Carla

We need to enter into and remain in God’s rest. His peace is beyond our human understanding but He gives us peace in His power and not our own!

Psalm 145:9 “The Lord is good to everyone; his compassion rests on all he has made.”

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

The Lord Jesus Christ is our only hope.  The Gospel of Grace is exclusive to believers of Jesus Christ. Faith  changes us. The end result of it is the commandment to love. Love out of a pure heart is God’s way of living. Not all will understand  it and will try to turn it into works of the law and not of God’s grace.

Romans 13:88 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

If we love others like Christ loves us we will not hurt them. This is the mind of God for His creation…Love. 

Faith in Jesus Christ alone saves us. We have total freedom in grace to choose our religion but we will never be fulfilled unless we choose to live in the freedom of the Spirit and not in the traditions of men. Holy Spirit can change us, precept by precept, into the image of His Son.

Galatians 4:30 30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.” 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free. 

Humans are not capable of keeping every little nuance of the law, that could only be fulfilled in the Cross of Jesus…all God and all man. But in the Spirit we are capable of transformation and will be perfected when Christ returns.

God will use every situation, good, bad or simply hard, for our ultimate good. That's not to say that all things are good nor that all things will work out the way we think they should; in fact, Romans 8:18 acknowledges "sufferings of this present time." But it does mean that God is able to interlace the suffering and sorrow of our broken world into the fabric of our lives in such a way that we are strengthened instead of destroyed. We may not see the benefit immediately, but "we hope for what we do not see" (Romans 8:25), knowing that our earthly struggles prepare us for eternal glory if we place our hope in Christ, confidently expecting His good to be revealed in time (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).

God's overarching purpose is to restore all things to their perfect created order (Genesis 1:31). That includes working in our hearts and lives to transform and renew us as His children, in the image of Christ. In the end, believers will be "glorified" (Romans 8:30), which means the restoration will be complete and we will be fully reinstated into our blessed, heavenly condition as brothers and sisters reflecting Jesus, enjoying wholeness and unbroken fellowship with the Father.

It is in this hope that we were saved (Romans 8:24). First 5

As young clergy, just out of seminary, it was the impulse, attraction and aspiration to provide the “answers” people needed. That would make the difference, I told myself. And I realize now that I missed the point. A hug (or a listening ear, or a cup of coffee) mattered more than my explanation or sermon. 

When we require (even demand) a certain script, we see only that script. We assume that the script will take us where we need to go. Bottom line, we miss the beautiful complexity of this moment. We miss the gifts of liberation that live in the sacrament of the present moment. Sabbath Moments

Fast from problems that overwhelm;
Feast on prayer that sustains.
Fast from anxiety;
Feast on faith.
--Author Unknown

Hebrews 4:8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. 14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. The New King James Version

By merely entering the Promised Land, the Israelites had not entered God’s rest, for David (years after Joshua had led the Israelites into the land) had warned his generation to not harden their hearts, so that they could enter God’s rest. Like David, the author of Hebrews called the present generation to respond to God today, which is the day of repentance. 

The Greek word for rest in this verse means “Sabbath rest” and is found only here in the NT. 

Jews commonly taught that the Sabbath foreshadowed the world to come, and they spoke of “a day which shall be all Sabbath.” This may refer to the rest believers will enter in when they finish their work for God’s kingdom on this earth. Including himself as well as his readers, the author exhorts believers to be diligent, a phrase meaning “make every effort” to enter that rest. The rest is not automatic. Determined diligence is required. The danger is that believers today, like the Israelites of the past, will not stand, but fall in disobedience. 

The word of God is the measuring stick Christ will use at the judgment.  God’s message is alive and active, penetrating the innermost parts of a person. Our High Priest has passed through the heavens to the very presence of God, where He sits at God’s right hand.  

To sympathize means “to suffer with” and expresses the feeling of one who has entered into suffering. In all points tempted means Jesus experienced every degree of temptation. Because of Christ’s priestly work, believers can approach God’s presence. Boldly is the same word that is rendered confidence and means “plainness of speech,” “fearlessness,” or “courage.” Believers should courageously approach God in prayer because His is a throne of grace, and our High Priest sits at His right hand interceding for us. The NKJV Study Bible

Joshua became the Israelites’ leader after Moses died. Joshua led the conquest of the promised land, which represented rest for God’s people. It suggests that the Israelites’ rest after settling in the promised land was not ultimate or final. 

The concept of rest is an analogy for future salvation. God rested after He created the world, implying that His creative work is complete and He now rules over it.

Those who enter God’s rest will participate in the great Sabbath celebration at God’s throne, upon Jesus’ return. 

The word of God is able to examine and judge those who hear it. It will accomplish its purpose. The word of God can penetrate the immaterial and the material—meaning the whole person. The idea here is that all things are open to examination by God. 

Sounding a theme that continues throughout the rest of Hebrews, this passage portrays Jesus as the great high priest who identifies with sinful humanity yet remains without sin.

Because Jesus already has ascended into heaven and entered into God’s rest, believers can be confident that they, too, will have a share in God’s rest. 

Because Jesus established His role as high priest by becoming like us, He can understand human struggles.Jesus faced the same temptations as people. Suffering believers can look to Jesus, who not only pioneered their faith but endured the cross—the cost of obedience to God. Unlike other priests, Jesus didn’t need to offer sacrifices for His own sins; instead, He offered Himself unblemished to God.

Believers should pray persistently because Jesus empathizes with human weakness. He continues to make intercession for those who draw near to God. 

Christ is the merciful high priest who mediates on our behalf. Because of His work, God grants mercy to believers when they sin. God strengthens His people when they undergo temptation or endure any type of hardship. Faithlife Study Bible

Hebrews 2:17–3:1  Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted…

Psalm 33:13–15 

The LORD looks from heaven;

He sees all the sons of men.

From the place of His dwelling He looks

On all the inhabitants of the earth…

1 Peter 1:23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,