Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 12. Verses 34-37 he told them, You snakes! You are evil people! How can you say anything good? The mouth speaks the things that are in the heart. A good person has good things in his heart. And so he speaks the good things that come from his heart. But an evil person has evil in his heart. So he speaks the evil things that come from his heart. And I tell you that people will have to explain about every careless thing they have said. This will happen on the Judgment Day. The words you have said will be used to judge you. Some of your words will prove you right, but some of your words will prove you guilty.
This is a sobering thought. On judgement day when Jesus comes again, we will be judged on the words we have said. I don’t know about you, but I have said some things I’ve regretted in my lifetime. The reason God judges our words is because they come from our heart. So our words are evidence of whether our hearts are good or bad. The good news is, that if we confess our sin to God, he forgives us. Even better than that, he forgets about it. We need to ask God to forgive us for when we have said things that are: Hurtful Rude Unkind Untrue What things have you said recently that you need to ask forgiveness for? Is your heart good or bad? In Psalm 51 King David asked God to "create a clean heart in me" - perhaps you need to ask God to do the same for you. Living in the 21st Century can make you tired and worn out.
Some of the struggles or burdens include:
We were never designed to live like this. Matthew 11:28-29 says, If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest. Take the yoke I give you. Put it on your shoulders and learn from me. I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest. According to the Collins dictionary, a yoke is "a long piece of wood which is tied across the necks of two animals such as oxen, in order to make them walk close together when they are pulling a plough." Jesus was telling us that he will help carry our burdens if we walk closely to him. Life is hard if we try to do it in our own strength, but if we walk in step with Jesus, we will find rest. We find this rest by reading his Word (the Bible) and meditating on it, and talking to him in prayer. If you are struggling, go to Jesus and he will give you rest. Fervr.net has some great tips on how to improve your Bible study. You can read the full article at https://fervr.net/bible/better-bible-reading-in-3-minutes
I have just discovered S.P.A.C.E.P.E.T.S Bible Study Method by Rick Warren and I love it. It helps you to be way more intentional about how you read the Bible and helps you to reflect on what you've read. I think it would be really helpful to journal what you find in each passage. You might even find different things each time you read the same passage.
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