Cheryl Yale Bruedigam Author

January is a good month to get some rest. The holidays have come and gone, the new year has begun, the days are still short with long nights and it's time to relax and rest. Rest the mind, rest the body, rest the soul.  Rest is healing on so many levels. Many of us get so caught up in the fast pace and being on the go that we forget even how to rest, to really rest because even when we finally get to bed our minds are racing with tomorrow's to-do list, work, shopping, family and so much more. Others may have fears or emotional issues, nervousness or simply insomnia which keep them awake and unable to rest. Learning to rest in God will alleviate all of these and more.  Turn the brain off as you lie down. Prepare your mind with  Psalm 63:6 6 ". . . I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches." Breathe in, breathe out, to relax and prepare your body and mind for rest.  Following are some bible verses regarding rest that ...

First order of the new year is review. Right. I can’t even remember breakfast yesterday and I cannot recall many dates or such from last year but I can most certainly look over the inner changes that have occurred in my spiritual growth. A full year of consistent bible study brought me a long way so this was more of a milestone year for me. Most years don’t seem so but if we look within, after the fact, we will (or should) see the changes. I find a journal helps and if you do not keep one, this is the perfect time to start, at the beginning of the New Year. Psalm 139:23-24 offers us guidance for our inner review: Investigate my life, O God,     find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me,     get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—     then guide me on the road to eternal life. (MSG) Schedule some quiet time for yourself to muse and review. I set aside ...

After decades of seeking enlightenment and awakening, I now understand that these things; these ideas, these concepts, have been so over complicated and made to seem as if they are a state unattainable to most. It is made to seem that that they are only to be achieved by the great masters. Though nothing is black and white, on the one hand, there may be degrees; but on the other hand can you be only partially awake? Partially enlightened? Either you are or you are not. As long as I was seeking to be, I was not, for seeking kept me so busy that I could not settle within myself long enough to wake up. And both terms are as simple as that: waking up, allowing the light of God to illuminate our spiritual sight. There are no fireworks, it is not some un-achievable level (like some religions and philosophies would have us believe). It is a simple matter of waking up. All that is required is to allow God to move into your “house” and let the light shine. This begins with asking Him...