{"id":29332,"date":"2022-01-29T11:51:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T16:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=29332"},"modified":"2022-03-01T13:05:41","modified_gmt":"2022-03-01T18:05:41","slug":"pastors-ponderings-god-carries-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=29332","title":{"rendered":"Pastor’s Ponderings: God Carries Us"},"content":{"rendered":"

God doesn’t just carry us; He’ll carry our burdens too!\u00a0 Pastor Jim submitted the following for the February issue of Steeple Notes (our church newsletter)…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

PLEASE READ:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n

“You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

1 John 4:4<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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“...for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.<\/span>”\u00a0<\/p>\n

1 John 5:4<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0
\nAs we journey through this new year there is understandable excitement and anticipation.\u00a0 For some however, the burdens, challenges, and “troubles” of life continue to follow.\u00a0 The good news of\u00a0being a child of God is that we do not have to carry these burdens alone.\u00a0 In fact, our faith reminds us that God is ready, willing, and able to carry our burdens and us! \"\"<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nJesus says in Matthew 11:28-30<\/a> (KJV):\u00a0 \u00a0“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.<\/span><\/em>”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This not just a teaching limited to the New Testament but is part of the entire message of the Bible.\u00a0The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote\u00a0in\u00a0Isaiah 40:31<\/a>\u00a0(KJV),\u00a0“But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.<\/span><\/em>”\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n

While we may be tempted to carry our own burdens, while our pride may dictate that we can carry our burdens without God’s help, while we may be tempted to look for avenues outside of God to assist us with carrying our burdens, this is not wise.\u00a0 The founder of Methodism, John Wesley, taught that “no one or nothing else can give us freedom and rest, only Jesus. It is a rest which is a free gift from a loving God.<\/span><\/em>”\u00a0 This story which follows beautifully describes this for us.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

A\u00a0certain man had a daughter who was unable to walk. One day the man came home from work with a package for his wife. He asked his daughter, “Where is your mother?”\u00a0 His daughter replied, “She is upstairs.”\u00a0 Then the father told his daughter that he had a package for her mother. The girl said, “Let me carry it up to her.”\u00a0 “But, you can’t walk up the steps yourself,” replied the father.\u00a0 Then the girl said, “But I can take the package and you can carry me.”\u00a0 So the man picked up both his daughter and the package and carried them both upstairs.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

You and I may be carrying\u00a0a\u00a0package which may be filled with\u00a0burdens, grief, fear, anxiety, restlessness, hopelessness, or any number of things.\u00a0 FRIENDS the good news of the Christian faith, the good news of the Gospel, is that God picks us up so we can stand on mountains.\u00a0 God picks us up so we can walk on stormy seas, God picks us up and carry’s us\u00a0AND\u00a0our burdens as we trust ourselves and our burdens into His capable hands.\u00a0 Jesus said in\u00a0John 16:33b<\/a>, “In this world you will have trouble.\u00a0But take heart! I have overcome\u00a0the world<\/span><\/em>\u201d (NIV). <\/span><\/p>\n

When we are riding in God\u2019s arms, we are strong, we will endure, and we will conquer!\u00a0 The Apostle Paul wrote “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us<\/span><\/em>” (Romans 8:37<\/a>).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nShalom,<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Pastor Jim<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0+<\/span><\/p>\n

For more Pastor’s Ponderings articles, click this button:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Pastors Ponderings<\/span><\/a> \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

God carries us- burdens and all! The good news of the Gospel is that God remains with us, even when we’re carrying a load of burdens. If we entrust ourselves and our burdens into His capable hands, He’ll carry us through life’s “stormy seas.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6085,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[137],"class_list":["post-29332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-ponderings","tag-godsprotection"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29332"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29380,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29332\/revisions\/29380"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}