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I want to begin with a wonderful benediction from the
Apostle Paul, 2 Thessalonians 3:16. “Now may the Lord of
peace Himself continually grant you peace in every
circumstance! The Lord be with you all!” Sometimes our heart
says, “Is such a thing possible, that the Lord of peace Himself
would continually give peace in every circumstance?” Many
Christians don’t experience that benediction. Sometimes they
fret and worry. Sometimes they get very frustrated. I pray that
after this truth that God shows our heart, that we will understand
how to have rest at all times.
I started with that benediction because some have
confused peace and rest. Some people think that if in my life I
have anxiety, fear, fretting, frustration and confusion, that’s
proof that I need rest. If I have peace and happiness and
satisfaction and if I have joy and calmness, that is the fruit of
rest. That is not rest. Peace is not the same as rest. If you have
rest, the by-product will be peace. If we are resting in the Lord,
the by-product will be joy. God does not give us Jesus and
something else called “joy”. He doesn’t give us Jesus and
something else called “peace”. He only gives us Jesus. If we
have Him, we’ll have joy. If we have Him, we’ll have peace.
As you go on in the Lord we must learn not to chase
after by-products. If I seek Jesus I’ll have peace. If I seek peace
I’ll have frustration. If I seek the will of God, I will never find
the will of God. If I seek the God whose will it is, I will have
the will of God. In everything we must seek the Lord; not the
book of God but the God whose book it is; not the people of
God but the God whose people they are; not the will of God but
the God whose will it is. So, I want to begin by describing what
rest is.
Please follow these verses, Hebrews 4:4, “For He has
thus said somewhere concerning the seventh day, ‘And God
rested on the seventh day from all His works.’” Hebrews
4:9&10, “There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people
of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also
rested from his works, as God did from His.” 4:10 says that
God rested. If I can understand what it means that God rested,
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