My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Exodus 33: 14
Rest. Let the word rest roll off your tongue. Just saying the word rest helps settle the soul. Rest in the Lord. Aren’t you glad we have a Lord who is so concerned about rest that He established a law about resting? The first thing God did for his people when He delivered them from Egyptian slavery was to establish a sabbath rest.
Rest.
In the Hebrew, nuah, means many things such as rest from enemies, freedom from suffering, to make quiet in the mind, a place of rest.
God provides us with a place of resting. Where is this resting place? Our verse provides the answer: in the Presence of God.
Rest of the Spirit
Because of the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, God’s Presence is with us where ever we go. But how do we enter into His presence? The same way we do with other people. We can be in the same room with other people, but not be in their presence. We enter into the presence of others by engaging them in conversation.
Rest of Relationship
The deeper our relationship with another the deeper we can enter into their presence. This same concept applies even more so with God. We can enter the rest of His presence through conversational prayer, praise and worship, or God’s Word.
New Testament rest
The New Testament cofirms the concept of resting in His Presence In Matthew 11:28.
Rest of Salvation
How to Accept Christ for your Savior:
- Admit to God that you are a sinner.
- Accept Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for your sin.
- Ask Jesus to come into your heart and be your Savior.
If you just prayed the salvation prayer, please let us know in the comment section below. Welcome to the family of God.
Have a blessed, restful Holy Week.
Week 7 Journal Activities
- During this Holy Week, I want to encourage you to rest and wait on God. We all need times of physical rest for our bodies, and we all need time of rest for our souls. Figure out a way you can take a Sabbath rest on Sunday. What does that look like for you? This article Gift of Time and Sabbath Rest may be helpful. Then rest in your soul as you stop striving and wait on God to do something amazing for you in a situation you may have given up on. I don’t know how long you’ll have to wait, but I encourage you to identify your issue and write it in your journal. Now find a scripture and claim it for this situation and memorize it.
- Next, let’s create for ourselves a tangible reminder of God’s amazing work that He does when we rest in Him. I’d like you to plant a seed. Buy a Jiffy pot, some seed starting mix, and a pack of seeds. Fill the pot with seed starting mix. Wet the soil and let it drain. Plant 2 or 3 seeds in the pot. Keep it moist until it sprouts. Some easy seeds to try are marigold, calendula, sunflowers, or zinnias. Watch for the miraculous sprouting to occur! Remember, God is at work in your life, too, when you are resting and waiting. (If you’d like more information on seed starting, see this post about gardener extraordinaire, Rita Ward: Seed starting with Rita Ward.)
- Thank you for journeying with us through Lent on our way to Easter. We are so thankful for each one of you! Have a blessed, joyous Easter! Feel free to share any thoughts/insights/questions in the comments. We’d love to hear what’s on your mind.
Rest is hard for me. There is always one more thing I want to do or accomplish. But God calls us to rest. He knows we are better when we rest. He even rests! A few weeks ago I made some changes to my Sunday so that I could rest. I didn’t run a bunch of errands. I took a walk, read a book, puttered in the garden, took a nap, and talked to friends and family. It was nice. I am working to make this more my normal Sunday.
I have been planting lots of seeds for my garden. They are in the sprouting stage and every day when I check them, it’s always a miracle to see a new shoot poking up through the soil. New life. And that is what Jesus gives us. Happy Easter!