You Will Find Rest For Your Souls

January 1, 2019

You Will Find Rest For Your Souls

The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;

I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Jeremiah 31:3

Let this thought be your guide for 2019: “God loves us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. Because no one is as they should be.” (All is Grace by Brennan Manning)

God’s love for us is based 100% on His choice to love us unconditionally, just as we are; not as we should be. If His choice to love us were based on anything else, we would be in trouble. What if God chose to love us based on some measure of our faithfulness. What would happen if we didn’t measure up?

The truth of God’s love for us is that we don’t deserve it, we can’t earn it and we can’t justify it. God’s choice to love us is seemingly contradictory. God’s sets a very high bar of expectations for us: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).  But when we fail to meet His expectations we hear: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). When we accept God loving us so completely, we can move toward that liberating day when, because we passionately believe in God’s love for us, we truly love ourselves for God’s sake.

My Takeaway: Perhaps on this first day of the New Year you are still a bit weary from striving to justify your place with God, still battered and bruised from the game of life. If so, today is a great day to renew your faith in God, who loves you unconditionally, just as you are; not as you should be. Because no one is as they should be.

“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 Emphasis mine).

Sē’lah

Alex

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.