My Yoke is Easy and My Burden is Light

Hi Everyone,

I hope all is well with you today. I am sharing three visions that the Lord gave me recently.  They concern our walk with God, our commitments, our burdens and our purpose as God’s own. At the end of the post I am including Chapter 53 of Isaiah, which is the greatest prophesy about Jesus the Messiah.

The Collar

In this first vision I saw a white padded collar or neck brace that floated down through the air as if it were a feather, or a leaf falling to the ground.  The collar was similar to the one I made for my husband.  He would fall asleep in front of the television at night before going to bed, and would drop his head, and wake up with neck pain.  I thought what he needed was a neck brace to keep him from dropping his head and pulling on his neck muscles. The collar I made for him was made from a soft ½ foam rolled up like a tube and stuffed into a fabric collar with a strap and fastener.  It has worked just fine.

The collar in the vision was pure white and thick, tapering on both ends. The straps or fasteners were not seen. White represents purity, righteousness, and holiness.  The collar seemed to have come from above since it was floating downward.  I believe that it is a collar that the Lord provides. The scripture that came to mind was this:

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, 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.”  Matthew 11:28-30

The collar represents this yoke that Jesus spoke of, a yoke that is easy or comfortable.  It is not hard or irritating like a poorly fitting wooden yoke placed on a beast of burden.  No, the Lord gives us the grace we need to carry the burden he places on us.  

We on the other hand can lay heavy burdens upon ourselves, burdens of guilt and shame, burdens that the Lord did not, and does not expect us to carry.  Out of a guilty conscience, we may take on burdensome commitments to win God’s approval, thinking that we have to suffer, to make up for our past sins.  But this is a false notion, it is not the gospel of peace that Jesus has given us.  He himself bore our iniquities on the cross.  He suffered for us, so that we would be free of the guilt and shame of sin.  

Isaiah prophesied about Jesus being the suffering servant in what is known as “the forbidden chapter,”  Isaiah 53.  It is forbidden to the Jews, for their leaders do not want them to read and discover that Jesus was their long awaited Messiah.  Isaiah prophesied about 700 years before Jesus came in the flesh. 

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,    smitten by God, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

We like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  Isaiah 53:4-6

The Lord purchased our freedom with his own blood.  He wants us to be free to abide with him, to enter into his presence, and to hear his voice.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.  Galatians 5:1

It is sin that causes bondage.  In our willful hearts, we go our own way and do our own thing, often against his will.  Sin is rebellion against God.  Sin separates us from him and his presence.  This separation from God is what we call spiritual death.  

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   Romans 6:23

When we turn to the Lord in repentance, he forgives our sin and heals our hearts.  He delivers us from the bondages and slavery to sin, and reconciles us to the Father.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His loving devotion for those who fear Him.  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.  As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.  Psalm 103:11-13

Because God forgives us when we repent, we must also forgive others, for it is the Lord’s blood that cleanses us, and frees us from sin.  If we choose to not forgive, then we are in effect rejecting the Lord’s sacrifice, saying that “Your blood is not enough – what you did on the cross, cannot make up for my sin or my brother’s sin.”  

We cannot be saved, if we cannot accept the Lord’s sacrificial death.  We cannot belong to him,  if we cannot forgive.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.  Matthew 6:14-15

We must choose to forgive ourselves and forgive others. Healing, restoration, and a clean conscience are possible when we walk in love and forgiveness. Unforgiveness on the other hand leads to bondage.  

Not only does sin produce bondage, but false teachings in the church can also become bondage.  Paul had to combat an ideology that was being spread through the early church.  It came through new believing Christian Jews that did not understand the true teachings of Christ.  These Jews were telling the Gentile believers that in order to follow Christ, they had to follow the Law and be circumcised.  Paul wrote to the Galatians to persuade them that these people were wrong, and that Christ set them free of the Law.  Jesus came to fulfill the Law not to burden them with a Law that the Jews found difficult to keep.  Paul called the law a yoke of slavery and this passage in context follows: 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery. Take notice: I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all.  Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.  You who are trying to be justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.   Galatians 5:1-6

A few years ago, a couple at a church that I had attended, began teaching that as Christians, we needed to follow the Law.  They twisted the New Testament scriptures to support their faulty teaching. On Sunday mornings, they taught a Sunday school class at this church and secretly wanted to start a church of their own.  So they invited people to come on a Friday night to meet as a small group and study the word. My friend who studied the bible, believed they were teaching false doctrine, so she asked me to come with her to check it out.  So I came that Friday night, and saw for myself, that she was right.  They were justifying their teaching with scripture, but were coming to wrong conclusions.  

We are to take in the full counsel of the word of God, not selecting and twisting certain passages of scripture in order to support our view. The scripture should be interpreted by scripture, and the difficult passages need to be addressed by first understanding the passages that are more clear.  If we do not read the Bible for ourselves, we could be misled like many who cannot discern truth from falsehood. By knowing the Word of God for ourselves, we can avoid being ensnared by false doctrines that lead us away from serving the one true God.  When we embrace false teachings we can become spiritually bound.

Let’s return to the vision again.

The collar or yoke in the vision was single; it was for only one person. But when a team of oxen are yoked together they can pull more weight. However, the Bible gives us warnings not to be unevenly yoked. 

You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.  Deuteronomy 22:10   

It is not good for a small animal to be yoked with a larger animal, for one will carry the majority of the weight and there will be a tendency to pull in the direction of the animal that is stronger.  Injuries can result if the smaller animal must strain too much to keep up the pace, or the stronger is injured for straining to pull both the weight of the burden and the negative drag caused by the weaker animal.   

The need to be equally yoked is not only true for animals, it is also true for us. The Bible warns us as believers to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers.  For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?  And what accord has Christ with Belial?  Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God.  2 Corinthians 6:14-16     

A few years ago, the Lord gave me a vision of two donkeys, one black and the other white.  They stood very close to each other so that they appeared as having legs that alternated in color: white, black, white, black, white, black…  I wrote about this vision in a post entitled: Two Donkeys.  What the Lord was showing me was this very idea, not to be in a close relationship with those who are unbelievers.  This is something that has caused problems in my own life. 

 If we meet someone who is an unbeliever, we are to share the gospel with them.  If they show an interest, we can lead them to the Lord and disciple them.  In this way, we walk in a unified direction.  If however, we meet someone who is an unbeliever, who has no interest in knowing the Lord and says so, then we are to shake the dust off our feet and keep going. 

Then Jesus called the Twelve to Him and began to send them out two by two, giving them authority over unclean spirits.  He instructed them to take nothing but a staff for the journey—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— and to wear sandals, but not a second tunic.

And He told them, “When you enter a house, stay there until you leave that area.  If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”

So they set out and preached that the people should repent.  They also drove out many demons and healed many of the sick, anointing them with oil.  Mark 6:7-13

I wish that I had done this years ago.  But I made a terrible mistake.  In my heart, I thought “surely if I spend more time with a certain couple, that they would become interested in knowing  the Lord, and so they would be saved.  But year by year passed, and they still had no interest in the Lord.  

Now 20 plus years have gone by and my friend’s husband passed away about six months ago.  I am trying to help my friend, and give comfort to her, but she does not know the Lord and cannot receive the comfort that I have, because she refuses to come to Jesus.  I have invested much time in our relationship, but we are no further along than we were years ago.

Had I shaken the dust off my feet and continued on, perhaps, someone else might have watered, and maybe she and her husband could now be saved.

 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.   1 Corinthians 3:6

 Of course there are family members that are unbelievers.  We can try to share the gospel with them, but they may not be interested either.  My own mother will hang up on me if I share even a short testimony.  The truth is that we cannot change a person’s heart.  It is God’s sovereign power alone that can draw a person to Jesus.

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  John 6:44

So we continue to pray to the Father that he draws their hearts to Jesus. 

There is one time in scripture where we are told to stay “yoked” with a non-believer, and that is the exception of marriage.  

To the rest I say this (I, not the Lord): If a brother has an unbelieving wife and she is willing to live with him, he must not divorce her.  And if a woman has an unbelieving husband and he is willing to live with her, she must not divorce him.  For the unbelieving husband is sanctified through his believing wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.

But if the unbeliever leaves, let him go. The believing brother or sister is not bound in such cases. God has called you to live in peace.  How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? 1 Corinthians 7:12-16

In my case, I have a love for my friend who is an unbeliever, but it is difficult and I feel that it harms my relationship with God, when I hold my tongue to please her.  This is sin.  I am very distressed by it. I gave up two other relationships when I received the vision of the two donkeys.  These two were Muslim friends, and I realized that we had nothing in common.  “What does light have to do with darkness?”  One was a friend that had married a Muslim man and whose son was the same age as my son.  The other I came to know when my husband had introduced me to a Muslim woman because she had no friends. However, I had decided to keep my Jewish friend whose husband recently died, because she was Jewish and all my clients back in Illinois were Jewish and God somehow had given me what I believed was a supernatural love for them.

I understand that we are to be a light to those who do not know the Lord, but to maintain close relationships with them is not a good idea.  We need to pray for the Lord to draw their hearts to Jesus, for without God’s sovereign intervention, they will remain in the dark.  So again, I repeat the Lord’s words:  “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.”

This is my prayer for all my family and friends, neighbors and the lost of this world:

Father, in your mercy, draw their hearts to Jesus!  Help them to hear your voice and to be led by the Spirit to come to the knowledge and love of God.  Bless them, and keep them until you call them.  Let not one perish needlessly.  Let them all come to the saving faith.  Let them experience your love and open arms.  Amen! 

The Football

In this vision, I saw a football fly through the air in a long pass.  There were two men in their team uniforms representing the opposing teams.  They both were trying to catch the ball.  The one who caught the ball fell and rolled with the ball on the ground.  The one who tried to intercept the ball was unable to do so.

I believe that the ball in the vision represents a message that was being sent by God to someone who was to receive it and “run with it.”  The opponent that tried to intercept the ball represents demonic or evil entities that interfere with God’s people, trying to trip them up.  If you remember, God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but Eve listened to the serpent’s suggestions and ignored God’s command.

“Did God really say…”  the serpent challenged her memory, and her conviction that she was not to eat the fruit from that tree.  He raised a doubt in her mind, and then planted the notion that God was holding out on her.  He suggested that she would be like God, if she ate the forbidden fruit.  Without the fear of God, she chose for herself whose message she would believe and act upon.

The devil’s desire is to cause people to sin and become alienated to God, just as he had done.  He does this by planting suggestions, lies, fears and doubts in a person’s mind.  He wants to motivate us to question authority, and justify sin.   Scripture tells us to..

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  2 Corinthians 2:11-12

Our offensive weapon is the Word of God, “the sword of the Spirit.” Jesus demonstrated the use of the Word to defeat Satan when he was tempted in the wilderness.  Every time, he responded with “It is written…”

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry.  The tempter came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

But Jesus answered, “It is written:  ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

Then the devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.  “If You are the Son of God,” he said, “throw Yourself down.  For it is written:  ‘He will command His angels concerning You, and they will lift You up in their hands, so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

Jesus replied, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  “All this I will give You,” he said, “if You will fall down and worship me.”

“Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

Then the devil left Him, and angels came and ministered to Him.  Matthew 4:1-11

Jesus did not let the devil have his way. He thwarted every effort to tempt him, for he knew who he was:  He and the Father are one!  Jesus is God!  And he used the Word of God to silence the devil’s attempts.  We are to do the same.

“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

In the vision, the football was a message sent through the air, intended for it to be received. 

If you remember, the prophet Daniel had been praying for revelation when he received a visitation of an angel who had been detained because of a battle in the heavenlies.

“Do not be afraid, Daniel,” he said, “for from the first day that you purposed to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.  However, the prince of the kingdom of Persia opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.  Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”  Daniel 10:12-14

We must be aware that there are demonic forces that try to inhibit the works of God.  He wants us to pray, and pray without ceasing, for this type of interference could possibly hold back or delay an answer from God. The Lord’s desire is to communicate with us.  

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  John 10:27

Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’  Jeremiah 33:3

God wants us to receive his message and carry it to those to whom we are sent.  The message of the kingdom of God is the message that the world needs to hear.  It is the message of the cross and the gospel of peace and hope that we proclaim as good news.  We are the messengers, and we carry the very presence of God within us.  The message of God is written upon our hearts and we simply listen to his voice and speak and act as he wills.  We are to share the good news with those who the Lord places upon our hearts. If we make ourselves available, he will use us as an instrument to bring him glory.  It is the Lord that gives us the desire to do his will. We simply surrender to him and he will give us divine appointments, to be at the right place at the right time.  He does it all.

The Sewing Tools

In this vision, I saw a few sewing tools in a small pile on the floor, scissors, pins and needles and a few foot attachments.  Nearby was a plastic bag filled with more sewing tools.

There are certain sewing tools that are indispensable and used on every sewing project.  But there are also special tools that are meant for specific purposes. An attachment like a machine ruffler is designed to gather a ruffle for a child’s dress or a flounce for a bed skirt.  A foot attachment like a “baby hemmer,” turns under a tiny hem of ⅛” for a scarf or an overlay on a woman’s formal gown.  These are necessary attachments but not used very often.  There are so many different tools that do very specific tasks. 

We are like these tools in the Father’s hand.  We are to be used in a variety of ways. Sometimes we pray in faith for God’s healing for the sick.  Other times we stand in faith for God’s provision.  And sometimes we pray for miracles in his name. Sometimes we are called to sit and talk with someone, bringing the love of God to heal their hearts or to impart God’s wisdom.  Sometimes we are called to roll up our sleeves and serve others as the Lord did when he washed the disciples’ feet.  Sometimes we are called to sit at the Lord’s feet and hear from him for instruction and direction.  And other times we are simply called to worship him and enjoy his holy presence.

God will call each of us in different ways.  He equips us for our tasks and causes us to yield to him, so that he can work in us and through us.  

“For in Him we live and move and have our being.”  Acts 17:28    

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10

For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.  Philippians 2:13

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Ephesians 4:11-14

God will use each of us in different ways, but all for his glory.  It is our pleasure to serve him and know that we please him.  For someday we all hope to hear these words:

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.  Enter into the joy of your master.”  Matthew 25:23 

Yes, those are the words we want to hear from the Lord, so we pray:  

“Lord, we ask you to help us to be faithful to you, as you are so faithful to us.  Help us to be your hands and feet, to give a cup of water in your name, and to share your heart with others.  Help us to be a blessing and to use the resources that you provide for your purposes. Give us a love for other people who need to know you.  We would like to put a smile on your face and hear those words:  “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  Amen!         

This is the “Forbidden Chapter” that I had promised to include earlier:  Isaiah 53

Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken,     smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.   

Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.  Isaiah 53

Thanks for reading. Please share this with others, for we all need to know the Lord, and to be encouraged with what he wants to share with us.