Today I go over resting our weary souls in the teachings of Jesus Christ. I go into one teaching from each book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I pair this prayer and scripture.
This is part four of a four-part series of ways to rest our soul in Jesus Christ. So the first one we went over was resting in the words of Jesus Christ. The second one was resting in prayer. The third one was resting in his presence. Now today is all about resting in his teachings.
Let's say a quick prayer.... Lord I pray that you lift up every single person reading this right now. I pray that you open up our eyes to see the truth of your words and you open up our hearts and our minds to you Lord. I pray that through every aspect of our lives that we lean on you and you give us guidance and strength to get through whatever it is that we need to get through Lord. I pray that we find rest in your teachings and that we have the knowledge and understanding to know exactly what it is that we're reading. I love you with my whole heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Alright, so all throughout the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John we see the teachings of Jesus Christ. There are so many different teachings that if I went over each one of them into depth it would take me days and days to do that. So what I'm going to do here is go through one teaching from each book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The first teaching we are going to go over is about not worrying:
25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?
28 And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, Oh you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?" or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But first seek his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." -Matthew 6:25-34
This is a teaching of Jesus Christ and it is something that we all need to remember and live by. Our heavenly Father created us, he cares for us, and loves us. We can not get so caught up in worrying about what we're going to eat, drink, the clothes that we have, or materialistic things. God feeds the birds and he clothes the lilies. We as humans, which are worth way more than birds and flowers, stress over what we're going to eat and what we're going to wear instead of thinking about the important things. The important things are entering the kingdom of heaven, having a relationship with Christ, spreading the gospel, and letting other people know about Jesus so that they may be saved and go to heaven also. Just like it says in verses 32-34 that I just read here, the pagans run after all of these things and our heavenly father knows that we need them but we have to first seek his kingdom and then everything else will be given to us.
So instead of us stressing ourselves out about what we're going to eat or materialistic things, the most important thing for us to do is seek the Lord, pray to him, have a relationship with him, rest in him, and everything will be given to us. If you have just been so tired, stressed out, exhausted, and just worrying about every little thing, I just want you to stop and think for a moment about the important things in life. We can't worry about what's going to happen tomorrow. We have to let tomorrow worry about itself, but all we can do is seek the kingdom of God, have that close relationship with Christ, and spread the gospel so that whoever we come across may know about Jesus and be saved and have eternal life.
The next teaching is the parable of the sower:
1 "Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got a boat and sat it out on the Lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. 2 He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3 "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
9 Then Jesus said, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that "'They may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
13 Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they only last a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others; like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires of other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown." -Mark 4:1-20
So this was a parable that Jesus taught to these people about a sower, or a farmer, going and sewing seeds. Whenever Jesus' twelve disciples and other people asked what the parable meant he told them that the secret of the kingdom of God has been given to them, but for the people that are on the outside everything is in parables. Whenever we believe in Jesus Christ and we're saved, then we have eternal life and we have the secret of the kingdom of God, but for the others on the outside that do not believe in Jesus Christ, they hear the things of the Bible but they don't understand it, they see it, but they never fully get it, and that's what he's saying here.
Then he explains it in verses 13-20 that the farmer sows the word. There are a couple of things that I want to talk about with the word here. So the word is the words of Jesus Christ, the words of the Bible that we read here. Whenever we study our Bible, we truly seek to understand the Bible, know the truth of the words, and we live by it, then we'll sow seeds on good soil. When we're constantly reading the Bible and studying our Bible, we're sowing our seed on good soil.
I also wanted to point out something else about the word and it's in John chapter 1. John chapter 1:1-2 says: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." It's so crazy because I didn't even think about this when I was making my notes for this episode until now. God gave me this in my mind, literally right now, it just click to me that the word here wasn't specifically talking about the words of the Bible that I initially thought when I was planning this episode for you guys. Like we see in John 1:1-2, "the Word was with God and the Word was God. In the beginning was the Word. HE was with God in the beginning." So whenever we sow our seed on good soil, we hear about the Word (we hear about Jesus Christ), and we believe in him, we follow him, we study our Bible, we pray, we worship him, we obey his commands, we listen to his teachings, we seek to know and understand his teachings, and teach them to other people, and then we produce a crop. We produce other believers that believe in Jesus Christ and we have spiritual abundance that we can only receive through Jesus Christ (through the Word).
So we have to make sure that we're standing firm in our faith and we're taking what we hear, we're taking what we learn from our Bible studies and these different teachings, we're taking the Word and we accept it (we accept Jesus Christ). We accept his words, his teachings, his love, his mercy, his grace, we accept him into our lives, and we continuously build a relationship with him. We can't be like these people that hear the words of Jesus Christ and let the enemy take away the words or take away Jesus out of our life and make us not believe in him. We can't be like other people that received Jesus with joy, but then as soon as times get tough, or if people start not to like us or think differently of us because we're spreading the gospel and letting people know about Jesus Christ, then they automatically just run away from him, stop telling people about him, and stop believing. We can't be like the people that hear the Word (hear Jesus Christ) and accept him, but then they let worries, money, and materialistic things get in the way, they let their pride get in the way, and they put those things above him.
This is why I do what I do with these Bible studies, with teaching you guys faith-based tips, how to strengthen your relationship with Christ, and all of these things, because it's so important for us to truly except the words of Jesus Christ and accept him into our lives, follow him, spread the gospel, let other people know about him, and seek every single day to have as close as a relationship as possible to him. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through Jesus. No one can enter the kingdom of heaven except through Jesus Christ and that's so important for us to remember and to always sow our seed on good soil.
The third teaching is about loving your enemies:
27 "But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. 30 Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
32 "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. 35 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." -Luke 6:27-36
So Jesus teaches us to love our enemies, do good to those who hate us, and to give graciously. Our heavenly Father is so merciful, gracious, loving, and he's kind to wicked and ungrateful people. We have to be merciful just like our heavenly Father is. No one is better than the other person. We're all sinners, we're all humans, and we all have to have Jesus in our lives. We all need a savior. We all need Jesus Christ to make it into heaven and to forgive us of our sins. We shouldn't only love the people that love us, or be kind to the people that are kind to us, or give to people that we will give back to us, because what good does that do? If we're seeking to be righteous, we're following Jesus, we're seeking to be like him, and we're following his commands, we have to love others, do good to them, and give to them without expecting anything back in return. Jesus died on the cross to forgive us of our sins. We were sinners, we didn't deserve anything from him, he didn't owe us anything, but he gave up his life and rose three days later so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life in heaven with him and God the Father.
Who are we to think that we deserve anything? Why should we only love others if they love us? Or give to others if they're going to give back to us or pay us in full? Who are we to think like that, that we deserve anything? We have to humble ourselves, give cheerfully, and love everyone just as the Father, who loves us. Whenever we do those things then our reward will be great and we'll be sons and daughters of the Most High (and that is the greatest reward of all). So we have to stop worrying about what other people are going to do for us, or if other people care about us or do good to us, or if they're going to give us back what we've given them, we have to focus on humbling ourselves and loving others, regardless. We have to do good to others regardless, and give to others regardless, no matter what they do for us. We have to just humble ourselves, and serve and love others just like Jesus teaches us to do.
The last teaching is about life through the Son:
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out-- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me." -John 5:19-30
So in this teaching here, Jesus teaches us a lot of things. He says in verse 21 that "just as the Father raises the dead," and we see that God the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Also in that verse he says, "even so the Son gives life to who he is pleased to give it." We know that whenever we believe in Jesus Christ, then we have eternal life in heaven. So Jesus gives life to us. We are dead in our sins, and alive in Jesus Christ whenever we're saved and we ask him to come into our heart. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and if we don't honor him then we can't honor the father. No one can come to the Father and no one truly knows the Father if they don't truly know the Son and if they don't first come through the Son (which is Jesus Christ). These verses just go to show that Jesus is fully submitted to the will of God the Father and that he does nothing by his self. Everything that Jesus did while on the earth was to fulfill the will of God the Father.
So we can really rest in this teaching and know that whenever we believe in Jesus Christ, we're saved, and we have the Holy spirit within us, then we're no longer dead in our sin but we're alive in Jesus Christ and we have eternal life. Just as Jesus is fully submitted to the will of God the Father, we also have to be fully submitted to the will of Jesus and God the Father, seek to follow Jesus, pray, worship him, obey his commands, and rest in his teachings. We can have faith and know that we have eternal life when we're saved and it's important for us to let other people know about that and to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ so that they may have eternal life also.
Alright, so those are all the teachings that I wanted to go over today. There are many other teachings that you can go through in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and I highly recommend you doing that. It's so important when you're strengthening your relationship with Christ and you're seeking to have a close relationship with him, to study your Bible, to study his teachings and his words, and to know exactly how you should live and what he wants you to do. You can get a lot of answers that you may have been asking yourself or asking through prayer by studying the teachings of Jesus Christ. So anytime you're feeling tired, weary, worried, doubtful, or anything like that, you can rest in the teachings of Jesus Christ and know that we have a loving, merciful, and gracious God. We don't have to worry about materialistic things, but when we first seek the kingdom of God, whenever we first seek Jesus and have that close relationship with him, then everything else will be given to us.
So I hope this episode helped you guys. If you completed the four-part series and you went through all of these ways to rest your soul in Jesus, I hope that these really did help you to rest your souls in his word, in prayer, in his presence, and in his teachings. Any time you're feeling tired, weary, or burdened you can always find rest in these four ways.
I love you guys so much.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, business, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.
For weekly Bible Studies, tune in every week to my podcast. Every week I go over a new chapter/s of the Book of John.
You can also follow me on Instagram (_lorenacamille_) I'll be posting frequently and doing daily stories.
For past Bible Studies on the book of Jeremiah, join our Facebook Community
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Comments