Perseverance

Pushing through hard times is like a good work out. Mid way you might be saying, “I want to stop now!” or you may just stop. Other times you hear a voice saying, “you can do it, finish what you started, Finish strong!” I hear Jillian’s voice from the biggest loser saying, “unless you die, you are not quitting”. It motivates me when I am working out to keep going.

Scripture does this for me in my walk with Christ. Lets face it, there are times when things are tough and we know we are to persevere, but they are hard and unpleasant and sometimes smelly and dirty. James tells us that when we persevere all the way through, there are gifts, maturity and completeness.

I prefer to say that I have been well seasoned. 🙂

Learning through trials not only helps us grow, but is also gives us the experience and understanding to minister to others who are in need. They strengthen us to know that nothing can separate us from the love of God. He is El Roi (The God who sees me) Trials prepare us for bigger battles and ultimately they help us Reflect the God who is always with us!

He promises that we will be able to do and endure all things because he is with us.

[tweetthis]Press on dear ones! Press on![/tweetthis]

Father, Thank you for always whispering in my ear, “I am here, you are not alone. Let’s do it together. Well done”. I want to Reflect your glory and your perseverance in my life. Show me how. Help me to live this verse well. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete,not lacking anything. James 1:4

New Blog Address

I have made the move to WordPress.org and will be now posting at Http://Janncobb.com  All of your favorite posts can be found there as well as the weekly link up.

Please join me there!

Rest

A friend of mine has a dairy farm and along with the hundreds of cows that they have, their lives are filled with four adorable children.  Their youngest daughter is a sweet redheaded little girl. This amazing child enjoys getting up early to milk the cows with her daddy. When I say early I’m talking about 3:45 AM!

Recently she went out to milk the cows with her dad and found herself tired, needing some rest. She put on her dads flannel shirt, crawled into a large round bin of towels in the barn, curled up and fell asleep.

This is such a perfect picture to me of what it means to rest in the Lord.

We cover up ourselves with his love and his grace. We try to get as close to Him as we can.  We are so much like this little girl wearing her father’s flannel.

Wouldn’t it be nice to curl up and get comfortable, letting all our pretenses go, where there is no fear of what we look like, just pure abandonment at His feet?

What we find there is blissful. Contentment is found because we know we are home, loved, embraced and we are safe. “Come to me”, He whispers.

How long has it been since

You’ve been there?

You’ve curled up and rested in the presence of the king?

You have felt accepted, loved, forgiven, chosen and adored?

Rest, rest and rest

The word rest in Greek is anapauo

Anapauo means

to rest

relax

to calm

to refresh

Anapauo has the root word pauo in it. Pauo is where we get the word pause. So in essence the word rest in Matthew 11 means to pause, to stop, to cease.  Jesus is asking us to come to Him and stop, pause, rest!

I need to crawl up and lay at His feet today! How about you?

The wrong shoes

This morning I was in a hurry. I wanted to get to some pesky weeds that had been leering at me. Throwing on shorts, t-shirt, tennis shoes, hat and bug spray, I was going to tackle those bothersome weeds once and for all! Fortunately, I was in the flower bed just in the nick of time! There were weeds on top of weeds! Some were hiding inside of plants and others had no shame at all, they were right there for all the world to see!

An hour later the weeds had been sufficiently plucked from the soil and then I got out the big gun!  Weed spray! Hopefully in my zealousness to permanently remove the weeds no flowers were hurt in the process. 

When I returned inside, I removed my shoes and then it became clear to me! I was wearing two very different tennis shoes!

Honestly, I never even looked at the shoes. I was blinded by my urgency to get the job done! I thought that one felt different from the other one, but never stopped to look at it.

I’d like to say that this is the first time that I wasn’t paying attention, but that would not be the truth!   Sometimes I need to slow down so that I don’t miss the important stuff. This is a sign to me that I need a rest.  Not just sleep, but some soul keeping, tending to the hidden places of my heart and mind.

Like the weeds that have sprung up in my garden I have weeds that need to be tended in my life. I must return to the important stuff not just the urgent ones!

Jesus showed us what the important stuff is.

Children

Relationships

Celebrations

Grace

Forgiveness

Sacrifice

Time with the Father

Restoration

Heaven

Slowing down for this go, go girl is difficult! Only Jesus can adequately cause me to stop and listen. The urgencies of this world are definitely the wrong shoes for me!

It reminds me of this song

Slow me down oh Lord slow me down
Help my heart to hear Your sound
Speak into my life Lord speak now
Slow me down oh Lord slow me down

Clear my mind oh Lord clear my mind
Bring me peace that I cannot find
Take my worldly thoughts break my pride
Clear my mind oh Lord clear my mind

Wake my soul oh Lord wake my soul
With this mess I’ve made make me whole
Of this life called mine take control
Wake my soul oh Lord wake my soul

Slow me down oh Lord slow me down
Help my heart to hear Your sound
Speak into my life Lord speak now
Slow me down oh Lord slow me down
Slow me down oh Lord slow me down
Slow me down oh Lord slow me down

Robbie Seay Band

Often God speaks to me in the moments of my daily life.  Today I hear Him asking me to slow down, meet with Him and rest. These shoes feel like the right ones!

The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place Mark 6:30-32 

 My prayer is that as you and I encounter the urgent, the challenges and the crazy that we find a holy place. Where we can Go with Jesus and rest.