obedience. It’s taken some time on that last part, but I am pretty close to that now. That was the reason for retiring. Knowing God would take care of all my needs, and that He wanted all of me full time, I made that possible by retiring.

I know this blog was titled “Kingdom Rest.” It could have been called “Kingdom Surrender,” but the rest I received was made possible because of my faith and surrender, so that my future obedience would be assured and strengthened from that rest for the plans to come. I am resting on God’s promises, continuing to study and meditate on His word, and preparing myself for the revelation of His plan for me.

I give God all the praise and glory for those days after my surgery. My intention today is to strongly encourage you to surrender to God, be still to hear what He has for you and humbly accept His grace. When He comes calling with an assignment, be ready to obey immediately. Rest in His yoke of guidance and teachings. Be Blessed!

“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

This passage has come up a couple times in the last few weeks and again today, twice in the same church service. First, it was the centerpiece for an article by our Pastor Don Leavell, read aloud at our 8:30 am service. Then, at the same service, Dr Rich Murphy, presented the message, also based on the same message. In this passage, Paul is talking about a “thorn in his body,” a thorn that he had taken in prayer to God to remove three times. It was not until the third time, that God answered Paul. This thorn was a constant reminder to Paul that since the moment of his salvation on the road to Damascus, God was his sole source of strength, that he was nothing without God’s gift of grace. Paul knew that in his weakness, God’s power (grace) rested on him, as Paul boasted of his weaknesses, giving God all the glory.

Paul’s “thorn” was his version of the Apostles’ storm while on the boat. Before His crucifixion, Jesus offered rest to all who came to Him with burdens and were heavily laden. Post crucifixion, that offered rest became grace. In Matthew, Jesus says he will give rest to all who come to Him, those who take His yoke and learn from Him will find rest for their souls. Let Him carry your burdens. Jesus tells Paul that His grace is sufficient to give strength to overcome all the trials and tribulations that come Paul’s way. God’s strength will rest on him.

Jesus’s rest for our souls is His grace given us, freely and unearned by us. What an awesome gift! Jesus was offering true rest, a rest that would be His Grace, following His crucifixion and ascension to all those who answered His call to come to Him.

Sometimes, He does give us the human kind of rest (sleep) for His purposes, as you will learn next. Until then, Be Blessed!

There is so much unrest, violence (physical and verbal,) despair, anger, chaos, in the world today. Worse, the same sentiments are present in the Church as well. It doesn’t matter what side of the _____ fence you sit on (fill in whatever you want: political, religious, life choice, etc), we are all being pushed to the limit, closing in on a breaking point, losing our focus. Many are becoming fearful, depressed, inconsolable, etc. Hope is lost. Christians today find it difficult to stay true to God, to walk the Christ-centered path. Difficult, but not impossible. One must stay focused on the Lord. Even when the storm is all around you. In due time, according to His plan and timing, He will still the turmoil. As He did for the Apostles on the fishing boat. Jesus was asleep when the storm arose. The Apostles, fishermen by trade and accustomed to storms, were frightened. In fear, they awakened Jesus, who stilled the storm with “Peace! Be Still.” (Matthew 8:23-27)

Those words, “Be Still,” were as much for the Apostles as they were to the storm. Jesus had recently called them off their fishing boats to follow Him. They watched as He went about all Galilee, teaching and preaching, and healing the sick. They sat with Him as he delivered the “Sermon on the Mount,” came down and continued to perform miracles, healing a leper, then a Centurion’s servant, then Peter’s mother-in-law, and scores more. After getting into the boat and setting out, the storm came upon them. Jesus, once awakened, rebuked the wind and sea, saying “Peace, Be Still!” In that one statement, He addressed both the storm and the Apostles, in an effort to calm the storm and the Apostles. He then chastised the Apostles, asking them why they were afraid and had no faith. The Apostles, the ones who had awakened Jesus, wanting Him to do something, became even more fearful when He did what they asked, and wondering who this man was that even the wind and sea obeyed Him. These men, on a word, had stopped what they were doing not so long before this, left everything they had known, and followed Jesus. They had been up-close witnesses to the miracles Jesus performed. Yet, instead of obeying Jesus and calming down, they became more fearful.

Sometimes, God will speak out against the storms of our lives, as He did for the Apostles, or redirect the storm as He did Hurricane Harvey when it threatened Corpus Christi, TX, a few years ago, turning it eastward just before landfall. Sometimes He works to calm your inner being instead of calming or vanquishing the external threats, as He is doing now, touching the hearts of many as the world “falls apart” around us. If we, too, were to answer Jesus’s call to come to Him, surrender to Him, focus on Him, He will give us rest.

Over the last several years, I’ve had a difference of opinion with a friend concerning the meaning of Matthew 11:28-30:

“Come to Me, all you 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.”

This person felt I was working too hard and I needed to rest, as God was commanding in this verse. I was doing too much and needed to take a break and “plop down on the couch.” My position was that as long as I was doing God’s will, He would give me rest, meaning giving me strength, endurance, and ability to do what He had given me to do. He would give me the couch-type rest according to His plan, when I needed it. Meanwhile I rested under His yoke, as he was guiding and teaching me along the way. And so, I marched on, obeying God’s will. Between working at Red Wing Shoes, running a house, including helping with taking care of Pat’s grand daughter and helping with on-line schooling, and doing several ministries, I was always on the go. My day usually started between 4 and 5 in the morning, when the dogs needed to be let out, which started my prayer time.

When someone asked for help, I never hesitated, assuming it was something God had sent my way, knowing He would give me the strength, resources and rest necessary to accomplish the task. My rest, my joy, came in doing God’s will. When God said go 1000 miles north to Kansas in the middle of March to pray for the healing of our land, I obeyed. We left late on a Thursday night, did His bidding and returned Sunday evening. When He said to get involved with GriefShare, and later DivorceCare, we did. When He called me 4 years ago to ministry, and I answered, He immediately began to equip me, and I was ordained May 30, 2021.

In the above passage, Jesus says that if we would surrender completely to Him, handing over all our troubles, worries, problems, yes our entire life, He will give us rest. He’s not talking about the “lie in bed” kind of rest. He wants something more from us. He expects us to do something. In return for surrendering to Him, He wants us to accept His yoke and place it squarely on our shoulders. In that surrendered position, He will then teach us and guide us. In that teaching and guiding, we will be released from the burden of our former lives. He now has our worries, fears and troubles on His shoulders, yet that burden is light to Him.

Next, we’ll take a different look at Kingdom Rest. Until then, Be Blessed!