17 Feb Pillow (Resting on the Promises of God) Part 8

Have you ever watched a court room drama?  After days of testimony, defendants and prosecutors, the lawyer finally looks to the judge and says, “Your Honor, I rest my case.”  Now when the attorney does this it does not indicate he is exhausted , but simply shows he is finished.  That’s exactly what I am talking about here in this series.  Jesus has done all the work and now we can simply rest in the promises of God!

Over the last several weeks we have shared with you some biblical synonyms for the concept of “rest” contained within the Word of God:

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 scriptures for this series 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 discussed that the Greek word translated “labor” is the word “spuedes” which connotes “meditation”.  Then we began to talk with you about “Four Righteous Realms of Rest”:

1. Rest in the promises of God (II Pet. 1:3-4).

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

This week let’s continue…

3. Labor to enter into the rest (Heb. 4:10-12).

As we mentioned before, our labor is meditation on God’s Word until down on the inside it becomes larger than life! Over my 30 years of ministry I have watched many people go through very difficult situations. Many make it through successfully, but others got buried under the weight of the storm. Two very vital things I have discovered if you want to be included in the former group:

1. Never try to get a hold of the problem…get a hold of you!

2. Never first work on your problem…first work on you!

Please listen closely as I am about to give you the most important distance I can ever share with you in your entire life…18 inches! 18 inches is the difference between sickness or healing, poverty or supply, defeat or victory, life or death, and even heaven or hell! It is the distance between your head and your heart! Remember this, with the Word of God only in your head, you could end up dead. With the Word of God in your heart…you always get a brand new start!

“Ok Pastor Jim, I can see the importance of having the Word in not just my head but my heart. How do I get it there?” One very simple word… meditation! The word “medi” means to mutter over and over again and of course there is no power in meditating unless you are meditating on the Word of God!

Next week we’ll continue our series.