1 Thessalonians Intro

"May we live as if Christ died yesterday, arose this morning, and is returning tomorrow".

Living as if Christ died yesterday should cause us to be ever aware of Jesus' love for us that He would give everything to pay for that which we could not pay. Gratitude

Living as if Christ arose this morning should cause us to know His mercies are new every morning and that all the rough stuff is settled and taken care of.  Rejoicing

Living as if Christ is coming tomorrow should cause our perspective of the things of today to be as it should be -

light touch on the earthly, great reaching forth toward the heavenly.  Hope

Gratitude, Rejoicing, and Hope  

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. Psalm 16:9

This verse begins with the term of conclusion "therefore".  Check out the psalm and join David in his rejoicing and hope.

Come To Jesus

The need for soul rest is so different than the need for physical rest.  Sadly, we tend to ignore both.  But, when the body becomes so depleted that it cries out in sickness or weakness, we begin to take heed and seek restoration.   But, the soul.  do you ignore the cries of your soul?  Some of its cries are physical.  As David cried out in Psalm 32: his vitality was turned into the draught of summer.  Jesus understands our spiritual thirst.

John 7:37  If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.

From the Sunday morning message Matthew 11:28, 29 Come unto 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 in your souls.

Our objection?  Yokes make me think of work and I'm tired! I need to rest!  Yet, Jesus tells us rest is found in taking His yoke upon us – putting on something that really only works when we are moving.

But, I was thinking…. our souls are continually moving – moving towards Jesus or away from him.  We really don't "sit still" spiritually.

Pastor Dale shared with us that this yoke that Jesus desires us to put on (notice He doesn't put it on us) is well fitting, and designed specifically for each one of us.  It's designed to guide us as we move, to keep us from the ditches of life.  Because the ditches of life are exhausting, aren't they?  And --- His yoke for you has been designed by the One who knows every ditch that is ahead  of us.

Jesus says to us – Put this on.  It will make life a whole lot easier.  Come to Me.  Learn (literally, by use and practice) from Me.  The result will be rest (recover your strength, refreshment).    Ahhh, doesn't that sound like a very good thing?  It only comes by coming to Him.