THE REST OF GOD

Bible Study by Pastor Janice L Williams

Scriptures printed in red are words spoken by Jesus.

BIBLE STUDY FOR WEDNESDAY, November 7th-14, 2012

USA Veterans Day is observed annually on November 11th. This year, it lands on Sunday.  As the Bible teaches us to give honor to whom it is due, we at Ambassador For Christ Ministries, honor our USA Veterans who lay down their lives to protect the freedom and rights of the citizens of our country. Thank you all.  God bless and keep you and your loved ones.  Jesus loves you and so do we.

JOHN 14:27 KJV * PEACE I LEAVE WITH YOU, MY PEACE I GIVE UNTO YOU: NOT AS THE WORLD GIVETH, GIVE I UNTO YOU. LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED, NEITHER LET IT BE AFRAID.   

• WHAT IS THE REST OF GOD? * The rest of God is a spiritual as well as a physical place/places that we enter into as we seek God and come to totally trust, believe in, and acknowledge Him as our waymaker who provides all of our needs to: bless and prosper us spiritually, mentally, physically, and materially.  It is The Promised Land we come to possess by obedience to follow Jesus, {JESUS THE WORD OF GOD see John 1:1, 14} instructions written in the Bible for living a blessed, fruitful spiritual life pleasing to God our Heavenly Father, while on Earth.  When we enter the rest of God our lives become filled with joy, peace, love, and abundance of all good things.  Jesus told us in John 10:10 NKJV * 10/ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
• 1 Corinthians 2:9 NKJV* 9/But as it is written:   “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”                               
• 2 Corinthians 8:9 NKJV * 9/ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.                     
• Proverbs 10:22 NKJV * 22/ The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.                                                                                                    Psalm 112:1-3 NKJV * 1/ Praise the LORD!  Blessed  is the man who fears {greatly respects} the LORD, who delights greatly in His commandments.  2/ His descendants will be mighty on earth; The generation of the upright will be blessed.  3/ Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever.                                  
• Psalm 115:14 KJV * 14/ The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.               Psalm 35:27 NKJV * “Let the LORD be magnified,
  Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”                                                                               3rd John 1:2 NKJV * 2/ Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.  
  

JESUS speaks to us again in Matthew 6:33 NKJV and says * 33/ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

• HOW DO WE ENTER INTO THIS REST? God's rest is entered by faith.  We enter God's rest by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ and receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives. 
• Matthew 11:28, 29 NLT * 28/ Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  29/Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 

• HOW DO WE FAIL TO ENTER INTO THIS REST? * DISOBEDIENCE & UNBELIEF * Hebrews 3:18, 19 NLT * 18/ And  to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed him?  19/ So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. 

 Promised Rest for God’s People * Hebrews 4:1-16 NLT

6/ So God’s rest is there for people to enter, but those who first heard this good news failed to enter because they disobeyed God.  7/ So God set another time for entering his rest, and that time is today. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

“Today when you hear his voice,
don’t harden your hearts.” 

8/ Now if Joshua had succeeded in giving them this rest, God would not have spoken about another day of rest still to come.  9/ So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God.  10/ For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors,

just as God did after creating the world.

• {rested from their labors>stopped relying on human intellect/the carnal mind, & human strength or human ability to work things out * casting all concerns and burdens on Jesus, the mind of Christ [WWJD/WHAT WOULD JESUS DO] relying on the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the strength of God to accomplish whatever it is that needs to be done.

  11/ So let us do our best to enter that rest.  But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall.

        

 

REVIEW THE "SALVATION PRAYER PAGE" DIRECTLY UNDER WBS #1 "FORGIVENESS" 

 OLD TESTAMENT DEUTERONOMY 12:5-13 NKJV

5/ “But you shall seek the place where the LORD your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His dwelling place; and there you shall go.  6/ There you shall take your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, your vowed offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.  7/ And there you shall eat before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your households, in which the LORD your God has blessed you.  8/ “You shall not at all do as we are doing here today—every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes—   9/ for as yet you have not come to the rest and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.  10/ But when you cross over the Jordan and dwell in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, and He gives you rest from all your enemies round about, so that you dwell in safety, 11/ then there will be the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide.  There you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the heave offerings of your hand, and all your choice offerings which you vow to the LORD.  12/ And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levite who is within your gates, since he has no portion nor inheritance with you.  13/ Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see;  14/ but in the place which the LORD chooses, in one of your tribes, there you shall offer your burnt offerings, and there you shall do all that I command you.

NEW TESTAMENT

REST IN CHRIST JESUS!!!