Friday, February 5, 2010

Matthew 11:28-30 Mary & Martha Study Conclusion

Resting With Jesus

Matthew 11: 28-30.
Come to 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 for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
"TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU..."
1. "In Jewish literature a 'yoke' represents the sum-total of
obligations which, according to the teaching of the rabbis,
a person must take upon himself." - William Hendriksen
(Matthew, New Testament Commentary) i.e., servitude.
2. Jesus is therefore expecting those who desire the rest He
offers to:
a. Accept His teachings.
b. Accept whatever obligations He would lay upon you.
c. Our yoke is the plan for our lives from God.
“seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33) We are called to do what God asks us to do regardless of the cost and trust that God will cover us.
The word yoke could easily be replaced with the plans that I have for you. Let’s read the scripture and replace the words. (Re read) Does that make sense?
Come. Be obedient to the plans that I have for you. Learn from Me. You will find rest.


WHAT IS JESUS OFFERING?

A. "I WILL GIVE YOU REST...YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS"
1. Jesus is offering rest for our souls!
2. Souls which have been burdened by:
a. The guilt of sin, which separates from God (i.e., legal
guilt)
b. The side effects of sin, such as anxiety, depression, fear
and doubt (i.e., emotional guilt)
c. To remove anxiety, Jesus offers peace to calm the
troubled heart.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO ACCEPT THIS INVITATION?

A. AS JESUS TAUGHT ELSEWHERE, IT DOES REQUIRE...
1. That we observe all that He commanded - Mt 28:19-20
2. That we abide in His doctrine (teaching) - Jn 8:31

B. BUT AS STATED HERE, "MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT"
1. John, who was a disciple for over fifty years, said: "His
commandments are not grievous" - 1Jn 5:3
2. What helps lighten our burden is the strength Jesus Himself
gives - Php 2:12-13; 4:13
-- Certainly the burden Jesus places upon us is lighter than the
burden sin lays upon us!

In The Quiet Place
Sometimes, no matter what is going on we just need to stop and get to a quiet place with Jesus. Doing things on our own does not bring us rest. Working about does not bring peace. Only Jesus can offer us the peace that passes all understanding.”The world’s offering of joy, hope and love is fleeting, temporary, and dangerously unstable…but it can put on a good show in the short term. It can offer peaceful settings and rituals to conjure up peaceful thoughts… but not true soul contentedness. The peace that flows despite circumstances can only be found through Jesus being with us.”- Lysa TerKeurst. Whatever you need….. it can only be filled by your sweet Savior. Does taking time to get quiet and alone sound unreasonable and/or undoable? If so then that rest will never be found. Remember Martha? Jesus said she made the wrong decision to continue to labor without first feeding her soul. It can be done but it is a conscious decision to take the time to COME TO JESUS. Will you let Him lead you instead of the world? Will you make time to spend with your Lord and Savior? Will you just say “even though” I have too much already “I will come” trusting that you will cover me. “I will come” knowing that you will give me the grace, help and ability to still do all of the things that I need to do because I put You first Jesus. Or will we say “I just don’t have any more time.” after all, Jesus will understand how busy I am and I do go to church a couple of times a week. Let us reference back to Martha again.

Scriptures we need to know deep within for this lesson in statement form.
. I am far from oppression, and fear does not come near me. (Isaiah 54:14)
. I am holy and without blame before Him in love (Ephesians 1:4 & 1Peter 1:16)
. I have the peace of God that passes all understanding (Philippians 2:5)
. I am a doer of the Word and blessed in my actions (James 1:22,25)
. I am forgiven of all my sins and washed in the blood (Ephesians 1:7)
. I am strengthened with all might according to His glorious power (Colossians 1:11)
. It is not I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galations 2:20)
. I am complete in Him. Who is the Head of all principality and power. (Colossians 2:10)

We all want peace and to rest in Jesus don’t we? Then we need to trust in what the scriptures tell us and let Him lead us and not us live and then make room for Jesus. We live for Jesus and He makes room for the rest. It is a prioritized order that will work in our lives if we trust it.

Who do you trust? Distrust manifests itself in 2 ways. 1. A persistent ailing heart. Meaning a heavy heart and a feeling of this isn't how life was supposed to be. Isn't there supposed to be some joy?
Distrust manifestation #2. A spewing mind. You mind spews with every kind of worry, fear, insecurity, anxieties, vain imagination. You trace where your mind spews and you will find the areas where you distrust God.- Beth Moore



This lesson is the final piece to the Abundant Life for Women study. If we put Jesus first all the needs will be met. We have to make the conscious decision to praise every day, to pray every day, to talk to the Lord every day. Also, we know by his word he does not want us to labor without being spirit fed. We know he does not want us heavy laden (anxious, worried, upset) therefore we have to make the conscious decision to take care of our spirit, mind and body. Nobody keeps us from taking care of ourselves except for our own personal choices to not do so. If Jesus is first in your life He will honor that and the time you take to care for you soul, mind and body will be blessed and he will cover you. Everything will still get done, I promise. Trust in God’s word. At the end of the year God dropped the Mary/Martha bomb on me from our last Bible Study that I posted on An Abundant Life for Women and God showed me that my husband was my Mary and I was angry and blaming him for my inability to exercise because I was always too busy taking care of kids and doing housework. God showed me that the lack in my life was my own fault and nobody else's. I chose to believe that I had to do all the work first and then if any time was left take care of my needs to exercise or read a good book. Take a bubble bath? Hah!! Looking at the Mary Martha study with the revelation God gave me showed me that so many of us ladies deny our needs spiritually, emotionally and physically because we are laboring about and then get angry with our husbands because they do not do enough around the house. And let's be realistic..... most of them don't. BUT, God showed me that it was I who made the choice to deny my needs. Since the study I have exercised every single day. I do an hour or more on the treadmill. I do my crunches and some other form of free weights/leg exercises. This takes up at least 2 hours a day. NEVER would I have taken the time to do that before! Too much to do. Well, I chose to believe God and I chose to believe Jesus when he told Martha she was making the wrong decision. Guess what? God honors his word, my husband without my asking has started doing things around the house. Not much but he works tons of hours but he never used to do anything before and now he does. He takes time to play with the kids more and make sure they do some chores too. He likes his happy wife and he wants to keep me that way. The kids like the happy mom and they want to keep me that way. You see, they are making up some of the work I did because they all like happy and healthy mom. I also believe God nudges them.... Jesus wants us to live an abundant joyful life and I believe after doing this that when we believe and just on blind faith do what we should God covers us. I take the time now that I need for me and my house is still in order. The kids are fine, everyone is fine and momma is FINE. I can NEVER blame my husband EVER again for any lack I experience and I am ashamed that I ever did so. I hope this was a blessing to you like it was me.

8 comments:

Faye said...

I really enjoyed your post..It was a blessing..Hope you have a great day..Blessings, Faye:)

Andrea said...

Always blessed to have traveled by here.
Andrea

Mary Ellen said...

Definitely blessed by reading this post. Exactly what I needed to hear.

Mary Ellen

Tasha Simons said...

Great post, Jenn. "If Momma isn't happy, no one is happy!" Glad to hear you are doing so well as you keep Jesus first in your life.

Tasha

Andrea said...

Sitka has an award for you at All Gods Creatures.

Bob West said...

God has greatly gifted you
I enjoyed visiting your blog
God Bless;

http://westbob.blogspot.com/2010/02/encourager-part-1.html

Anonymous said...

What a great resource!

Valdeck said...

Thanks for this. I've always wondered what these verses mean seeing that a yoke is usually heavy. Now it is clearer. I have also gained a new perspective on my responsibilities as I am forever doing. Thanks again. May God bless you.