03 Feb Pillow (Resting on the Promises of God) Part 6

A few summers ago I was invited to speak at a ministers conference in Memphis. I had just finished my normal three weekend services and had gotten very little sleep during that particular weekend. On Monday we traveled to Memphis for this three-day event. For whatever reason, I simply could not get to sleep in this hotel. Over the two nights I was there I think I probably got a total of an hour or two of sleep over both nights. Over Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I was on virtually no sleep.

Now I haven’t had caffeine for approximately 21 years so all I could do was keep moving. As long as I was moving I was fine. However, whenever I sat down I really had to fight nodding off. Thank God the ministry went well and no one could tell I was so sleep deprived! However, when I got home I had to minister at our Wednesday night service and after the service ended I can tell you I was never so glad to see my bed in my entire life! It’s so vital to get good rest!

However, in this series we aren’t talking about physical rest but resting in the promises of God! Over the several weeks months we have discovered some biblical synonyms for the concept of rest:

1. Fret not (see Psalm 37:1-9)

2. Fear not (see Mark 5:36)

3. Let not your heart be troubled (John 14:1)

4. Take no thought (see Matthew 6:31)

5. Be anxious for nothing (see Phil. 4:6-7)

Then we shared with you our key verses from Hebrews 4:11-12: “Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

We shared with you the Greek word translated “labor” is the Greek word spoedes which connotes “meditation”. Then we began to share “4 Righteous Realms of Rest”:

Rest in the promises of God (II Pet. 1:3-4). Here we shared with you two simple but life-changing ways to rest in the promises of God:

1. Believe the promise of God

2. Speak the promise of God

This week let’s continue our discussion…

2. Rest in the power of a seed (Mark 4:26-28).

“And he said, So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth now how. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.”

Have you ever seen grass spring up out of a cement driveway? Have you ever seen a plant spring up out of a huge boulder? Look at the power of a seed! From the aforementioned verses, God simply wants us to put the Word in our hearts (the “ground” in this parable) and then go to bed and rise up. In other words, rest in the power of a seed! The key to our seeds (promises) successfully growing up can be found in Mark 4:15-20. Here the Bible says, “And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown: but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time; afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.”