Tag: truth

A Life that Is Forgiven and Free

There is one thing that man can not live with and that is guilt. The Lord never intended man to live with guilt and when sin came into the world then guilt came also. The Lord made a provision for man’s guilt through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He died for the world that all who believe in Him may receive forgiveness of all of their sin. This word sin is all encompassing of everything that each person has done wrong that has brought guilt upon him. Jesus took our guilt as well as our sin. We are forgiven if we have received the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

All of us have believed the lies of the devil and have taken refuge in those lies. Those lies have led to our destruction and our sorrow.

Isaiah 28:16,17 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone,
A costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed.
He who believes in it will not be disturbed.
“I will make justice the measuring line
And righteousness the level;
Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies
And the waters will overflow the secret place.

The devil is a destroyer and his goal is to destroy your life and to have you experience sin, guilt and ultimately death. Jesus came to give us life.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The devil destroys us through lies and when we are deceived we believe the lies. They may seem appealing at first but the end is death.

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

Death to the soul is the guilt, sorrow, grief, regret, sadness, depression and despair that we experience through believing and acting on the lies of the devil, thinking that it is the right thing to do. We have taken the bait of the devil and been deceived through our own desires and brought about our own death. Death to the body is not the end but only the door into eternity. Those who have believed and received Jesus, the Lamb of God, will go into heaven and those who continued to go their own way and never turned from their sin to the Lord, these will go into hell.

Hebrews 9:27,28 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

God will judge everyone first and foremost on what they did with Jesus Christ…either receiving Him or rejecting Him. This judgment will be just because God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the world.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

We must be ready for the moment we see the Lord for we do not know what hour or day that will come. The only way that we can be prepared is to be right with God and this only comes through Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

The Lord says that today is the day of salvation. Once you receive Him then He gives you a new life in Him and sets you free from the lies of the devil and the sins that once controlled you. He sets you free to live the life that He designed for you. His plans for you are to live a good life and a blessed life, free of guilt as you allow Him to be your Lord and Savior.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

 

 

 

A Life that is Submissive

Submission is what described the life of our Lord. He was entirely submissive to the Father. A life of submission is a sweet life if understood correctly. It is when truths are distorted that we struggle. Submission is the correct response to authority. Jesus is our Lord and our Savior. Lordship means that we are in submission to His rule and authority. He has appointed others to be in authority over us and we are to submit to them. Submission is expressed through obedience.

Philippians 2:8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

We are to first submit ourselves to God.

James 4:7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

We are to submit ourselves to the governing authorities in whatever human institution the Lord has us serving, whether it is in school or on a job or the local civil authority.

I Peter 2:13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,

We are to submit ourselves to our spiritual leaders who have been entrusted with responsibility to oversee our spiritual well being, for they will give an account.

Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.

When you get married or if you are married now then you are to submit to your husband. Of course it may seem easier to submit to a loving, Christian husband but if you are not married to a Christian then the commandment does not change, you are still to submit to him. God’s grace is sufficient for keeping His commandments.

I Peter 3:1 In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,

You are not obligated to submit to the husbands of other women but only to your own husband.

I Peter 3:5,6 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands; just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.

The word “lord” in this verse is the same word as “Lord” in reference to Jesus Christ. The word is kureos. Your husband is your kureos and Jesus Christ is your Kureos. They both exercise lordship over you and are to be respected for their position. One is God and the other is man. One you see and obey him and the other you can not see but obey Him.

Genesis 12:11-13 It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.”

Abram asked Sarai to say that she was his sister so that his life would not be in danger. Sarai obeyed her husband without being frightened by fear. It is when fear controls us that we take matters into our own hands and disobey God. The Lord protected Sarai because she was submissive to her husband. He did not allow any harm to come to her.

Genesis 12:17 But the Lord struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

Only a person who knows her God and is secure in Him can live this kind of life. He will protect the one who takes refuge in Him and obeys Him.

Psalm 125:3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

This verse means that God will not allow His people to do wrong because they represent Him and He rules with uprightness.

Psalm 45:6 Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of uprightness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

The Lord also rules over all who are in authority. No one has any authority unless it has been given it ti him from God.

Psalm 103:19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.

 

 

A Life that Does What is Required

The Lord made it clear in the Old Testament and the New Testament what He requires of us.

Micah 6:8 He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

Only God is good and so to do what He requires of us we must have Him in our life. He will live this kind of life through us.

Mark 10:18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Righteousness and justice is the foundation of His throne.

Psalm 97:2 Clouds and thick darkness surround Him;
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

He loves righteousness and justice.

Psalm 33:5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.

His throne is established in lovingkindness and He seeks justice.

Isaiah 16:5 A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, And a judge will sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; Moreover, he will seek justice And be prompt in righteousness.

He will give the person who walks humbly with Him the wisdom in how to do justice and love kindness. This word for humbly is only mentioned twice in the Old Testament and here in Proverbs is the second time.

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom.

The Lord spoke to the religeous leaders that they were not putting emphasis on the weightier things of the law.

Matthew 23:23  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

This word faithfulness means submissive obedience to walking a life of faith in God or in other words, to walk humbly with your God.

 

A Life in Secret

There are three things that the Lord says that we need to do in secret. Again, He loves to reward His children when they do what pleases Him so He offers great rewards for these three matters of obedience. The Lord says that He sees in secret and He knows what we do in secret. He says that He will reward us openly. If you read the lives of the great men and women that God has used you will learn that they had their secret life with the Lord. Those who are not faithful in their secret life with the Lord eventually fall just as a tree whose roots are shallow or whose inside is rotten will fall. Your roots must go deep into his Word and into the soil of His love. If they do then your spiritual life will be nourished and you will prosper.

Jeremiah 17:7,8 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.

First, when you give, you are to give in secret. You are to give to those who can not pay you back. You are to give to the poor.

Matthew 6:3 But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Second, when you pray, you are to pray in secret.

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray to your Father who is in secret, and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Third, when you fast, you are to fast in secret.

Matthew 6:17,18 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

Just as roots are not seen but produce the fruit on the tree for all to see, so you too, when your roots go deep with the Lord, the Lord will be glorified by the fruit of your life as you bear His fruit.

John 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

May your trust in the Lord grow through maintaining your secret life with the Lord through prayer and meditation, fasting and giving.

Psalm 1:2,3 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

 

 

A Life that Stays In Love

Everyone wants to stay “in love” with the love of their life when they get married. You may not be married yet and are wondering why this would apply to you. It very much applies to any young lady who wants to and plans to get married. In fact, that is God’s will for most young ladies, but not all. However, what can you do now to help your marriage, if the Lord should choose to give you that gift?

Every older lady who is happily married knows the “secret” to staying in love. It should not be a secret but for whatever reason, not many know it or do it.

Your relationship with your husband will be an expression of your relationship with the Lord. You say you love the Lord? We know that if you are a Christian then you want to love God. A measure of how much you love the Lord is how much you love others.

I John 4:20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love  God, whom they have not seen.

Just as God loves because He is love, in the same way, the recipient of your love should not be the source of your love but God should be the source. He can and will love through you.

I John 4:7,8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

The Lord loved you when you were unlovable and it changed your life.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The Lord wants you to keep yourself in His love. In other words, to stay in love with Him.

Jude 1:21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

The way you keep yourself in the love of Christ is to nurture the relationship and to not neglect it. Over and over again in the Bible the Lord reproves His people for neglecting their relationship with the Lord and slipping into a ritualistic pattern with Him. Most marriages fail because of neglect although nearly all begin with good intentions. Both people just get so busy and before they realize it their love for each other is lukewarm and then cold. Are you ever too busy to spend time with the Lord? Is your love just as fresh as when you first came into that relationship?

Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

If you learn to be faithful in your relationship with the Lord then you will have gone a long way in cultivating an intimate marriage. If you learn to love, not based on what you will receive in return, but because the Lord has called you and enabled you to love then you will have learned the secret of staying “in love” with the one whom the Lord has called you to be one with here on earth.

If you are married: Just as the Lord wants you to delight yourself in Him and to want to be with Him, so too, if you are married, your husband wants you to want him. He married you because he thought that you did want him. Do you still delight in your husband just as when you were first married? Do you still get excited about seeing him? Just as God’s love changed your life, so too, your love and desire for your husband can motivate him to be the person that the Lord has designed him to be.

Titus 2:4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children,

This word “love” in this verse in Titus means to “be a lover of their husband”, or “to want or delight in their husband”.

 

 

A Life of Faith and Love

The most exciting life is a life of your faith and His love. You will be amazed at His faithfulness and so in love with the Lord when you see Him be true to His Word. A life of faith is a prerequisite to seeing His faithfulness. When you declare, by faith, His lovingkindness in the morning then you will see His faithfulness at night.

Psalm 92:2 To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning And Your faithfulness by night,

A life of faith is taking Him at His Word. There is no limit to experiencing His love for you other than your unbelief. Fearing Him is respecting Him in an all consuming way where you believe His Word so much that you know that it is true and will do what His Word says to do. Fearing Him is obedience. You can fear Him now voluntarily by faith or you can wait until you see Him and how true His Word is to what He says will take place and then you will really fear Him but that kind of fear is one of a terrifying fear.

Psalm 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

When you live by faith then His lovingkindness is what will describe your life. It will be the explanation for who you are and everything in your life because He loves you so very much but you must take Him at His Word to see that love.

Psalm 25:10 All the paths of the Lord are lovingkindness and truth To those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.

The Lord will be your boast and in Him you will glory. You will not be able to stop talking about Him and all of the incredible things that He has done for you.

Psalm 89:24 “My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, And in My name his horn will be exalted.

You will anticipate each new day and what His great lovingkindness holds for you. No matter how much you mess up the day before His lovingkindnesses and compassions are new every morning.

Lamentations 3:22-25 The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease,
For His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I have hope in Him.”
The Lord is good to those who wait for Him,
To the person who seeks Him.

Everything that the Lord does for you is done in His faithfulness. Trust Him and let Him direct your steps. He is good.

Psalm 33:4 For the word of the Lord is upright, And all His work is done in faithfulness.

Underneath are the everlasting arms and He has destroyed the enemy from before you.

Deuteronomy 33:27 “The eternal God is a dwelling place, And underneath are the everlasting arms; And He drove out the enemy from before you, And said, ‘Destroy!’

Will you trust Him again as you did when you first became a Christian? Of if you have not yet trusted Him with your life then today is the day to begin. You can begin with the prayer that the person prayed, “Lord, I want to believe, help me in my unbelief.” He is more than willing to help you. He wants to give you this incredible life that is overflowing but first you must trust Him.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

There are only two choices in life…one of a life that is ultimately destroyed or a life that is saved. These two choices go into eternity but are made by you here on earth. Do you choose the destroyer or the Savior?

A Life that is Faithful

At the end of your life there will only be one thing that matters and that is God’s judgment of you. What will you hear Him say? It will not matter how pretty you were, how much money you had, whether you came from a well off family or from a family that struggled to make ends meet. It will not matter if you had two parents or one parent or no parents around. It will not matter what others thought of you, whether you were “accepted” or not. There is only One who will determine if you are accepted and what He will say to you will echo in your ears for all of eternity.

Matthew 7:21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

What is His will? What will he be looking for in you?

John 6:40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

Very simply, God’s will is that you believe in Jesus Christ who He sent into the world to save you from your sin…to die for you, to be raised from the dead and to ascend into heaven.

John 6:39 This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day.

Now this belief is not merely an intellectual belief. You can look at a chair and believe that it will not fall apart if you sit in it but it is not until you actually sit in the chair do you believe that it will hold you up. In the same way, you can believe in Jesus but if you are not reading His Word and doing what He says to do then you are only giving intellectual assent to his claims. You are believing with your mind but not with your heart. Those who will come to him on the last day and say, “Lord, Lord” and He rejects them did not believe with their heart but only with their mind.

Matthew 7:22,23 Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

They did not obey.

A Life of Quietness and Tranquility

What is the home of your thoughts? In other words, when you have nothing to think about then where do your thoughts go to? Where your thoughts go to is where your heart abides. For some their thoughts abide in anxiety. They always have something to worry about and when one worry is taken care of then they will just go to another worry. They live in a state of anxiety. The Lord wants you to live in a state of quietness, tranquility and peace. It is precious to the Lord and it makes you beautiful to others. It is true beauty that clothes, jewelry and makeup can not produce.

I Peter 3:3,4 Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

It will be life to you when you learn to live in tranquility. Once you learn to abide in this kind of life you will not want to go back to the restlessness of your soul.

Proverbs 14:30 A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

Prayer is a necessary requirement for a life of tranquility. Do you pray for your leaders, the righteous and the wicked? The Bible says to pray for all and does not distinguish between the good and the bad, for no one is good but God alone.

I Timothy 2:1,2 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

It will be your strength and will give strength to others.

Isaiah 30:15 For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing,

It comes when you do life right. If there is drama or a lack of peace and quietness then there is a lack of righteousness.

Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

Do you listen more to God’s servants or more to the news?

Ecclesiastes 9:17 The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

What is your home like? If you have a roommate or if you are a young wife do those who live with you look forward to coming home? Many a man will think of an excuse of “things” he needs to do just to get away from the strife of a contentious wife or constantly fussing kids. A mother needs to teach her children that there is a time for quietness as well as a time for play.

Proverbs 17:1 Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it Than a house full of feasting with strife.

You will not be able to enjoy any of the good gifts that the Lord gives to you if you do not have quietness within. There will be no rest, security, peace or delight.

Job 3:26 “I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, And I am not at rest, but turmoil comes.”

Job 20:20 “Because he knew no quiet within him, He does not retain anything he desires.

How can we live in the peace and tranquility that the Lord has for us? There is only one way and that is the way of the Good Shepherd, for He leads us beside quiet waters and restores our anxious soul.

Psalm 23:1-3 The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

You will be glad when you come to that life of peace, quietness and tranquility. You will live in security and confidence and will be a comfort to those around you.

Psalm 107:30 Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven.

Your spirit will be precious to the Lord and you will radiate the beauty of the Lord as you follow the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for you so that you might live life to the fullest.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Don’t let the thief rob you of your peace, kill your quietness or destroy your tranquility. For the Lord Jesus has overcome Him.

 

 

 

A Life that Is Not Judged Unworthy

The Bible says that we are the ones who judge ourselves. We can judge ourselves unworthy of the blessings of God and even judge ourselves to be unworthy of eternal life. Maybe on the great Judgment Day, the Lord will only be agreeing with the judgment that we ourselves have already pronounced over our lives.

Acts 13:46a Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life,

The hearers to whom Paul and Barnabas were sharing the word of God, repudiated the word of God and thereby judged themselves to be unworthy of eternal life. Repudiate means to “refuse to accept or be associated with” or “deny the truth or validity of”. They were rejecting the word of God and did not want to hear it. When we repudiate the word of God in any area in which He speaks then we are also judging ourselves to be unworthy of the blessing in that area of our lives. For example, if we repudiate what His Word says in the matter of marriage then we are judging ourselves to be unworthy of the blessings of the gift of marriage as He has designed, which is for the husband to love the wife and the wife to respect the husband and the oneness in marriage that God designed. His ways are perfect and marriage as He intended was meant to be a taste of heaven and the sweetest, most loving and harmonious relationship on earth.

Acts 7:39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

When we repudiate the Lord, which is the same as repudiating His Word, we are unwilling to be obedient to Him. When we repudiate Him and His Word then it leads us back to slavery again. Egypt was when God’s people were enslaved. Obedience to God’s Word makes us free.

John 8:31,32 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

It is when we love the Lord and His Word and are obedient to Him and what He says that we experience the blessings of God and the freedom for which He designed. Blessing means happiness. The Lord wants to bless you. He does not want you to be sad and enslaved.

Galatians 5:1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

You will find that when you love the Lord and love His Word that you have great peace and great blessing.

Psalm 119:165 Those who love Your law have great peace,
And nothing causes them to stumble.

 

A Life with Times of Refreshing

Just as our bodies can become weary so our souls can become weary also. Sometimes our bodies can be in a dry and weary place where there is not much water or rest. Just as cold water and rest can refresh the body so also God’s presence can bring times of refreshing to the spirit and soul.

Acts 3:19 Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;

We may need to repent if we have never come to Jesus Christ to forgive us our sin and to give us eternal life. Repentance is turning away from sin and turning to the Lord. We are either going toward God or we are going toward sin. God desires that all come to repentance and that none perish.

II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

We need to repent if we have gotten away from having Jesus Christ be our “first love” and the lover of our soul and the giver of life. It is easy to become busy with life and fill our lives with “good things” and forget that the Christian life is a love relationship with Jesus Christ. Or, we may just have gotten our eyes off of Jesus Christ and have been trying to live the Christian life on our own and allowed it to become a life of “do this and don’t do that”.

Revelation 2:4,5 But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.

We may need to repent if we are a Christian and have become ensnared with a particular sin and are experiencing death to our soul, which is the defeat and guilt that we feel when we know that we are not living in a way pleasing to Him. Sin can cause weariness. Whatever it is that is causing our weariness, it is not design.

Matthew 11:28-30 “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.”

Come to the Lord Jesus if you are weary and heavy laden. He will give you rest. Repent, if you have gotten away from Him and have left your first love. Do the things you did at first when you first became a Christian. Remember how you marveled at how great a love that He has for you. Remember how His grace was poured out on your life and you experienced His forgiveness and cleansing? Repent and return to Him in order that times of refreshing may come from His presence. In His presence there is fullness of joy and in His right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

It is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance in order that He might bless us.

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?