God's Rest and His Sword!

It has been a glorious morning for my family, as we faithfully walk with God today! God is showing me once again how his Word is true and something that can be relied upon in any circumstance. Today, God is taking my heart to Hebrews, Chapter 4, verses 1-13:

"1Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it.

2For we also have had the gospel preached to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because those who heard did not combine it with faith.[a]

3Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, "So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' "[b] And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.

4For somewhere he has spoken about the seventh day in these words: "And on the seventh day God rested from all his work."[c]

5And again in the passage above he says, "They shall never enter my rest."

6It still remains that some will enter that rest, and those who formerly had the gospel preached to them did not go in, because of their disobedience.

7Therefore God again set a certain day, calling it Today, when a long time later he spoke through David, as was said before: "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."[d]

8For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day.

9There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God;

10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.

11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.

12For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."

God showed me this morning through his Holy Word that when we come to accept His perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross after hearing the gospel message, we are able to enter an eternal rest that starts that very first day that we believed. This is something that the Word speaks of, but is almost indescribable to an unbeliever. Spending time in God's Word and in prayer allows my spirit to be refreshed. It is like having 10 hours of sleep at night, but better, because it seems to penetrate to the deepest parts of me. This is amazing to me because I spent most of my life being extremely fatigued. It seemed I could hardly do a normal day's activities without getting tired. Doctors explained this as being borderline anemic, and having a chronic condition called endometriosis. Neither of which have been medically confirmed to have ceased to exist. God just gives me energy daily through reading and studying his Word, praying and ministering to others with his scriptures. Instead of becoming more tired after a long day of doing these things, I feel energized and restored! This passage revealed to me that this is because we have given up our own dead works which can amount to nothing. When we believe in Christ and enter His rest, we are doing his work, not our own. He gives us the strength to do whatever he has asked us to do (Phillipians 4:13). It is when we get off track and begin to do our own dead works again that we begin to feel tired, drained and "burned out." Life in the Spirit should never be burnt out...He allows us to go so far, and then he begins to chasten us through circumstances and guide us back to his rest and his joyful, satisfying work once again. I praise God for his goodness and his gentleness, even when the circumstances do not seem gentle.

It is still much more gentle than what we could be facing, an eternity in hell separated from His presence. You see, that is what I believe the worst part of hell is. Having experienced God's presence almost daily, and the feeling of his peace, love and warmth wash over me...I cannot imagine an eternity without Him. That would be hell, and it would be worse than the fire, or the weeping or the gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:42). The hell I have come to know that God is speaking of is these things, plus the added torture of knowing for all eternity that all you had to do was accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and enter his eternal rest. Instead, you will have chosen by your own decision to remain outside of this rest in complete and utter unrest for all eternity. This is what you deserve, you messed up and God gives you a second chance by allowing his own Son to die on the cross (a brutal death) for punishment of your sins, and you had the gall to reject his sacrifice. Who do you think you are? I say that with love, because I once did not understand either, and was on my way to hell. I am now on my way to a better place of eternal rest with my wonderful, beautiful Savior Jesus, and every day on this earth (even when there are tribulations) just gets better and better. I have no more worries about what will happen to me, and no more fear of death. God has given me the peace the surpasses all understanding (Phillipans 4:7), and I am never letting go of it.

I heard today that I had "gone off the deep end" and I praised God for the amazing compliment he just gave me through someone else! I have gone off the deep end. Thank God! I never would have been able to jump off the deep end without the daily mercy and grace of my Lord Jesus! It is scary to take a leap of faith, but it is more than worth the effort! I tell you that from personal experience, and the Word of God backs me up in saying that! I pray today that you would be blessed by the passion that God has put inside of me to share this amazing treasure of eternal life, and eternal rest with others! I pray that God would open your heart and your mind to understand his everlasting mercy and grace, and that his love would penetrate into your heart, showing you how much he loves you, and revealing sin. His Word does judge thoughts and attitudes of the heart, and that is why the Truth can hurt before it heals you! Praise God for each and every one of you that he created. May God's Spirit rest upon you today, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

In His Eternal Rest!

Sarah