Dear ones,
It’s hard to believe we have another month gone and are already half way through the year. Time is definitely advancing quickly and it reminds me of how critical our role is as disciples of the living God!
As a starting place in this month’s letter, I’d like to share a devotional from Daily Open Windows by T. Austin Sparks. This devotion is taken from his book The Essential Newness of the New Creation and is right on point with my heart in these days. It begins with Hebrews 4:11 taken from the Phillips translation:
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“Let us then be eager to know this rest for ourselves, and let us beware that no one misses it through falling into the same kind of unbelief as those we have mentioned.”
Those who failed to go in failed, it says, to enter into His rest. Those to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. That is remarkable! The Gospel was preached to them. These are they to whom the Gospel was afore preached. What is the Gospel? To answer the inquiry in that connection, it is Christ as our Rest. That is the Gospel; and the Gospel of Christ as our Rest was preached to them in type and they to whom the Gospel was afore preached failed to enter in. Then, says the Apostle, “Let us therefore give diligence to enter into that rest, that no man fall after the same example of disobedience.” They failed! God set forth another day, saying, “Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts…” The Gospel is preached to believers to enter into His Rest. The Lord Jesus put this in the germ form of truth when He said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Christ in heaven is our spiritual Rest, heart rest.
What is the essence of rest? It is satisfaction and assurance. If you are satisfied, you’re at rest, no matter how much work you have to do. And if you are quite sure that your work is going to be successful, you have assurance, and you are in rest. Everything for us is based upon Christ having entered as the Forerunner, and having become our Rest. We shall labor; we shall pour ourselves out; we shall spend; we shall be spent; but in it all there can be real heart rest. We shall be assailed; we shall be pressed on every side; we shall be cast down; we shall be tried; but Christ can still remain our Rest; for in the first place, we know that these things are not going to be to our destruction, since He has destroyed the power of destruction; and, in the second place, that our labors are not in vain, because He has swallowed up death victoriously. He is our Rest.
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Isn’t that rich? Isn’t it encouraging? “He has destroyed the power of destruction.” Think on that (or as it says in Psalms, “Selah” which I understand to mean “pause and think about that” and so we shall. We shall pause and think about that no matter what kind of raw material we may be dealing with these days. And when we do, our minds will continue to be renewed in His life changing Truth and Victory.
As the headlines continue to expose the rise of godlessness, lawlessness and wickedness, the more it matters that we disciples are doing our job… reflecting the beautiful and refreshing glory of our risen Lord. If we don’t, then the ‘headless’ humans we encounter have no idea that they have an option, that they don’t have to buy into whatever the world dishes out. But as we demonstrate an alternative Life, they can begin to see differently… all because they’ve seen someone live differently. (And, of course, the only reason we can live differently is because of the Life – His Life – that we’ve enthroned in our hearts and souls!)
It’s certain that we “march to the beat of a different drummer” and that we look to and trust in something (Someone!) other than they know. And if we are being faithful to Him in the same manner He was faithful to His Father, then their “knowing” begins to change course.
In the news, we see riots and demonstrations and coups trying to change the world. But Father’s ways are not our ways. He changes the world by changing hearts, one at a time. Then the momentum, the domino effect, begins to change more hearts, which change more hearts, etc.
I’ve noticed in a whole new way lately how influential Yeshua was during His incarnation. He was appealing, He was approachable. Lost sinners had no problems relating to Him because He wasn’t judging or ‘fixing’ them. Instead, He was loving and wooing and drawing them to Himself, because in Him is contained the Fullness of the Father.
Borrowing a word picture from my days in Christ Life, picture a person standing on a busy street corner in the midst of crowds of people. Something catches that person’s attention and he stops in his tracks and looks up. And stands there, transfixed on whatever it is he sees. Passersby have to move to avoid bumping into him but they can’t help but be curious about what he’s looking at. So, one by one, they also stop in their tracks and look up. And if we see this phenomenon in our context as disciples, that man was fixing his eyes on Yeshua, the author and perfecter of his faith. And because his attention was riveted on Yeshua, other people began to look for Him too.
That’s how I see it working – it isn’t that we have to beat people over the head with Truth… all we have to do is gaze upon the beauty of His holiness and allow Him to be accurately reflected through us. And then, the Holy Spirit does the work of wooing people into Truth that they needed but didn’t know how to find. He’s still appealing and approachable, so let’s give Him the opportunity to shine through these vessels of clay! And that’s how we can influence our world and usher in more worshippers to give Him the glory due His matchless and wonderful Name.
In His love, and for His glory,
Your sister, Nancy