Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:
It is time you entered My rest. It is the time of restoration if you will just say “Restore!” My apostle Peter told the Jews, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.” Acts 3:20-21.
Jesus came to do many things, but primarily to undo the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8. That covers much. The Name of Jesus, and His Name in Hebrew is Yeshuah, which means Salvation, tells you much of what I have done for you in Him. I saved you from the condemnation for sin, the slavery of sin and death, sickness, poverty, and eternal death. I set you free from fear and shame. Jesus restored what He did not steal. Psalm 69:4 (“Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies; what I did not steal, I then have to restore.”) He has taken your sins upon Himself so that you no longer need be encumbered by sin and condemnation. But there is MUCH MORE. “For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:17. In Him, there is forgiveness of sins, reconciliation with Me, and restoration of health, wealth, joy, authority, and peace.
Peace. Perfect peace. Peace unshakeable. Peace that passes all understanding. A peace that keeps you through storms and floods of trouble as protected as Noah was in the ark during the flood. And that is My gift to you in My rest. But you have a part in it too. And that is today’s Life Lesson No. 3 in our series “It is time to enter God’s rest.” And today we are considering “Peace that passes understanding.”
My apostle Paul had many cares that could have given him anxiety but he stayed in perfect peace. Inspired and taught by the Holy Spirit how to stay in My rest, he wrote: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7. And then he tells what he lets his mind think upon after he has handed his trials, anxieties, and problems over to Me so that he stays in peace, and it is not the problem or the offense or the need, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:6-9.
Thinking about your own life and what you are undergoing at the present time, this may be very far from the way you have been responding and setting your mind, but I would not tell you to do something that I have not equipped you to do. Jesus told you not to let your heart be troubled or afraid and that is not an option, it is a command for He gave you His peace. It is up to you to take hold of it.
And Paul’s daily life was not without problems, but he called them “momentary light afflictions” compared to the glory that was to be his. Paul shares with you what his daily life was like: “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11:23-29. And yet he wrote that he had perfect contentment in all circumstances and was overflowing with joy at all times. He counseled you to “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, “Rejoice!” Philippians 4:4.
What was the secret? It all has to do with focus. It is where you set your mind. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Colossians 3:1-2. “You will keep in perfect peace (shalom, shalom) those whose minds are set on You, because they trust in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.” Isaiah 26:3-4. I promise you the double portion of shalom peace but it is conditioned on two things: keeping your mind set on Me (taking charge of your thoughts as My apostle Paul did) and trusting Me in your heart. And trust is faith. It has to do with knowing My Word and being fully persuaded that what I said I will perform. It has to do with your dialogue with Me. You cannot be in faith without knowing and believing in the love I have for you and you will never know that without My Word in your heart and continual prayer. Connection with the connector of faith. And you can become a super conductor as Peter and Paul both became so that healing, grace, and authority over demons flowed to them and through them.
You will never have peace until you learn to cast all your cares on Me because I care for you. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:6-11.
It all has to do with faith whether you will stay in My rest or be in unrest. That is why the Israelites did not enter My rest. They did not mix My promises with faith in their hearts. They feared to enter the very land I was giving them as their place of rest because it looked impossible to them to attain. You cannot fear and remain in My rest. You cannot be anxious and remain in My rest. Faith is a rest of knowing you are forgiven, you are healed, you are provided for, that you are welcome before Me, you are loved, and that you have an eternal home of beauty, love, and peace beyond all you can ask or imagine.
I tell you people’s love will grow cold in the last days and they will faint with fear. But what am I looking for? My eyes roam to and fro across the earth looking for those whose hearts are fully turned towards Me in faith to show Myself strong on their behalf. “However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. And My Son said this right after telling you to pray always and not lose heart.
I am looking for faith. It is impossible to please Me without it. Why? Because you will not be in rest and I will not be able to perform My promises in your life. Unless your faith is strong, you will not be strong.
I tell you of two times that Jesus wept. Why did He weep? A lack of faith in those who should have known Him and it brought death to them. He wept over Jerusalem because they had no faith in Him and opened themselves to the attack of the enemy. Luke 19:41. His own people refused to believe in Him and sought His death and it brought about their own. When you have no faith in Me I cannot work miracles in your life. Remember Jesus in His hometown of Nazareth? He could work no miracles there due to their lack of faith. And it amazed Him for they, of all people, should have known Him. But they tried to stone Him. And yet Jesus was their peace, their rest. He is Lord of Shabbat. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30. He is your place of rest, clothed in Him you are shielded from the wrath to come. “Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through Him!” Romans 5:9.
The only other time I tell you He wept was when Martha and Mary wept and lamented how things would have been different if He had only come immediately when they called Him and the people muttered about His lack of healing Lazarus. Martha and Mary knew Jesus well and should not have been carrying on like they were. It grieved Jesus.
And you cannot have faith in My favor and grace towards you if you are sinning. It will cloud your peace for you cannot step openly in the light. You will have fear and hide from Me as Adam and Eve did. My beloved John knew, “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” 1 John 3:18-24. If you will walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh by keeping your mind set on My Word and off the words of the world and treasuring My Word in your heart, for My Words are sweeter than honey dripping from the comb in what I say of you and freely give you, just read lines 3-5 of Psalm 103 slowly out loud to yourself and receive them and keeping yourself in the fellowship of prayer with Me, you will not sin. Sin will have no power over you. And when you walk in the Light you have peace. But if you should sin, you have an Advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous one, who died for your sins who is ever interceding for you and offering His blood as an eternal redemption for you. And if you confess your sins to Me, I am faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. About this David sang, for he was a prophet, “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.” Psalm 32:1-7. I am your secret place of rest.
Pray in the Spirit, that is tongues, and you will find rest if you are getting anxious. “Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue, He who said to them, “Here is rest, give rest to the weary,” and, “Here is repose.” Isaiah 28:11-12. And that will build you up in My love and in your most holy faith. “But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.” Jude 1:20-21.
Faith. But remember, Jesus is the author and finisher of your faith. He will show you the way to enter and stay in My rest. Just abide in Him and let His Words abide in you and you will have peace. Faith comes by hearing, but it grows by speaking and doing My Word.
I love you. Never give in, never give up, and never fear. Do not tolerate it to stay in your mind. Speak My Words about you instead.