Psalm 55:12; “Cast your burdens on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Matthew 11:28-30; “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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.”
Philippians 4:6-7; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
1 Peter 5:6-7; “Humble yourselves therefore, under the right hand of God, so that at the proper time, He may exalt you; casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” (all emphasis mine)
One of the most difficult things for us as humans to do is to put our faith and trust in an “unseen deity.” Thing is, when we develop a “relationship” with our Savior, suddenly we will see our Creator in just about everything around us. Trees, clouds, grass, mountains, rivers, oceans, and on and on. He is in our created world everywhere if we are willing to look for Him.
False gods that are human-created are impersonal, and because they are made through human-based ideas, they could never be a match for the true love that our Heavenly Father has for us (John 3:16-18).
One of the biggest issues Jesus had with the religious leaders was that they took what God had originally given in the Law and added and subtracted whatever they wanted in order to “personalize” worship to be about them, not the Heavenly Father. Jesus minced no words in telling them just how wrong and useless their type of worship was. One example is found in Mark 2:27-28; “And He said to them, the sabbath was made for man, not the man for the sabbath. So, the Son of Man is Lord even of the sabbath.”
Once we understand that ours is a God of true love, it becomes easier to put our faith and trust in Him. He is always there to hear our pleas (prayers) and to answer us, and if asked, he will give us the wisdom to respond (James 1:5-6).
One area where the Father can help is giving us the ability to forgive others. We are told in several scriptures that if we expect God to forgive us, we must be willing to forgive others. For some, this almost seems impossible; however, the example Jesus gave on the cross should speak volumes to us. He was tortured, then nailed to a cruel cross, yet His first act was to ask forgiveness for those who were crucifying Him (Luke 23:34). If we cannot forgive what others have done to us during our lifetimes, we cannot be truly in communion with the Lord. It’s very difficult but can be done, as the Savior showed us.
That does not mean Jesus liked what they were doing, and for many of them, He did not like them personally. However, He loved every one of them for their eternal souls, and if they later repented and asked His forgiveness, they will be in Heaven.
Our Savior’s life on this earth was preordained from the beginning (John 1:1-5), and Old Testament prophecies such as Isaiah 53 spoke of His coming and what His purpose was. Verse 5 states, “But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace; and with His wounds we are healed.”
If you can imagine it, Jesus knew even before His coming as a human what He would have to endure. Everything He did was of His own free will in order to satisfy the Father’s need for perfection and non-tolerance of any sin. John 10:11; “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” His sacrifice was not just for the Jews but for every human being that would ever walk this earth. John 10:16; “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.”
Jesus completes this with John 10:17-18; “For this reason, the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
At any given time, Our Savior could’ve stopped the whole process and declared we just weren’t worth His efforts. We could have been left to fend for ourselves. He is fully one-third of the Holy Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He allowed Himself to become lower than the angels by becoming fully human for a time so that “by the grace of God, He might taste death for everyone” (Hebrews 2:7-9).
Jesus gave His all to the Father, knowing that God would make sure everything would go as promised. He even allowed Himself to be tempted by Satan to prove whether or not He would be worthy to cover all of our sins – on a more personal note, my sins. Jesus passed with flying colors, and His life on this earth was totally sin-free. No other human that has ever lived, or will ever live, can make that statement.
Anything that may seem impossible for us needs to be given to God. Through His will, He will either provide us the resources and ability to overcome our obstacles or assure us He will handle things according to His will.
There is nothing we can ever come up with that would be too difficult for our God. One of the only things He won’t do is force Himself on us and demand we worship Him. That’s a trait of human-created gods, not our Heavenly Father. It’s also not a sign of a God who loves us, and something else He won’t do is to ever lie (Titus 1:2).
Just as our earthly parents disciplined us when we did wrong, our Heavenly Father disciplines us to help us learn what to avoid (Hebrews 12:5-12). It’s not for the purpose of abusing us in any manner, and if we turn away from what we have been disciplined for, His purpose has been served.
One form of discipline that the Father will not back away from is for those who refuse to receive and accept the gift of eternal life that was bought and paid for by the shed blood of His Son, Jesus. The “discipline” is He will allow anyone to choose to be separated from Him forever in eternal darkness. God does not desire this (2 Peter 3:9); however, all who leave this earth without Jesus leave Him no choice but to schedule them for the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. Here, there will be no forgiveness, and each individual will know exactly why they’re there.
All this can be avoided by following Romans 10:9-13. It’s a means of letting God know we trust and have faith in Him completely by calling out to Jesus to be our forever Savior. All who follow this will be saved.
Call today; give your life to the Lord and be assured you will have an eternal home prepared by Jesus Himself (John 14:1-3). Delaying could cause someone to miss the call from the Savior to take us up to avoid the coming wrath/tribulation. That would not be a good experience at all, and it is so preventable. Right now would not be too early to make that most important call.
Come, Lord Jesus!