“My yoke is easy my burden is light.”  Matthew 11:29

A yoke is meant to make a heavy load pull-able.  It adds an element of comfort to an otherwise painful and maybe impossible task for the animal to perform.

Jesus yoke is summarized in “I delight to do thy will, O God…”  Heb 10:5-7; John 4:34

His yoke is the attitude of servitude that made the burden possible to pull:  delight in and love for the Father and His will and His intention to bless behind His will.

A yoke distributes the weight of the burden to be pulled:  delight in the will of God takes away the crushing weight by bringing balance and evenness to the load.  Love for God and trust in who He is transforms how we experience the load we bear.  The burden or cargo is made light enough to navigate.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly [humble] in heart…”

Meek and lowly of heart:  “It is the temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting; it [meekness] is closely linked with the word humility…it is only the humble heart which is also the meek, and which, as such, does not fight against God and more or less struggle and contend with Him.  This meekness, however, being first of all a meekness before God, is also such in the face of men, even of evil men, out of a sense that these, with the insults and injuries which they may inflict, are permitted and employed by Him for the chastening and purifying of the elect.” Vines

“And ye shall find rest unto your souls.”

True rest and peace comes from being in partnership with Jesus and his delight in the servitude of doing the will of God, absorbing his sweet trust and surrender to that will, knowing all His dealings with us are for Highest Good.

The other day I realized one way to apply the yoke of servitude-with-joy to when I feel like a failure.  When I react, and label myself as “failure” I am not in partnership with Jesus, using his yoke.  Such self-condemnation makes the load very difficult if not impossible to pull.

The yoke of Christ would say:  I delight in this experience and its lesson.

I delight in the PROCESS of sanctification.  I will go forward with the lesson, and apply it to the best of my ability next time.  I will be grateful for the gift of learning that comes from every intense reaction.  I will trust in Him and this process.  I will trust in His ability to work all things for good and be assured of His Love and forgiveness.

What Does the Bible Teach about the Future of the Nation of Israel? –  Israel 2016

Resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something.  The beginning of the New Year is a good time to make decisions about what to do and what not to do this year.

Let Us Highly Resolve in 2016:

• to Live for Christ this year
• to Preach His Kingdom…”Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
• to recognize His hand in the affairs of the world and cooperate with “His grand steppings” towards the deliverance of the whole mankind from “the bondage of sin and death” –  Luke 4:18
• to give honor to Jehovah and Christ Jesus in our daily activities
• to pray in the morning for wisdom…bear in mind Daniel as recorded in Daniel 6:10 “…Three times each day he got down on his knees and prayed to his God. He had always praised God this way.”
• to pray at night with thanksgiving for love, grace and protection  received during the day.
• to thank him for the experiences of the day and watch that those mold us into the person the Lord wants us to be – Romans 12:2
• to carve some time each day to read and study His Word, meditate on what you read if only for 10 to 15 minutes
• to be more diligent to notice His hand in daily affairs…nothing happens to God’s children without his knowledge or permission – Matthew 6:30
• to restrain the pattern of negative thoughts … “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”

Psalm 37:5-6 says, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”