A call to stop for the one, living a life of intimacy with Jesus each day
We are called to love. We are called to be loved. To be so loved by Jesus, that his love overflows out of us to those who we encounter. We are called to be Jesus' hands and feet here on the Earth. We are called to bring good news to the poor. Called to set the captives free and called to bind up the broken-hearted. We are called to shine the light of Jesus to a dark and broken world. We are called to stop for the one each day wherever we are.
In February I returned from Turkey, where I had been living for just under three months. Before my time in Turkey I was in Micronesia for 10 weeks, where I attended the Level Two Iris Ministries Harvest School. Since returning to England Jesus has been challenging me to go deeper with him. To rest in him and let his love wash over me. He has been teaching me that rest is embodied in Jesus himself. It is in spending time with Jesus that we are refreshed. Matthew 11:28 says "Come to me, all you who are wary and burdened and I will give you rest."
Jesus is asking that we would rest in him. To rest in his presence and let him love us. It is out of this intimacy of knowing how much he loves us that his love can overflow through us to those we meet. As we spend time in his presence with the Holy Spirit, he sends his anointing to us, equipping us to step out each day. As the Holy Spirit fills us we are filled with the joy of the Lord, which is our strength.
Throughout the gospels we read about some of the miracles Jesus did whilst with his disciples. We are told at the end of John's gospel that Jesus also did many other miracles, which if they were all written down "I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written" (John 21:25). Jesus, both fully God and fully man, lived his life on Earth performing miracles and stopping for the individuals and groups he came across.
Mark 5: 21 - 43
In this passage we read how Jesus was willing to be interrupted from his tasks and plans. Jesus was on his way to the house of Jairus whose little girl who was dying, when a woman who had suffered from constant bleeding for twelve years, touched the hem of his robe. He felt the healing power go out of him, in response to her faith. He could have kept going, knowing that the power within him had healed a woman. Yet he chose to seek after this one woman and look into her face. As the woman fell at his feet Jesus further demonstrates his redemptive character by calling her 'Daughter'. In faith the woman had sought out Jesus for her healing, and I doubt she had expected to receive such love, acceptance and recognition from him in return. Jesus stopped for this one lady amongst the crowd acting out of his love for her.
Jesus said that we would do even greater works than he did (John 14:12). In spending time in his presence, our daily lives are filled with the same love and compassion he showed to those around him. By spending time in his presence we are filled with his power and glory. Spending time resting with him allows us to see the world differently and see the individual God has put in front of us. We do not do this in our own strength, but rather out of an overflow of the love poured out on us by our Father God as we spend time with him.
Our heart is that everyone around the world would first love God and then love the one person He puts in front of them each day. In this way the Gospel becomes simple, yet so profound 
Heidi and Rolland Baker
Jesus paid the ultimate cost by dying on the cross. He paid the price whilst we were still sinners. We did not have to take a test or earn his forgiveness. He chose us. He chose each one of us before creation, choosing that to love us and for us to love him in return was worth the cost. He chose that a relationship with us was worth his death on a cross.
How then can we not give it all to him in return? The truth of how much the Creator of the universe loves me makes my heart sing and I trust that it does the same in your heart!
Since coming back from Turkey, Jesus has blessed me with wonderful opportunities to stop and share Jesus with the people he has brought into my path. It is such a joy to know that I do not have to strive and that Jesus honours us when we step out of our comfort zone. He knows that it can be intimidating to talk about Jesus to our friends, colleagues, an individual on the street, a neighbour or someone in a supermarket. He knows our weaknesses and reminds us that God "did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and self discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).
We are called to love Jesus and rest his presence. To rest in him and let him work through us, directing our steps and pointing out those who he has put in front of us. This call is for everyone. In our daily lives, through spending time resting in his presence we can see our homes, workplaces, schools and communities changed by the power of his love.
