My cup overflows

Psalm 23:5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.…

I looked about me

at the walls enclosing.

My eyes scaled their height and width,

for the overgrowth held my feet trapped

And I wondered about my saving.

I wondered “Does anybody hear me?”

“Does anybody see?”

And there You where

You said

“I have loved you with an everlasting love and wherever you are, I am too”

Here I now stand safe and secure for Your grace holds me now.

The One Eternal Bride Groom

My reflection is changing. The deeper I gaze into the perfection of your face, the more I reflect on the fiery flame of your eyes, the more I am transformed into you.

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

From your face, I can’t turn away. Your presence robes me, and ensconced in your arms, I never want to leave.

Your holiness draws me in. There’s a warmth, a radiance, a purity- an absoluteness to your love.

Unreserved, without question, selfless, totally sold on me. You gather me to you.

You encircle me. Wherever I am, your eyes trail my every motion. In a crowd of billions, you see me; every detail. Nothing escapes you. Nothing happens to me whose outcome is not good.

Because you have chosen to dwell in me, wherever I go, I am safe.

Righteousness & justice are the foundations of His throne

 

Praise Yahweh. Over the last two weeks, God has been impressing upon me the revelation that His judgements should inspire worship, praise, honor, adoration and love; not fear, intimidation, weeping, despair, or rage.

 

If you focus on the book of Revelations alone, every time God passes judgment or sends out a decree concerning creation, all the creatures and peoples surrounding His throne fall face down and sing His praises. 

 

I will show you briefly that this is true.

 

When you stand before a judge waiting for them to pass judgment, you look to them with the hope that their judgment will be in your favor: now these are flawed, human judges.

 

Think of the All knowing, Almighty, Omnipotent, fair God, whose anger is fleeting, whose loving kindness is legendary and who sent His only Son to redeem us. That is a God whose judgements we should long for. The Psalmist says that righteousness and justice are the foundations of God’s throne.

 

If you and I consider ourselves Kingdom Sons, then we should emulate the angels, the elders, the living creatures that surround God’s throne. When He passes judgement, let’s worship Him, even through the pain. Even with the life leaving our bodies, we should look forward to the incorruptible body promised us.

 

I don’t mean to say that His judgments are painless: all I am saying is that God is good, and all that He does is good. 

 

God’s judgements are good, because He is good.

God’s judgements are not meant to cripple us, destroy us or cause us pain because His word says that He does not delight in our pain.

His word says that His plans are not to fail us, but to give us a beautiful ending.

God’s judgments are a reflection of His nature because He never does anything contrary to His word.

God’s judgements are meant for restoration, healing, justice, and are a reflection of His love and benevolence.

See Revelations 3:19

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent.

 

Now let us start with Revelations 5:8

After Jesus takes the book with the Seven Seals which contain God’s judgments, the four beasts, and the 24 elders fall down before Him, each one with a harp, and golden vials with incense ( the prayers of the saints) and they sing Him a new song which you’ll find in Rev 5:9-14.

 

Continue to Revelations 7 after the opening of the 6th seal,  Verses 9-12 show us all the created things in heaven worshipping God, right after a judgement has been passed with four angels holding the four winds of the earth, their purpose to hurt the earth. However another angel comes to them and says in Verse 3, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads”

 

After the Seventh seal is opened in Revelations Chapter 8, seven angels stand before God and they are given seven trumpets. We use trumpets often in our worship of Abba Father. However these trumpets were an instrument of seven judgements to be released upon the earth. 

 

When the judgements are complete, we see all creatures once again fall face down, to worship Abba Father. See Revelations 11:15-17

 

God, our God knows you and I more intimately than we will ever know ourselves. He also loves us more than we or anybody else ever could.

 

God our God sees you, your pain, your despair, your loss, your shame, your rejection, and it breaks His heart to.

 

That is why He invites us to see our circumstances through His eyes. When you see God as He is, you can’t help but worship Him and adore Him.

But when you see Him through your circumstances, you will be overtaken by fear, anger, hate, discontentment and a host of other burdens you were not designed to carry.

 

There’s a reason praise is sometimes called “A sacrifice of praise” 

 

So whatever you see, or experience today, worship Jesus. He’s got the whole world in His hands, and He neither sleeps, nor slumbers.

 

My Beloved

I took a walk with Love today. We’d agreed to meet at exactly 4:00pm but I got to our rendezvous point at 4:01pm. One minute late. Our walks and our conversations are never the same. While He never changes, I am quite unpredictable.

 

Still I will take a moment to brag about Him.

“My Beloved is the most Beautiful among thousands and thousands. When He walks into the room……. words cannot describe the shift that happens. All I am, is drawn to Him as a dying woman for her next breath of air.”

 

As we strolled together, the wind in our faces, He talked to me about the coming of a righteous wind that would change everything. A righteous wind with healing in it’s wings covering all creation.

 

But before it gets too deep, when He saw me, with a smile as wide as heaven and earth combined, He swung me around in a twirl and sang me this song.

 

He sang to me “Sing you who was considered barren, you who bore no children: explode in song and extravagant worship, for your latter will be greater than words can describe. More will be your children, just like Hannah. Spread the wings of your heart and your vision. Make room. Spare no expense. Like the prophet’s widow, borrow as many jars as you can and watch what I’ll do with you.”

 

I gazed at Him, enraptured, transfixed at the fire and love in His eyes. His song filled my heart with so much light I wanted to explode in thousands and thousands of fireworks.

 

My Beloved is Wise and Glorious like that. Every word He speaks is like honey to my soul.

 

As He sang to me, I joined His song, in a harmony only God can orchestrate.

 

“My Maker is my Husband, His Name Lord of Hosts, His Name Holy One, His Name Kinsman Redeemer. The God of the whole earth. No more will I be called “woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, or rejected”. With great mercies my Husband gathers me to Himself. With everlasting kindness He now draws me close. No more will He be angry with me or rebuke me. Though the earth be shaken, His love and kindness will always be for me. Our covenant of love and peace is never ending. He’s robed me in majesty, in jewels on grace and glory. All my children will be taught of the Lord and great shall be our peace.”

 

My beloved sings such glorious songs. This is how our song ends in His beautiful voice.

 

“In righteousness you shall be established; you will be far from oppression for you shall nor fear and from terror for it shall not come near you. I am all around you. I am for you now and always. As I am, so is my promise to you- sure.”

 

Running through the fields together and as our stroll drew to a close, He drew me to Him and with a kiss on my forehead, He declared in a voice absolute and tender.

 

” Isa.60.1 – “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

Isa.60.2 – See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.”

 

Help us to love

Praise God: God wants us to look in the mirror of His word and discern those things that He has said He wants to do, and in the prayer of agreement remind Him so that they are released here on earth.

Let us not tire of reminding our heavenly Father to deal with every obstacle to His kind of love, and to teach us to mirror His every move, acknowledging Him in all our ways in Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Shalom: I say this because we all need the kind of spiritual and physical wellbeing that only God can give and He is willing, so Shalom, Shalom, Shalom.

Let’s conclude the message Daniel Murungi started on Sunday during the Upperoom fellowship.

I would that we focused two places today: “You cannot claim to love God if you do not love the people you see on a daily” and “perfect love casts out all fear”.

Daniel shared that without love, faith, hope, joy and peace are unattainable, which is why 1st Corinthians 13 ends thus:
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

But we cannot give what we do not have: Unless we surrender to Christ and give Him the wheels of our lives, we will not be able to love.

God is love. With Him enthroned in our lives, love will come naturally because from the abundance of the heart, live unravels- and God’s heart is Jesus Christ His love and ours.

John 15
1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Here He tells us how to love: Lay our lives down for our friends as He laid down His life for us.

God never asks us to do anything he will not do with us or through us: Wherever He guides us, He goes before us.

Thus He died first, resurrected and showed us that death is not the end.

To lay down our lives for one another, we must consider everybody else more significant than we are. We must look to our lives as not ours but God’s, to do with as He desires.

Love is not a suggestion but a charge or command: Without love, we cannot honor God because His every command is born of love, and the response from us has to be in kind.

Our love relationship with God is born of a sacrificial love, thus we must live the same way we were born again through the cross.

Had Jesus considered everything He was sacrificing as more important than we are, then we’d still be doomed.

Let’s follow the leadership of Jesus Christ in love.

Here’s a short story I encountered in a book I was reading “The Lost Art of Intercession”

During January 1736, Wesley was on a ship bound for America that also carried a number of Moravian missionaries. He was challenged by their great seriousness and their humility in performing for other passengers the most servile tasks, which none of the English passengers would do. When they were offered pay for this, they refused, replying that “it was good for their proud hearts,” and “their loving Savior had done more for them.” Some of the passengers abused them terribly, even striking them or knocking them down, but they would never strike back or even take offense.
Many perceived these German missionaries as cowards until a great storm broke over the ship. As the main sail split and the sea began to pour into the ship, the English panicked, their terrified screams rising even above the tumult of the storm. Yet the Moravians sat quietly, singing their hymns. Afterwards, when one of the Moravians was asked if he was afraid during the storm, he answered, “I thank God, no.” Then he was asked if their women and children were afraid, and he replied, “No; our women and children are not afraid to die.” Wesley recorded this in his diary and added:
“From them [the Moravians] I went to their crying, trembling neighbors, and pointed out to them the difference in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth not. At twelve the wind fell.

Loving people right doesn’t mean they will always respond in kind; after all we crucified Jesus even though we’re the ones who deserved to be hanging on that tree.

Do not then be surprised if your love and kindness do not inspire the same response: Again, let’s look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

1 John 4
7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Daniel gave us an analogy: Imagine if you and your neighbor hated each other, wouldn’t you end up hurting each other, or overlooking each other’s pain? Say you loved this neighbor and not the other, still, you’re losing out on the great gifts you each might have in you to edify one another.
You could also walk into a situation or office and the help you need can only be given by the person you considered beneath your affection.

I have found this everywhere I’ve been; that the enemy keeps our eyes focused on little petty differences and blinds us to the benefits of true love and friendship because he knows that we each carry the answers that the other needs.

Notice that so many gifted people rarely get along, each believing themselves all-sufficient and pushing away anyone that appears to be an even match, and yet we need each other’s strengths and gifts.

We are one body, and thus the left leg needs the right, just like the hands need the ears.

Daniel shared that love is destiny: Our home is God, thus destiny.
Love is light and vision for us to reach destiny.
As it was in the beginning, before corruption entered the Human heart, when we strolled with God in the garden of Eden, in eternal fellowship and purity and freedom, so it can be again.

Love heals, edifies and restores.

While sin blinds us to God because it elicits shame, unbelief and feelings of worthlessness, Love bridges the gap.
Love is invincible because God is love.
Love is impervious to all obstacles because God is love.
It is not just a feeling, it is the very essence of our creation and the greatest motivation and driver in life.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I need you today, more than I did yesterday. Let all the earth worship you Emmanuel, Ebenezar,  you alone are God.

Father in heaven, ransom your sons  from places of despair, confusion and hopelessness. Turn the tide of time to favor your beloved. End the torment of the evil one, and help us to refine our focus so we shall keep our eyes fixed on you most holy one.
Erase substitutes to all that you offer, erase substitutes to your kind of relationships, erase substitutes to your kind of family and friendships. Erase substitutes and counterfeits to your calling over our lives.

Let your Kingdom be established in every area of our lives in Jesus’s name by your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let’s please read Isaiah 43:18-19

For with God nothing shall be impossible (A Prayer)

Father in heaven, this day, we join with the cherubim, elders and saints in casting all our crowns at your feet: All creation declares your majesty and sovereignty, for you alone are God: Your magnificence is legendary and eternal, even as your lovingkindness is better than life: You God are mighty in battle, and today I stand on every promise you’ve made me.

You promised that with you God, nothing shall be impossible, so I lay my burdens at your feet, and the dry bones of my life, this nation and all of humanity at your feet. Father in heaven, little is much in your hands and righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne, so I come, because in truth, only you can save.

In Revelations 3:8, you say ” I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

My strength is failing, for daily I’m beset and assaulted by battles of the mind, body and soul, and I cannot see clearly, but you promised to open these steel doors that seem impenetrable and to level these mountains that seem immovable. Remember your promise to me Lord and rouse yourself for your Name’s sake in Jesus’s Name.

Father, I thank you for the victory assured me in 1 Corinthians 15:57 in Jesus’s Name.

And now I declare

Psalm 24
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

Because your battle prowess is legendary, as Almighty God who knows and sees all, I trust you.

Lord of Lords, I repent of every moment I have taken my eyes off of you and looked to myself and let the cords of unbelief wrap themselves around my heart, stifling your Holy Spirit.

I know this word to be true:

Isaiah 51
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass,
13 that you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free; they will not die in their dungeon, nor will they lack bread.

Lord of Lords, through the eyes of men and our own eyes, it apears all is lost: Anarchy prevails without and within, and clear thought is hard to come by: The enemy of our souls wreaks havoc on our emotions, vision, dreams, and preys on the little strength we have left.

And yet, by your Holy Spirit, from the ashes of defeat, we rise victorious for you are the ressurection and the life.

Ezekiel 37
3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “O Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!
5 This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’ ”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’ ”
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet–a vast army..

Indeed I know that the dry bones of our lives can live: As I sing my song in this desert, I know that you’re a promise keeper: I know who you are: I may not have much left, but you provide: You hear my every prayer and you’re by my side: You Lord are righting every wrong: You’re my Sun in the night, my bright morning Star, the Alpha and Omega. There’s nothing you can not do.

Lord help us to live only in response to you, and to mirror you in all our ways, acknowledging your sovereignty in all things: What a mighty God you are!

In Jesus’s Name, Shalom

Rest in God

Shalom: Grace, peace, love and never-ending joy to you friends of God.

I pray that because our hearts’ meditation this week is resting in God, that you’re letting Him teach you to lean on Jesus more.

I promise God can and will make even the most mundane or seemingly meaningless tasks joyful if you do all through him.

Shalom my friends, and may you be filled with love, kindness, joy, peace, patience and contentment in whatever you do wherever you are right now.

Today we continue Daniel Murungi’s Sunday Upperroom fellowship message.

Daniel exhorted us to tremble at the mention of God’s word, to be in awe, to treasure and cherish it more than the air we breathe. He said that the reverence or fear of God transforms us into His likeness. And the God we serve stills storms with only a word, He rests through storms and His word does tell us that if we are anchored in Him, then we shall bear fruit in and out of season.

That means we shall not be moved but will be like Mount Zion. At rest.
Here’s the second verse he shared:
Isaiah 66
1 Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest?
2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Here God affirms His sovereignty over all things.

Our God who lives inside of us is bigger than all we know and experience now and any future surprises we might encounter.
God is never taken by surprise: He never has to wonder about how to rescue you or bless you or heal you: Every thing that has happened to you and will happen to you, He’s planned ahead for.

Trust Yahweh and rest in Him.

In the verses above,
He’s daring us to dispute his sovereignty and in truth we cannot.

Notice that if you met the president of this nation or any supreme ruler, you’d assume they could meet all your material need: You’re aware of their power and riches.

How much more God?

Do you believe that the God you serve can do anything and that He never stops thinking about you? He counts the hairs on your head and you’re inscribed on the palm of His hand.

Trust and rest in this God: If you’re struggling to trust Him, pray for revelation and the grace to trust Him for without trust, there can be no rest.

Pray to God to give you vision to see your current circumstances through His eyes.

Daniel shared that with the King of Kings living inside of us, we are life giving vessels for the Spirit of God quickens us to be vessels of transformation.

We literally have ressurection power on the inside.

Psalms 23
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

Righteousness guarantees rest because the presence of God is with you.

We belong to our Shepherd- Jesus Christ the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
We are His responsibility.

Here are more of God’s promises to us:

Psalms 4
8 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.

Psalms 91
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Remember, what was, and is, is covered by the one who was, and is, you’re covered by love.

If God did it before, He will do an even greater thing for you today, and tomorrow.

So what’s keeping you up at night? Why are you restless?
Little is much in God’s hand.
Remember the two fishes and five loaves of bread, remember David’s stone and sling, remember the red sea, remember all the times God has made a way in the wilderness and rest.
Tomorrow we share about what a life at rest looks like.
Let’s bow our heads and pray.

Father in heaven, you’re my living, pulsing hope: In you I live, move and have my being, and apart from you I can do nothing, so I lay all that I am and have and hope to be at your feet.
You know who I’m meant to be and where I am meant to be, and you can perfect me in all things.
I will not be a busy bee, but will trust you to finish what you started long before I was formed in my mother’s womb. I trust you my Lord and savior Jesus in your name, Amen.

Shalom, and good night.

Rest

Shalom: It’s an honor to honor God, so by all means let’s honor Him as we share His word: God is looking for you as His bride to be willing to lose all, be stripped bare of your old garments, to give Him the broken pieces of your life so His blood can pour into every part, mending you and putting you back together in His likeness.

I call this the beautiful exchange: The Cross: You for Him.

To say like Ruth, and here I’m paraphrasing: Where you go, I will go, where you stay, so will I, who you love, I will, your people are mine, and How and who you serve, so will I(Ruth 1:16-17)
A life of no ambition, except the cause of Christ; so that whatever you do, whatever your mountain of influence, it is as unto christ.
But see, in order to surrender and love and be loved and just be held thus by the Father, lover and friend, you and I need to be in a state of rest.

On Sunday, during the Upperoom fellowship, Daniel shared about “Rest” and thus this week I pray we shall lay back against the Lord and just breathe, just be held and like babies and their moms,  rely on His heartbeat for sustenance.

Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Here’s the everlasting invitation: The Father of fathers says “Come to me all you who are weighted down, who are overwhelmed, who are being crushed by the cares of this world, all who are trying to figure out life’s puzzles”.

With the invitation is a great promise “I will give you rest”.

So what does God’s kind of rest entail?

Shalom

Wholeness of body, soul and Spirit: Restoration to your predestined state of being: Sons of God.

It involves submitting to the mentorship of Jesus by the Holy Spirit so we can learn to be like Him, for He is gentle and humble, and obedient as a lamb.

He’s freedom from every care, and anxious meditation or pursuit.

He’s all-sufficiency itself, and the more we learn from Him and of Him, the more trusting and surrendered we become and like little children we can laugh and sleep through any storm.
He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden light because He carries you through all of it.

What do I mean?

God’s word is self-fulfilling: It has power to fulfil itself because once God’s word is released, it cannot return to Him void.

Every time God commands us to do something, He gives us the ability to obey through His Holy Spirit because apart from Him, we can do nothing.

Obedience is a fruit of relying on the Holy Spirit.

Because God does not let us labor alone, that makes His yoke easy and his burden light.

Now that does not mean life is going to be an easy walk in the park: It only means that you can always count on God to walk through the fire with you.
When Daniel shared this verse on Sunday, the image that came to my head was an apparition of God the Father standing with arms stretched wide, smile brighter than the sun at noonday,  inviting me, beckoning me to run to Him: It was as though He was telling me, “I am everything you need, so you can count on me for every breath you take, for every move, for every decision, for every little thing”.

I once shared about a dream where I sat with God the Father and it’s like He was teaching me, telling me stuff but I kept forgetting every thing He said as soon as He said it and it frustrated me. I kept looking to Him to see if He was disappointed in me but all I could see and feel was love, warmth, acceptance, and an indescribable sense of wellbeing: That for me is unforgettable.

It was rest: It had nothing to do with any achievements or failures, just relying on God and looking to Him for everything.

Rest means surrender.

Daniel shared that rest will not come from a great job, money, great romantic relationship but only from God.

But you see, finding rest is not easy and can only be achieved through relying on God to ease you into it: That’s why Paul challenges us in this chapter below to labor, work hard, fight to enter into rest and to stay in rest.

And remember it can only be done Yahweh’s way not by Human wisdom or effort.

Hebrews 4
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Notice, after the apostle Paul charges us to labor to enter into rest, he talks about the Power of the word of God to touch every part of us, separating darkness and light, dispelling lies, confusion torment: Literally the word of God is the key to rest.

Daniel did share that without faith in the word of God, we cannot find rest.

He added that trust comes easy when you’re in Rest.
You can only bear fruit in a state of rest.
Jesus is the pathway to rest for He is the way, truth and life.
There’s a song by Hillsong and it goes thus:

Find rest my soul, in Christ alone
Know His Power, in quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with you above the storm
Father you are King above the flood
I will be still and know you are God.
I pray we shall continue Daniel’s message tomorrow:

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, there’s no one like you, nothing compares to your presence. When with you, I will lose sight of all affliction, eclipsed by the awareness of your glory.
Lord, I repent of letting go of my rest in you and clinging to logic and what makes sense.
You are bigger than every giant, in my past, present and future.
Guide me by the still waters and help me to trust you completely in Jesus’s name. Amen
Shalom and goodnight.

 

 

A life at Rest

Shalom: I trust that the love of God has you surrounded on every side, for you bear His name; and is it not written that the Name of the Lord is a strong tower to which the righteous run and are safe?

Our God keeps His promises: He keeps His word; for righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne.

1 Kings 8
56 Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
God is a promise keeper:

Whatever you need to live the life God has predestined for you, you have in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

Shalom

This message began on Sunday in the Upperroom fellowship with an invitation sent by Jesus to “Come all we that labour and are heavy laden, and in Him we’d find rest” for Christ is “Rest” Himself.

I believe we’ve all accepted His invitation wholeheartedly, so today let’s look at what a life at rest in Christ looks like.

Isaiah 65
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.

Let me direct your attention to some keywords in the portion of scripture above: Below are descriptions of a life at rest in Jesus Christ.

Build houses and inhabit them
Plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them
Long life
Enjoy the work of your hands
Not labor in vain

Not be trouble causers but the blessed of the Lord: Your children too shall share in this blessing.
He promises to answer before we call: Literally anticipating our every move so He guarantees our wellbeing because we trust Him and are at rest in Him.

And can you imagine a wolf and lamb feeding together; and a lion eating the food of horses and cows?

Can you picture this kind of peace?

Well, there are things that only God can do because He formed every created thing.

How often do you labor and slave away at whatever you do and have nothing to show for it except weariness and exhaustion?

Well, God promises to give you and I a life that can only be achieved if we do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Our next portion of scripture focuses on the first 20 years of Solomon’s reign as King of Israel.

Another example of a life at rest.

1 Kings 4
24 For he had dominion over all the region on this side the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side the river: and he had peace on all sides round about him.
25 And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon.
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
27 And those officers provided victual for king Solomon, and for all that came unto king Solomon’s table, every man in his month: they lacked nothing.
29 And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
Solomon had dominion over territory too big to measure, and fellow Kings too: He also had rest on every side:

Solomon had so many riches, and all in Israel lacked nothing.

Even his subjects had rest, lived in their own homes, and prospered under his reign.

Because Solomon trusted God, walked in obedience, He was “greatly established”: This phrase is constantly used in Kings to describe his reign.

And because he was at peace and rest, he could build God a house, something David was denied because his entire life was marked by war.

There are assignments you can only do when at rest in God.

When restless, you cannot even clearly hear God because you’re constantly second guessing yourself.
1 Kings 5
3 Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the LORD his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the LORD put them under the soles of his feet.
4 But now the LORD my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrent.
I love this last verse where Solomon says that God has given him rest on every side, and he has no enemy, or evil disturbing his life.

In the beginning, God cursed us to be restless for the rest of our days when we ate the tree of good and evil:

Genesis 3
16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
But knowing only He can save us, he invites us to His rest: His redemption, his righting of every wrong on our part and basically wiping our slate clean as though turning back time.

Matthew 11
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
For you and I, there can only be one desire, God: Only Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Daniel shared that the blood of Jesus is our currency in the Kingdom of God.
Nothing defines success more than the salvation of our souls.

Without rest, one cannot have faith in God.

Let’s labor to enter into rest and not allow ourselves to take our eyes off of Jesus.

We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Tomorrow we shall end this message by looking at “Restlessness”
Prayer:
Father in heaven, who is like you in all of creation?
The heavens declare your glory, and all created things bow in reverence, at the mention of your name.
I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow: You’re all that gives me significance: Lead me to the rock that is higher than I and teach me to keep my eyes locked on yours forever in Jesus’s name.
I surrender all and rest in you my friend in Jesus’s name, Amen.
Shalom and goodnight