Welcome back, and God bless you! We are in Hebrews, chapter 4. Hope you have been following along. Let’s jump right in! We see that after God made the heavens and the earth, he rested on the seventh day. Now, He is saying WE can “rest” in Him! Wow, cool huh! We can enter into that rest, too (a time of completion). Take a deep breath, and breath out,knowing you can leave it all at the altar, and rest in God. But, remember, it says in verse 3, that”for we which have BELIEVED” do enter into rest”. Yes, you have to believe. We are reminded again in verse 7, not to HARDEN our hearts. Let’s not be passive in our Christian walk, sister or brother. We must labor into that rest. We must believe, and keep on going! Keep having faith.
This reminds me of a recent event in my life that seemed like being a Christian wouldn’t help. Fear was present, a sense of hopelessness reared its ugly head. Confusion invited itself in. So much pain and strife around. But….God…yes with faith, He said, “Come out of this, and rest”. Believe me, the problem didn’t disappear, only the way I approached it. God gave me peace and led me to have a soft answer, as well as complete silence. I walked away from the unrest, and my husband and I prayed in another room away from the stress. We agreed together and asked others to agree as well. We laid hands on something connected to it and prayed. We rebuked, then invited peace and comfort. Then we ask that the only spirit to be present was the Holy Spirit! Things calmed down in the whirlwind of fear,hopelessness,and helplessness. Peace was there, at least for that day! Praise God! Yes, fear wouldn’t give up,it tried to stay longer than any of them,but it was recognized and rebuked again! Ha!
The good news is that Jesus has prepared a place for us in Heaven.(St. John 14:1-3). God knows our heart,we are like an open book to him. Nothing you say or do will surprise Him. No sin is too great for Him to forgive. So believe, and hold fast to your profession of faith, in the work Jesus Christ did on the cross. Why? Because He is our Priest who has passed into the heavens! Please read all of chapter 4, with me. Look at verse 15, it says Jesus understands what you are going through because He was tempted as we are. He never sinned but, was made sin for us on the cross. Verse 16, Praise God,says now we can enter the throne of grace with confidence, and boldness, as we stand before God our Father, clothed in righteousness (not ours, but Jesus’s). Won’t you come to the throne of grace? God has given us everything we need. It was all completed on the cross through Jesus Christ. We just have to claim it! Take care until next time! God richly bless you and protect you.
Cool to be blessed-Ann
Ann Littlefield 