Enter into HIS REST!

Restlessness will not be eradicated until we learn to rest in His presence. In His presence we can relax. The Ten Commandments and all the other rules God gave to Israel never gave them rest, it gave them hard work and bound them, it did not emancipate them. Their escape from the bondage of Egypt, not a reward for being law abiding.

In the same way today the rules and regulations of religion binds people instead of setting them free, peace and satisfaction comes only through a loving relationship by resting in His presence. Jesus came to destroy the yoke of religions do's and don'ts, should's and would's, for His easy yoke and light burden.

God Himself means to be our all in all.. He wants us to rest in Him, in what He is and what He has done. That is a lesson of the Exodus. It was all God’s doing. He planned it and carried it out. It was not the wish of Pharaoh, the co-operation of Moses, or the will of the people. On the contrary, Pharaoh refused to let them go. Moses wanted to back out of the whole project. The people only went when driven. The only goodwill at work was God’s good will. He resisted Pharaoh’s resistance, willed against unwilling Israel, and worked when Moses didn’t want to work. He knew what was to be their permanent good in all their generation and was not to be thwarted by their unwilling and short-sighted fathers. 

When Moses died and Joshua took over, he had to learn the same lessons as Moses. On the verge of the Promised Land, with years of campaigning ahead, the Lord promised just one thing - ‘The Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.’ Joshua 1: 5-9. The greatest historical act of emancipation could never have taken place except for the fact that He was in the midst of Israel. They neither asked for nor deserved it. They had nothing to recommend them. He simply chose them, mapped out their destiny, and made it happen.

The same is true for His people today, He is not only in the midst of you, He is in YOU to lead and guide you into all truth. Rules and regulations no longer cut it. Jesus came to set men free from the bondage of performance based religion and bring us into direct fellowship with Himself.

The Lord’s words to Joshua were so much like the words of Jesus when He gave us the Great Commission to preach to every creature. "Lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world." Christians tackle a hostile world like Israel tackled a hostile country. The same guarantee comes with God’s orders...His presence.

Jesus is the WORD of God to His people today and unless the word of God points you to the WORD, you will not understand the word and it is just a bunch of rules and regulations to be observed to you in which you judge others by the do's and don'ts.
His rest comes only through relationship!

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