We are going to have a look at a scripture in the book of Matthew. Here it is.

Matthew 11 v 28-30

“28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Many Christians think this scripture means we will and should expect easy lives, like we will have no hard challenges in life. Why so? Because Jesus says his yolk is easy and burden is light right?

But in fact, this scripture comes into play when a situation in our lives becomes overwhelming, the scripture means when we are overwhelmed, we surrender it to Jesus in prayer, because he says come to me. What Jesus is saying is when we have a problem bigger than us, we can hand it over to Jesus.

Jesus is saying you should take your eyes off the problem, let Jesus deal with it, and in the meantime serve him and learn more about Jesus. But what does serving look like? It could be that you get involved with some church activity and serve in a welcome team, or volunteer to help out in some way. What do we mean by learn more about Jesus? It means attending church regularly and making sure you get to church to hear teaching that will help you learn more about Jesus, staying connected with the word of God.

In times of difficulty and crisis it is important not to isolate yourself, serving and attending church allows you to stay connected in the body of Christ, letting people know how you can be prayed for and to ensure you stay in an atmosphere of encouragement and positivity, which the church does provide or should provide.

Being on your own means you give the enemy room to attack you with all kinds of thoughts, here are examples of what the enemy could say, “you can’t get out of this situation”, or, “no one is going to help you”, by staying in touch with church family and friends it enables you to stay focused through a trial knowing that people are there for you and care about you, the enemy will find it much harder to dent your confidence when you stay connected knowing the promises of God, and allowing your church family to remind you about these promises.

What else does Matthew 11 v 28-30 mean. This scripture was given during the time of Jesus ministry. This was when the pharisee were putting the yokes of religion on people (harsh expectations), Jesus was also challenging religious institutions that put burdens on people that Jesus wants us to live free from.

Let’s conclude

Matthew 11 v 28-30 is all about laying problems at Jesus feet. It is not always about Jesus plonking you into a field of roses, on a beautiful blue-sky day to get rest, or even Jesus finding you a Royal Caribbean cruise for you to rest on. We are not saying you cannot go on holiday, it might well be you need a rest.

We are just saying the true meaning of Matthew 11v28-30 is, when things get to hard for us we have Jesus to turn to, and while trials and hardships are being sorted out, you should focus time on serving and learning more about Jesus.

How do we communicate with God? Does this sound like a dumb question? The most obvious answer is prayer, correct? What we are hoping to do with this article is to encourage people to get personal with God holding nothing back.

If you are angry about something, then offload it to God, if you are concerned about something then hand it to God. God is only to willing to hear every aspect of your life. Jesus will listen.

A good prayer life can solve a lot of problems in your life. God wants a relationship with you as he confirms in the book of Revelation.

Revelation 3:20

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”

Jesus will always be there for you, to hear your petitions. There is no problem too big or too small for Jesus. It could be that you need the weather to be sunny for an event, or you need some extra finances to pay the bill’s, Jesus takes delight in every area of your life and wants to hear your prayers, so communicate with him and don’t hold back, whatever it is pray and he can answer your prayers. Praying will enable you to have a deep and intimate relationship with God.

If you would like to know more about the Christian faith, why not visit us at Church. We have a family service taking place every Sunday morning. We provide free refreshments from 10.45am with our service starting at 11.15am. Come along you will be warmly welcomed.

If you need examples of just how emotional you can be with God, then the Psalms are a great place to start. David who wrote most of the Psalms often poured out his emotions to God, he is known to be one of the most emotional men in the Bible. Let’s see an example.

Here are scriptures from Psalm 55 where David is pouring out negative emotions.

“My heart pounds within me; death’s terrors fall upon me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me; shuddering sweeps over me. I say, “If only I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and find rest.”

Not only did David pour out his negative emotions but his happy ones too, here is an example in Psalm 65.

“Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion; to you our vows will be fulfilled. You who answer prayer, to you all people will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions. Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts! We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.”

We have recently written an article asking the question about whether we are being personal enough with God? Well again we want to show you through the Psalms that you can display emotion with God and you should not be afraid too.

Tell God what is bothering you, what are you angry about? or whatever emotion you have that you find hard to deal with hand it over to God, he can help you.

Pray and tell God what you need, what makes you tick. Ask him to help you and your prayers will be heard by God, then wait for answers. Paul sums it up in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4 v 6-7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

So if you are not praying enough have a go at getting into a routine of being more prayerful, and if you are praying keep up the good work.

Christians can often be referred to as Bible bashers. That is because over the years Christians have been over-zealous to lead people to God, sharing their faith in a forceful way in the flesh. But what does the Bible say about this. Let’s look in 1 Peter 3.

1 Peter 3:15

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

We should be ready to give an answer for our faith to whoever comes along, telling people of the hopeful future we have. However, what is clear in this scripture is we do it in a gentle and respectful way.

We are not to be Bible bashers hitting people over the head with the great book we have. We need to end that reputation and let our actions speak louder. One example being is this. As a Christian you could work in an office job, people notice something about you, such as why you do not swear or engage in the office gossip. The actions of Christians are noted by non-believers that lead to questions about the person who is a Christian. They will ask why don’t you swear? To which we say we follow the scriptures in the Bible and how the word helps us behave in a manner which is decent and sensible.

When questions arise that is the opportunity to share your faith in a gentle and respectful way. This is how we are called to share our faith, through our good behaviour and other people noticing that behaviour. They simply recognise that Jesus is living within us and they will likely want to have what we have, or at least find out more about our faith. After all God has put eternity in all human hearts, this creates natural curiosity. This is confirmed in the book of Ecclesiastes below.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.”

So don’t be a Bible basher, wait for those opportunities and be ready to share your faith in a gentle and respectful way.

We went to a weekend occasion joining up with Grace Church to pray over their new church plant shortly launching based at the Church in the Avenue. Here is a photo of the gathering just gone at Thornhill Community Church.

We had an update from the Canton leadership on all of the things underway, and what they have been doing getting ready for their first service. Here is a picture of the church based in Leckwith Avenue where Grace Church Canton are set to start.

If you are reading this can we ask that you pray for the leadership, and the people joining this new congregation to serve the area of Canton and surrounding areas like Riverside, Leckwith and Pontcanna. Grace Church Canton are here to share the good news of Jesus with people, and to show what it means to embody the grace that he freely gives.

Their first church service is less than two weeks away, taking place on Sunday the 1st of October with refreshments being served from 3.15pm with the service starting at 3.30pm. If you live in Canton or any of the surrounding areas you are welcome to come along and see what this new church plant is about.

If you have any further questions about Grace Church Canton get in touch, their email is displayed below.

welcome@gracechurchcardiff.org