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Too Busy to Rest?

September 16, 2013

If you’re constantly driven by ‘what needs to be done’, you’ll burn out, and fail to do what God has assigned you to do.
So here are some practical suggestions for pacing yourself:

  1. CHANGE YOUR EATING HABITS. The Bible says that it’s not smart to stuff yourself with too many sweets (Proverbs 25:27). You wouldn’t put sugar into your petrol tank, so be wise; educate yourself about good nutrition.
  2. BE CLEAR ABOUT WHERE YOU WANT TO GO. Set specific goals, and have a plan and timetable for reaching them. Don’t be controlled by mindless routine.
  3. INSTEAD OF IGNORING YOUR PROBLEMS, RESOLVE THEM. Act before they become chronic and start sapping your energy.
  4. DON’T ‘VEG’ ON TV. Too much television dulls you mentally and lulls you into lethargy. “But they that wait upon the Lord….renew their strength.” (Isaiah 40:31).
  5. IF YOU’RE OVERLOADED, DON’T TAKE ON MORE. Don’t say “Yes” out of a sense of guilt, false responsibility, or the need to be needed.
  6. TAKE A BREAK. When did you last take time to get away? A change of pace and fresh scenery are great battery-chargers.
  7. GET TO BED EARLIER. When you burn the candle at both ends, you are the one who burns out. You say, “But I’m doing it for the Lord”. Notice what the Lord says, “It is vain for you to rise up early, sit up late…for so He gives His beloved sleep”.

The following Devotion was the very next day:
“My Yoke is easy and My burden is light.”..(Matthew 11:30)
His intention for you is to discover His will for your life, unlock and develop the gifts He’s given you, draw daily on His power, use your commonsense, and don’t live stressed out.

  • CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE – you can’t always control what happens to you, but can decide how you’ll respond to it.
  • GET PHYSICAL TOO – physical exercise has value too! Feed your mind with Scriptures too – meditate on them until they take root and grow within you.

A few days ago, I saw this Bible verse – Jesus said, “Are you TIRED? WORN OUT?… Come to Me. GET AWAY WITH ME and you’ll RECOVER YOUR LIFE. I’ll show you HOW TO TAKE A REAL REST. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. LEARN THE UNFORCED RHYTHMS OF GRACE. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)
The Devotion: “Too busy to rest?”, in www.biblegateway.com is worth looking at also –
http://www.gospel.com/blog/index.php/2010/07/15/todays-devotional-too-busy-to-rest/

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Do you regularly take a break? What is the source of POWER is in our life?

September 13, 2013

DEVOTION with the Notice of the Auckland Central/West Joy Ministries Sunday 14 April 2013 service

I (Malcolm Dixon) hope you all had a great Christmas and summer holidays during January. We have been blessed with lovely fine weather. My wife and I had 3 weeks holiday away from Auckland in January, the first 10 days spent with my sister Kathleen and her husband David, at their place in Otaki Forks (near Wellington), 14 km from the main highway
– no mains power, no phone, no internet, no mobile phone, no Facebook, no TV – “cold turkey” (that means – all access to what we think is important was SUDDENLY cut off!). So the holiday became a HOLYday.

  • God can speak to us in the little things.
  • We are more likely to be able to hear from God when we slow our life down.
  • Do we need to live life in the fast lane all the time?”

Question: Do you regularly take a break? The apostle Paul said in Hebrews chapter 4, we are to “enter into God’s rest”.
In their eco house, they harness energy from the sun (using solar panels), a small waterfall (with a small hydro), and the wind (with a wind turbine shaped like an aircraft propeller) – and store the power in batteries. When it gets cold, they have a wood furnace, heating water that flows through pipes in the concrete floor of their lounge.

Question: What source of POWER is in our life? – Jesus, the Bible (reading and meditating on what God is saying to you), prayer, the Holy Spirit, meeting regularly with other believers (church, home group, Joy Ministries), taking communion?

I SLEPT heaps. I didn’t know I needed so much, but my body did! It was catch-up time. Do I have to live life so close to the edge the rest of the year? Do I have to be involved in so many things? Do I have to go to bed so late when I’m at home?

I had very vivid DREAMS, and in colour too. I also read BOOKS, from David and Kathleen’s LIBRARY, written by well-known and respected Christian authors.

One book challenged me – about eating properly – for my “inner man”, my spiritual life. How does it get fed?

By JUST going to church, and hearing the sermon preached once a week, or a weekend conference at church?
By JUST reading or hearing a Devotion that someone has written – after meditating on some verses in the Bible?
By JUST going to the monthly Joy Ministries service?

I thought of a baby seagull being fed by its mother seagull – the mother seagull had already chewed the food (fish), then brought it back up to feed the baby seagull. Most of us have Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner – 3 meals a day.
After we got back from holiday, a pastor from Adelaide at a conference at Horizon Church said to me, “I see you have started eating properly again”. How did he know?

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