By Phillip Greene

Last week I spoke about a rest that God gives us.  Rest is a vital part of our Christian walk if we want to fully experience the blessings that God has for us.

The importance of this rest is seen in Hebrews 3 and 4 where the writer explores the words of Psalm 95 and then details the importance of this rest.  As we look deeper into this topic, we see that we must find the time to relax and separate ourselves from the world to fully clear our minds.  Today, too many times, we find ourselves fully wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of life, filling our schedule with so much that we barely have time to sleep.

Rest is valued by God.  We see this in Genesis in the story of the Creation.  God worked for six days and rested on the seventh to sit back and reflect on all He had done, seeing that it was good.  God felt that rest was important, and it gave Him time to look over His work.  We should take this same approach to our lives.  If we never rest, we never have time to reflect on where we stand.

We see in Hebrews that those who do not rest will not find rest.  God places this rest as a way for us to renew and refresh, but if we do not help ourselves find this rest, we will never find the rest that God gives.

The writer of Hebrews reflects on the Psalmist’s words, “Today, If you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts…”  He then recounts the story of Joshua and states that there is a Sabbath rest for the people of God, because anyone entering God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did.

The final plea comes in encouraging the Hebrews to enter that rest so that none will fall into disobedience.  The writer then proceeds to discuss the change in the old law, stating that Jesus is now our high priest.

“¹⁴ Since then 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 is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV)”

Find your rest today, draw near to the throne of grace in full confidence and receive the blessings you need in your time of trouble.  We have everything we need in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

One of the central themes of many of the Psalms is rest.  Psalm 23 states that, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, He restores my soul.”   Psalm 95 paints the picture of a rest that is provided by God to His people:

“Oh come, let us worship and bow down;   let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness, when your fathers put me to the test and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work. For forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” Therefore I swore in my wrath, “They shall not enter my rest.”” — Psalm 95:6-11 (ESV).

The rest that the Psalmist is speaking to is the rest that God promises us…a rest that can only be found in all out devotion to Him.

The Sabbath was set aside for rest under the law to give the people a day to reflect, relax, and renew themselves, but too many of us today run ourselves into the ground by letting ourselves over-commit our schedules.  The fast pace of today’s world has caused many to lose sight of the Lord in their lives.  We become too wrapped up in our plans to stop and see the plans that God has for us.

If we would take the time to rest, we would find a renewal of strength that only the Lord can provide.  We must humble ourselves to receive the blessings that God intends for us, but we must make sure that we are not too busy to see when they come our way.

I would like to encourage each of you to look deep into your heart and see where your priorities lie…

The only way for us to fully rest is to take the time to get to know our God, and the only way to do that is to read His word.   We have to fully immerse ourselves in the Word of God to really get to know Him. For that reason we need to get to know His Word so that we can make sure we are living the way we should, as well as making sure that we can discern the lies that the world will throw our way.

I will look deeper into this issue of rest next week as we look at Hebrews 3-4.

With the New Year beginning, I got to thinking about resolutions and how many of us make them but they rarely make it through the first month. When many make resolutions, it involves a dramatic change to their lives; a change to habits or diet.

One thing that always seems to happen is a drastic effort to start the year, an effort to attack this new plan they have with zeal. Many lose sight of their goals early on due to the lack of instant results.  They lose the zeal to fight for their goals when a small setback comes their way.

I want to encourage you to not give up on your goals; however, I want to also encourage you to take inventory and set spiritual goals as well. What are your plans to further the Kingdom of God in 2012?

Continue in Romans chapter 12, starting in verse 9 where we see the marks of a servant:

“Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good. Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21 KJV)”

Look over this list and look deep within your heart to see if you have goals for your Christian walk that coincide with these marks.

Get your fire burning in 2012. Fan the flames and let the Lord work through you to accomplish your goals and turn your heart over to the King of Kings.

What will you do for the Lord in 2012?

The chorus was simple, yet powerful when discussing Christmas day, and I would encourage each of you to take a moment this week and truly focus on what Christmas truly means.  If you have children, share it with them, and let us all get back to the true meaning of why we celebrate Christmas…let’s remember this Christmas to keep Christ in it and tell the story of a Savior that was born to save the world.

The verse of the song talks about being a child and Christmas meaning just one thing…getting presents.  I feel this is the common thought that goes through the mind of children everywhere…you can see it in their eyes when they enter a room.  For many of them, the first place they head is to the tree to count how many presents they have.  The song continues with the writer mentioning their mother sitting them down and teaching them to spell C.H.R.I.S.T.M.A.S. The Chorus of the song fits into the acronyms that I have been doing over the past few weeks, and goes like this:

“’C’ is for the Christ child, born upon this day; ‘H’ for herald angels in the night.  ‘R’ means our Redeemer, ‘I’ means Israel. ‘S’ is for the star that shone so bright. ‘T’ is for three wise men, they who traveled far; ‘M’ is for the manger where He lay.  ‘A’’s for all He stands for, ‘S’ means shepherds came and that’s why there’s a Christmas day.”

As we approach the Christmas season, let us look upon Christmas by remembering the real reason for why we celebrate the birth of the Savior.  Another song that can help put it into perspective during this season is “Christmas is all in the Heart” by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Chapman touches on the subject of Christmas with sincerity and heartfelt reality that can hit home during the times we are in during the Christmas season.  One set of the song’s lyrics sum it up this way:

“No, it’s not in the snow that may or may not fall, and it’s not in the gifts around the tree. It’s in the love heaven gave, the night our Savior came, and that same love can still be found wherever you are, ‘Cause Christmas is all in the heart.”

I would encourage each of you to look over every aspect of the season, focusing on the true meaning.  You may not have the money to have a great Christmas (in the eyes of the world), but in the eyes of the Lord, you can have the best Christmas you have ever had when you realize the most amazing gift that you have ever received – Jesus Christ.

Is Jesus the focus of your Christmas season?  Are you able to celebrate Christmas, even if only in your heart?  Focus on the true meaning of Christmas this year and share it with your children and those around you.  Take the time to read the Christmas story, but remember that Christmas doesn’t end with the manger; Christmas ends with the Cross of Calvary, where the joy of the Christmas season ends with the redemption of the world.  Jesus came to the world to save the world, and it all started in a manger in Bethlehem.

The star was the way that the wise men were able to find Jesus, and it can be a way for us to find Jesus today.  God used a star to mark the location of His son for the world to find him.  It can be a way for you to lead others to Christ today as well, by thinking of S.T.A.R. in this way – Standing Tall, Always Ready.

As Christians we are to stand tall for the call of the Kingdom.  We must always stand strong in defense of Christ, especially in a world like the one we live in.  There are so many things that are going on around us that can either cause people to turn their backs on God and His people, or can cause misconceptions as to what people must do to be saved.

When we stand tall, we are taking a stand against the ways of the world.  As Christians we are to be set apart, we are to be different, and people should be able to see a difference in us as we go about our daily business.  We should always take the opportunity to be different, if we look like the world, then those around us who don’t know Christ will never know him because they will never know what He looks like unless we take the stand for Him.

Many of the common misconceptions in the world today are the ideas that many have that they can live as they want and still seek redemption, but I want to tell you today that taking that view is like playing with fire, it may seem like a fun time, but eventually you are going to get burned.  We are to live our lives as if they could be over at any time, because we are not promised tomorrow.

Next, we should always be ready.  We should be ready for Christ to come back at this moment.  We should always be ready to show others what He is doing in our lives.  We should always be ready to give an answer.

1 Peter 3:14-17 says, “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.(KJV)”

It may not be an easy thing to stand tall in the face of adversity, but that is what we as Christians are called to do.  Fear of persecution is something that keeps Christians from being the light that they need to be, but I would encourage you to stand tall in your walk today and to always be ready to share what God is doing in your life.  Let your STAR shine bright through the darkness and let the world know that God is doing amazing things through His people.  We must share Christ with a dying world.

We should always live in expectation of the return of Christ, because we never know what tomorrow holds.  Is your STAR shining brightly today?

Jesus, when asked by the disciples how we should pray, responded with the Lord’s prayer…something we should all look at as a model for our prayers each day.

“And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”" (Luke 11:2-4 ESV)

Jesus showed us the proper order of prayer. He said to open with praise. When you pray, open with praise to God for everything that He has blessed you with.  We have so much to be thankful for, yet many times we forget to thank God for what He has given us.

Next, Jesus says to repent by asking forgiveness for our wrong doings, but He also says for us to offer forgiveness to others. For us to fully repent and be forgiven we must set our hearts right to receive forgiveness. If you ask for a blessing you have to be prepared to accept it; harboring ill feeling toward someone else can keep us from receiving a blessing ourself.

The third thing we are to do is ask. Jesus tells us that if we will ask, we will receive, and if we seek we will find. When Jesus says, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” it is asking for deliverance from the snares that can so easily hold us back from following in the footsteps of Christ.

The final thing that we must do is yield to the way that Jesus set before us. For us to move forward and fully enjoy our Christian walk, we must accept our place on the road of life and yield to the way of the Lord.

How is your prayer life today? Are you praising God for the blessings and repenting of the things that are holding you back from receiving what you are asking for while yielding to the example that has been set for you? I encourage each of you to look deep within your heart and examine your thoughts. Choose today to examine your heart and set it straight.

Take a look with me at another meaning that we as Christians can implement into our walk that will change our view of the GPS, that system is God’s Priority System.  When we tap into God’s Priority System we will see what His desires for our lives are.  One way to do this is by using the book of Philippians as a guide in our everyday life.  I remember one common theme growing up in youth group was the use of the Philippian filter.

The Philippian filter can be a great guide for our daily walk with Christ.  Looking through the words that Paul shared in Philippians, we see almost every situation that may come up in our lives and can guide our steps in a way that will lead us closer to God if applied correctly.

Philippians 2:5-11 shows us what type of mindset we should have when approaching every situation we may face.  Paul tells us here: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (KJV)”

We must put on the mind of Christ if we want to view this world the way that God does.  When we accept Christ and call ourselves Christians we profess before men that we are following Christ.  We make a profession that tells those around us that we are putting on the mind of Christ, and we are making a claim to live as He would live.

What kind of life are you living today?  Are you using God’s Priority System or your own?  Are you striving to put on the mind of Christ on a daily basis while seeking to serve God in every aspect of your life?  I challenge each of you to put on the mindset that Paul is speaking of here…you will be surprised at how your life will change when you do.

Use your GPS and follow God down the path He has set before you…you will never regret following His pathway.

When we become wrapped up in our everyday comings and goings, how we approach them can show us where our mind is really at.  When we get so buried in our work, our activities, or even our families, we many times find that we are forgetting the most important factor of them all, keeping God at the center.  One thing I would encourage you to do is to see where your focus lies.  Look deeply into your heart and see who you are praising when things go well?  Where do you turn when things get rocky?

For many of us, the answer to the second question is the same…we turn to prayer when things start to go wrong, because we can’t see any other way out.  This should also be our attitude toward the good times in our lives as well.  God is the same whether things are going well for us, or things are going badly; He is always the same, never changing, no matter the circumstance.

Too many times in our lives we only remember God when we need Him, forgetting that we need Him in every aspect of our lives.  God is not just our go-to-guy in the time of trouble.  Scripture tells us that God is our “very present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1).”  Many of us only remember this verse when it comes to our dealings with God.

In those times of trouble, however, we do seem to find ourselves forgetting the words that David shared a few lines later:  “Be Still and Know that I am God (Psalm 46:10)”.  God is always there, and we are asked to be still at times and let Him be there.  When we let our Ego take over, we still turn to God in our times of trouble, but we let pride allow us to hold on to what we are turning to God for, because we feel as if we need to do something ourselves…letting go of our problems at the foot of the cross is not a bad thing.

This can also be translated into the good times in our lives as well.  We too many times forget how we got where we are…we have done nothing on our own, and what we have is a gift from God.  We are His.  We have nothing without His blessings, and we need to remember that in the good times we must also give Him praise for what we have.

John the Baptist understood this, he had a following…everything was going great for him in his ministry, but when asked if he was the chosen Messiah, he responded that he was but a messenger sent to prepare the way.  When Jesus entered the scene and was baptized, John again proclaimed praise and informed those who followed him that Jesus was the one they were seeking.  We should put on a mind like John and remember his words when asked how he felt when his followers departed from him to follow Jesus.  “He must increase, I must decrease (John 3:30).”

We must get out of the way for God to truly bless us in the way He intends…when we hold on to the problems and seek praise for the accomplishments, we limit God in what He can do in our life.  We are His children, we are His messengers, and, simply put, we are His.  What are you doing today in your life?  Are you seeking the glory that is rightfully God’s? Or, are you seeking to praise Him in every aspect of your life?  Don’t let your Ego edge God out of your life.

This is where we can see what grace truly means.  G.R.A.C.E. can be looked at like this – God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense.  This is where we truly see the love of Christ for the church.  We, as the church, are the bride of Christ.  We have been bought with a price that was unimaginable by the human mind.  God has given His riches to his children through the selfless sacrifice of His only son on a cross that, for all intensive purposes, was intended for each of us.

Romans 6:23 reminds us, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  This is the evidence of the grace that abounds through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  We are all sinners and we all come up short when trying to succeed on our own…this is where grace thrives.

What we see in grace is that none of us can make it on our own accord…there is not a single person alive that can reach heaven if they fail to realize that grace is the only way for us to enter the gates.  If we do not accept the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, we will fall short of the eternal promise that is given.

So what can you do today?  There is only one answer.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…no one comes to the father except through me.”  This is what we must realize; the only way to heaven is to believe with all our hearts that Jesus is the one, true way to reach the throne of God.  Believing is not enough, however; we must also confess that Jesus is the Savior, and deny ourselves, taking up our cross and following in His footsteps.

The scripture tells us that even Satan and the demons believe in Christ, so believing is not enough, we must accept and acknowledge with our deeds and our lifestyles.  When we become a Christian, we are washed clean of our transgressions, we are made whole – are you living life like that?

In 1 John 3:5-6 we are told that Christ appeared to take away our sin, and in him there is no sin…also showing us the form of grace in that, anyone who abides in Christ cannot sin, and that Christ cannot abide where sin is.

Paul sums it up best in Romans 6 where he tells us, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him; (Romans 6:1-3, 7-8 KJV)”

Remember you were bought with a price.

Where then do you stand today as you seek to serve God in your daily walk?

Paul addresses the issue of prayer in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 by saying to pray without ceasing. He also mentions prayer throughout his letters to the churches by telling of the power that is found in the daily conversations with God.

The problem that many Christians have today is the lack of zeal when it comes to developing their relationship with God. There are many who are content to sit back and watch the world fade into darkness and selfishly claim a savior who died for all without sharing the comfort that comes with a relationship with Him.

I ask you today to search your heart.  Look deep within yourself and take note of what you are doing for the kingdom. I encourage each of you to pray earnestly for God to work in situations with full assurance in the faith that He will deliver on His promises.

Prayer is an important part of your daily relationship with God. If it weren’t so I would venture to say that Jesus wouldn’t have taught the disciples how to do it. The apostles wouldn’t have preached it, and we wouldn’t rely on it when people are sick and downtrodden today. Pray until something happens today or this week. Pray for a month and see if God is not willing to fulfill promises that He made to us.

When you pray, abide in faith, because the promise of faith we have from Hebrews 11:1 states that, “faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of things we do not see.” When you pray with faith mountains move and things happen. Bury your life in prayer and enjoy the blessings that await.