YOKED WITH JESUS

Jesus said, “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 NIV)

At our home in Door County, Wisconsin we have a yoke that my great-grandfather used on his farm in the late 1800’s. Seeing that yoke I have always been curious about Jesus’s use of that term in Matthew 11. There’s a reason Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Come to Me and rest.” He goes further. He says, “Take My yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls.”

A yoke is an instrument of work, not leisure. It joins two animals together so they move in the same direction, at the same pace, sharing the same load. At first glance, it seems strange -- why would Jesus offer rest by giving us a yoke?

Because His yoke is not a burden. His yoke is a relationship.

To be yoked to Christ means we no longer walk alone. We no longer pull the weight of life by ourselves. We no longer guess which direction to go or strain to keep up. When we take His yoke, we step into a life where He sets the pace, He bears the weight, and He guides the way.

When we are yoked to Him our striving becomes steady, because His strength steadies us. Our direction becomes clear, because His wisdom leads us. Our burdens become lighter, because His shoulders carry what ours cannot. Our souls find rest, not because life is easy, but because He is near.

Jesus doesn’t promise a life without burdens. He promises a life without weariness. A life where we move in step with the One who is gentle, humble, patient, and strong. A life where we learn from Him -- not by listening from afar, but by walking right beside Him.

Seeing my great-grandfather’s yoke is a good reminder to me to be yoked with Christ. And today, Jesus invites you again: Come. Take My yoke. Walk with Me. Let Me carry what you cannot.  In His presence even the heaviest loads become light.

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6331

THE QUESTION OF SUFFERING – Part 1 of 3

Q. Why does God allow tragedy and suffering?

A. You see it all over the news: wildfires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes -- as well as senseless shootings, acts of terror and wars. In addition, there is the everyday pain in individual lives: illness, abuse, broken relationships, betrayal, sorrow, injuries, heartache, crime and death.

People are suffering all around us. And many ask, “Why? Why did God allow this?”

Jesus predicted these things would happen in our sin-stained world. Unlike some religious leaders who wrote off evil and suffering as mere illusions, Jesus dealt with reality. He said in John 16:33, “You will have suffering in this world.”

But, again, why? I cannot stand in the shoes of God and give a complete answer, but we can understand some things.

To illustrate, Leslie and I were driving from Chicago to Door County, Wisconsin. It was dark when it started raining heavily, and then we hit dense fog. I could barely see the line on the edge of the highway, and didn’t know what to do. Then a truck went by us, traveling at a confident and deliberate pace. We could see his taillights through the fog, and realized that if we could just follow those lights, we'd be headed in the right direction.

It is similar with tragedy and suffering. We may not be able to make out all the peripheral details of why, but there are some biblical truths that can illuminate some helpful points of light for us. And if we’ll follow those lights, they will lead us toward conclusions I believe can satisfy our hearts and souls.

-- Lee Strobel in “The Case for Christianity Answer Book” 

#6163

A PREFERENCE FOR GOD

“Then Jesus came to His disciples and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’”  (Matthew 28:18-20 NIV)

According to the final verses of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus met the disciples to give them direction and the promise of His presence. The Bible is filled with stories of people who received direction from God. Through the centuries, faithful disciples have discovered some essential qualities for the life and stance that permits us to receive God’s direction.

Practicing a preference for God and God’s will is the place to begin. That means putting God ahead of all else in our list of priorities. This is not only the way to receive direction but also the way to a joyful and faithful walk with God every day. Preference for God profoundly affects our lives. We not only receive direction but find our lives transformed as we learn to turn to God and seek to walk with God…

Begin practicing a preference for God and you will discover a growing capacity to receive and respond to God’s direction of your life. 

-- Rueben P. Job in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#5883

THE POWER OF WORDS

It’s impossible to overestimate the power of words. They can injure or heal, poison or nourish, deceive or enlighten, cost lives or save them. It is no exaggeration to say that the course of history can be changed with a single sentence.

In 1987, President Ronald Regan met with Russian Premier Gorbachev in Berlin. Everybody knows that certain protocols come into play when heads of state get together. Above all, you’re supposed to act like friends, smile for the cameras, and not say anything in public that might embarrass your counterpart. But Ronald Reagan threw such conventional thinking right out the window and dared speak six words that historians agree altered the world forever: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down the wall.”

When I think about that incident, I’m reminded that James compared the tongue to a small bit that can turn a powerful horse, or a tiny rudder that can alter the direction of an enormous ship (James 3:3-4). 

--  Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus”

#5421

JESUS OUR GUIDE

“’Lord,’ said Thomas, ‘we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?’ Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life.’”  (John 14:5-6a)

In “A Slow and Certain Light,” missionary Elisabeth Elliott tells of two adventurers who stopped by to see her, all loaded with equipment for the rain forest east of the Andes. They sought no advice, just a few phrases to converse with the Indians.

She writes: “Sometimes we come to God as the two adventurers came to me -- confident and, we think, well-informed and well-equipped. But has it occurred to us that with all our accumulation of stuff, something is missing?”

She suggests that we often ask God for too little. “We know what we need -- a yes or no answer, please, to a simple question. Perhaps a road sign. Something quick and easy to point the way.

“What we really ought to have is the Guide Himself. Maps, road signs, a few useful phrases are good things, but infinitely better is Someone who has been there before and knows the way.” 

-- From “750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers, and Writers” compiled by Craig Brian Larson and Leadership Journal

#5349

TRUSTING OUR GUIDE

“Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, and He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].”  (Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP)

Scripture’s testimony is that God cares about you and me and wants to guide our lives through the difficult path ahead. In every detail God’s plan, with all the wisdom and power He possesses, is far better and far superior than we can ever imagine. Our benevolent God, who wants the best for us, desires to guide our lives through His Word, which He has given that we might know His perfect will and purpose in all areas of life. What could be better than knowing God and the life He has for us to live? When we rely on our own strength and understanding, the way is foggy, full of obstacles and curves. When we entrust our way to God for His direction and leading, the way forward becomes clear and straight. 

-- Source Unknown, submitted by a SOUND BITES subscriber in Wisconsin


#4529

THE LOSS OF MEANING

“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” (Proverbs 22:6 NLT)

It was my generation, and the generation that preceded me, that forgot.  The younger generation is not primarily to be blamed.  Those who are struggling today, those who are far away and doing that which is completely contrary to the Christian conscience, are not first to be blamed.  It is my generation, and the generation that preceded me, who turned away.  Today we are left, not only with a religion and a church without meaning, but... with a culture without meaning.

-- Francis Schaeffer in “Death in the City”

#4373

FACING THE UNKNOWN

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  (Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJV)

We can't solve modern problems by going back in time. Retreating to the safety of the familiar is an understandable response, but God has called us to a life of faith. And faith requires us to face the unknown while trusting Him completely.

-- Charles R. Swindoll

#4277

THE SPIRIT-CONTROLLED MIND

As I monitor my mind, I will encounter many thoughts that are unwelcome visitors:  I get anxious.  I catastrophize.  I envy.  But I will also begin to recognize what kind of thoughts the Spirit flows in.  The apostle Paul gives us a great framework for understanding which are the thoughts and attitudes that come from the Spirit.  He writes, “The mind controlled by the sinful nature is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6)

Take any thought, especially thoughts that feel weighty or that you find yourself turning over and over in your mind, and ask, What direction do those thoughts lead me in?  Are they leading me toward life -- toward God’s best version of me?  Or in the other direction?

-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be”

#4218

SEEKING GOD’S WILL

“Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.”  (Acts 16:6 NIV)

We don’t know how the Holy Spirit told Paul that he and his companions should not go into Asia. It may have been through a prophet, a vision, an inner conviction, or some other circumstance. To know God’s will does not mean we need to hear His voice. He leads in different ways. When seeking God’s will, (1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God’s will; (2) ask mature Christians for their advice;  (3) check your own motives -- are you seeking to do what you want or what you think God wants? -- and (4) pray for God to open and close the doors as He desires. 

-- from “The Life Application Study Bible”

#4213

THE BIBLE: OUR COMPASS

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”  (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT)

The future belongs to the young and so it is they in particular who must face this urgent question:  Ought we not to take more seriously again the familiar system of values which can help us determine what to do?  I am not suggesting a nostalgic retreat into the past; but perhaps we should chart our future course with the help of a certain compass, which may not have outlived its usefulness after all.  A compass which -- after many other instruments have proved to have given only unreliable bearings in the tempests of modern times -- could perhaps point us a course toward a future of greater human dignity.  A compass that might reorientate us with essential Christian values once more, and in a new way, in an era whose values have been so impoverished.

-- Hans Kung in “Why I Am Still A Christian”


#4186

PRAYER PLANNING

M. Scott Peck talks about his personal prayer life in “Further Along the Road Less Traveled” (Touchstone Books, 1998). He prays three times a day, although only for a few minutes of that time are spent in what most people would understand as prayer. The rest of the time, he sits and looks at his day through the eyes of the “objective Other.” He plans his day and then asks God to examine it and prioritize the activities. Later in the day, he looks back over the events, notes those times where he saw God at work and offers thanks, and asks for further guidance for the days to come. He says that he has found God to be the best time-efficiency expert in the universe. Those of us who claim not to have time to pray would do well to hear Peck’s experience and reexamine our own priorities.

-- M. Anne Burnette Hook in “Grace Notes: Spirituality and the Choir”


#4154

LIKE BRIGHT BEACONS

We are frequently advised to read the Bible with our own personal needs in mind, and to look for answers to our own private questions.  That is good, as far as it goes...  But better still is the advice to study the Bible objectively, ... without regard, first of all, to our own subjective needs.  Let the great passages fix themselves in our memory.  Let them stay there permanently, like bright beacons, launching their powerful shafts of light upon life's problems -- our own and everyone's -- as they illumine, now one, now another dark area of human life.  Following such a method, we discover that the Bible does "speak to our condition" and meet our needs, not just occasionally or when some emergency arises, but continually.

-- Frederick C. Grant


#4090

PURPOSE FOR LIFE

NOTE: Today, March 29, 2017, is the 18th anniversary of our SOUND BITES Ministry™.  It was begun in 1999 in memory of my son, Dustin, who had died on March 29, 1998. Today's quote -- PURPOSE FOR LIFE -- speaks to his life... and yours and mine as well.

PURPOSE FOR LIFE

The same God who created the entire universe also created you and has a purpose for your life.  You no longer have to carry your burdens alone.  You can lay down your weariness, your sorrow, your suffering, your regret, and your frustration.  Because one day you're going to be made new!  You will be whole, healthy, complete, and 100 percent satisfied.  And until that day, Christ promises to walk with you each and every day, carrying your burdens for you, offering direction toward a significant life, giving substance to your hours and years and life.

-- Bill Hybels in Just Walk Across the Room


#4064

A PEOPLE OF ONE BOOK

From the very beginning [of Methodism], from the time that four young men united together, each of them was homo unius libri -- a man of one book. God taught them all to make His "Word a lantern unto their feet, and a light in all their paths." They had one, and only one rule of judgment with regard to all their tempers, words, and actions, namely, the oracles of God. They were one and all determined to be Bible-Christians. They were continually reproached for this very thing; some terming them in derision Bible bigots; others, Bible-moths -- feeding, they said, upon the Bible as moths do upon cloth. And indeed unto this day it is their constant endeavor to think and speak as the oracles of God.

-- John Wesley, in his sermon On God's Vineyard, 1787

#3921

PRIMED FOR A NEW DAY

"For this command is a lamp, this teaching is a light, and correction and instruction are the way to life,…" (Proverbs 6:23 NIV)


I believe in starting the day in God’s Word.  It doesn’t just prime our minds; it also primes our hearts.  It doesn’t just prime us spiritually; it also primes us emotionally and relationally.  When we read the words that the Holy Spirit inspired, it tunes us to His voice and primes us for His promptings.


-- Mark Batterson in The Circle Maker




#3679

IN THE LIGHT OF GOD

Here is the great truth that, only when we see things in the light of God, do we see things as they are.  It is only when we see things in the light of God that we see what things are really important, and what things are not.  These things that seem vastly important, things like ambition, and prestige, and money and gain, lose all their value and importance when they are seen in the light of God.  Pleasures and habits and social customs which seem permissible enough, are seen for the dangerous things they are when they are seen in the light of God.  Things which seem evil, hardship, toil, discipline, unpopularity, even persecution, are seen in their glory when they are seen in the light of God.

-- William Barclay (1907-1978) in The Revelation of John (Vol. II)


#3616

GOD'S POWER AND DIRECTION

That the Almighty does make use of human agencies and directly intervenes in human affairs is one of the plainest statements in the Bible.  I have had so many evidences of His direction, so many instances when I have been controlled by some other power than my own will, that I cannot doubt that this power comes from above.

-- Abraham Lincoln


#3603

PURPOSE, MEANING AND DIRECTION

One of the earmarks of any person who has come into a viable and meaningful relationship with God as his heavenly Father is an attitude of quiet contentment with life. Gone are the emptiness and frustration of a pointless existence. In its place there are purpose and meaning and direction in all one does.

-- W. Phillip Keller in SERENITY: Finding God Again For The First Time


#3438

WE NEED A GUIDE

God makes a promise, then tells Abraham to leave home and go where God will guide him.

Ben Patterson tells of a common experience of westerners, particularly missionaries, traveling through jungle sections of the Amazon. They will ask members of a village to give them directions to where they want to go. "I have a compass, a map, and some coordinates."

The villager knows precisely the directions to get them there, but he offers to take them himself.

"No, that's okay. I don't want a guide. I just want directions."

"That's no good. I must take you there."

"But I have a map right here. And I have a compass. And the coordinates."

"It does not work that way. I can get you there, but I must take you myself. You must follow me."

We prefer directions, principles, steps, keys. We prefer these things because they leave us in control. If I'm holding the map, I'm still in charge of the trip. I can go where I want to go. If I have a guide, I must trust. I must follow. I must relinquish control.

God is not much on maps and compasses and coordinates. Life just doesn't work that way. We don't need directions. We need a Guide.

-- John Ortberg in Faith & Doubt


#3225