Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Burden

There are times when we believe the burden we have to carry is heavier than what anyone else carries but in all truth we don't really know what they are carrying.


We just need to ask the Lord to help us leave our burdens at His feet.

A friend sent the following to me and I thought it was a good story and it sure to tell it like it is. It is rather long but I believe you will enjoy it. The author is unknown so I don't have anyone to give credit to for the story.

THE BURDEN

"Why was my burden so heavy?" I slammed the bedroom door and leaned against it. Is there no rest from this life? I wondered. I stumbled to my bed and dropped onto it, pressing my pillow around my ears to shut out the noise of my existence.

"Oh God," I cried, "let me sleep. Let me sleep forever and never wake up!"

With a deep sob I tried to will myself into oblivion, then welcomed the blackness that came over me.

Light surrounded me as I regained consciousness. I focused on its source: the figure of a man standing before a cross.

"My child," the person asked, "why did you want to come to Me before I am ready to call you?"

"Lord, I'm sorry. It's just that... I can't go on. You see how hard it is for me. Look at this awful burden on my back. I simply can't carry it anymore."

"But haven't I told you to cast all of your burdens upon Me, because I care for you? My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."

"I knew You would say that. But why does mine have to be so heavy?"

"My child, everyone in the world has a burden. Perhaps you would like to try a different one?"

"I can do that?"

He pointed to several burdens lying at His feet. "You may try any of these."

All of them seemed to be of equal size. But each was labeled with a name.

"Why there's Joan's!" I said. Joan was married to a wealthy businessman. She lived in a sprawling estate and dressed her three daughters in the prettiest designer clothes. Sometimes she drove me to church in her Cadillac when my car was broken.

"Let me try that one." How difficult could her burden be? I thought.

The Lord removed my burden and placed Joan's on my shoulders. I sank to my knees beneath its weight. "Take it off!" I said. "What makes it so heavy?"

"Look inside."

I untied the straps and opened the top. Inside was a figure of her Mother-in-law, and when I lifted it out, it began to speak.

"Joan, you'll never be good enough for my son," it began. "He never should have married you. You're a terrible mother to my grandchildren..."

I quickly placed the figure back in the pack and withdrew another. It was Donna, Joan's youngest daughter. Her head was bandaged from the surgery that had failed to resolve her epilepsy.

A third figure was Joan's brother. Addicted to drugs, he had been convicted of killing a police officer.

"I see why her burden is so heavy, Lord. But she's always smiling and helping others. I didn't realize..."

"Would you like to try another?" He asked quietly.

I tested several. Paula's felt heavy: She was raising four small boys without a father. Debra's did too: a childhood of sexual abuse and a marriage of emotional abuse. When I came to Ruth's burden, I didn't even try. I knew that inside I would find arthritis, old age, a demanding full-time job, and a beloved husband in a nursing home.

"They're all too heavy, Lord." I said. "Give back my own."

As I lifted the familiar load once again, it seemed much lighter than the others.

"Let's look inside." He said.

I turned away, holding it close. "That's not a good idea," I said.

"Why?"

"There's a lot of junk in there."

"Let Me see."

The gentle thunder of His voice compelled me. I opened my burden.

He pulled out a brick.

"Tell me about this one."

"Lord, You know. It's money. I know we don't suffer like people in some countries or even the homeless here in America. But we have no insurance, and when the kids get sick, we can't always take them to the doctor. They've never been to a dentist. And I'm tired of dressing them in hand-me-downs."

"My child, I will supply all of your needs... and your children's. I've given them healthy bodies. I will teach them that expensive clothing doesn't make a person valuable in My sight."

Then He lifted out the figure of a small boy. "And this?" He asked.

"Andrew..." I hung my head, ashamed to call my son a burden. "But, Lord, he's hyperactive. He's not quiet like the other two. He makes me so tired. He's always getting hurt, and someone is bound to think I abuse him. I yell at him all the time. Someday I may really hurt him...."

"My child," He said, "If you trust Me, I will renew your strength. If you allow Me to fill you with My Spirit, I will give you patience."

Then He took some pebbles from my burden.

"Yes, Lord," I said with a sigh. "Those are small. But they're important. I hate my hair. It's thin, and I can't make it look nice. I can't afford to go to the beauty shop. I'm overweight and can't stay on a diet. I hate all my clothes. I hate the way I look!"

"My child, people look at your outward appearance, but I look at your heart. By My Spirit you can gain self-control to lose weight. But your beauty should not come from outward appearance. Instead, it should come from your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in My sight."

My burden now seemed lighter than before.

"I guess I can handle it now." I said.

"There is more." He said. "Hand Me that last brick."

"Oh, You don't have to take that. I can handle it."

"My child, give it to Me." Again His voice compelled me. He reached out His hand, and for the first time I saw the ugly wound.

"But, Lord, this brick is so awful, so nasty, so.....Lord! What happened to Your hands? They're so scarred!" No longer focused on my burden, I looked for the first time into His face. In His brow were ragged scars --as though someone had pressed thorns into His flesh.

"Lord," I whispered. "What happened to You?"

His loving eyes reached into my soul.

"My child, you know. Hand Me the brick. It belongs to Me. I bought it."

"How?"

"With My blood."

"But why, Lord?"

"Because I have loved you with an Everlasting Love. Give it to Me."

I placed the filthy brick into His wounded palm. It contained all the dirt and evil of my life: my pride, my selfishness, the depression that constantly tormented me.

He turned to the cross and hurled my brick into the pool of blood at its base. It hardly made a ripple.

"Now, My child, you need to go back. I will be with you always. When you are troubled, call to Me and I will help you and show you things you cannot imagine now."

"Yes, Lord, I will call on You."

I reached to pick up my burden.

"You may leave that here if you wish. You see all these burdens? They are the ones that others have left at My feet. Joan's, Paula's, Debra's, Ruth's..... When you leave your burden here, I carry it with you. Remember, My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

As I placed my burden with Him, the light began to fade. Yet I heard Him whisper, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."

A peace flooded my soul.
Author Unknown

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

You Can't Pick And Choose

This post is sort of a spin-off from the last post I had.


When we are for the Lord we are not able to pick and choose from His Word what we want to obey and what we don't. It is all one way, if you aren't seeking everything that God wants then you are against Him and you will be on the side of Satan.

As I have said before obeying the Ten Commandments alone will not get you into heaven, the only way to heaven is through the Son, Jesus Christ but we need to obey the Ten Commandments, these are commandments God gave us along with other commandments. We need to seek them and do what God wants us to do and not do the things He doesn't want us to do.

I believe most Christians are aware of the things God wants us to do but there are some that doesn't realize the true importance of these things. When God says we are not to steal He doesn't say a piece of candy or a pencil isn't really stealing. I am not talking about when you use a pen that belongs to someone else and you forget to give it back (I have done this before), I am talking about seeing a pen that you want so you take it. God didn't say it is okay to take the little things just don't steal the big things or money. There have been times when I am at the doctor's office and I am reading a magazine and I don't get the article finished and I will ask them if I can take the magazine home and bring it back to them, I have never had them tell me I couldn't take it with me; it is just that simple. The best thing is just not to take anything that doesn't belong to you.

You know sometimes with our parents we can become frustrated with them causing us to get angry but we need to always remember no matter how old a person is they have feelings. The fifth commandment is "Honor Thy Father And Thy Mother". We are to treat them with love, respect, and kindness. I know how hard this may be at times but this is what the Lord wants of us so we should do this. We will be rewarded for the love we show our parents.

It is against God to willfully kill another person. Life is very important to God and He wants us to take care of it. In the New Testament it condemns hate, which prompts one to desire the death of another; I John 3:15; "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him". There are certain sins a true born-again believer will not commit because of the endless life of Christ abiding in him.

Exodus 21:22-23; "If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow; he shall be surely punished... verse23, And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt five life for life". Her fruit depart from her" means giving birth prematurely or having an abortion. God is letting us know He requires protection of unborn children in this verse.

Leviticus 18:22; "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is an abomination". This is strictly forbidden by God to have sexual activity with the same sex. Man and woman were created to reproduce so that the earth would have more people. God would never create something that was an abomination to Him. People are not born wanting to have sex with the same sex, this comes from Satan. Satan wants us to think it is okay when in all truth it is not.

Words are not just words; we are not to use God's name in vain. We should treat God's name as hallowed, honor, respectful, and sacred. God's name should be used in a holy manner. We should never swear by His holy name.

I hope this has helped you in knowing that we can not pick and choose what we learn, do, and obey from God's Word.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!