This morning I get back to Today’s Word after taking a three week break. At first the break felt weird, because it was my first-such break in 18 years. I needed it. After 25 years in the Army, and 18 of those years in ministry, I was tired. When a person attempts to give their all to their marriage, children, ministry and career, it can be taxing.
The last few years have been a lot less stressful, because studying God’s grace has helped me take most of the pressure off of me. Years ago I relied too much on me. The more I study God’s grace, the more I rely on Him for all things. When you seek to do what you do by the grace of God, you know you are not the one doing it, and you get to live free of unnecessary stress. But we are all human and even the best of us take on pressures, from time to time, that we don’t need to take on.
The last three weeks allowed me time to pray, rest, sleep and reflect. Before I get back into the latest series (where we have been studying the life of the Apostle Peter), I feel led to share a few of the things I thought about during my break. As I sit here I have a flood of thoughts flowing through my heart and mind. I can’t discuss it all today, so I will limit my comments to just two major areas. Tomorrow we will discuss more.
Life lessons learned while resting in God:
1. Many of us take on unnecessary pressures.
a) One of the things the Lord dealt with me about during my break was the fact that I had done many things in the flesh over the years. The fact that you are doing a good thing is not enough. You can do a good thing the wrong way. You can feed the homeless, preach in prison, work at a church, or any litany of “good” things, but if you do them the wrong way — relying on your flesh and not God; who lives IN you in the person of the Holy Spirit — you can easily get burned out.
b) Our flesh is limited. When we attempt to live a life pleasing in God’s sight based on our natural abilities alone, it leads to stress, frustration, and sometimes even depression. God never intended for you to attempt to live the life He called you to live ON YOUR OWN.
c) You cannot do what God called you to do with your own ability. God’s calling will always exceed your ability and will therefore require His anointing.
d) God anoints you to do what He called you to do. This means the power comes from Him and the glory goes to Him! (2 Cor 4:7).
e) When you attempt to live a Godly life without totally relying on the power of the Holy Spirit (instead of human ability), you will eventually buckle under the pressure to perform.
f) God called you to a life of supernatural power. This power is found solely in His grace, not your performance.
g) The grace of God will usher you into God’s rest. God wants you to rest from “your own works” (see Hebrews 4).
h) When you embrace God’s grace you release the stress to perform, you are able to die to self, and you then freely allow God to flow through you.
2. We have a lot to be thankful for.
a) During our break Isabella and I originally decided to abstain from any form of ministry, but the Holy Spirit led us otherwise. While enjoying rest and relaxation at a resort the Lord opened the door for me to preach to the resort staff. It was refreshing to me to see people of little means crying out to God in earnest. Being resort staff who live on the property, they were not afforded many amenities, but they prayed and praised God like there were in a beautiful sanctuary. Not only was their praise a blessing to the Lord, it blessed me as well. Praising God in a small shack, in blazing heat, with no A/C, and no comfortable chairs, reminded me of how blessed we are in the United States.
b) During our break Isabella and I were able to (by way of Rick & Isabella Pina Ministries), feed 70 families. We provided them with groceries that would sustain them for about a week. (here’s a link to some of the pictures from that event: https://goo.gl/HGXTN5). As we walked through dirt roads that our vehicles could barely make it down, and delivered bags of food to shacks that were falling down, I could not help but be thankful. One little boy with Down Syndrome stole our hearts. He hugged every one of our team members. I was enjoying one of his hugs when I realized he was not wearing any shoes, pants or even underwear. The little boy was running around his village with nothing but a shirt on his back. This broke my heart. My mother went back to take him some clothes. One young man kept urging me to deliver a bag of food up a steep hill to a woman he said was old and blind. I went with him up the hill, only to find out that it was his mother. I had a bottle of Ensure with me and I told him to feed it to her. The young man quickly got a cup and fed his mother with a big smile on his face. I left that shack with tears in my eyes. Next week Rick & Isabella Pina Ministries will deliver 250 backpacks with school supplies to the very needy in the Dominican Republic, and that village will be the first we visit ( here are some pictures of the supplies: https://goo.gl/uKrrJu).
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your amazing and unearned grace. I have so much to be thankful for. You have blessed me richly. You have been far better to me than I have been to You. I think about those who are less fortunate, and I all I can say is, “THANK YOU!” Thank You Father for Your grace, goodness, kindness and mercy. I now clearly realize that I am on this planet for a reason. That reason is Your purpose for my life. I cannot accomplish Your purpose with my power, so I refuse to even try. I have tried before and it led to nothing but frustration. I now die to self, i yield to You, and I get to live an amazing life – it’s the life I was born to live. And I live this life with the peace that comes from embracing Your grace, the power that comes from accepting Your anointing, and the liberating force I experience when I give up on trying to do it all by myself. I don’t have to come up with the power, ability, resources or strength. The life that I now live is ALL FOR YOU and it is ALL ABOUT YOU! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
