DAILY DISCIPLINE #41
By Colleen Donahue

"Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease,
Take from our souls the strain and stress
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of Thy peace."

This is a verse of a famous hymn that in truth speaks to the longings in all our hearts if we are honest. Many of us are running on unending treadmills that just go round and round, faster and faster. We long to get off for even a little while and just rest. But there is always more to do... telephones to answer, emails needing a response, children demanding attention, dinner to be made, the car to be fixed, the news to catch up with and the vacation to plan.

In college zoology, we learned about muscle by experimenting with a frog's leg. We applied an electrical current to the muscle and watched it contract tightly till we took the electrode away. Then, the muscle expanded again to its original size. Back and forth we could see the amazing capacity of muscles to work, then rest--work, then rest--contract, then expand. But, in the final step of our experiment, we were to apply the electricity nonstop to the muscle. His little leg tightened and shook till finally it just went limp. The constant stimulation overtime was just too much and his muscle just "burned out" and became like a stretched-out rubber band.

We too may be at a point in our life when the constant stimulation and demands are fast driving us to our "burn out" point. If you have never found your rest in Christ, it is my hope that the study this month will lead you there. But if you as a believer in Christ are suffering the symptoms of overload and unrest also, then I hope you will take time to examine your own heart as I will. To all of us, Christ's invitation is the same.....

"COME UNTO ME .... AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST!"

WHAT CAUSES OUR UNREST? HERE ARE JUST A FEW THINGS TO EXAMINE IN YOUR OWN LIFE....

Day 1- We are forever busy!
Psalm 39:6

Day 2 -We may be full of sin and guilt.
Psalm 38:3-8

Day 3 -We don't live in the present moment.
Deuteronomy 28:67a

Day 4 -We don't get good nights of rest.
Job 7:3-4 / Psalm 127:2 / Ecclesiastes 2:23

Day 5- Is there such a thing as too much learning, so that we become burdened by all our knowledge?
Ecclesiastes 1:13-18

Day 6- We have minds that are full of turmoil and unhealthy thoughts.
Genesis 6:5 / Psalm 94:11 / Jeremiah 4:14/ Matthew 15:19

Day 7- We don't have our priorities straight and we are overwhelmed by all the things we feel we HAVE to get done.
Luke 10:40-41

Day 8- We spend time worrying about the cares of this life.
Matthew 6:25-26 / Luke 12:29 / Luke 21:34

Day 9- WE don't take each of our concerns to God.
Phillippians 4:6 / I Peter 5:7

Day 10- We are busybodies!
I Thessalonians 4:11/ 2 Thessalonians 3:11 / I Timothy 5:13

Day 11- We chase after the things that won't last.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 /6:7

Day 12- When there is unrest with our authorities, then that can filter down to us. What are we to do?
I Timothy 2:1-2

Day 13- Who does the Lord promise will NEVER find rest?
Isaiah 48:22 / 57:20 / 59:8/ Revelations 14:11

ONE VERY OVERLOOKED REASON FOR OUR UNRESTFUL, TENSE LIVES IS OUR NEGLECT OF THE SABBATH!

Day 14- What does God command that is designed to give us the rest that we need?
Exodus 23:12 / 31:15 / 35:2 / Leviticus 23:3

Day 15- What example did the Lord Himself set for us?
Genesis 2:2-3

Day 16- Sometimes by the very nature of our business, we have busy seasons demanding our constant attention. Yet, even during these times what does God command?
Exodus 34:21

Day 17- Do you find that Sunday has become your general shopping day because more stores are now open? What did Nehemiah declare back in his day about Sunday shopping? Nehemiah 10:31

Day 18- We may be missing the blessing, joy, and refreshment that God has for us by forgetting that the Sabbath is holy unto the Lord and not our "catch up" day.
Isaiah 56:2 / 58:13-14

HOW ELSE DO WE GET THE REST AND THE PEACE THAT WE SEEK FOR AND DESPERATELY NEED?

Day 19- Most of us, like King David, vainly seek peace and rest by escaping from our troubles!
Psalm 55:6

Day 20- But the fact that Jesus states plainly we will have troubles and problems in this life suggests that real peace goes beyond escaping from the trouble!
John 16:33/ 14:27

Day 21- Where then does true rest really come from?
Exodus 33:14/ Psalm 116:7 / 2 Thessalonians 3:16

Day 22- When we live in the "rest of the Lord" where will that lead us?
Psalm 23:2

Day 23- What did Jesus want his disciples to do in order to get the kind of rest they needed?
Mark 6:31-32

Day 24- To rest however isn't always just to sit around and do nothing. We'll find rest often when we are engaged very actively in Christ's service!
Matthew 11:29

Day 25- Much of the panic and frenzied living that we experience comes because our uncontrolled minds are thinking everything imaginable that might happen! But, when the Holy Spirit controls our thinking what happens?
Romans 8:6/ Galatians 5:22-23 / Philippians 4:6-9

Day 26- Therefore, the person whose mind is set on God and His Word has great peace and rest.
Psalm 119: 165 / Isaiah 26:3

Day 27- As Christians, we can forfeit the peace God has for us because we overlook a simple thing....
Isaiah 48:18

Day 28- What results from listening to God and walking in His ways?
Proverbs 1:33 / Isaiah 32:17

Day 29- The testimony of God's peace and rest is that it will be beyond anyone's understanding including our own!
Philippians 4:7

Day 30- Peace in this world and with God our Father was actually won for us through Christ's death on the cross.
Isaiah 53:5 / Acts 10:36 / Ephesians 2:14 / Colossians 1:20

Day 31- Therefore, what are we commanded to do?
Colossians 3:15 / I Peter 3:11

 

Daily Discipline Table of Contents