“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Psalm 51:17.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
A humble heart. Jesus said He was meek and humble of heart and therefore your soul could find refreshment and rest in Him. Yet the Son of Man had nowhere to lay His head. He could not rest in hardened hearts.
IF YOU GIVE ME A HUMBLE HEART, I CAN REST IN YOU. A hardened heart of pride wrestles with Me but a soft heart open to My Word flows with Me.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIFT YOU CAN GIVE ME IS A HEART I CAN BLESS.
And what kind of heart is that? A loving, willing, committed, reverent heart of obedience, eager to do My Will. It happens when you know how good, pleasing and perfect My Will is towards you, it is then, and only then, that My Will is your delight and My teaching is within your heart.
My plans for you are shalom (perfect wholeness in every area of your life) and not evil, to give you a future and a hope. And when you believe that, when you come to know and believe in the love I have for you as manifested in Christ Jesus your Lord, it is then you will soften your heart to Me and stop striving with My Spirit. Suddenly your heart will become a garden of delight, for you and for Me. A place I can bless and turn into Eden all over again. And the good news is, it starts in your heart, but it does not stop there. It becomes rivers of living water pouring out to a thirsty world, rivers of glory that will cover the earth with the knowledge of My glory as the waters cover the sea.
Loving obedience to My Word is better than sacrifice. Making yourself miserable with bodily penances has an appearance of holiness but it will only eventually make you want to stop serving Me and make you miserable and make those around you suffer. And that is not true repentance. If something you are doing “for Me” makes you cranky and unsympathetic to, even judgmental of, other people who are not doing the bodily penances you do, then it has gone to pride and not loving worship. True repentance being overcome and awed by My goodness to you, so much so that you are raised to a new level of nobility of purpose and mind. The old ways become like so much rubbish to you, even loathsome, in that they dishonor Me who have chosen to love you and give My Son so that all your offenses are gone, imputed to Him. Instead of hiding in shame, it makes you confident and strong in purity and goodness as you walk out your life in My own righteousness.
If you do not strive with My Spirit, but open your heart to receive humbly the implanted Word that can save your souls, then I can flow in you and you in Me. That is what My Son was explaining to you by showing you the branch attached to and resting in the Vine as its source of fruitfulness. The better attached and the more open to the life flowing in from the vine the more fruitful the branch becomes. The more detached it is, the more it cuts off the flow from the vine, the less and less fruit it produces until it withers and dies.
Looking at the branch firmly and openly attached to the vine with no hindrance to the flow in from the vine is a good example but your relationship with Me is MUCH MORE than mere attachment. The branch is not attached to the vine by choice or by love, but by nature. But when you attach to become one with another in love, to flow together, that is Covenant union. It, however, will never be complete if one resists the other in pride, that is, a hardened heart to the other. The hearts must knit together as one to be a true covenant of peace. Colossians 2:2. As long as one is resisting the other to enter into oneness there will be strife. I resist the proud and give grace to the humble. Why? The proud one always is seeking to be the boss of the other and the judge of the other. If you are WILLING and obey you shall have the best of the land, but if you refuse, resist, and rebel, the sword of your own words will consume you and the devil will be the high priest over your confession, taking you captive to do his will. Do not make covenant with him as Adam did. He had no part in Jesus, nor should he in you.
What is a humble heart? The answer is the answer I give you over and over—keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. When you look at Him you will see a humble heart. As it is written, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:3-11.
A humble heart is knowing it is not of yourself that great works are being done by you but of the One working the works in you and equipping you. But you still are the one working out what I am working in you. Without your willing obedience to run with the gifts I am pouring into you even though the grace is great it would be in vain. Paul said it was not him who did the great miracles that were wrought by his hands and presence but My grace, however, he let you know he had worked harder than the others for he had not received My grace in vain but had done his utmost to walk it out with Me. Jesus told you, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves.” John 14:10-11.
Jesus had His eyes on Me to only speak My Words and do My Works and His life was POWERFUL. And He knew that, but His heart was one of service towards Me and towards all mankind. He came to serve, not to be served, to give His life as a ransom for all. Listen to His Words and you will hear what a humble heart speaks, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” John 7:18. And, “Jesus answered, ‘If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’” John 8:54.
And think of another humble heart. Listen to her words and you will hear the humble heart and you will know of whom I speak, for I promote humble hearts because I can trust them to be faithful, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has had regard for the humble state of His handmaid; for behold, from this time on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One has done great things for me; and holy is His name. Luke 1:46-49. Yes, you know, Mary who called herself a lowly handmaid though she was the long-awaited woman whose seed would crush the serpent’s head. But she never sought her own glory, only that of My Son. And she was so awed by My favor that she treasured every moment in her heart and pondered on it. Grateful, profoundly grateful, and yet she knew I had stooped to make her great and that all would speak of her as blessed and highly favored. It did not make her proud, it made her grateful. That is a humble heart. Exalting the good as from the only One who is good. Every good gift and every perfect thing comes down from Me, the Father of lights, acknowledge, as David did, that I have stooped to make you great. Do not allow yourself to remain in mediocrity, step forward and be willing to do the great works I show you to do. Remember Jesus said you would do the works that He did and greater. Do you trust Me enough to step out and do them? Remember, the vine is the source but the branch bears the fruit. Without the cooperation of the branch, so to speak, and doing its part no matter how much the vine pours out there will be no fruit. Think about that.
Jesus had no place to lay His head (“klino” in Greek) until He cried out, “It is finished” on the Cross. And then he bowed His head (“klino”) and rested as He said, “Into Your hands I commend My Spirit.” But do you see? He had finished the work I gave Him to do—He died to remove your hard hearts and give you born again hearts of flesh and now both of us would have a place to make our abode, John 14:23, in you. You have the mind of Christ.
Long ago I made you a promise that is fulfilled in My Son, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. ‘I am not doing this for your sake,’ declares the LORD God, ‘let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!’” Ezekiel 36:25-32. It is the promise of a soft heart filled with My Spirit instead of hard heart filled with the devil. And I continue that passage on, “Thus says the LORD God, ‘On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.’ Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.’” Ezekiel 36:33-36.
And again I tell you, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’” Jeremiah 33:9-10.
Trembling at My goodness. Do you? Do you even notice it? “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” Jeremiah 17:5-8.
A humble heart notices My goodness and rests in it at every moment. It is a never-ending source of supply that pours into a humble heart from My heart through the humble heart of My Son. He came to serve you and He still does. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is gentle and humble of heart and in Him your weary souls can rest. But now He can also rest in you. And I abide there too and you can rest in Me in Him. Covenant. A knitting of hearts as One, Mine and that of My Son with yours filled with My Spirit.
I love you. IF YOU GIVE ME A HUMBLE HEART, I CAN REST IN YOU. A hardened heart of pride wrestles with Me but a soft heart open to My Word flows with Me. THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIFT YOU CAN GIVE ME IS A HEART THAT I CAN BLESS.
For the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them. Matthew 13-15.