A SABBATH REST RESERVED FOR YOU
Sunday, August 27, 2006
So
then, there is still awaiting a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved
for the [true] people of God; 10 For he who has once entered [God's]
rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors,
just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own. 11 Let us
therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter
that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no
one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience
[into which those in the wilderness fell].
Hebrews 4:9-11 AMP
There
is a full and complete Sabbath-rest reserved for God's people. This
rest is a rest of faith; a rest of trust in Him and His ability to meet
every need you have or could ever have.
You
are either laboring or you are resting. When people do not trust in
God, they trust in themselves. Trusting in yourself or anything other
than the Lord is unbelief and disobedience. It is also stressful.
Trusting in God requires faith, obedience, and trust. Unbelief and
disobedience will rob you of the blessings available to you as an
obedient child of God. Unless you trust in God as your only source and
supply, you will not enter into His rest. You have to cease from the
weariness and pain of your own human labors. God wants you to know and
experience His rest for yourself. You must be zealous; you must exert
yourself; you must strive diligently to enter God's rest. The only work
you need to do is to place your trust firmly in God and obey Him in all
things. What can you do to enter into God's rest?
Cast your cares on Him:
Casting
the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your
concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately
and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7 AMP
Don't be double-minded:
If
any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally
and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in
faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea
driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he
will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 NKJV
Be motivated by, and operate in, faith—not fear:
Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." Hebrews 10:38 NKJV
For
God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and
cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and
of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and
self-control. 2 Timothy 1:7 AMP
Know God's Word. If you know His Word, you will know His will:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6a NKJV
Know that God's Word is true and that He always keeps His promises:
Then said the Lord to me, You have seen well, for I am alert and active, watching over My word to perform it. Jeremiah 1:12 AMP
"God
is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should
repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He
not make it good? Numbers 23:19 NKJV
Act
on God's Word. If you don't DO the Word, you demonstrate that you do
not really believe the Word. If you don't believe the Word, you will
not inherit the promises:
But
be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to
it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the
Truth]. 23 For if anyone only listens to the Word without obeying it
and being a doer of it, he is like a man who looks carefully at his
[own] natural face in a mirror; 24 For he thoughtfully observes
himself, and then goes off and promptly forgets what he was like. 25
But he who looks carefully into the faultless law, the [law] of
liberty, and is faithful to it and perseveres in looking into it, being
not a heedless listener who forgets but an active doer [who obeys], he
shall be blessed in his doing (his life of obedience). James 1:22-25 AMP
Always be full of joy and gratefulness:
And
Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the
Levites who taught the people said to all of them, This day is holy to
the Lord your God; mourn not nor weep. For all the people wept when
they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then [Ezra] told them, Go your way,
eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to him for whom
nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. And be not
grieved and depressed, for the joy of the Lord is your strength and
stronghold. 11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, Be still,
for the day is holy. And do not be grieved and sad. 12 And all the
people went their way to eat, drink, send portions, and make great
rejoicing, for they had understood the words that were declared to
them. Nehemiah 8:9-12 AMP
Demonstrate
that you trust Him and that you know He is God and that He is still the
boss, by your faith and obedience. Be STILL and KNOW:
Be
still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I
will be exalted in the earth! 11 The LORD of hosts is with us; The God
of Jacob is our refuge. Psalms 46:10-11 NKJV
Recent:
Defeating Strife
These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19 AMP
Faith Facts
Faith is persistent
Luke 11:9-10 AMP
So I say to you, Ask and keep on asking and it shall be given you; seek and keep on seeking and you shall find; knock and keep on knocking and the door shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks and keeps on asking receives; and he who seeks and keeps on seeking finds; and to him who knocks and keeps on knocking, the door shall be opened.
John 16:24 AMP
Up to this time you have not asked a [single] thing in My Name [as presenting all that I AM]; but now ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete.
Faith is single-minded
James 1:5-8 AMP
If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the giving God [Who gives] to everyone liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or faultfinding, and it will be given him. 6 Only it must be in faith that he asks with no wavering (no hesitating, no doubting). For the one who wavers (hesitates, doubts) is like the
Faith & Praise
[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be. 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered the [utter] impotence of his own body, which was as good as dead because he was about a hundred years old, or [when he considered] the barrenness of Sarah’s [deadened] womb. 20 No unbelief or distrust made him waver (doubtingly question) concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong and was empowered by faith as he gave praise and glory to God, 21 Fully satisfied and assured that God was able and mighty to keep His word and to do what He had promised. Romans 4:18-21 AMP
Faith is defined as: confidence or trust in a person or thing; a belief that is not based on observed proof or evidence. Abraham had no proof – other than God’s promise to him – that he would have a son. According to his and Sarah’s advanced age and her barrenness, it was physically an