Rest for saints [ Mark 6 v30-31]

Verse 2 of Psalm 23 .reminds us of how our good Shepherd knows that we need to rest,so many people are driven, busy, busy ,busy. Now of course it is good to be busy, but we do need to rest,both physically and spiritually,one great preacher said,that he did not tire of the work of God , but he did become tired in it.We read in Genesis 2 how God rested[not that He was tired] but it emphasizes the fact that we need to rest,God is not a hard taskmaster, He does not drive His sheep into the ground.In Mark 6v31, we have our Saviour speaking to His disciples, they are so busy and didnt have time to eat,[ I hear that often in my work],so Jesus says,/ Lets go off to a quite place and rest a while/. So today rest, dont feel guilty, relax, read a book, sit and listen to nice music, take a walk, and in it all, enjoy the the presence of your good Shepherd.[ Dear Lord we thank You that You are not a hard taskmaster,You do not drive us, but lead us gently beside the still waters. Amen ]

Rest for sinners[ Matthew 11v28]

We continue to look at Psalm 23, verse 2 reads,He maketh me to lie down in green pastures[av],the NLT version puts it ,He lets me rest in green pastures. We have in these words the idea of resting,very appropriate words for all of us, I am sure the universal cry of mankind is ,I am tired. There is a weariness in life, not just phyisical, but emotional, and spiritual, the unsaved are weary, with the burdens of life, and of sin, and it is the good shepherd , Jesus who says,/Come to Me , all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest/[Matthew 11v28].William C Dix wrote,/ Come unto Me, ye weary, And I will give you rest. O blessed voice of Jesus . Which comes to hearts oppressed. It tells of benediction, Of pardon, grace and peace, Of joy that has no ending, Of love which cannot cease./[ Dear Lord Jesus we thank You that there is a place called Calvary were we can lay the burden of sin down. Amen]

I shall not want.[ Romans 8 v32 ]

I shall not want, so declares the Psalmist[23v1],the NLT , puts it/I have all I need/, whatever way it is put. it is a declaration that the Lord will , and has met all his needs.George Muller is one of my heroes of faith, a man who proved God continually, he lived in the 19th centuary, he was led to start an orphanage. The question is where would the money come from? the answer was, from the Lord, George never made the needs of the orphanage known, he prayed and he prayed, and he prayed, and God supplied. It had its times of testings, but the work continued to increase, until there were 5 homes. In 1859 he wrote in his diary,/I cannot tell you how happy this service makes me. Instead of being the anxious, careworn man many persons think me to be, I have no anxieties and no cares at all.Faith in God leads me to roll all my burdens upon Him....In every way I find God is my helper, even as I trust in Him, and pray to Him in childlike faith , about everything./ [Dear God and Father help us to see that You who spared not Your dear Son Jesus, delivering Him up for us all, how with Him you shall give us all things that we need. Amen ]

My shepherd [Psalm 23 ]

One of my favorite books in the Bible is the book of Psalms , and one of my favourite Psalms is that old favourite Psalm 23. I have read it many times , and preached on it often. The whole bases of the Psalm is about relationship, David the author knows the Lord personally, he starts by saying the Lord is my shepherd. I often become concerned when people say, I am a , RC/ Cof E/ Baptist, and so on,because that often means very little, and avoids the fact that we need to know the Lord personally, and of course I mean the Lord Jesus. How do get to know the Lord personally?. Well it all starts when we see our need ,that we are lost,that we are sinners,and that we need Jesus to be our Saviour,having seen this we ask Him to save us, and when we do He becomes our Saviour, and then we can say with confidence, the Lord is my shepherd. [Dear Lord Jesus thank You that we can know You personally, when we know You as Saviour Amen ]

Dont anticipate [Ezra 8 v21-23 ]

I dont know if you are like me , you think about certain situations and you anticipate what may or may not happen, last week I was faced with a certain situation, and my mind ran amok.I must confess I imagined the worst, but it didnt happen, God had done His best to reassure me, but I still imagined the worst. Our Saviour very clearly taught , that we are not to live with worry,[Matthew 6 v34 ]but we do, what if I loose my job?, what if I become unwell?, what if?,our minds often are filled with, What if?. One of the things we must do is to train ourselves to not anticipate the worst, oh yes ,we will know difficulties, but we may not, but whatever we encounter the Lord is with us, to overrule and to undertake.Alfred Smith wrote the following,/ I do not know what lies ahead, the way I cannot see, yet,One stands near to be my guide, He,ll show the way to me. I know who holds the future, and He,ll guide me with His hand, with God things dont just happen, everything by Him is planned. So as I face tomorrow, with its problems large and small, I trust the God of miracles, give to Him my all./[Dear God forgive us for worrying,help us to be more childlike in our relationship with You, and have an attitude of simple trust, in Jesus name Amen ]

His way is best. [Psalm 18v30 av ]

Jesus said to Peter,/ You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from Gods.[Matthew 16 v23]/. Peter had challenged Jesus when He had told His disciples ,that He was going to suffer and die, and rise again, Peter thought this was wrong. Peter had a habit of thinking He knew best, knew better than Jesus, but he didnt, Jesus knew what was best, He always knows whats best, like Peter we may think we know best, but we dont. Like Peter our judgement is often clouded, we look on the immediate, but Jesus sees all things clearly, and sees the whole story, like He said to Peter, we see things from purely from a human point of view, not from Gods.On another occasion our Saviour said to Peter,/ you dont understand now what I am doing, but someday you will,[John 13 v7 ]/The Psalmist said,/ as for God His way is perfect [18 v30]/, from our point of view it may not appear that way , but it is, consider if Jesus had listened to Peter, and rejected the way of the cross, we would all still be lost, still in our sin, without God and without hope.[ Dear God we ask that You would help us to trust You in all things, to trully believe that Your way is best, in Jesus name Amen ]

Dont give up. [ Matthew 7v 7-8 ]

In Matthew 15v 21-28, we read of a woman, a non-Jew who had a daughter ,possessed by a demon, she believed that Jesus could meet the need. It is obvious that this woman was desperate, she does not recieve much encouragement from the disciples and even from Jesus. Many of us would have given up, and gone home, and would have thought , well we have just got to live with the situation,so much for Christianty, they are all hypocrites and as for that person Jesus, He didnt help. The thing is she didnt give up and go home, she believed with all her heart that Jesus could meet the need, nothing was going to put her of, and Jesus responded to her faith, and healed her daughter. Let me ask you, what is your need? salvation, that must always be first,healing , deliverance. provision, a way forward, are you going to be put of by Christians, or even it seems by a Jesus who appears to be ignoring your cry for help. Learn from this woman, her persistant faith paid of, she kept asking,seeking,knocking, and Jesus responded ,and answered her prayer.[Dear Lord Jesus we praise You that You can meet our needs, no matter how great they are, help us not to be put of, by others, or even when it seems You are ignoring our prayers. Amen ]