Rest

3/5/2017

Songs: Holy Spirit Living Breath of God, Great are You Lord, Lord I Need You (if time)

Thank God for his presence and ask him to soften our hearts to teach us.

Good news for You: Jesus came so you can live a life of overflow from your relationship with
him. When he went to the cross and rose again he made available a special gift: for you to
enter into the Rest of God, to enjoy a Sabbath day of no work but being close to him, and to
live daily being restored by his Power, Presence and Word.

Pendulum example: Christians are often like a pendulum going back and forth from rest
(close to God) to burned out (from working too much out of own strength). The way that
were exhorted to live today is to follow Jesus example and be overflowing from a close
relationship with God: always having a rested soul, filled with Joy and Peace from
communion, and the work we do is continually satisfying and fruitful.

Before God can use us to live supernaturally to be vessel through who hed speak to
people, work signs, wonders, miracles and healings in and through our lives, there is a
prerequisite of having a rested soul in Him. Experiencing Gods rest allows us to be used
powerfully for the Kingdom of God. Bill Johnson. Tuesday Story: was feeling close to God at
work, took five minutes to sit in my car and meditate on the Word at lunch, and then saw a
kid with a concussion healed and relieved of head-pain because I was sensitive to the Holy
Spirit and read to be bold.

Genesis 2:1-7 (1:28-29)

What happened on the seventh day?

God had finished all his works and finally rested from doing all his work that he had
done
God blessed the seventh day and made it holy (set apart, different, unique, special,
for himself)
o This is the 2nd great blessing given to mankind. (The 1st was to be fruitful and
multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over all animals and fish,
and enjoy the vegetation for food on the earth.) It was given as a gift to man
for him to be blessed, or made happy.

What happened in verse 6 and 7?

God was watering the earth; God forms man of dust from the ground; God breaths
into his nostrils the breath of life making him a living creature.
Metaphor for our Christian life: mist is Holy Spirit (water) hovering over us, the Lord
formed us into the image of Christ when we first believed in our spirits (salvation), He
continues to form us into the image of Christ as we live day to day (sanctification),
and then the Spirit then breaths into our nostrils (mouth and mind, where we hear
Gods word and receive him from) and we are filled with his presence, becoming
creatures who have life and life in abundance which Jesus came to give (Baptism of
the Spirit), and we are experiencing the eternal life of God.
On the Day of Rest this is how God dealt with man: He breaths his own life into him.
Its the same with us. Like the first man, Adam, when we come to the Lord for rest
we ask him to breath on us, to fill us with his uncreated Life, the Eternal life.
 o John 20:19-22: Like Adam, the Lord stood before his disciples to give them the
greatest gift next to himself: the Holy Spirit, the Presence of God in fullness.
He Breathed on them, as the Lord God did to the man of dust, and into their
nostrils flowed the life of God, and they came to experience Life. This was
needed for them to fulfill His commission: Even as the father Sent me, so I
am sending you. To fulfill Gods commission, we need to be recipients of his
Breath of Life, his holy spirit for empowerment. The Word is ready to open his
mouth, breath into us, speak to us, and give us an increase of His presence in
our life. He said My words are spirit and life. When we listen to Jesus
words, we experience rest, the breathing of his Spirit and life into us.

Read Psalm 95:7-11, then Hebrews 3:7-18

What was the heart condition of the Israelites?

What result did it have on their relationship with God, and entering his rest?

Are there areas of Sin, unbelief, hardening of heart (upon hearing his voice), going astray, or
not being obedient to Him, for something he wants for you right now? Confess to person
Next to you.

Spiritual Breathing: Breath out sin (Confess sin to the Lord, ask for
forgiveness, see the sin going on his body on the tree)Its forgiven by his
bloodand breath in Him (know receive his righteousness, grace, and love),
and commit to righteous action.

It is by believing in the Lord that we are restored in right relationship to God through Jesus
Christ. And in looking to him, (out of which flows obedience) that enables us to enter into
his rest. Sometimes we need to confess our sin and lack of trust in him before our hearts
are ready to enjoy his presence. Sin acts as a wedge between us and God.

Now youre ready to enter Gods rest!

Read Hebrews 4:1-12

What are some of the things that you learn about the rest God has provided for his people,
for us?

4:1 - Were given the promise to enter his rest, as the Israelites were. Its a
secure and ready gift for us to enjoy!
We are able to not reach it, some Christians wont experience Gods rest, so
we should have the fear of God, to keep a careful watch on our spiritual state,
to keep in it.
4:2 - The good news of Christ bringing us into the joyful and restorative
presence of God only benefits us if we receive it with faithif we believe in
Christ and his good news.
o The Good news to the Israelites was that they were delivered from
their evil Egyptian oppressors, God made a covenant to always be with
them, and that he was bringing them into the Promised land.
o The Good News for Christians is that weve been delivered from our
evil Satanic oppressor, from death, sin and hell, and Gods made a
covenant of love to always be with us and that he would bring us into
the promised land of Heaven, our Eternal Home. Those who believe in
this message become reconciled to God and are able to enjoy his rest
His presence.
 Were able to enter is rest by believing (coming to Jesus, trusting that he is
our Messiah)
Those who dont believe, or go astray or are disobedient dont enjoy his rest.
4:4 - Gods rest consists of not working after 6 days of working, resting on
the seventh day from ALL his works
4:7 - Gods rest is to be enjoyed Today, meaning EVERY DAY! From divides
time til now, we can every day enjoy being in the Presence of God and having
our souls restored, not just once a week on a break from work.
4:8 - Joshua is the one who gave rest to the Israelites (by helping deliver them
to the promise land)and Jesus is the one who gives rest to us (by being with
us as God who gives rest to our souls and brings us to Heaven).
o The day God spoke of to us (later on) was the day our Joshua would
go on the cross and secure for us eternal life with God. So it was on
the cross that he secured this gift of rest.
4:9 A Sabbath rest for Gods people is available to us: Imitating God in
resting from all our works one day a week.
4:11 - Were to strive (make haste, make effort, to give diligence, to labour,
to persevere) to enter Gods rest. God provided a rest for us to enter by
resting on the seventh day, and his life death and resurrection, now its up to
us to be diligent and hastily labour to join God in his rest. If we dont get
daily restored from him, or keep the Sabbath, we will fall by the same sort of
disobedience that the Israelites fell and failed to reach Gods rest. Yet it is
not so for us who believe in Christ!
(a) What does it mean to enter into Gods rest? (b) And how can we practically strive to
enter into Gods rest?

Delegate various Scriptures to people to discover this answer:

Entering Gods rest is two-fold: (1) Going to Jesus to get our weary hearts restored,
receiving his Peace and Strength and Joy in the midst of our chaotic and tiresome
lives (2) intentionally one day a week to not do any work, emotionally separate
yourself from your school/job and draw close to the Lord through time with him and
various activities. Keeping the Sabbath!
There are many roads to take to entering into Gods rest:

1. Scheduling a Sabbath day to be free from work and do life-giving activities that draw
you close to God
2. Luke 4:4-5 (reading and listening to the Word which is living and active)
a. Constant meditation on word, reading it in between classes, whenever
possible.
3. Matthew 11:28-30 (coming to Jesus with our weary hearts to receive his rest)
a. Mentally picturing myself going to Jesus and talking to him, let him counsel
you.
4. Psalm 23:1-3 (being in nature, being quiet and still and letting the Shepard restore
our soul)
a. Laying down, quieting my mind, and listening to the Lord, or going through a
memorized scripture. Sometimes a Nap is the most spiritual thing you can do.
5. Luke 5:16 (following Jesus example and getting away to pray with the Father)
a. Cutting out a few hours to go pray in the wilderness, go for a walk to talk to
God daily, especially at the beginning and end of the day. Hanging out with
my dad, its our favorite!
6. Psalm 95:1-3 + Ephesians 5:18-21 (singing songs to God, rejoicing, giving thanks to
God, and being filled with the Spirit)
 a. In our daily life, ask the Holy Spirit to fill us, for Jesus to breath into us the
breath of life! Choosing to rejoice, count my blessings.
7. Hebrews 3:13-14 (exhorting one another dailyfellowship)
a. Meeting with Christians to encourage each other and sharing in Christ,
letting Jesus be the center of the friendshipsGreat spiritual rest will come!

Share Ex. of Lumberjack Getting His Saw Sharpened: One day the lumber jack cut down
the tree in two hours with his saw. Another day he got smart and took twenty minutes to
sharpen the saw, which took him 40 minutes to cut down. It took half the amount of time.
He was highly effective because he took time to sharpen his ability to produce. We need to
spend select amount of time doing life-giving activities that restore our souls, so we can
continue to bear fruit, glorify God and live a satisfying life.

What sort of activities are Life-giving to you that you need to plan on a daily or weekly
basis to enjoy the more restful life that God wants for you? What lifestyle habits might you
change to have a more restful lifestyle?