It seems as though we've mistaken Grace, for what we now see as "we can do whatever we want to do, without being responsible." God has given us Grace through Jesus, but we must learn about His Grace and Rest and labor to enter into them. Hebrews 3:19 (Amplified) said, "So we see that [those in the Wilderness] were not able to enter into His Rest, because of their unwillingness to adhere to and trust in and rely on god, unbelief had shut them out." Hebrews 4:1 (Amplified) goes on, "Therefore, while the Promise of entering His Rest still holds and is offered today, let us be afraid to distrust it, lest any of you should think he has come too late and has come short of reaching it."
Hebrews 4:11-12 (Amplified) says, "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that Rest of God, to know and experience it for ourselves, that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience into which those in the Wilderness fell." After reading this scripture about "exerting ourselves and striving diligently to enter," we've believed we must work to get that Rest. We don't labor to get the Rest, but through diligence, we can know what the Rest is and apply our faith to it. Grace has already made God's Rest available to us, but we must receive it by faith. It's difficult to accept the Promise, if we don't know what the Promise is.
Hebrews 4:11 (King James Version) says this, "Let us labour therefore to enter into that Rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." This might sound contradictory to say, "Labour to Rest," sounding like we must enter the Rest by works.
Psalm 23:3 (KJV) tells us that,"Jesus restores our soul." The word "soul," according to the Strong's Concordance means, "your mind, will and emotions." Mankind lived by the dictate of his soul from the fall of Adam, until Jesus' Resurrection. Man's soul was cut-off from God, upon Adam's fall in the Garden and man lived only by his natural emotions. The Church and the world, still live this way today. We've never truly allowed the Lord to restore our soul.
We've allowed our emotions to drive our emotions and our natural lives. We've never "laboured" to understand God's Word from a Spirit viewpoint and have interpreted it by our own intellect and what we've thought about what God's Word means. Our soul or emotions and thoughts about God's Word, have determined what we will believe or won't believe, based on how we feel about it.
It's important that we labor to enter God's Rest. We Rest in God's Promises, when we labor in His Word. If we don't know God's Promise, then we're always trying to make things work by our own efforts. It's only by faith, that we can rest and it's only by His Word, that we can know God's will and Promises to us, in His Grace.
Most of us have never given thought to our soul, in our Christian walk. So much of our faith is determined by restoring our soul. Hebrews 11:12 (Amplified) tells us, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing, and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the Breath of Life, soul and the immortal spirit, and the joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature, exposing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart."
Only God's Word can separate and divide the thoughts, purposes, soul from the spirit and the very flesh and blood of the mortal body. Your soul (mind, will and emotions) might be taking you in a direction that the Holy Spirit doesn't desire for you. It will require labour and effort on your behalf, to bring your emotions and thoughts into order by God's Word and His Spirit. You cannot know what is the Truth, unless you know the Truth.
Paul speaks about your carnal mind (soul) leading your life. Your soul determines which way you will go in life, because it tells your mind where to go. Your mind receives directions from your soul (emotions) and trusts your soul for guidance. Through the new birth, you have received Life again in your spirit, which contradicts your soulish intellect. Your mind is now divided or as James says, "double-minded." Your spirit is listening to the Word of God, your soul is listening to the five senses, leaving your mind confused about which way to go. Your body is perplexed by having so many different inputs, which brings emotional stress on the body. This leads to guilt, condemnation, resentment, depression and/or oppression. The body then requires outside help from a counselor, in order to set the correct course.
We must control our mind, because it's capable of doing dumb things when it's out of control. The Holy Spirit inspires Paul in Romans 12:2 (Amplified), saying, "Do not be conformed to this present age (world), but be transformed by the renewing of your minds." Paul writes about the carnal minded man, who receives all his information from the world and senses. He also writes about being Spiritually minded. As Christians, we should receive our information from God's Word and His Spirit. Part of labouring to rest, is renewing our mind by studying God's Word and listening to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians only hear sermons on Sunday, read short Verses from a Promise Box or know regulations their denomination sets forth. Many have stopped sinning, which is great and many have reached out to others, which is also good. But, many Christians still battle the thoughts of the world, the condemnation of the past and struggle under the pressures of the world, just like we did before being saved.
Many Christians view those who spend time fellow shipping with God and reading His Word as "fanatic" or "extreme." I often hear Christians say, "I don't believe I need to do these things, in order to be saved." It's true that you can get to Heaven, without spending time in God's Word, but how can we have "too much God" in our lives? Is having a little bit of God all that's required or should you have more of God in your life? Is it wrong to reach into the Promises or should we simply remain as God's children were and stay in Egypt?
Even though they were in Egypt, they were still God's people, though Abraham. When God tried bringing them out of Egypt thought, they said to Moses in Exodus 14:12 (Amplified), "Did we not tell you in Egypt, let us alone; let us serve the Egyptians? for it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the Wilderness."
The Israelites had accepted being in bondage and they lost faith that God could bring them our of the bondage. This mindset followed them all the way to the Promised Land and prevented their entering into God's Rest. Their soul (mind, will and emotions) began to control them, to the point where they wanted to stone Moses, deny God and return to Egypt. They murmured against God, until He gave them over to their own endeavors. God won't make anyone walk in the Promise and Rest. We must enter in. Even though God's Promise and Rest are available to all, only a few will receive them.
There is no place on this side of God's Promise that those who have a zeal for God, will find is acceptable to stop at. Paul writes about those people in Romans 1:17 (Amplified), saying, "For in the Gospel a Righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith, disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith, as it is written; the man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith." There is no place to stop, when faith moves you. You will continue, until you enter into the fullness of God's Presence.
No comments:
Post a Comment