Greetings!
SLOW DOWN CHRISTIAN!
“For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest shall you be saved;
In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.
And you would not.” Isaiah 30:15
If you were to be whisked off to the throne of grace this very moment for an audience with the King of Kings, what would be His comments regarding how you lived out your life in the past, week, month or year?
Would God say that you are living on one giant treadmill and that you need to slowdown, simplify and find balance in your life? I think you already know the answer!
So why do we permit ourselves to become so busy and overtaxed? I don’t believe we purposely intend to. But the snare of Satan is to keep Gods’ professed people so busy that they will have but only an intellectual conversion, a profession of godliness, without the power and vital connection. And when probationary time passes, they will be found wanting. They’ll be found with the foolish virgins, with the Word of God but no oil!
Why do we permit ourselves to be so busy and overtaxed? No one intends to and almost everyone apparently thinks that they’re hectic pace is a temporary problem. And they are right. It’s one temporary problem, after another temporary problem, after another temporary problem. To hear us tell it, there is a slower day coming as soon as the present obligations are met.
But you know, it is an ILLUSION. Time proves that the rush is never over.
“Overwork sometimes causes a loss of self-control. But the Lord NEVER compels hurried, complicated movements. Many gather to themselves burdens that the merciful Heavenly Father did not place on them. Duties He never designed them to perform chase one another wildly. God desires us to realize that we do not glorify His name when we take so many burdens that we are overtaxed and, becoming heart-weary and brain-weary, chafe and fret and scold. We are to bear ONLY the responsibilities that the Lord gives us, trusting in Him, and thus keeping our hearts pure and sweet and sympathetic.” RH 10-31 1907
A Simple Biblical Solution
“I am the true vine and my Father is the Gardener. He LOPS OFF every branch that doesn’t produce and PRUNES those branches that bear fruit for even larger crops.” John 15:1,2
In other words, we must eliminate “good” activities from our schedule so that the “best” fruit can be developed.
“The EXCESSIVE FOLIAGE that draws away the life current from the FRUIT must be PRUNED OFF. The overgrowth must be CUT OUT, to give room for the healing beams of the son of righteousness. The husbandman prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and more abundant.” DA677
Yes this pruning does cause pain, but it is so worth it! God is not only glorified but our spouses become irresistible again, our families become truly connected and we give a demonstration to the world that we truly belong to God and God only!
Jim Hohnberger
Empowered Living Ministries
By beholding the scenes of nature imperceptibly you find peace and calm!
