“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I give you the opportunity to answer and to ask. I am your heavenly Father and I give good things to My children who ask for them. But I also ask you to tell Me what you want.
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish Me to give you.” 1 Kings 3:5.
Jesus asked you the same. And in seeing and hearing Jesus, you are seeing and hearing Me.
As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” Luke 18:35-41.
And now I will ask you, “What do you want?” Ask for good things and I will give you good things. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from Me, coming down from above to you from your Father of lights. If you ask anything according to My Will, I hear you, and when I hear you, then you know that what you have asked is yours. Jesus thanked Me for always hearing Him. That means all He asked He was given. And everything I have is His. But I have told you the same, “You are with Me always and everything I have is yours.” It is already yours, you just have to ask and receive every blessing.
I asked Solomon and he asked for a hearing heart. A heart of wisdom and understanding. A heart in communication with Me. I gave that to Him.
Jesus asked Bartimaeus what he wanted and he asked for his sight.
I asked the Israelites to choose blessing or cursing, life or death, a life of light or of darkness.
And now let Me ask you again, and look into your heart and pull out what is there, “What do you want?”
Some ask Me for healing, some ask Me for finances, some ask Me for vindication, and some for peace of mind. And then there are those like Paul, who seek one thing only, Me. For they know with and in Me comes everything, with Me is plenteous redemption, and all the desires of your heart fulfilled in Me. I am your everything.
Each moment of the day My Spirit is hovering in you waiting for your word to bring you peace and rest, answers and confirmation, and to direct you to all truth and lead you in the way you should go.
You can have a life of perfect peace where as you entrust all to Me all you are seeking is flowing into your life.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything make your requests known to Me. And I will answer them when you call upon Me in truth. And My Word is truth. If you ask according to My Word you shall have whatever you ask so that your joy may be full.
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. 9 Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. John 15:7-11.
Your life becomes a place of My answers to all you ask and all you seek each day and every day. You have nothing to fear or be troubled over, within you to guide you is the One who has all the answers. I did not leave you orphans, though you abandoned Me, I came back to you.
There are many of you that still carry the encumbrance of sin that so easily ensnares you that you have committed in the past. There are seasons and times, perhaps many years of your life, you now regret and wish you had lived more carefully, more fruitfully, more purely, and more lovingly.
For you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), discerning what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says, “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, redeeming the your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father. Ephesians 5:8-20.
You have been continually confessing them and holding them up between us. But remember, “ask and you shall receive.” I know your heart. Ask Me to forgive those years as if they had never been and to cleanse you of every stain of sin and the good news is I already have given you that gift in Jesus that you may live your life through Him.
And He lived a perfect life. And in Him, that is the way I see you. Holy, blameless and beyond reproach before Me. Your sins and offenses I remember no more. So you must let go of them too so you can run the race that is your blessed course in life.
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2.
And He did it all for you so that you get the benefit of the Cross without going through the pain. You died with Him to sin and I raised you with Him and seated you with Him at My right hand, far above all the strife and stress of the world that strives apart from Me in perfect shalom peace knowing that all is working together for your good no matter how stressful the moment is trying to be. Just keep your eyes on Me and do not get stressed, for I offer you the opportunity of entering into My rest.
A life of entering My rest knowing that all is perfect shalom between us and that I can and will answer all that you ask. And when I ask you what you want at every moment, whether it be help in your work, help at home with a difficult family member, or help to have the creative ideas you need each day to solve problems in your life and other’s lives as well, you can answer with your need of the moment and have it filled immediately. Walk that way with Me where every day becomes an adventure and joy lived together with Me as you see the impossible become possible by keeping your eyes on Me and coming with confidence every moment to My throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace just when you need it.
And that is your heavenly calling. Rest and peace as you rule in the midst of your enemies. Keep in My peace and Satan has no chance to take you down.
I give you the opportunity to enter My rest, that is, to live a life of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. I give you the opportunity to cast all your care on Me because I care for you and to watch all good things come to pass in your life. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. For the measure in which you give, in which you pursue, and in which you seek, you shall receive.
Jesus is the Shabbat. The rest. He fulfills that of which the Sabbath was a sign—the day I set apart to sanctify you in resting in Me, that is, letting your life enter My flow of shalom peace. Shabbat shalom.
In Christ you are made complete. Colossians 2:10. On the seventh day I had completed all work which I had done and entered into My rest. But Adam left My rest by falling out of My grace, he turned to himself to be the source of both good and bad by his own works. The ground was cursed and Adam left the rest and entered into a life of toil—self efforts to achieve his goals. Genesis 3:17-19.
But I sent Jesus to redeem you from the curse and reconcile you to Myself so you could again enter into My rest. Galatians 3:13-14; 1 Corinthians 5:17-21; Colossians 1:20. Jesus came as one of you and brought man back into My rest in Him. In Jesus, the work I gave Him to do is finished. John 17:4; John 19:30. And He went from the resurrection into rest.
When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at My right hand on high. The rest. And you who believe in His Name are in Him and are seated with Him in Heaven far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:20-21; Ephesians 2:6. And I put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22-23.
Sit therefore at My right hand as I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 1:13.
Your sins are gone and you are made righteous in Him with My own righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Ephesians 1:7-8. What you were working so hard for under the law is finished now. For Jesus is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. Romans 10:4. It is a gift that you receive through faith. Faith in My Son, who loved you and gave Himself for you. Galatians 2:20. So you could enter My rest. He is the door and there is no other way into My rest. And in My rest there is no more toil. I give you the Kingdom.
Life becomes a time of asking and answering, of answering and asking.
Do you remember what My Son said? I think now you will understand it better: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, 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.
Enter into My rest. In Jesus you can. He is the fulfillment of the Sabbath day. He is LORD of the Sabbath. He is the rest where all toil ceases and you reign in life through Jesus by receiving the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness. His finished work. I created all things and entered My rest. And Jesus was there with Me before the world began and all things were made through Him and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. John 1:3.
He is My Word and I create by My Word alone. But when man left My rest, Jesus left the rest at My right hand and emptied Himself out for you, taking the form of a bond slave being made in the likeness of men and humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the Cross (took the curse that was in the earth). Philippians 2:5-8. And by His bloody sweat in the garden, He redeemed you from the sentence of toil imposed upon Adam: “By the sweat of your face you will eat bread.” Genesis 3:17-19. Atonement is in the blood, for the life is in the blood. Leviticus 17:11. He brought you back into My rest. You went out of My rest into toil in a garden in Adam and you entered back into My rest in a garden through My Son.
Jesus, your great High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek, and in Him I have given you the promise of entering into My rest.
I once gave a promise of rest to My people Israel. It is a shadow of the reality I would give you in Christ but it shows you in a physical way what you have both spiritually and physically. I took them out of slavery in Egypt (toil, poverty, oppression, and death) by My outstretched arm and I led them out into the Promised Land as their inheritance. I gave them huge houses they did not build, vineyards they did not plant, and wells they did not dig. And I sent them out of Egypt to go into the Promised Land laden with silver and gold and none feeble among them. Psalm 105:37.
But they hardened their hearts and did not enter into My rest.
Therefore while a promise of entering My rest still remains, be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall through following the example of Adam’s and later Israel’s disobedience. Hebrews 4:11. And how to you fall? Paul put it quite simply to the Galatian church: “You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by Law; you have fallen from grace.” Galatians 5:4. By not knowing about My righteousness (which is a gift to you in Christ bought by His work on your behalf) and seeking to establish your own righteousness, you fall and do not enter My rest. Romans 10:3. This really is a form of pride by not submitting yourself to My righteousness but instead believing you can make yourself righteous before Me by your own efforts. Toil, stress, self-condemnation, worry, fear and anxiety all follow from that. I did not create you for that. I made you to rest in My love. A relationship where I care for you. Cast all your cares upon Me because I care for you. Entrust your plans and ways to Me and they will be established. Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to Me. And My peace, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7. And that is My rest. Let Me supply for all your needs according to My riches in Christ Jesus in glory. Philippians 4:19. You can do all things through Jesus, who strengthens you. Philippians 4:13.
Rest.
I gave you a shadow of the rest to be found permanently in My Son, Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 10:1, in the Sabbath. Shabbat in Hebrew. Shabbat Shalom. Because I did the work of creation for six days and it was complete, I rested (Shabbat) on the seventh day from all the work I had done. And I blessed (Aleph Tav) the seventh day and consecrated it (“qadash” with the root from “qodesh”, set it apart as holy) because in it I rested (Shabbat) from all My work which I had created and made. I ceased from labor.
The next time I spoke of Shabbat was to the Israelites when they came out of the unceasing toil of slavery in Egypt headed towards entering the rest of the Promised Land. It was when I gave them manna in the desert. The manna came down with the dewfall around their camp and they would gather it and it would be enough for the day. But on the sixth day I gave them twice as much to gather because I gave them the seventh day as a Shabbat (rest) to Me. I gave them rest on that day and the manna gathered the day before did not spoil. I gave them bread for two days on the sixth day so they could have a rest, a gift from Me. I fed them and gave them rest, even in the wilderness, without toil and freed from oppression. Exodus 16:4-30.
And later Shabbat became part of the testimony I gave them on the tablets of stone. The Law. The Old Covenant. The tablets of the testimony which would be hidden in the Ark of the Testimony under the Mercy seat of propitiation where the Blood of the Lamb would by sprinkled in atonement for sin. And there is gave a command of rest, of rest in Me. I said “Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy.” No labor was to be done that day, no sweat of your brow. A day of resting in Me. A taste of the good things to come in Jesus. A day set aside from the six of toil filled with the beauty of My love in family, friends, recreation and worship. A shadow of the rest found in My Son, which once entered is forever.
And later I showed Moses the meaning of the Shabbat. I told him to tell the sons of Israel that the Shabbat was a sign between Me and them that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you! Exodus 31:13. I have made Christ to be sanctification for you. 1 Corinthians 1:30. I am the LORD your righteousness. Your righteousness comes from Me. Isaiah 54:17. And after that I told Moses to speak to the Israelites of My appointed times. Leviticus 23:1-2. In Hebrew “moadim” (appointed times, a place, a meeting). This is not the word for “feast” or “holiday” which is chag. These are appointed times that will be fulfilled in Christ. They are My timeline for the earth and its redemption. And at the very first, apart from the seven moadim that make up the timeline, I spoke the one I set up at the beginning. The Shabbat Shabbaton. A day of complete rest from all toil in all your dwellings. A day of a holy convocation (miqra) (assembly). Leviticus 23:3. Mt. Zion, the assembly of the first born. Hebrews 12:22-23.
And this shadow of the good things to come has been fulfilled in Christ. In Him you enter My rest now. He came to bring you the abundant life. He is your promised land. He is the Place. He is your dwelling place. His Name is a strong tower where the righteous enter and find rest. He is your city of refuge. He is your shield. He is your good Shepherd leading you to lie down in green pastures beside restful waters of peace. I have made Him to be wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption to you. 1 Corinthians 1:30. Your toil is over. You are highly favored in the Beloved by His finished work. Come to Him and you will find rest.
Your Shabbat Shabbaton. Yeshuah. Salvation. All My promises are “yes” to you in Him.
Today if you hear My voice do not harden your hearts. For if Joshua had given the Israelites rest when they took the Promised Land, I would not have spoken of another day of rest after that. Hebrews 4:8. So there remains a Sabbath rest for My people. Hebrews 4:9. For the one who has entered My rest has himself also rested from his works, just as I did from Mine. Therefore be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through the same example of disobedience. And what was their disobedience? They failed to enter because of unbelief. Hebrews 3:19. The Word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. Hebrews 4:2. They thought they had to conquer the land themselves and they could not.
The Shabbat became a burden to the Jewish people because they made many manmade rules about it that bound them from living freely on that day. It became a meaningless tradition that no longer pointed to the reality in Christ. But the one the Son sets free is free indeed. What the Pharisees found fault with in My Son most often is that they accused him of breaking the Shabbat. In their opinion of human tradition which had lost the spirit of the Shabbat they saw Him as a law breaker. But My Son is the Shabbat, the true rest from all your labor. He has done the work and you have entered into His gain. Let Me share My Son’s responses in two incidents to these accusations and I think now you will understand:
“At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat. But when the Pharisees saw this, they said to Him, “Look, Your disciples do what is not lawful to do on a Sabbath.” But He said to them, “Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, he and his companions, how he entered the house of God, and they ate the consecrated bread, which was not lawful for him to eat nor for those with him, but for the priests alone? Or have you not read in the Law, that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple break the Sabbath and are innocent? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here. But if you had known what this means, ‘I desire compassion, and not a sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.” Matthew 12:1-14.
Selah. How do you view the Shabbat? Do you just think of it as a day on which you are supposed to curtail your activities and chores? Then you do not know Shabbat. It is care-free living every day all day. It is grace and truth. It is not just one day, it is the age of grace and eternity thereafter.
If you have taken Jesus as LORD you have entered the rest. Do not keep working for your own righteousness. Do not bind yourself with burdensome rules and regulations that ruin a precious gift of rest I gave you. Or you may fall short of entering the rest and stay wandering in the wilderness all your life, saved but never entering the rest of the Promised Land because you have not united faith with My promises that are “yes” to you in Christ Jesus.
Have you realized you have a Healer, a Provider, a Shepherd, a Deliverer, and a Father who loves you no matter what? I will take care of you. Enter My rest and live there. Unshakeable peace. Be established in righteousness. And that is the secret.
I love you. Come to Me and rest.