“Take My
Yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly of heart and you will
find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29
Dear friends
of Come Rest,
As this
holiday season approaches, I believe I hear the Lord saying “Take the yoke, not
the bait.” Think of Jesus’ yoke as letting Him put His arm around you to
guide and protect you from receiving and doing harm. If you surrender control
to Him, He will fill your soul with peace no matter what comes at you from the
outside.
During the
holidays emotions run the gamut and we can quickly slip into doing harm by
letting our relatives or friends push our buttons, or by pushing theirs. Don’t
take the bait, take His yoke. Come rest in the secret place of Jesus heart when
you are at family gatherings—or when you miss out on family gatherings. Shut
out self- pity, self- centeredness, and self-righteousness this holiday season.
I also believe the Lord wants many of you to make fresh contact in some form
with relatives you may not have seen in a long while.
Ask Him to
fill your soul on the inside with His heart of love in the present moment for
the people with whom you are present! Love them from His heart, yours is not
enough. You have nothing to prove, just love people where they are at. Ask the
Lord to fix their lives and yours. Then love and enjoy people. It’s not your
job to save people or to fix them. It’s His job.
If your
relatives or friends do not love the Lord; or are not living according to the
Bible; or have the opposite politics, philosophy, or doctrine; or keep
reminding you of your faults and failures; or are just plain annoying—do not
let comments become controversy; do not let dialogue become debate; do not let
questioning become quarreling. Do not let anything come between you and them
except the Lord’s restraining loving presence. In as much as depends on you, be
at peace with them because Jesus is your peace. Lower your
expectations of your relatives to zero and raise your expectations of the Lord
to the max. In taking Jesus’ yoke, His arm, around your shoulders, you must
never compromise on trusting and obeying His word. But you don’t have to push
hard against your relatives. You must not allow ungodly things to happen in
your own home. Ask Him for wisdom and the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind
just the right way to stay peaceful and tender when you speak His truth in
love.
Your
relatives who are either not-yet saved or who are saved but not-yet yielded to
His Word do not need your condemnation. At some level, they know where you
stand and may even have some measure of respect for your stance. If they
are not living with the Lord according to His ways, then they are already in condemnation
toward themselves or under conviction by Him. They don’t need you pointing an
accusing finger at them through your words, your tone, or your actions. They
need you pointing them toward His open arms through your kindness you bring.
And by the way, don’t go into the holidays expecting yourself to be perfect in
all this. Expect the Lord to perfectly work through all things for your good.
If you take the bait at some point, just turn back into His forgiving arms.
From there you can quickly and deeply apologize to your friend and relative and
tell them you love them and you’re not going to allow anything to come between
you. That will speak volumes to them, regardless of how they may react
immediately to you.
Thanks for
reading this. It will be worth it. The Lord loves you more than you know. You
are more secure in His love than you may feel during the holidays. Trust Him,
not your emotions. Then watch how He floods you with all His wonderful
emotions! Let’s pray for each other this holiday season that we will each rest
in His arms and be a living invitation to our relatives and friends to do the
same. Emmanuel lives. He is with us. His yoke never cuts into you or presses
down upon your shoulders. As you walk with Him, He lifts you up. His burden
is light.
Take the
yoke, not the bait.
Love and
blessings,
Dick Speight
*******
Come Rest Ministries
“God Rest Ye Merry!”
A Service of Christmas
Awakening in Emmanuel’s Love
Saturday Dec. 7th
630-830pm
At River of Life
3801 Blairs Ferry Rd.
Cedar Rapids
Pastor Dick & Kim
Speight & Come Rest Ministries invite you and your friends and family to rest and renew in the
Lord’s truth, music, and power at Christmas! Emmanuel! God is with us! Have
your best Christmas ever WITH Him! Joyous praise & prayers in the
sanctuary followed by cocoa, cookies, canes & conversation in fellowship
hall! Bring children for prayers of prophetic blessings! Bring the sick and
depressed for miracles! “God rest you merry” means “God make you mighty”! Let
Him. “Merry Christmas” means “Mighty Christ Going Forth”! Follow Him!
*******
Come Rest Ministries
Personal Retreat
Wednesday December 11th
9am-4pm
“Being With God
With Us—Emmanuel!”
Meeting with the Lord
in the Account of His birth
Rehoboth House 2125
Bever Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, IA
Requirements: Pen,
bible, notebook, your copy of our book
REAL FRUIT, and your
wholehearted desire to come rest in Jesus!
Cost: Freewill Offering
plus $18 for book which may be purchased at retreat
Space Limited-- Lunch
provided
Those interested must apply at jkadlec@ImOnMail.com
