Rest For Your Soul

``And so when I hear I hear this invitation, this this invitation of Jesus is not first and foremost it's first and foremost an invitation to himself. It's not an invitation to his his religion. It's not even first and foremost an invitation to his churches or his cause. Jesus is inviting humanity first and foremost to come to him. Come to me, to turn to him. [00:51:02] (24 seconds)  #ComeToJesus

So we we have this passage, and so the the people that Jesus was speaking to, they were used to a very burdensome religious system. And so that's the context of this passage in Matthew's gospel. And Jesus wanted them to know that he that was not what he's offering them. This is not what he came to do. This is not his message. He was inviting them to come to him to learn who he really is, that he is gentle and humble in heart, and that they would find true rest for their souls. [00:53:30] (34 seconds)  #GentleHumbleRest

There's something about you see that pattern in the Psalms too. The Psalmist writers are just being very honest with Jesus. So there's something about doing this that is very helpful. And then finally, by faith, we begin to receive the healing and the rest that our weary and burdened souls need that Jesus is so willing to give. That's the promise that we just read in Matthew. Right? I wanna give you rest for your souls. [00:59:19] (27 seconds)  #HonestPrayerHealing

However you build this into your life, remember, the lord wants to bless us with rest for our weary souls. That is his promise from Matthew 11 that's built into the creation story, built into the covenant. He he wants us to be open to being blessed so that he can meet us and release us from some some burdens. [01:13:58] (27 seconds)  #SoulRestPromise

And so I, you know, I kinda paused this devotional. It was on my phone, and I think there's a few things I see in this prayer. The first thing I see is honesty and vulnerability in coming to Jesus. Honesty and vulnerability in coming to Jesus. We have to learn to be completely honest with Jesus. We can't pray religious prayers. You know? Even prayers of faith. I think sometimes our prayers of faith, if we're not being honest to Jesus, they're not complete. [00:56:58] (33 seconds)  #VulnerablePrayer

So we're trying to figure out how this works, and it's definitely a process. It definitely takes time to do this. And every situation might require a different process or a different amount of time. But the invitation that Jesus is extending to us in Matthew 11 can take place on any day at any time. And I believe regardless of how crazy your life is, crazy your schedule is, crazy the things on your plate, I believe there's time in every twenty four hour period to do this, even a little bit. I believe that's designed by the creator. [00:59:46] (39 seconds)  #DailyQuietTime

And so I think that's important to remember that, you know, people that are you know, seem to be, you know, maybe hostile to to considering church or the bible, whatever. And, you know, there's still stuff going on in their lives that, and I believe that the gospel the gospel of Jesus Christ is more relevant today than ever because people are overloaded with stress and anxiety. Overloaded with stress and anxiety. [00:44:49] (30 seconds)  #HopeForAnxiousHearts

And I think we just need to remember as we're trying to figure out how this works, for us today, when we feel harassed that we always have more work to do and we never have the satisfaction of knowing that we've completed the work that the lord has given us to do, whatever season of life you're in. Right? It doesn't even I see some retired people right now that are busier than ever. I mean, what's and that's a good thing. Two point. Well, we have to have a sense that we on any given day, we've completed what Jesus has asked us to do. We have limitations to what we can do in any given day. Right? So if we're not experiencing that, if we feel harassed, that there's always too much to do and we can never stop and there's never a break, that's not Jesus. That's Satan. [01:03:42] (49 seconds)  #RestNotRush