2013-03-20T10:13:43-05:00 GCI info@gospel.com /feeds/topics/burden/ http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/snowballsor-avalanches-6833 2013-03-20T10:13:43-05:00 Today is a snowball. You can handle a snowball coming at you. It's just that when you put many of those snowballs together and try to deal with them all at once, you're going to be trying to deal with an avalanche. That's not how God made you. He gives us strength for one day at a time. I know that from Deuteronomy 33:25. It says, "He will give you strength equal to your day." http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-personal-power/your-share-of-the-load-6798 2013-01-30T09:46:44-05:00 God has a part of His load for you to carry. No child of God is exempt. "To whom much is given, much is required." So begin on your knees, "Lord, break my heart for something that breaks Yours." Take some ownership for one of those needs. And what will God do with your willing heart? I don't know, but He'll make your life bigger as you get beyond caring about what just concerns you. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-personal-power/what-to-wear-today-6283 2011-03-11T16:25:01-05:00 Consider Nehemiah's working wardrobe - a predictable smile, a contagious joy, and a consistent positiveness in the midst of daily drudgery. In our world, that is an attention getter, and that wardrobe is always in style. Wear joy to your work place every day. You'll knock 'em dead! http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-personal-power/too-much-to-carry-6093 2010-05-19T10:33:39-05:00 God stands ready to take the same kind of Holy Spirit empowerment that He's given you and plant that anointing in the lives of others. But you have to be willing to let go, and they have to be willing to step up. And the work of God will take off where you are as never before, without anyone being crushed by the load. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-most-important-relationship/brighter-skies-ahead-6089 2010-05-17T16:23:00-05:00 Paul says, "we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." Temporary. This too shall pass. And the day on the other side of this night is going to be awesome! http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-relationships/how-to-carry-the-people-you-need-to-carry-6063 2010-04-07T14:32:06-05:00 Long-haul carriers learn the strange secret of what I call compassionate distance; offering yourself lovingly and wholeheartedly to a hurting person when you're with them, but leaving them completely in God's hands then, and especially when you're not with them. You're not supposed to carry them all the time. And they'll never learn to walk on their own if you get a "messiah complex" and act as if you're their Savior. That's co-dependency, not burden-bearing. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/never-more-than-you-can-carry-6038 2010-03-03T10:06:31-05:00 Your Father loves you. Your Father knows what you can handle. He knows what He can trust you with. There's something much bigger, something much more eternal going on here than you can possibly imagine, maybe even a contest over you between the devil and God Himself. Carry your burden faithfully, with undiminished allegiance to your Lord and daily downloading of the mighty grace of God. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%206:2&version=NIV 2009-10-08T13:33:08-05:00 Being a follower of Christ doesn't just mean having your own spiritual burden lifted from your shoulders by Christ. It means actively seeking out those who need help, and shouldering their burdens with them. Service to others is a critical part of the Christian faith. http://biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:29-30&version=NIV 2009-10-08T11:32:43-05:00 The "burden" of following Jesus is, ironically, much easier to bear than the supposed freedom of live in sin. http://hutchcraft.com/a-word-with-you/your-hard-times/the-better-beyond-the-bitter-2813 2009-09-17T16:33:43-05:00 This night, even this long night, will not last forever. And on the other side a time of joy that is hard for you to imagine right now but which God guarantees. In fact, the beautiful time may actually be produced by the bitter time, as the joy of a new baby is produced by a painful delivery process. But you do have to get through this bitter taste, without abandoning your Lord or His plans.