Entering into his rest--Part 2

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. (Hebrews 4:11)

                 The word for today is rest. Are you entering into his rest? Notice the verse above..."Let us labor." Those two words labor and rest seem to be an oxymoron or contradiction but upon careful study, we find an answer to this. 

                If you study Hebrews 3:15-19, you will see an example of not entering into the Lord's rest. The Hebrew children had spent 400 years as slaves in Egypt. The Lord had delivered them from Egyptian bondage and led them into the wilderness. While in the wilderness, God manifested many signs and wonders, yet the people were complaining. 

                 The tipping point was when God had promised them the land of milk and honey as their inheritance. They saw themselves as grasshoppers and were afraid of the giants. (Number 13:33) God, already, said that the land was their inheritance. (Exo 3:8) Here is the key item---They had mental assent of God's promise but it did not sink into their hearts. This event displeased God and caused them 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. 

                  Sowing and resting. 

                         Everyone in the body of Christ is going to come across many storms in life. How you react is either going to give you the victory or have you be defeated by the enemy. Let's look at another example of rest. Jesus had finished teaching on the different scenarios of seed planting, among other things. (Mark 4) Notice the words sleep (Mark 4:27) and asleep (Mark 4:38).                

                 Now, I want to call your attention to the fact that Jesus spoke the words---Let us pass over to the other side. (Mark 4:35) Now, the question to ask---Why was Jesus asleep on the ship? The answer is simple. Jesus had learned to enter into the Father's rest. 

                Before this incident with the storm, Jesus, probably, spent hours teaching on the different types of seed. One important item that Jesus mentions is the farmer who sows seeds. He knows that there is a process for growth. He goes to sleep and just trusts in the laws of sowing and reaping. 

            When Jesus said--Let us pass over to the other side, he was sowing his words as seeds and trusting that come what may, they were going to go to the other side. As he got on the ship with his disciples, he fell asleep. Suddenly, a storm came to the scene. 

              His disciples woke him up. Jesus went and spoke to the storm. After he calmed down the storm, he got upset at his disciples. Why? Because they did not believe Jesus' words that they were going to the other side. They were focused on the storm instead of going to the other side. 

                    Learn to sleep in your storm

                Don't let the storms of life steal your identity in Christ. The word of God says that we have the mind of Christ. Learn to capture every thought that does not align itself with the word. (II Cor 10:4-5) Apply the laws of binding and loosing. Bind those thoughts that are not from God, put them under your feet and release the mind of Christ to work on your behalf. 

                        Then, you can rise up and say---Peace, be still. The other side awaits you. It is time to remove all obstacles that slow down our progress with the Lord and move onward to victory. Learn to get that word deep in your heart so that you, too, can be sleeping in your storm and enter into his rest. 

Prayer--Father, thank you for speaking to me. Help me to learn to enter into your rest. I take now the mind of Christ and speak to every thought that is contrary to your will. I have the peace of God. I enter into your rest knowing that I will go to the other side. In Jesus name. Amen.             
                 
                                      
For further biblical studies, click on this link below...

https://thechristiancorner.org/changing-your-destiny/

  
Picture byGarth Manthewhose works can be found on  the Unsplash website 

Knowing God's will...

                                 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding ( Col 1:9)

                    The eternal enigma is knowing God's will in the body of Christ but, my friends, it should not be a mystery to us. How do we know God's will for our lives? What are the calling and purposes that God has for our lives? As stated in the above verse, God wants us to be filled with the knowledge of his will. 

                     To find answers to those questions, let us look at the Old Testament. The priesthood of God would decide matters by casting lots. It is interesting that in the Spanish Bible, the word lot is defined as suertes, which means luck or things decided by chance and circumstances. 

                     Casting lots would be by deciding matters with the Urim and the Thummim. Some theologians believe that one of those two stones would light up affirming God's will. Other lots were, also, decided by pulling straws. Why would God do this? (Exo 28:30, Ezra 2:63, Josh 18:8-10)

The reason God had this system in place was simple. Man was not Born-Again, therefore his spirit was dead. God had to communicate through Visual or Audio means to let his will be known to man. When Jesus came alone, things were going to change. 

                                   UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

 But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. (Matt 12:39) 

                     God was telling the religious rulers as well as his disciples that there was a new sheriff in town. Things were going to change from the Old to the New. No longer was God going to speak by Visual or Audio means. He wanted to prepare his people to walk by faith and not by sight. (2 Cor 5:7)

                   Does that mean that God does not show us signs and even talk in an audible way? Yes, he can do it but that is not God's best. God wants us to learn how to grab hold of his promises and believe so you can receive. Easier said than done but that is what God wants us to do. 

                    So, friend, let's learn to grab a hold of God's promise. Decide come what may, you are going to believe God's word and his promises. Learn to train your spirit to see yourself in victory. As you practice this, you will start seeing results in your walk with the Lord. 


                       

                       

                             

Watch and pray.

"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matt 26:41)

                     My question to you is---Are you watching and praying? We, all, know that prayer is talking to God. Talking to God is good and we should do that on a frequent basis but are you watching? If you read the accounts of this chapter, Jesus was encouraging his disciples to stay awake while praying. I think we have, all, been guilty of this at one time or another. 

                      The question to ask is why would Jesus ask his disciples to watch in prayer? We need to be expecting something and that is a word from the Lord. My friends, don't just be praying because it is the right thing to do. Take some time to hear a word from God. 

"And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?" (Matt 26:40)

                      As we look at the verse above, Jesus mentioned one hour. We need to learn from Jesus. Jesus was a master veteran at prayer. There were times that he prayed all night. I am sure he was watching as well. We need to learn how to add the watching to our prayers and we can do that in one hour's time. 

                    We need to make it a habit to spend at least one hour in prayer. When I spend an hour in prayer, I include a time to study the word during that space of time. God is talking to us 24/7 through his word and we need to learn to hear from him taking advantage of our study in the word. 

                         When I study the word, I ask myself, Lord what are you trying to tell me in these Bible passages? You would be surprised at what he has to say. Perhaps, there is another way that God would tell you to watch?  Maybe, he would have you to be quiet in his presence. Whatever method he shows you, stay with it. 

                   Having a persistent prayer time is essential for us. Let us spend time praying, also, for one another. Take some time to watch and pray. I have enclosed a link below to elaborate more on that subject. Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I appreciate you. God bless. 

For more on prayer, please click on this link below...
http://thechristiancorner.org/watching-in-prayer-can-save-a-life/

Verses courtesy of https://www.biblegateway.com/




                           

Your dreams can save your life.

" Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (John 16:13)
          
                      I want you to pay attention to the verse above. God is real and so is his word. He wants to show you the future. I will share a testimony to show how real God has been in my life.

                  About more than 30 years ago, I was a Taxidriver working full-time and struggling to make a living. One day as I was taking a nap, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was laying on the floor on my back surrounded by people who hated me. They were debating whether or not to kill me. As I looked at myself in the dream, I was wearing white shoes. 

                   I don't know about you but when I have a dream in which I was going to be killed in cold blood, it is a nightmare. Shaken, I thought about this but did not pay much attention to it. I did not have a disciplined prayer life at the time to find out the meaning of the dream. A year later, I wanted to be involved in my church and get some training as an area Pastor. 

                    Soon, my enthusiasm soured. I needed to take some training on Sunday night. Sunday night was not on my agenda because as a Taxidriver, that was the night where I made most of my money. Soon, I developed an attitude against the church because they could not adjust it to my schedule. 

                   I did not know it at the time, but I was hardening my heart towards the calling that God had for me. Believe it or not, the Lord has a way to call your attention and on one particular night, he did. I was working well into the night on my job and I had an urge to pray in the Holy Spirit. 

                The prayer was a very intense one. It felt like my life was on the line and little did I know how prophetic that thought would be. As I was about to call it a night on my last fare, I got set up. A guy pulled up a .38 and shot me. The bullet hit my arm. 

                    The Holy Spirit impressed me to lower my head and at that moment, another shot hit the driver side of my vehicle. Glass was scattered all over and the Holy Spirit protected my face that night. When I got treated for my wound, the doctor said that it was an inch from the main artery. I credit prayer for saving my life. 

                  Concerning the dream? It would not be until 30 years later that I would have a full understanding of it. The Lord was trying to warn me of a future event. Had I spent some time praying and seeking God's face, I could have avoided a possible tragedy. The Lord showed me that the fall symbolized my falling away from him and the white shoes showed me his righteousness.

                     It was my being the righteousness  of  God in Christ that, actually, saved my life. The word says that my sheep hears my voice. The fact that God, in his mercy, prompted me to pray helped saved my life. Friends, please pay attention to your dreams. It may save your life. God bless.






                  

                

                        


I
                         

                                 

Make your bible study fruitful.

               

  

     Greetings. Has your Bible study been dull? Would you like to make your Bible a fun book to read? Fret not, dear friend, help is on the way. The Holy Spirit has shown me ways in which to make your study fun and fruitful. First of all, in order to take your first step in giving meaning to the word in your life, you got to take time to pray.

                           A simple prayer to ask God to give you understanding is good but when you include praying with the word, you give substance to your prayers. A good series of prayer would be from Ephesians. They are powerful prayers and will give you revelation knowledge of the word. (Link enclosed below)

                   Another simple method is to pray in the Holy Spirit. When you pray in tongues, you are praying forth the mysteries of God. As you ask God to interpret those mysteries, you get results. So, before you engage in your daily Bible studies, spend some time praying in the Holy Spirit. 

               There are other resources that can help us in our studies. Biblegateway website provides rich insights into this field. It has some good passage search that will open up the word for you. Also, learning how to use the interlinear study is an asset in both the Old Testament and the New. 

In the link below, I go into detail on how to use these resources, especially in the Greek interlinear Bible. These online Bible study tools are a must and the best part of it is that it is free. So, take some time to click on this link and learn how to use these precious resources. God bless you. 

https://wordandgrace.blogspot.com/search?q=prayer+of+ephesians  

http://thechristiancorner.org/starts-with-prayer-and-the-word-in-establishing-the-how/