Fresh Start Daily

Are you tired?

With everything that we have to do in life, we oftentimes experience burnout. It’s easy to recuperate from physical exhaustion. We can just sleep and feel better after. It’s the emotional, psychological, and spiritual exhaustion that’s difficult to recover from.

That’s why many people turn to different ways to get better. Others turn to self-help books, to meditation, to medicine, to people, etc. These things help somehow, but it seems that many people do not consider God to help them. People are willing to try everything but God.

God says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

It’s an invitation from God to anyone who is exhausted.

“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.” Matthew 11:29-30

“…learn from Me…”

God wants us to come to Him not only to cast our burdens upon Him but also to learn from Him. God wants us to disciple us.

“…gentle and lowly in heart…”

It shows us God’s character. He is gentle and humble. Does it not feel good to know that God can and will give us rest for our souls? When I read those words, I already felt comforted. I want that kind of rest forever. I want a heart that’s not troubled by the cares of the world. I want that kind of inner peace.

God tells us that we can only have that kind of rest if we go to Him. It’s not something that we can get from this world.

“If your yoke is hard and your burden is heavy, then we can say that it isn’t His yoke or burden, and you aren’t letting Him bear it with you.” enduringword.com

“They should believe that something is wrong if they don’t experience rest for their souls.” enduringword.com

Wow. It’s a painful truth, isn’t it? We continue to feel burdened because we don’t really surrender our cares to God. We need to trust that God will help us carry our burdens. And when we surrender them to God, we need to have faith that He is with us, that He will help us.

If we struggle to believe, we must ask God to help us believe and we must not stop until He answers our prayer. We can ask God anything, and He answers requests that are in line with His will. God wants us to be free from all of our worries and cares. He wants us to be free from our strongholds. He wants us to enjoy complete freedom. He wants us to enjoy true rest.

We won’t be able to worship God fully if worries and fears occupy our hearts and minds. God wants to give us rest.

Dear God, I want the rest that You are offering. Help me carry my burdens. Help me believe that You will help me. Remove my anxieties, worries, and fears. I want to learn from You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Devo: Matthew 9:1-8

The paralytic was brought to Jesus by his friends. His friends took the roof apart and lowered him down through it because of the crowd.

“When Jesus saw their faith…” v. 2

It was the faith of the paralytic’s friends, not his, that caused Jesus to forgive and heal him. They had faith that Jesus could heal their friend.

This shows us that our circle matters. Do our friends lift us up in prayer when we need it? Do our friends bring us to Jesus? Or do they talk about us behind our back? Do they wish the worst for us?

His friends cared about him so much that they brought him to Jesus. His friends knew that only Jesus could heal him.

“He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.'” v. 2

The paralytic could’ve been depressed because Jesus told him to cheer up.

“Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house. And he arose and departed to his house.” v. 6-7

It’s because of his friends that he was forgiven and healed.

Also, we can see in these verses that Jesus forgave the man first before He healed him. It is because spiritual healing (forgiveness for our sins) is more important than physical healing.

Sometimes God allows diseases and physical disabilities to bring us to Himself. Until we realize that God is all we need, we will never come to Him.

God doesn’t promise that when we come to Him, we will be healed. God is sovereign and He knows what’s best for us.

As a friend, our job is to pray for our friends, to ask God to cover them with His blood because they could be suffering from things that they don’t talk to us about.

In the previous story in chapter 9, we learned that we have to choose our friends carefully because they will help us in our physical snd spiritual journey. However, in this story, God shows us that we also have to befriend sinners.

Here’s a caveat. We have to befriend sinners not to be influenced by them but to influence them for the Lord.

We were sinners before we came to know the Lord, and sometimes even as believers, we are tempted to sin.

When Jesus called Matthew, he was a tax collector. I read from the commentary, enduringword.com, that the Jewish people considered tax collectors before as traitors because they worked for the Roman government. They didn’t have a good reputation.

However, Jesus told him to follow Him. Jesus knew that he was a sinner but Jesus called him to be one of His disciples. We can also see the heart of Matthew here. It says in verse 9 that “he arose and followed Him.” Matthew obeyed God right away. Then, because he obeyed, his friends came to Jesus, too.

“Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.” v. 10

Eventually, Matthew wrote the gospel of Matthew. ❤️ This is a good reminder because sometimes, us believers tend to hang out only with believers because it’s easy and comfortable. However, we forget to reach out to unbelievers who need our influence so they can also know Jesus and have a personal relationship with Him.

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” vv. 12-13

These are only three verses but they’re very powerful.

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'” v. 22

They obviously have done many amazing, spiritual things. However, spiritual accomplishments mean nothing if we are not personally connected to God. God said,

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” v. 21

We should call on the name of the Lord to be saved. It says in Romans 10:13, “For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.'” Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭13‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

However, just because someone calls on the name of the Lord doesn’t mean that he is truly saved. Anyone can call on the Lord but not really mean it. Anyone can prophesy, cast out demons, and do wonders in thre name of Jesus.

It can be done for the Lord without really knowing the Lord. It can also be for personal gain.

“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'” v. 23

“I never knew you…”

It’s not enough that we know the Lord. We should also be known by Him. A relationship is not a relationship if it is one-sided. There should be a mutual understanding between the two people.

When I heard a similar message before, I cried out to God and asked Him to show me that He knows me. I prayed to Him with that request for three nights in a row and the day after, I received my confirmation. I was laughing and crying at the same time in front of my friend who is also a believer of Jesus Christ. I was elated.

There is a day of judgment. In verse 22, God said, “Many will say to Me in that day…” “…in that day…” refers to Judgment Day. There will be a day where we will stand before God and face His judgment.

On that day, the only thing that will matter is our relationship with God. I remembered the story of Mary and Martha when Jesus visited them. Martha was preoccupied with many things, with serving God, but Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus. Martha complained to Jesus about her sister, Mary, who was not helping her. Jesus, however, told Martha that Mary chose the good part. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus to focus on Him, to communicate with Him, to have fellowship with Him.

“And Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.'” – Luke 10:41-42 NKJV

What then is the basis of salvation? It doesn’t mean we should not call on the Lord because we should. It doesn’t mean bot doing anything for God. The basis of salvation is connection to God. We have to check our heart if we are truly connected to Him.

“In the end, there is one basis of salvation; it isn’t mere verbal confession, not “spiritual works,” but knowing Jesus and being known by Him. It is our connection to Him – by the gift of faith that He gives to us – that secures our salvation. Connected to Jesus we are secure; without connection to Him all the miracles and great works prove nothing.” enduringword.com