Resting in Jesus

Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon.

As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

“What you are about to do, do quickly,” Jesus told him, but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him.

(John 13:25-28)
 

Reclining upon the Lord Jesus, resting between His shoulders, the beloved disciple is perfectly positioned to ask of the Master who will be the one to betray Him. Those who rest upon the Lord are privy to some of the deepest secrets of His heart. All are invited to rest.

His call found in Matthew is not an exclusive one:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
 

One of my favorite Old Testament verses regarding resting depicts a loved and protected child. It is penned by Moses, who Scripture tells us God spoke to as a friend:

“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.” (Deuteronomy 33:12)
 

I can just imagine John’s head resting between Jesus’ shoulders. Rest is very important to God and it is a subject which permeates much of Scripture. God Himself rested on the seventh day making it holy. He commanded man to rest, animals to rest and even the land to rest.

We who live in such a frenzied hectic world should take heed of this. We put more and more on our plates filling our hours with work and more work yet getting less and less accomplished. Our dependence lies in our own weak abilities. We seem to be continually striving to drink from the empty cups of our own power ever stuffing our emotions, acceptance, money, positions, etc. into bags with gaping soul holes–always coming up unsatisfied.
 

It is God’s desire for us to be abiding, not striving or struggling. We are always to be looking to Jesus and His power for He is our very present Savior. He is our achieving power for service as well as our source of abundant unchanging joy.
 

Jesus clearly teaches that our strength will be found in abiding in Him! This sure truth remains–anything of eternal value is accomplished only through our abiding in Jesus:

“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
(John 15:4-5)
 

What does remaining or resting look like in a life? How is this intimate relationship with Jesus achieved? Certainly, it must begin with our salvation in Christ, accepting Jesus as our Savior and Lord, but it was never meant to cease at that point. Our growth–our sanctification–is to continue throughout our lives. Abiding consists of being in fellowship with God through His Word, through prayer, and through loving obedience to Him. It is God’s desire for believers to be conformed to the image of His Son. That is the path of peace which passes understanding.
 

Take It to Heart

Never having given Christ lordship of his heart, Judas remained open to the advances of the adversary.
 

“Let us watch jealously over our hearts, and beware of giving way in the beginnings of sin. Happy is he who feareth always, and walks humbly with his God. The strongest Christian is the one who feels his weakness most, and cries most frequently, ‘Hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’” (John Ryle)

Beth Yoe Devotionals

Copyright © 2014

JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

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Standing Firm

When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.” (Luke 22:14-16)
 

What a lesson for us to learn here! Jesus, knowing that this Passover would be a prologue to His suffering, set His heart upon this pleasant event with His closest companions. Knowing full well what He was about to experience, Jesus kept His focus on the fact that His future suffering was necessary for man’s redemption and for His Father’s glory. Suffering is oftentimes the prelude to glory.

Oh if we all could only look at life through those lenses! We must not scorn the pain, the hard work, the trial, the obstacle. Rather, we must seek to see what God will produce in and through us. As we embrace our circumstances with joy, by focusing on what it will inevitably produce, we bring God much glory. We must never forget that Jesus chose to die for us, because of the outcome His actions would accomplish.
 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)
 

Pain is pain. We should never marginalize or minimize others afflictions. I remember once being told when I was going through a rather trying time that at least I was not in a concentration camp! I don’t know your pain tolerance, but being one notch better off than a concentration camp experience brought me little, if any, comfort. The promise of Scripture, on the other hand, brought peace to my troubled soul.

Paul’s words in Romans reverberated in my weary spirit:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
 

All things are not good; rather God works all things for our good. There is a huge difference between those two statements! The cross was not good, but what God worked by that action was extremely good–the salvation of mankind!
 

All of our works will one day be tested by fire. Everything done apart from God’s will goes up in smoke:

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man’s work. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)
 

Our goal as believers in Jesus is what Epaphras prayed for the church at Colosse:

Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. (Colossians 4:12)
 

Take It to Heart

“A depressed, dejected, dispirited believer is a poor recommendation for the Christian faith. We’re to be hopeful people–optimists–who have grasped the reality of Romans 8:28 and its guarantee of God’s all-encompassing providence over the lives of His children.” (Robert Morgan)
 

Standing firm and fully assured even when the winds of trial and dire circumstances are blowing is a mark of a mature Christian. It is also a mark of one who brings God much glory. It is easy to be “on fire” when circumstances are favorable, but let a little rain fall on our parade and we are often found wallowing in self pity, groaning and complaining. How much better for us to season our lives with the spices of contentment and joy rather than to harbor bitterness and resentment which will corrode our vessels like acid.

Beth Yoe Devotionals

Copyright © 2014

JesusOnline Ministries

P. O. Box 6017

Great Falls, MT 59405

======

Peter Allan C. Mariano

Links2Prosperity Enterprises 

Web Marketing : Web Content : Web Design

Follow me on TWITTER:

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Holy Thursday: Stooped to Serve!

In stooping to serve his disciples Jesus knew he would be betrayed by one of them and that the rest would abandon him through disloyalty. Such knowledge could have easily led to bitterness or hatred.  The Lord loves each of us unconditionally. His love has power to set us free to serve others with Christ-like compassion and humility. Does the love of Christ rule in your heart, thoughts, intentions and actions?

Holy Thursday - Mass of the Last Supper

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 116:12-13, 15-16, 17-18
1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 13:1-15

Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. 2 And during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, 4 rose from supper, laid aside his garments, and girded himself with a towel. 5 Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. 6 He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" 7 Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand." 8 Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." 9 Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" 10 Jesus said to him, "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but he is clean all over; and you are clean, but not every one of you." 11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "You are not all clean." 12 When he had washed their feet, and taken his garments, and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.