Laurie Hopkins

After the crucifixion of Jesus, two of his followers walked on the road to Emmaus with a Man. 

They told Him the story of Jesus, His arrest and crucifixion.  

And the Man unfolded the Scriptures for them. 

What they didn’t realize was that the Man was the resurrected Christ.  

They did not recognize Him.  

However, when they stopped for a meal and He blessed the bread and broke it, immediately their eyes were open and they recognized Him before He vanished. 

They didn’t recognize Jesus in His resurrected body until He did something familiar 

–  the breaking of bread.  

Sometime we don’t recognize the working of Jesus in our lives unless He is doing something familiar.  

The moment He moves in a new or different way we begin to doubt that it is He at work.  

The unfamiliarity of the move leaves us inflexible.  

But the moment He moves in a familiar way we recognize His Hand at work.  

We need to get to know our Jesus more intimately.  

We need to understand that He moves in various and sometimes mysterious ways.  

We must not depend on the fact that He will always move in a familiar way in our lives. Unfamiliarity doesn’t need to lead to inflexibility. 

Oh that our faith would rise above the expectation of the familiar into the realm of the unknown!

We seem to be good at the working and toiling but not so good at the enjoying of the fruit of our labours. 

King Solomon was full of the wisdom of the Lord.  

He sought to find and understand the “meanings” in life in Ecclesiastes.  

He talks a lot about seasons and toiling and nothing being new under the sun.  

He also talks about enjoying of our labours, as it is our heritage.  

Many of us have become caught up in the “toils” part.  

We don’t seem to know how to kick back and enjoy. 

This is a new year – a year of learning and becoming.  

This is the year we need to learn to set aside the work calendar and begin to move in joy. 

Joy comes from simple pleasures.  

Enjoying a particularly beautiful sunset, the antics of the kitty cat, your husbands company in the evening, a good cup of tea.  

Joy comes from within first and then from without.  

Joy begins with gratitude in your soul and moves outward with a warm smile, a reassuring and encouraging word, a gentle touch on the shoulder. 

It is natural to “toil under the sun” but it is also natural to “rejoice in your labour”.  

Choose balance.  

Choose joy. 

What is in our heart comes out of our mouth.  

What comes out of our mouth lifts up or destroys.  

Words have power.  

Words hurt or heal.  

Our words come from what sits within us.  

We can mask or control what sits within us for a certain amount of time, but when the fatigue and frustration hit, what sits within us comes out of our mouth. 

The Psalmist lifts both the words of his mouth and the meditation of his heart up to the Lord.  

How do we assure these 2 things are acceptable in the sign of the Lord?  

1) Get in the Word – the Word of God, stored in your heart, will come out when fatigue and frustration hit. 

2) Know who you are in Christ.  When your identity is wrapped up in Him and not in what ow who is going on around you, what you tell yourself and how you respond to others will change.

3) Seek the Lord. When you chase after Him, rather than the things the world has to offer you will be able to clearly see what is important and what is less important, leading to fewer unnecessary frustrations in the run of a day.

Let our cry be today, 

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”