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Jesus tells us to give all of our burdens to Him and He will give us rest.  God promises to meet all of our needs if we simply seek His kingdom first.

The ease of the Christian life will be determined by our belief and trust in God’s Word and His promises.  If we choose to submit our troubles to the Lord on a selective basis, then we can expect that our needs will be only partially met.  It is in the full submission to God’s lordship in our lives that we experience the fullness of His grace.

God has a perfect plan and purpose for our lives, even though we may not be able to see it during difficult times.  He commands us not to fret or worry over our circumstances.  He can overcome anything in our lives, no matter how insurmountable we think our circumstances may be.  According to His Word, He promises that He will work out all things for our eternal good.

One of our most important lessons to learn in life is to learn to rejoice in our circumstances and trust that God is fulfilling His promise to us even when we cannot see the results.  We should never see ourselves as being trapped by our circumstances.  Instead we need to learn to see ourselves as being firmly gripped in the hand of God – the only secure place in the universe.

Where is the sin in our lives?  Surely we know if we have gone before the Lord.  His Spirit will not let us rest with anything that is not pleasing to Him.

Peter thought he was so faithful.  Jesus told Peter how shallow his faith really was.  Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times.  And Peter did.  With his sin revealed to him, Peter wept.  Through it all, Peter was able to move on to become the “rock” of Christianity.

If we will let the Holy Spirit show us our sin, we can repent and move forward in being what God is calling us to be.  What a merciful Lord we have.

Obedience to laws simply takes us to a level of proper lifestyle.  Obedience to Jesus Christ takes us to a level of perfection, holiness and purity that only Jesus could attain.

It is not good enough to be good.  It is not enough to do great works.  The only thing that we can do that is of true value is to submit our lives to Jesus Christ, to die of self and to take on the new life that dwells within us.  To do anything short of fully submitting our lives to Jesus falls short of being able to call ourselves Christians.

Once we receive Jesus as Our Lord and Savior, turning away from obvious sin is generally easy through the power of the Holy Spirit within us.  We are likely, however, to struggle with those areas of sin that were hardened within us prior to our renewal.

We also will battle with those areas in our lives that are not necessarily sinful, but are separating us from the perfection that we will reach in heaven.  It is through these struggles toward perfection in Christ that God reinforces our dependence on Him and draws us closer to Himself.

When we sin, it is very important that we confess the sin and repent of it quickly.  We are not to hold on to it for any reason – not even to punish ourselves.  

We must take God’s merciful grace and shed ourselves of our sins.  We must cleanse ourselves through the power of the Holy Spirit and move on to a new higher level of relationship with the Father.

We must recognize that Christ has atoned for all sin for all eternity.  To hold on to any sin, even in guilt, is to continue to suffer its destruction in our lives.

God’s call on each of our lives is unique.  While He gives all of us the same commandments to follow, He will give each of us specific areas in which He wants us to obey Him.  It is for our own good and for His glory that He calls us to specific areas of obedience.

God told the Jews not to eat pork.  He was protecting them from the inherent health issues related to cooking pork improperly.  The Jews did not realize why they were being called to obedience in this specific area, but it was for their good and ultimately for God’s glory.

If God calls us to a specific area of obedience or gives us a command specific to our circumstances, it will be for our good.  If we are obedient to His calling, we will receive the good that God planned for us and He will receive His glory.

When called to share the Good News of the Gospel, we often try to slightly change the wording to make it more acceptable to the listener.  How dare we assume that our words are more pleasing than the Word of God itself.

We can and should confidently speak the Word of God exactly as it was written.  While our words are powerless, the Word of God holds truths that deliver their promises without failure.

One of the most difficult lessons to learn for each believer is to trust the Lord in all matters concerning his or her life.  For most, it is a lesson that is not fully internalized even up to the death bed.

God has promised His perfect provision for our lives.  At times, we just cannot see past our circumstances to receive the fullness of His grace.  How much more joy could we have in life if we would simply focus on Our Provider instead of our problems? 

The throne of grace is open 24-7.  The access into the throne room is through prayer.  If the throne room is continuously open, are we not fools if we only access it infrequently.

If the bank would give us funds anytime that we visited, would we not run there on a steady basis?  In all likelihood our presence there would be as frequent as our schedule allowed.  We would be incessant visitors to the bank.  

We should approach God’s throne with the same sense of urgency and persistence.  The content of His Treasury is far greater than anything that we can find on earth and He releases it to us when we ask Him.