Welcome to September 2015: Our Month of Divine Rest

Texts: Mt.11:28-30 and Heb.4:1-11

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 

For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 

Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. – Heb.4:9-11.

God’s great heart is being revealed again this month as He has graciously declared this month to be our month of Divine Rest. To get a clear picture of what God is saying to us this month, we must understand rest from God’s perspective here. Rest is not just to take a rest in sleep or from any kind of work. Rest here is referring to a state where we cease trying to accomplish things on our own or in our human strength (without involving God). For instance to receive enduring riches, you will have to stop trying to get it by human means and turn to God’s way [Prov.34:4]. To live a holy life, you will have to mortify the deeds of the flesh through the Holy Spirit or else, your self-efforts would only lead to more and more frustrations as holy living is not humanly possible [Rom.8:13]. This is the frustration the Psalmist observed among God’s creation when He declared in Psalm 127:1 that except the Lord builds a house, they labour in vain that build it and also, except the Lord watches over a city, the security men labour in vain trying to do so. 

This, to the entire human race means one thing; except we reconnect with our Creator God, all the efforts we put into trying to make our lives worthwhile would best be described as exercises in futility. Since the fall of man through the sin of Adam, man has been under the curse of perpetual struggles. This is because of the curse of God that man would always have to struggle to provide for himself [Gen.3:15-19]. 

With the coming of Jesus Christ into the world, the entire creation of God received the fulfilment of God’s promise to bruise the head of the ancient serpent [also known as Satan the devil] and therefore freedom from the curse if they would believe in Jesus Christ and receive God’s gift of eternal life. See Gen.3:15; Rev.12:9-11; John 3:16-18 and 2Cor.5:21. 

This is why in our first text of scriptures; we see the Lord inviting mankind to come to him to find rest from their struggles and pains through learning from Him. Thus the first step into rest is to come to Jesus Christ with one’s whole heart. When this is done, we become saved from sin and the evils of this world. Then we need to take the next step which is to Learn of Him. Salvation is God’s free gift that grants us access to eternal life. However, to enjoy the total benefits of salvation, we must be discipled by the Lord. This is why in John 8:30-31 Jesus said to those Jews who had believed on Him that they had to continue in His word until they know the truth so that they would enjoy the freedom that He alone can give and when He sets free, we would indeed be free. 

Further in our second text in Hebrews 4, we are made to understand that rest is not automatic with the issuing of the promise, it happens when people come to the point of being fully persuaded of the promise that they demonstrate the spirit of faith that enables them obtain the promise. This is why we are enjoined to labour to enter into rest. 

The question is what kind of labour do we need to engage in to really enter into rest. This is what we are going to be looking at this month of Divine Rest. However, like we saw earlier, the first step towards rest in this context is to receive the free gift of God’s salvation if you are yet to. If you do not, then the struggles would continue. Should you wish to cease from your struggles, you can do so right away by saying the following prayer out loud and God will set you free immediately then you can become part of those who can enter into the rest of God:

Heavenly Father, 

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen. 

Congratulations! For more information and resources that would help you grow in this new life, please visit our website at www.kingdomheirsministries.org and our blogs at www.flourishinggirl.blogspot.com and follow us on twitter at alero_nanna and on face book on www.facebook.com/flourishinggirl www.facebook.com/khmii2015; www.facebook.com/thewellbeingcenter. Or email us at jointheirsfamily@gmail.com.    

Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!