ENTERING INTO THE REST OF THE LORD

HARDEN NOT YOUR HEART (Hebrews 3:1-15) See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.l 13 But encourage one another daily,m as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.n 14 We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we holdo our original conviction firmly to the very end.p 15 As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion. (Hebrews 3:12-15,4:1-5) This sanario of the hardened heart does not happen over night, physically of spiritually. But it happenens to both. Over a period of time calcium can buld up in the heart and cause problms in our physical bodoes, but listen, the condition of a hardened sporotual heart is just as serious. The devil beats away on us, dropping little stumbling blocks in our way and we have to make choices and if we do not make the right choices, slowly we through the trickery of the devil begin to harden our hearts towards God and His word. It tells us in the wor of God, that the devil protrays himself as an angle of light. (2 Corinthians 11:14) Also it says he is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.(1 Peter 5:8) But God does not want us to wonder away, when the devil temps us, spo He provides a way for us to escape and enter into a rest in Him. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."(1 Corinthians 10:13) This simply means He gives us a choice, we do have a mind of our own, we do not need to let the devil of any of his demons, workers or followers to make up our minds for us. We have a choice, always remeber that. God wants us to be obedient and be willing to chose to follow Him and to do His will. He wants us to enter into such a neat relationship with Him that we have peacful rest. Being able to rest in the Lord, which means ceasing our strugglung against sin in our own strength. I now know that it is an exhausting exercise to fight against sin and try earn salvation or control my circumstances. God's rest is a state of spiritual peace and trust where you, "lean not on your own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6) I am trying to learn to rely entirely on Jesus Christ's finished work, and trying to surrender al of my anxiety and my fight into His capable hands. The idea of this kind of rest is not foriegn to the bible, it is deeply rooted in the word of God (Hebrews 4:10) where we can enter into a place of spiritual rest and total faith, in God. You may ask, after reading this far, as to how this can be done? First you must believe it is true, that the word of God , is God speaking to you and telling you the truth. Then you must trust in the loving grace of God's forgiveness for your sins when you ask. Acknowledging that you are a sinner, that you cannot achieve salvation or perfection on your own, and are willing to fully accept the completed, redemptive work of Jesus Christ. In so doing you are surrendering your fears, doubts, and worries to God and entering into His rest, and are assured in your heart that He is in control and will care for your needs. When you do this, I have experienced one will find peace in, stepping into the very presence of God. Where you can let go and let God, where then your frustration will subside and you will continue striving in the power of God, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Which allows your mind and emotions to experience rest in the midst of life's daily challenges. I maintain this rest, one must change the spiritual diet and the way you live your life in general. It take discipline, just as one must disipline their bidy to do physical exercises, so you must discipline your spiritual body to change your life style. Our frinzied spiritual life style never happened over night, our worry and doubt are the fruits of bad choices in our spiritual life. Over time, those choices hannot help but harden our hearts towards God and His ways. Listen to the scriptures, in Hebrews 3:7-8 (referencing Psalm 95:7-8) says, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.” After God delivered His people from Egypt, they “tested and tried [Him]” (v. 9) during their time in the wilderness. Just as He does for you, He did for the people back then. God had faithfully provided for His people, but they refused to see it (vv. 9-10). So then what about you and me, what are we going to do? What choices will God direct us to change that are taking us away from God. God says today is the day for change. He says do not harden your hearts against Him. We all have choices to make. So I’m thankful that today, right now, We can exchange a heartened heart of stone, for those softened by His love (Ezekiel 36:26). Father God, thank you for drawing me closer to You today. Help me learn to better hear your voice. Lord sometimes my heart and soul get weary and tired, and I make wrong choices, please forgive me. Help me to daily ask you for strength to carry on and to embrace Your offer to cleanse and soften my heart, so you can mold me into the person both you and I will be proud of. Not pride, but to feel good in doing your will, and being the example I should be to the world around me. In your name I pray AMEN