Jesus said in His Word, Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” We must take upon His yoke and learn from Him. This is a promise! When we start doing things our way or without Him, even if it is something ordained by God, that becomes a burden, because we are not learning how to do it from Him. We run to people, places, or things to find rest. We run to vacations, sabbaticals, or we just check out for a while, but only in Him do we find rest for our weary souls. So, why are so many of us burdened and heavy?
Rest is not a place; it is not what we do. We can lay in bed for a whole week and not be restful. If our mind is not in peace, our physical rest will mean nothing for our soul. Flesh and the law always have a day to rest. For the Jew, it is the Sabbath. For the world, it is Sunday. But for those who are born-again, for those who are in Christ, rest is a person. Rest is a promise. It is not just one resting day. It is every day. Jesus came that we could find rest. He is when He says, “I AM”. We thank God that we have “His blood of the new covenant” (Matthew 26:28). In this new covenant, all that we are trying to do through the flesh, He is doing within by His Spirit.
The resting day – Sabbath - was in the law. It had to be because before Christ we lived and were accepted by the works of the flesh. But Sabbath was made for man and not for God according to the words of Jesus (Mark 2:27) Jesus is the LORD of the Sabbath. It is written that the works of the flesh profit us nothing (John 6:63). Jesus fulfilled all things that were done in the flesh by man. He fulfilled in and by His Spirit that we might be able to live in REST and in PEACE. For He is the Prince of Peace. In Him, we live in peace, and outside of Him, we strive.
Read Hebrews 4:1-10. A promise has been left for us. Your body may be sleeping, but your soul throughout the night may be so agitated. Do you realize there is a difference between doing everything we do with Him and without Him? You need to make a choice: You can do everything you’re doing with or without Him – His way or your way. If you do it without Him and do it your way, you will drain the life out of you! If you do it with Him, His way, you will be rested and full of faith, hope, and love. Even being the busiest person on the planet, you will still be resting.
Why are so many Christians burdened? Because they are not coming to Him, learning from Him, and taking up His ways and His yoke. Jesus was always in peace. Those who enter into His rest cease from doing their works in their own ways.
When you work 20 hours without Him, you will be burned out. When you work 20 hours with Him, doing it His way, you will be in peace and joy and never be burned out. It is so amazing that we see the word REST in the word RESTored! It is no coincidence. If we rest in Him, He REST-ores our souls. Tested, tried, and true. Maybe it is time to drink from His cup.
You look at your extensive to-do list and try to do it all without Him or without following His ways, then you are exhausted and try again the next day to finish the second half of your list. He never leaves or forsakes us, but we leave Him every time we move in our own ways. Restoration is His promise. We can’t restore ourselves. It’s not what you’re doing that’s making you tired, worn out, and discouraged! It’s who you’re not doing it with or who you are not drinking from! Do not try to keep the sabbath. Strive to enter into the sabbath or His Rest.
People want to do things their way and rest in Him. That won’t happen. These things steal peace and rest: hidden expectations, anti-love, and anti-cross. The cross is where you finally rest in peace. Rest comes when we are crucified with Him and when we apply the cross to our own selves. Every day, we must be with Him. Our expectations may not be God’s expectations. We want people, places, and things to change around us, thinking that’s the solution! We want a better this, a better that. We cannot change ourselves or anything around us, not even inside of us – without His help. Changes belong to God, and it is done according to His purpose, not according to our frustrations.
God will not bring anything to pass if we are not at rest because He is not where strife is. If we are in rest, we are in Him, we are in His promise. Jesus said, “Peace I give you…” John 14:27. Peace, rest… He gives to us, but not like the world gives...” This is why God is making war on religion. Religion is all about work, work, work, do this, do that…strive 24/7…prayer lists, steps, and this way or that way. Freedom is doing all He has us do in the Spirit. Religious people will try to call the sons and daughters of God lawless. How can someone be lawless if they are in peace and resting in the Father and in the Son, in Christ? They spy out your liberty. They want to pull you back in the flesh, regulations and manmade rules. God is Spirit. We must worship Him in that manner. They judge by their own understanding but they themselves are heavy laden and burdened. That is not our portion.
When someone begins to come out of God’s rest, they become isolated saying they need a time with God! Without repentance and the cross that becomes a delusion of isolation! You say that you are all alone, but He loves you. You say that you are with Him, but are just lonely. You say that you feel distant, but you are offended at everybody! You say that you are all alone, but you are angry at people and at your life! You say that you are all alone, but your mind and opinions are all the fruit of witchcraft from the devil! You begin to be moved by your emotions instead of love. By your entitlement mindsets. By your way of seeing things and NOT Christ! We must ask God, “Help me to see how you see, Father!” The cross is our resting place for our natural man, and then our spiritual man manifests as seated with Him in the heavenly places.
Anyone fighting the cross is fighting their freedom! Anyone resisting the Truth is resisting the bread of life. So, no bread, no life. Why can we not eat it? It is there, but we push the plate away! Because we want what we like to eat! Stop asking God to remove that thorn in your flesh. Ask Him to help you to walk in the Spirit to the point where you won’t feel that thorn anymore. Have your enemies changed or has God changed somebody or something else? Has He changed you? Do you wonder that if you eat that wonder bread, will you be satisfied? – That man-made bread, old bread with all the religious additives, and that bread that has been on the shelf a long time. Stop eating that leavened bread. Eat fresh bread from heaven.
Read John 6:26-68. We are the only ones who can eat and drink out of Him. The Lord says “I AM” and that settles it. Jesus said, “All of you who are hungry and thirsty come to Me!” Come! This is our part! We must take a step towards Him. We cannot be tired in well-doing. We cannot be weary in doing what He has called us to do. Religious burdens of man and so many other things will weigh us down, but we now have His flesh to eat and His blood to drink.
Read John 4:5-15. Every time we get thirsty, God sets us up and meets us at His well. Your supplier is not your husband, your wife, or your job, it is Him! He is the well of peace, He is your resting place. Are you going to ask Him for a drink, or will you be expecting Him to give you a drink? Or will you be expecting somebody else to satisfy you? You cannot blame anything or anyone but blame yourself for being outside of Him. Don’t go around town trying to get drinks somewhere else. On the other hand, some go to the well (Christ) and ask amiss because they ask upon their lust and desires. Read James 4. Only Godly desires will make that well to spring up to the humble. Seeking, asking, and believing pumps the well. Faith in asking His will satisfies the soul.
We must draw from wells of salvation, that just simply is JESUS! Obstacles are what the enemy plants! Some people think, “God will rescue me every time!” Well, yes and no! He may resist you if you are prideful and think you can do it your way. If we are anxious then we are resisting the cross! If we are depressed, we are resisting the life in the cross, the bread and the water! There is nothing wrong with God’s power and the blood of Jesus! It is the resistance of submission and surrender that gives the devil any access in our lives! The absence of fear is the recipe for peace! There is joy in surrender - there is joy in letting go! If we hold onto our own way, we will not and cannot hold onto His! Christ Jesus must be the leader in our lives! Two heads are a freak! Stop trying to make things the way you want them to be. That will be exhausting. Why not live at the well?
If we are the church, we are the Body of Christ, then Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the Head! But many times, we run to Body parts for help but all we need to do is submit to the Head! The will comes from the thoughts and intentions - two different wills will collide! If you try to change God’s will for yours, you will always lose. Emotions are soulish – we cannot be soul-led. To be Spirit-led is to be in the Spirit that is IN HIM.
If you think just going to church is being in Him, that is not true. This is something we do to edify one another. The true worshipers are always connected to that well. Many times, Jesus allows us to have our way resulting in these things: we lose our desire, hope, joy, and peace; we become depressed, anxious, and tormented! These things happen as well when we are in sin because if we don’t rest in Him, we are not doing it His way – that is the fruit of rebellion. We end up losing His presence as well. But this is His chastening correction! This is Grace! This is His goodness: When we miss Him, that draws us to repentance!
“To all of those who come to Me, I will give them rest for their souls!” Go to Him! Everything else is a broken cistern. You will be even more thirsty! We must find rest in Him! In his ways - In his plans. His will is His rest! To be in His will is to be in His bosom and at His feet! Find rest in Him, today. In His ways, in His plan, in His will…This is where we find rest.
“Father, we ask you to teach us how to draw water out of you. That everything we do, everywhere we go, we do and go doing your ways and will. Not ours. You shall complete the good work that you have begun in us. Better is this well inside of us than anything else. Help us to take upon us your yoke that is easy and light. We will not leave this rest anymore. Our flesh, the works of our flesh, is heavy, but the works of your Spirit are easy and light! Forgive us, God. We have made your yoke heavy and complicated, not you, God. We won’t exalt our yoke above yours! Forgive us for blaming people and places when we are the ones that have left you, our resting place. We activate everything by faith, faith in your promise! We come to you, today. We want to learn from you. We bind ourselves to your yoke! In Jesus’ mighty name!
Shane Roessiger
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