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Stop
and Rest
“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give
you rest.” Matthew 11:28, NASB
When Laurie and I returned from our three-month service in
Jerusalem, Israel, in January 2026, we looked forward to getting together with
our friends for our monthly home group. It was being a little “re-formatted”,
as office people like to say, with not so much teaching and such, but more of a
family time. Friends together worshiping Jesus, having good fellowship, personal
prayer on the “hot seat” for one another, communion, and a bit of food to enjoy.
You know, appetizer things.
It was all good. Each was lifted up, built up in their spirit,
and refreshed.
In fact, when all the others had received a moment of
personal prayer and prophetic words, it was my turn. I always treasure these
moments. The Lord has a personal touch that He uses each of us to give to
others with the gifts He has bestowed, because He has a father’s heart, and
loves to give “good gifts” (Matthew 7:11, 1 Corinthians 12) to His children.
Not quoting word for word, because I didn’t have my phone
recording as I usually do for these times to remember later, one spoke these
words over me, “Steve, the Lord wants to give you a time of rest. To stop and
rest, after your recent service, for when He sends you back again.”
A time of rest was needed. Some, apart from the group, had thought
Laurie and my recent time in Israel was “a vacation”. Well, brothers and
sisters, as many of you know, giving out to those in need and wanting more is
not going on a vacation. Nor a cruise. It is time to empty yourself for others,
to do what the Lord has sent you to do. And by His grace, we did it.
Many of us don’t know how to stop and rest. We are like
Martha in Yeshua’s earthly time here, always working, always serving, always
giving out.
And Jesus had to say to her, too, “Martha, stop and rest.” (Steve
Martin translation.)
Resting in the Lord, though, is not just stopping and getting
off the fast train. That may be part of it, but not always.
It is not just sitting in front of the TV watching the game
or the latest movie. Or the fake news, which makes one more uneasy and
unsettled.
Stopping each day, in fact, to sit with the Lord, read His
Word, and give Him time to speak to you, is finding rest. Being encouraged in
your soul and allowing Him to fill you up again for the new day, the next “deployment,”
as I like to call it, is necessary for each of us. Our bodies, our souls, our
spirits were not meant to go on and on and on. We need to have time to stop and
rest.
Jesus Himself had to leave the many, find His resting spot on
the mountain, seek the Father, and rest.
I encourage you to do the same. Be sure to set aside a time
each day. You need it. He has it for you. Do it. Make it a daily practice in
your life.
Ahava and shalom,
Steve Martin
Message #1 in 2026, “Stop and Rest”, Jan. 26, 2026
#StopandRest #SteveMartin #LoveForHisPeople #Jesus #homegroup #familygroup #Israel #Jerusalem #restinHim #Godthe#Father
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