Love you all, praying for you.
I just love God’s Word, it gives higher understanding, a new dimension. What is rest? Webster said: Cessation of motion or action of any kind. A body is at rest when it ceases to move, the mind is at rest, when it ceases to be disturbed or agitated. Some people have struggled greatly with the concept of rest. Some people say work for God, God expects us to work. Others say God did all the work, He calls us to rest. God wants us to understand truth, the fullness of it, not just the part of it. The Bible calls rest manoach - <maw-no’-ack> Quiet, settled, home, a place of rest. From noach - <noo’-ack> settle down, dwell, stay, let fall, let alone, comfort, remain. Jesus gave a secret to rest. A Sabbath rest. And as usual – it’s not what you would think. Mattthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Jesus said something that doesn’t make natural sense. Take my yoke upon you – learn from what I do, and you will find rest. Why would he say put my yoke on? Rest is when the day is done, and you take the yoke off. In the morning the oxen are yoked up and go back to work. So what is Jesus talking about when He says – put my yoke on you – and then you’ll find rest? In God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of His Son Jesus, things work differently. Rest is not the absence of activity, it is physical and spiritual, mind, thought, action, and it can be work or rest. Striving is not resting, and resting isn’t doing nothing – it’s still believing. Rest like work is something beyond physical activity – it is physical activity and spiritual activity as well. Rest is not just body, but soul and spirit. Work can be rest if you have his yoke on you. And rest can be work, when it’s what God told you to do. To believe is work, sometimes you believe while you are physically resting, and sometimes you believe while you are physically working – it’s what proves your belief. God wants to reveal the true meaning of rest, and His purpose for you in it. Ask Him, and He will show you. It’s not what other people say, it’s what God says, and leads you in… Jesus didn’t tell the disciples – just rest at my feet, just hang out in the garden of gethsemane with me - that’s not even what Jesus did. He did it, but not that only. Jesus sent them out, two by two. To cities and towns, that’s a journey, that’s a long walk, that’s work. He said to “find the man of peace, and stay with him, a worker is worthy of his wage. And if they do not accept you in that town, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” That’s not rest. That’s work. God is working all the time! Jesus said, “My Father is always working.” If it’s good enough for the Master, it’s good enough for the servant. It’s not working that’s the problem, it’s striving in your own strength, pursuing your own goals and ambitions. Exhausting yourself for what your Father in Heaven has promised to give you. God said his children can enter into His Sabbath rest – a different understanding, a deeper level of rest. “Just like – “not just for breakfast anymore,” His Sabbath rest is not just for the Sabbath anymore. Jesus worked on the Sabbath – He preached and He healed. It’s a different kind of rest. Not the rest required by law, or religious opinions, it’s the rest received by grace. God said there is a time for everything under the sun. A time for war and a time for peace, a time to plant and a time to harvest, a time to work and a time to rest. But if you are under His Sabbath Rest. Even work can be a rest. When God is leading you, and filling you with joy and strength, you are resting even when you’re working. And when it’s time to physically rest, you are truly resting, not striving, not worrying, but in faith believing. Even the world has understood this truth in part – they just didn’t get the Spiritual part of it. Even the world knows. Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. God’s Sabbath rest is even greater than that. Do what God loves – what He has assigned you to do. You’ll grow to love his assignments and you will never work a day in your life. And your rest will be truly rest. It will be a joy to serve the King, your Master, and Heavenly Father. He will lead you in green pastures, beside still waters, and through the raging ones. He will restore your soul. So that when you work, you can still rest. And when you rest you can truly rest. Some people can never rest, even when they are not working, their soul is not at rest. God’s Sabbath rest is different. It's at another level. If you know the work God has for you to do. You’ll never work a day in your life. You will rest in Him, work in His strength, take joy in seeing Him bring a harvest from every seed you plant. If you hear and obey, if you get his plans - you can rest in Him. Even the mundane habits required for excellence and success… They can be rest for you, joy for you, a sacrifice of praise for you. He will show you physically the time to work, and the time to rest. Jesus said, my work is to do the will of the One who sent me. If Jesus worked, the servant is not above the master. Even believe is work. John 6:27 – Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” Then they asked him, “What must we do - to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent.” It was this chapter that Jesus said, I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (You work for me, not food) He then said, My work is to do the will of the one who sent me. That’s like you. If you know His will, you’re not working, He does the work, you just rest in Him, do what He said, believing in Him, so he can work through you to bring about everything He has planned, and planned for you. So like Jesus you don’t do your will, but the will of God through Jesus. It’s the Sabbath rest that comes through faith. That work is rest. That belief is rest, that rest is belief, that’s work, but it’s really rest. Praying that you will know the Sabbath rest of God, that you will believe when you are working, and believe when He tells you to rest. That you will do the work that He said – whether working or resting - to believe in the One He sent. And to do the will of the one who sent Him, and sent you, and loves you. He has rest for you. Love you all, dad
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AuthorKelly Kamentz - Jesus follower, husband, father, and friend, helping others surrender time, thoughts, money, and testimony, to fulfill their purpose! Archives
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