Jesus Promises Rest for our soul Matt 11:20-30
He was denouncing the cities that refused to repent and believe, for not seeing John the Baptist for the Elijah (prophet) he was and how weary some believers must have been at trying to get them to see Jesus for Who He is!!! Our soul is our mind, will and emotions, so when we are stressed and those stress hormones are coursing through our veins, we can choose to step into some rest with Jesus. In fact He asks us to in these verses in Matthew.
Even a small breath prayer…to allow the Breath of God to pour into you and refresh you with fresh grace for the moment. He promises to, we just need to receive it!! We must ask for it!!!
Notice what Jesus does before each miracle/sign/wonder He performs…He goes to a quiet place to seek the Father. This is our example!! And we get what we need to do what we are called to do…in that resting time.
Jesus teaches the disciples to rest – Mark 6:31 Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. Wow…. 4 simple things: come+Jesus+alone+quiet=rest
- Come – we must choose to “go” – to leave our current state of mind
- With Jesus – seek Him
- By ourselves – alone, without distraction
- Quiet place
In Exodus 26 there is a word that means rest, dwelling place. It is translated as tabernacle 119X in the old testament (12x in Ex 26) – God is seeking intimacy with us, in His tabernacle and calls it rest? Wow, let that sink in! If God spent 2 chapters on all of creation, and 50 chapters on his tabernacle, what should we be interested in studying to get to know God better? The tabernacle!
Review: what we know about rest
- God rested
- Rest existed in Eden – because Gen 3, curse was to labor (and rest is to cease from labor in commandments, right?)
- God used it to describe the tabernacle, His dwelling place that He designed so He could hang out with His chosen people
- Joshua was promised rest, and the people rested in the promised land Josh 23:1
- Noah rested – was named REST – a repentant, comforting term – nacham
- We are commanded to rest – Ex 20 – Sabbath rest
- Sabbath Rest is a permanent statute Lev 16:31
- Jesus rested many times in his 3 years of ministry
- Jesus promised rest to those that came away with him to a quiet place
- Rest is where we find God and who we are to Him…..don’t we all want more of that?
- Rest is defined as repentance, ceasing from labor, turning, and when we turn, what are we turning from….the world…and turning to what? Seek him, find more of Him…and you will be blessed, no matter what your circumstances.
Challenge – stake a claim on your rest. Hold firm to your weekly Sabbath rest, and do not let the world take it away! Use the 7 Step Shift to fire the lies you may have about rest.
- Note the symptoms
- Identify the lie.
- Will I tolerate the lie?
- If not, confess, ask for forgiveness, and ask for Truth to replace the lie.
- Recite the Truth (God’s word).
- Ask God to reveal one small step towards the Truth.
- Take that step.
Rest in the Promised Land, sweet friends.