Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: bible

Be Sure To Rest

Encouragement

And He (Jesus) said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
Mark 6:31a

Life can get very busy, very quickly. We must take time to breathe and catch up on some much needed rest and relaxation. If not it will lead to an overload of stress.

God rested. He rested on the seventh day of creation week. He set an example of how we should take a break from our busy schedule and take a look back at what has been accomplished. God rested because He knew we needed rest. 

Without a break every once in a while, you can become overwhelmed and burned out. The demands on our time come at us from every direction. We must always remember to take time for our family and relationships that get pushed to the side when we are too busy.

Today might be a good day to be still and listen to God. Even in ministry work, we can become so busy that we push God to the side in order to deal with the activities of serving others. God wants us to take a break and spend some time with Him. 

When our priorities are in order we live a more peaceful life. Spending time with God needs to be our top priority and then we can focus on our relationships with others. 

Pray

Lord, give me a day of rest and relaxation. Help me to prioritize my time with You and increasing my knowledge of You. Bless my time that I can spend with people who matter most to me.

Is Jesus On Your Mind?

Encouragement

Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
I Peter 1:13

Is your mind disciplined? Do you have complete control over your mind? Furthermore, is your mind at peace with God?

The meditation of God’s word allows our mind to be controlled by the Spirit of God. Some of God’s most effective servants were disciplined in their minds with the word of God. They were spiritually controlled in their service to God. Maybe you remember Joshua’s command to meditate on the Word of God, day and night.

Sadly, many Christians today do not use their minds for the service of God. We fill our minds with secular music and entertainment of pleasure and are under control of the media. As Peter states in today’s verse, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace of Jesus Christ. 

Paul encouraged Believers to strengthen their minds and be mature in understanding matters of righteous living (1 Corinthians 14:20). Don’t allow others to do your thinking for you, especially Hollywood and mass media. Allow the word of God to control your mind and lead you into spiritual service for God. 

Pray

Lord, I seek Your instructions and commands to control my heart and thinking. Allow me to resist the temptation to be controlled by secular mentality. Speak Your truth into my life.

Faith That Leads To Action

Encouragement

“And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭2:4‬

Alexander Graham Bell once said, “When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” 

There is much truth to what Bell said. So often we are faced with “closed-doors” and we give up or wait for another opportunity to go a different direction. However, as we see in today’s Bible verse, our faith can take us to a higher ground where we see new opportunities. 

Mark 2:1-12 tells us of an event when 4 men brought a paralyzed man to Jesus to be healed. As soon as they arrived to the house the crowd was so pressed that they could not enter through the door. Instead of giving up they carried the man up upon the roof and made an opening to lower the man down to Jesus. 

It was an amazing event for the multitude of people to witness. They were all astonished when this man got up and walked away. Jesus not only healed him physically but He healed him spiritually by forgiving his sins. 

These four men had such strong and courageous faith that they would not and could not give up. They were determined to get the crippled man to Jesus. They knew Jesus would do something to heal him. And He did. 

But watch what happened. When they could not get through the door, they didn’t wait for another door to open. They went up to the rooftop and made a door. Their faith moved them to make a way. They got creative and got to work. Their faith moved them into action. 

Is your faith strong enough to move you into action? Does your faith cause you to do courageous and extraordinary things? God does not give us faith just to sit and wait. He gives us faith that can move mountains. 

Pray

Lord, give me courage to use my faith to show people Your glory. Let my faith shine today. Let my faith be noticed by You.