Devotionals for the Heart: Rest

Rest: The Forgotten Commandment
A devotional by Gena Anderson

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy.” – Exodus 31:12-13 (NIV)

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with your to-do list?

Have you ever wanted a break but did not take one because then nothing would get done?

In my life the list of tasks is never-ending and I’m guessing yours is similar, yet God insists on rest in His Word. An interesting contradiction to what life demands, the idea of resting does not come naturally to me, and the execution of a day of rest is challenging.

Why?

While I’d like to say I cannot rest because I’m busy feeding orphans and caring for widows, being the hands and feet of Jesus, the reality is not quite that noble. What keeps us from resting is often one of these not so flattering reasons:

● Self-reliance over God-reliance

● Putting our identity in our work

● Materialism

● Envy

● Valuing achievement over relationships

● Insecurity, or the fear of not having enough

Contrast this with children. I often think how nice it must be to have someone provide for you, do your laundry and cook your food. They have no problem stopping work, none at all. We often have to bargain and threaten to get them to work. Somewhere in the transition to adulthood that changes.

We all learn to be self-reliant and not dependent on others, but we take that too far and try to function independent from God. Some are wounded from a childhood with unmet needs and don’t know what it means to have a dependable parent. As a child of God we are dependent on Him, whether we think so or not. He is our Good Father.

We need to stop striving for self-reliance and choose to be God-reliant.

What does God-reliance have to do with rest?

Resting on Sabbath on a weekly basis reminds us who God is. He is our God, our provider who will meet every worrisome need. The things on our to-do list are nothing compared to His great plans. A relationship with us is one of His greatest desires, and more meaningful than any accomplishment. When we rest we are choosing to make God a priority over everything else.

When we don’t rest we feel anxious, stressed, overwhelmed, depressed, and exhausted. Perhaps we should trust our Creator, who actually designed us, and operate by the manual.

Making rest a priority and setting aside the Sabbath is one of the most productive and beneficial things we can do.

How can you make rest a reality in your life?

When the Sabbath comes, make an active choice to rest. Plan for physical rest, and do things that recharge your body. Schedule a nap or a family bike ride! Recharge your emotions through creation and relationships. Refocus your spirit through intimate time with him without outside interference.

Watch what God does in your life when you prioritize Sabbath rest. You will undoubtedly benefit from remembering who He is and allowing Him to make you holy.

Let’s Pray: Dear God, you are so good to give us the gift of a command to rest. Help me to set aside time for you and go before me to enable me. Forgive me for the ways I’ve neglected rest and ignored your instructions. Help me to abide in you more and more through every Sabbath with you. Thank you for the opportunity to rest in your goodness, grace, and mercy. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Gena Anderson is a Jesus-lover, writer, nurse practitioner, and blogger who loves to share wellness information and inspiration with the world around her.

She is the author of The Well Woman: A Journey to Wellness Through Loving Jesus, which is available on Amazon.com.

Gena proudly holds the title of wife, mom, and the world’s most average CrossFitter. She loves writing, reading, traveling, and brownies. She's working on that last one.

Gena lives in Hutto, Texas with her husband and two children.

~*~
Connect with Gena:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellwoman.blog
Website: well-woman-blog.com
Email: wellwomanbook@gmail.com

Devotionals for the Heart: Division

A Church Divided Isn’t What Jesus Started
A devotional by Gena Anderson

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.” – 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (NIV)

History is full of conflict. World wars, civil wars, and religious conflicts fill the pages of history books. Humanity has been fighting for something, it seems, since the dawn of time. 

The Bible is filled with tales of nation against nation, Jews against Gentiles, and religious leaders against a Savior. People fighting should come as no surprise to us, yet many feel shocked, angry, saddened, and exhausted with all the division around us.

As we who live in the United States watch our country and our own friends and family be divided by their views on everything from racism to vaccines, we all react differently. Some fight back when met with resistance, others back down in retreat, and some go on offensive attack. I’ve stayed quiet, spoken up, offered sympathy, and everything in between. Recently I considered the damage that has resulted not to our country and relationships, but to the Body of Christ.

Jesus Christ came to create a united new body of people (Ephesians 2:14-15). Don’t misunderstand, He didn’t do that by accepting sin and rolling past ungodly conduct. Jesus was clear on God’s expectations, but He didn’t compromise his position on the whole “love one another” thing while making his points. That’s something we can’t say about how we’ve been acting lately.

When asked which commandment was greatest, Jesus says first to love God and second, to love others (Matthew 22:37-38). As Christians, we can’t allow our feelings to control our words and actions because those emotions often betray our love for the Lord and serve ourselves more than others. James 1:19-20 tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak, as well as slow to become angry because doing so will cause us to dishonor God. When we reverse those recommendations and are quick to speak in anger and slow to listen, we are making God and Christians look bad, and dividing the church that was intended to unanimously carry Jesus’ message of love to the world.

So what are we to do when the world seems to be turned upside down and we feel in conflict with so many? If we listen to Paul’s words in the verse above, we would do good to remember that everything we think isn’t meant to be said out loud. Furthermore, the things we feel we have the right to say and do might need to be set aside for the good of others. In fact, I don’t see anything in those top two commandments about anyone's rights.

Jesus loved all of us so much that He gave His life for us, and silently endured persecution and crucifixion. We can surely bite our tongues for the sake of bearing our cross. In the name of Christian love, we can seek to listen and understand more than we strive to be heard. When we feel ourselves frustrated with the unprecedented situations around us we can take a moment to remember we serve a God of power, provision, and presence who wants us to point others to Him.

When we speak and act, we can let the Holy Spirit lead us to discern how to do so in a way that is rich with the love of God and others, and void of arrogance and pride. I am going to try to do better, what about you?

Let’s Pray: Lord, help us remember that you are always in control, and we have no reason to fear. Forgive us for allowing our emotions to control us. Help us to call on your Spirit and follow its prompting, and to be more skilled in listening than we are in speaking. We are so thankful for and humbled by your never-ending love. In Jesus's Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Gena Anderson is a Jesus-lover, writer, nurse practitioner, and blogger who loves to share wellness information and inspiration with the world around her. 

She is the author of The Well Woman: A Journey to Wellness Through Loving Jesus, which is available on Amazon.com.

Gena proudly holds the title of wife, mom, and the world’s most average CrossFitter. She loves writing, reading, traveling, and brownies. She's working on that last one.

Gena lives in Hutto, Texas with her husband and two children.

~*~
Connect with Gena:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellwoman.blog
Website: well-woman-blog.com
Email: wellwomanbook@gmail.com

Devotionals for the Heart: Pride

Pride is an Enemy of Love
A devotional by Gena Anderson

But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” –James 4:6 (NKJV)

I once prided myself on being my family’s chief financial officer. When I began struggling to maintain, I first attempted to fix our finances by myself, then conceal them, and later blame them on my husband. Like a pudgy dog trying to jump on the couch, the weight of the struggle became too much, and when I fell flat on my face I was forced to see how low my pride had sunken me. Finding humility, I asked God and my husband for help.

Barely making ends meet, buried in debt, my husband and I worked together to rebuild and submit our money to God. I created a tight budget that fit like my Spanx, and prayerfully followed a plan to get into the black. After months of chipping away at bills the time came to revisit the budget and make use of some newfound wiggle room. Reworking the numbers, I yearned to use the new surplus on something indulgent, perhaps a night out or pedicure, but I knew what took priority.

From my view at the bottom of the financial ditch I saw the root issue: tithing. We were giving a comfortable amount, but God wants us to give freely and generously, promising abundance in return as He says to us in Luke 6:38 and Proverbs 11:24. In my realization of complete humility I had asked God to help me increase our tithe to an amount unimaginable in our broken state, and committed to getting there. This was the first opportunity toward generous giving, and I was ready. I allotted almost half of our long-awaited gain to tithe, knowing that investment would pay better dividends than a meal at Chilis.

Later that week I revisited the budget and realized I had miscalculated. Missing a monthly deposit, I undercalculated our income. We actually had a surplus double my original figure. After all the financial stress and penny-pinching this find was a God-sent gift, and I heard God’s message loud and clear: His ways are superior, and we benefit more by submitting and giving to Him than we do by withholding. I learned to love God instead of money and shed the weight of pride, gaining a pressed down, shaken together, running over gift that remains still.

James 4:6 says God resists the proud but blesses the humble beyond what they deserve. Reading that verse, I wondered what God finds so detestable about pride that he resists the prideful. Then I remembered, my pride led to financial destruction and sin, and humility was what ignited reparation. I believe that pride is more divisive in the church than adultery, murder, abortion, and any other headline issue, because it is the fuel behind all of those things and the root of selfish desires.

Pride is . . . trying to do it all and not asking for help . . . putting today’s achievement over eternal investment . . . finding satisfaction and pleasure in self over God . . . wanting to be saved without admitting the need for a Savior.

Christians like to hide our dirty laundry. The world needs to see our brokenness in order to witness God’s work in our lives and know they aren’t the only ones struggling. James reminds us God resists diving into our stinky pile of dirty clothes as long as we hide it, but brings powerful, heavenly-scented detergent to clean it all up when we release pride.

Christians sometimes struggle to work together, taking God’s design of a servant heart and twisting it into overbearing church volunteers that seek control and offer criticism. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 says our gifts and talents are useless without love. The humble love of God and others over ourselves is one that collaborates with and offers praise to their brothers and sisters.

People who love others as Jesus loves them (John 15:12) sift out and remove pride. This is not a call to shame, but to repentance. Tara-Leigh Cobble said on The Bible Recap, “confident humility is when you’re not building or beating yourself up.” God loves us enough to forgive and forget any sin that’s confessed and turned from.

Humility is the elevation of God, more than it is the lowering of self, and what is the church if not adept at raising up the name of the one we claim to praise? Ask yourself and God today how you’ve let pride overshadow love. Humble yourself so God can exalt you (James 4:10), and be filled with a love so great it will spill out to the world.

Let’s Pray: Lord, you are the only one who can be and do it all. Open my eyes to see where I’ve allowed pride to divide and destroy my life. Forgive me and help me to do better. Thank you for your never ending love and patience with me, help me to offer the same to those in my path today. In Jesus’s Name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Gena Anderson is a Jesus-lover, writer, nurse practitioner, and blogger who loves to share wellness information and inspiration with the world around her. 

She is the author of The Well Woman: A Journey to Wellness Through Loving Jesus, which is available on Amazon.com.

Gena proudly holds the title of wife, mom, and the world’s most average CrossFitter. She loves writing, reading, traveling, and brownies. She's working on that last one.

Gena lives in Hutto, Texas with her husband and two children.

~*~
Connect with Gena:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellwoman.blog
Website: well-woman-blog.com
Email: wellwomanbook@gmail.com

Devotionals for the Heart: God's Love

Life Lessons in God's Love 
A devotional by Gena Anderson

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

–Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

Three days ago, as I write this, I snuggled under a blanket watching TV after a steak dinner, in cozy oblivion to the degree of comfort I was experiencing. Looking back, I’d define my state at that time as being spoiled: a lack of awareness of the luxuries one possesses that others lack.

Today I sit in my bed in a new and uncomfortable situation, as we are starting day three without electricity and hour 15 without running water, in the midst of a winter storm. Temperatures have been as low as seven degrees, we have gotten five inches of snow, and last night brought a fresh layer of icy rain. It’s now 23 degrees, a step up from yesterday. Everyone is dressed in layers so we don’t freeze, which is good because no one has bathed in three days.

I’d like to convey what this has been like. The first 24 hours of the blackout, my husband was at work. He prepared firewood before leaving, and I used it to keep a fire going as our only source of heat. I cooked on our gas grill in frigid temperatures and made ice packs by filling baggies with snow to keep the food in the fridge cold. Everything in our area was without power, so getting food anywhere else wasn’t likely. When my husband came home from his 24-hour shift at the fire department he was exhausted, but managed to bring home wood pallets and cut them up since we were running low on wood. After I cooked dinner in our fireplace when the grill ran out of propane, my husband woke up from a much needed nap and suddenly remembered our camper had propane tanks. He went to storage to retrieve those so we could cook again, and have a heat source to melt snow to use to flush our toilets.

Our entire focus has been on sustenance and warmth, something we’ve never before lacked. Thankfully this is not our normal routine, and I’ve gained new empathy for those who cannot say that.

This whole experience has been trying, cold, and hard. Today, I can say with confidence my heart is full and I’m grateful, even at this time. Like the fresh snow outside my window that is covering everything in sight, I feel a new coating of grace that’s bubbled up out of fresh repentance. I recognize now how dependent I had become on life’s comforts, and I see clearly the things that obstructed my view of God. Knowing God is the only true comfort for our souls, and the realization of how beautifully he provides exactly what we need has humbled me. I have been reminded of God’s love.

Externally I may have appeared positive to my kids, but internally I’ve lamented my fair share these past days. In this book of sorrow and sadness over the destruction of Jerusalem, the author of Lamentations reminds us in the passage above God’s goodness is not measured by life’s difficulties, and his love is constant. This thing we are enduring will not consume us.

God’s love is evident in … the kindness of neighbors as we have helped each other … the beauty of creation, which I now see since I have no electronics to focus on … using what I’ve already been given to provide in abundance for my family and friends … continuing to guide, comfort, provide for, and forgive me while I continue to struggle with the temptations of this life … the gift of family games around a fire when there is literally nothing else to do.

God’s love is here, always has been, always will be. I hope, when the lights come back on and this life of luxury resumes, I don’t allow its constant covering to become unappreciated, and live a life dripping with remembrance of the love of God.

Let’s Pray: God, you are good and loving, and I praise you for being exactly the kind of Father we need. Forgive me for not always acknowledging and appreciating your love, and allowing life’s luxuries to become my comfort and idol. Help me to be a humble receiver and generous giver of the love you so lavishly pour out. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

~*~
Author Bio:

Gena Anderson is a Jesus-lover, writer, nurse practitioner, and blogger who loves to share wellness information and inspiration with the world around her.

She is the author of The Well Woman: A Journey to Wellness Through Loving Jesus, which is available on Amazon.com.

Gena proudly holds the title of wife, mom, and the world’s most average CrossFitter. She loves writing, reading, traveling, and brownies. She's working on that last one.

Gena lives in Hutto, Texas with her husband and two children.

~*~
Connect with Gena:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellwoman.blog
Website: well-woman-blog.com
Email: wellwomanbook@gmail.com