GOD Morning! November 7 / Rest!!!

GOD Morning!

November 7 / Rest!!!

Hebrews 4 (Amplified Bible)

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering His rest still holds and is offered [today], let us be afraid [to distrust it], lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of [reaching] it.

Okay, BOOM! God’s clear, concise Word of Truth just now hit me right in the face.

² For indeed we have had the glad tidings [Gospel of God] proclaimed to us just as truly as they [the Israelites of old did when the good news of deliverance from bondage came to them]; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because it was not mixed with faith (with the leaning of the entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness) by those who heard it; neither were they united in faith with the ones [Joshua and Caleb] who heard (did believe).

So the only way I enter into God’s Rest is if I mix it with faith. What is faith? Leaning my entire personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness. Have I been doing this? No. Plain and Simple.

³ For we who have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on God) do enter that rest, in accordance with His declaration that those [who did not believe] should not enter when He said, As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest; and this He said although [His] works had been completed and prepared [and waiting for all who would believe] from the foundation of the world.

⁴ For in a certain place He has said this about the seventh day: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works.

⁵ And [they forfeited their part in it, for] in this [passage] He said, They shall not enter My rest.

How did they forfeit God’s Rest? They did not believe! That’s all. So I am to FEAR unbelief. If I fail to believe that there is rest for ME, then I will NOT enter into God’s Rest.

⁶ Seeing then that the promise remains over [from past times] for some to enter that rest, and that those who formerly were given the good news about it and the opportunity, failed to appropriate it and did not enter because of disobedience,

I’m so ashamed. I have been disobedient. How? By FAILING to enter into God’s rest.

But, thank God I have another opportunity!

⁷ Again He sets a definite day, [a new] Today, [and gives another opportunity of securing that rest] saying through David after so long a time in the words already quoted, Today, if you would hear His voice and when you hear it, do not harden your hearts.

God, Himself, gave me another chance to cash in on my promise. It’s called TODAY!!!

⁸ [This mention of a rest was not a reference to their entering into Canaan.] For if Joshua had given them rest, He [God] would not speak afterward about another day.

⁹ 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].

How do we strive diligently to enter God’s Rest? Maybe God wants us to run a marathon.

Or swim across the Atlantic.

Okay that sounds ridiculous. Maybe He wants us to do something meaningful like putting some serious time (say 500 hours) into volunteer work.

Is this what striving diligently to enter His rest looks like? Not according to His word. He simply wants us to chase after Him. By spending focused time with Him and plunging into His word.

¹² For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.

He wants us to expose our heart to Him. How? By cutting it open. By examining every thought and motive, using His word as a guide.

Running a marathon, Swimming across the ocean, or putting 500 hours into volunteer work almost seems easier than exposing our heart to God.

¹³ And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight, but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.

Except for the fact that He sees our heart already. He simply wants US to look in there too.

¹⁴ Inasmuch then as we have a great High Priest Who has [already] ascended and passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession [of faith in Him].

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.

He’s right beside us as we search our deepest thoughts. As we “get real” with ourselves. He understands.

¹⁶ Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]

There we have it. All we need to do is boldly, and yet humbly, draw near to Him! Then, and only then, will we enter into God’s Rest.

“Wow, Jesus! What an incredible revelation I have received today! I LOVE Your word. Why do I complicate everything? I want to chase after You as I never have before. I long to enter into Your Rest. I vow to hang with You longer each day! I must do so in order to really search my heart. In order to enter into and embrace Your rest. Thanks, Jesus! I am so unworthy of Your love, and yet You died for me. So that I could enjoy this inconceivable Rest. AMEN.”