First of all, Good morning or evening or afternoon!
Its certain things that i always desired to have & to have at all times. But at times in my past i struggled w/understanding why i couldn’t obtain it & keep it. Actually my thoughts & actions was hindering what was already given to me.
Read Heb.4:9,11; Songs 8:6-7; & 2Tim.2:1.
God’s rest. Consider the hectic, busy lives u & i live that sounds like a pretty good thing to have, doesn’t it? But exactly what is that rest? And how do we enter it?
The 3rd & 4th chapters of Hebrews compare God’s rest w/the children of Israel taking possession of the Promised Land. That land was to be a place where their every need would be met, a place no one would ever drive them from again. All they had to do was go in & possess it. But something kept them from it, unbelief & disobedience.
As believers we too, have the opportunity to enter a promised land of abundance & peace. A land where we can rest from our struggles & enjoy the victory of God. To enter it we must do what the children of Israel failed to do. We must simply trust God & obey His voice.
How do we come to a place of trust & obedience? By getting to know your Father. By spending time fellowshipping w/Him in prayer & in the Word. That is the labor that will bring u into His rest nothing more nor less. i know it’s been times to keep doubt & unbelief out of our hearts. And that was often until i begin to labor to know the Father instead of just knowing about Him. When i did that, He began to reveal Himself to me. He gave me glimpses of His heart, nature & love. As He revealed to me how much He wanted to do for His children, it changed my striving into peace, my doubt into trust, my fear into bold obedience. It enabled me to enter Hus rest.
God’s love. Love’s persistent strength & intensity is often present in romantic relationships, but it’s only fully expressed in the love God has for people thru His Son, Jesus Christ.
When the things we consider to be sturdy & dependable are swept away, our disappointment can open the door to a new understanding of God’s love for us. His affection is higher & deeper & stronger & longer lasting than anything on earth. Whatever we face, we face w/Him beside us, holding us up, helping us along & reminding us that we’re loved.
God’s strength. As w/so many other character attributes, a Christian cannot measure strength as the world does. True strength is not physical might or skill or power (see 1Cor. 1:26-27).
A Christian is strong when he or she is a person of gracious character, strong in the grace manifested by Christ in word & deed (see 2Cor.12:9 & Colo.1:11).
But how does one acquire such strength in grace? First of all, it is by the working of the indwelling Holy Spirit in the believer’s life (see Eph.3:16). Then it’s by spending times of quietness before the Lord in prayer & study (see Isa.30:7, 15). Frantic efforts to acquire, by human methods, the power one needs to accomplish a task or to reach a goal will be futile in the end (see Isaiah 40:31).
After the people had spent a day before the Lord & His Word, Nehemiah could assure them that “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh 8:10). When we acquire our strength from Him, we can confidently claim the ancient promise, ‘And as thy days so shall thy strength be” (Deut.33:25).
God bless u & may God’s strength, rest & love be w/& in u.
Davin L. Wallace
DOC #1101851
