Your Burden is His Delight -Eric Holmstrom

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

-Jesus  [ Matthew 11:28 ]

The creators and founders of this blog have hearts that beat for the broken, wounded, and exploited people of their city, country, and world. Dani and Mary have inspired hundreds to open their eyes, look up, and choose to end injustice everywhere. It’s a huge calling, an impossible vision, and that’s what makes it God infused! Proud of you ladies, thanks for leading the charge!

Let’s start with this question: Is Jesus frustrated by your burdens? Are your burdens a bother to Him? I think too many of us live under the suspicion that our brokenness is annoying to God. Here’s why I think that: I see the tendency in myself to hide, pretend, cover up. I am terrified that my failures are going to interrupt God’s grand plan.

But that’s not who Jesus is or how He feels about you. He is way better than that! 

Jesus delights when you come to Him, not with your perfection, but with your struggles. Loving you in your brokenness is not an interruption to Jesus’ busy day, but rather His deepest desire. We think our small burdens are not important enough. Or worse, we think our overwhelming anxieties are too big for God. Jesus doesn’t qualify or deny certain burdens, worries, hurts. He invites us to bring them all to Him and there in the presence of Jesus, we’ll find rest. Not just generic rest. The kind of rest that is given to us as a gift by our Jesus who loves us. The imagery behind this word rest is that by experiencing this you and I would be refreshed, even revived. It’s not just about closing our eyes and sleeping. It’s a whole body and soul resurrecting kind of experience.

What’s burdening you right now? What’s heavy on your heart? What news did you just receive that you can’t seem to shake? What angers you? What baggage have you been carrying for years? 

Choose this week to stop running away from Jesus and start running towards Him. 

He loves you. He adores you. He wants to carry your burdens so you can be free.

Run to Him and you’ll find He’s been running towards you your entire life.

-Eric Holmstrom

The Art of Broken Vessels

It seems that there is a never-ending process of life as a Jesus follower. A constant state of learning and growing all while wishing you were learning and growing more, and at times being tired of it. Reflecting on the last year of my life I can guarantee that if you ask He will give. It, however, will never look quite like you think it will. When I asked for a deeper love for the world and a better understanding of others with His vision, I began to empathize in ways I never thought of, and it hurt beautifully. I asked to understand the way He sees me and I began to understand how it feels to be completely held in love. Ask for peace in a time of anxiety for the future and get a peace that surpasses all understanding. Ask to taste His joy and receive a joy that no one can touch. I asked to trust Him more and I began to feel more lonely than I had in a long time. It began to feel as if it was so dark that I couldn't even see my own hand in front of my face. He comforted me on a whole new level and I felt Him like never before. He'll open your heart to surrender the  present and the future to Him in total trust, and you'll experience such freedom from fear. I asked for a firmer faith that isn't based on feelings and He removed all feeling. And I began to doubt that He exists at all. And I learned to choose to believe. And He taught me to worship with my mind. And through the utter pain, there was utter beauty. Looking back on lessons I know I will never be done learning, I wouldn't want to have learned them any other way. Though I'm at times exhausted from the call of being obedient, and from all of the enemy's lies, I can look back and see that The Lord fought for me, and I need only to be still. So much of this process is the re-realization of total reliance on God. All of these lessons have put me right back into the place of seeing that I can't pull any of this off on my own. I need The Lord to tell me where to put my feet and to make my heart willing to listen to Him and put them there. In the pain He gives perspective of the goal of this life: to be with Him and to live a life of seeking to point others to Him. With that perspective, one of eagerness to be His vessel, He lets us crave whatever it takes to make us who we are supposed to be in Him. Whatever it takes to make us the most ourselves we could ever be. A perspective of understanding how broken we are and how much we rely Him to be able. And oh how able He makes us. Our process is a constant state of beauty from ashes. One that says, "I was this, but then Jesus, and now everything's different." One of life and life to the fullest. It's an art form, really. It's a mess and it's a masterpiece, accepting the work in progress in order that the world may see His love through you.


Broken Vessels:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiyYoe678yI

Shepherd:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVjedGudN8w

Marvelous Light: A Reflection

The Maker sees me as brighter and more magnificent than the sun. The best part is that He didn't just make the sun and leave it here. He stayed and He's near. I am as radiant as the sun. Nothing will hold me back from shining His light, because The Maker of the Sun is here. He is in me. And He is fiery.   He is dazzling. My soul is enraptured by Marvelous Light.

Psalm 34

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

Love. A Personal Reflection.

In preparation for a new week I was listening to Pieces by Bethel and decided I needed to be more intentional about love this week and forever. So I opened up to 1 Corinthians 13 and to our last blog post and said, "Well what did I tell them to do? I should probably do that." Then I made some notes and decided to be super vulnerable and share them with whoever reads this. Maybe they will help, maybe they won't, but here they are word for word:

" What would it be like if Love was an action intended for every single person I see?
-Being intentional with my words to everyone including my parents
-Being intentional with my thoughts even to those who are annoying me

How can I grow in my love for God this week?

-Wake up early to read

-Before anything ask Him to let me love Him more, and then sing to Him

-Read every night/pray

-Pray the ragamuffin prayer every night*

-Talk to Him out loud about the details of my day as I lie down to go to bed

-Intentionally note how He redefined love that day

"We are to love and respect everyone. No questions asked. No rolling our eyes." - Can I do this? Work on it.

Childlike faith/love: loving no matter how it's received or if it's reciprocated, no matter the social situation, being honest, being joyful, being unashamed (free), with a touch of folly, humility

Love/Intimacy = no hiding from Him

-Read Philippians 2:1-18, 1 Corinthians 13, Mark 12:28-34 at the end of every study time

-Reflect on how you can better show love to and serve all people

Love: patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not self-seeking, not proud, not dishonoring to others (?), not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth, always protects, always trusts, always perseveres, always hopes, never fails

woah- God, I can't be all of these things all at once all of the time (ever?). Thank you that you expect me to fail more than I expect me to fail, and you still love me a lot. I love you. Please help me to love you more. And be these things. I would say, 'Wish me luck!' but you're these things in me and you're always with me and when you're with me I'm able. Amen. I love you, Jesus. "

* The Ragamuffin Prayer:

-Mary

Love.

Love is being redefined to me by Jesus. The overused word became ill-defined before it became numb. But Jesus touched it and made it alive in me again. We are called to love one another. Most of us have heard that, but no longer take it at face value. No ands, ifs, or buts. Just love one another. This command is spoken all throughout the gospel and everywhere else in scripture. We are to love and respect everyone. No questions asked. No rolling our eyes.  With complete childlike faith and full recognition that we are not better than anyone else. Love takes humility. And it is only created in us by Jesus. It has to begin with a love for Him, and He sparks that, we can't. A love and closeness with Him will bring forth confidence and self acceptance because there is trust that we are accepted and loved without condition by our Father. That confidence and trust and total reliance on God brings forth unconfined love for each other. 

I think so much of injustice can truly be fought with love, the way God intended it. God has told us that love puts others before itself. Love serves everyone and anyone. Love stands up for truth and love shows grace. Love says that everyone matters. Jesus is our example of perfect love. Go read Philippians 2:1-18, 1 Corinthians 13 (yes), and Mark 12:28-34. Reflect on how you can better show love to all people. Ask Jesus to make these characteristics of love a part of you. Begin to choose to show them. Ask Jesus to let you love Him more. Begin to make the conscious decision, especially in moments of weakness, to love others and serve them before yourself. It is not always a feeling and it is not always easy but do it because God said to. 

Yay! We love you a lot! 

The Scripture: 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%202

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+13&version=NIV

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+12

Song Suggestions: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0FW--zidYA

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkDqQtfs0w

Just a Thought

Have any of you ever heard the song 'No Longer Slaves' by Bethel? You should listen to it. It talks about no longer being slaves to fear because of the freedom in being a child of God. In a dark and seemingly terrifying world we have nothing to be afraid of. We are God's children, we are covered. Read Psalm 27. God is our protection from all things. Even if the worst case scenario happened there is nothing to fear because we get to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. There is absolute confidence in being a child of God, so step out in faith and take heart. I know this is a lot, especially coming from someone who has been trying not to worry about things since the day she was born. But God has to be more real to us guys, we have to actually trust Him and take comfort in Him, and stand boldly in the fact that we're surrounded by the arms of a Father, and we're free of all fear. Does that make sense? Just a thought. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XxkNj5hcy5E

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+27&version=NIV