Rest

God commands His blessings upon us if we learn to rest in Him completely.

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Mt.11:28)

"Come to Me". Jesus instructs us to come to Him, not to a church, a denomination, nor any religious leader. He alone can provide the rest that we so desperately need and seek.

"...all you...". Nobody is excluded. Jesus welcomes all of us, regardless of color, creed, experiences, heritage, history, race, or religion. That means even you. Jesus is calling even you into this rest.

"...you who labor and are heavy laden...". Most of us have had times when we felt weary and worn out. We know what it means to be tired from our labor. Many factors of life, and even life itself, can cause us to feel a tremendous amount of stress. No matter what the cause or the source of your weariness, Jesus is offering you rest. But here I believe Jesus is specifically talking about people who have been burdened with laboring to keep the commandments. Most religions and even most Christian churches tend to impose this burdon on their members. But not Jesus. He offers rest from these labours and heavy burdens. Religion is a heavy burden, but Jesus invites us to experience real rest for our souls.

"...I will give...". Another important thing for us to understand is that Jesus gives us this rest freely. If we had to work for it, it wouldn't be free. If we had to labor for it, it wouldn't be a gift.

"...I will give you rest." Jesus is our Sabbath. He is our rest. His free gift of rest is given to us when we are Born Again. I also want you to notice that in the context of this verse with the following verse, there are two kinds of rest mentioned. In verse 28 we read about the rest that is freely given within our spirit beings when we are Born Again. In verse 29 we read about rest that we find, or grow into, within our souls. Your soul is your mind, will, and emotions. The biggest battleground for a Christian seems to be our minds and our emotions. As we grow in Him and learn to yield to Him, we will find ourselves learning to be fully rested in our souls.

"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Mt.11:29)

When we take His yoke, we are partnering with Him. He works with us helping us every step along the way. We see this mentioned again in the last verse of Mark.

"And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen." (Mk.16:20)

Have you ever noticed that so many of the Lord's healings and miracles occurred on the Sabbath day? Could it be that God's power flows on our behalf most freely when we are in a state of rest? Could it be that one major hindrance to us receiving from His is that we are not fully resting in Him? I believe that if we could find ourselves flowing with Him, yoked together with Him, fully resting in Him the way He intended, we'd see the same miraculous life that He experienced lived out within our own lives.

In fact, the principle seen in the 25th chapter of Leviticus is that if you are honoring the Sabbath, that is living in the rest that He provides, that He will COMMAND His blessings to come upon us.

20 And if you say, 'What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce' 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.

Many time we "word of faith" Christians like to claim the blessings of the covenant that are listed in Deuteronomy 28. One of those blessings is that God promises to COMMAND blessings on us.

8 The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
 
Psalm 133:3 is another reference where Scripture tells us that God commanded the blessings upon Zion. Spiritually speaking, the New Testament Church is Zion. As we learn to walk in Him, in His rest, we will find ourselves fully living a supernaturally blessed life.

So how do we enter into this rest? Isaiah reveals, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Is.26:3). Those who are believers in, and followers of Christ Jesus, have the promise of perfect peace, which is the full and complete elimination of fear, frustration, and stress. Again, Jesus Christ says that He wants to freely give this rest to us if we just simply come to Him for it. "Come unto me, all ye that labour 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" (Mt. 11:28-29).

Isaiah also prophesied that speaking in tongues was a major means of entering into God's supernatural rest (Is.28:11-12). Again God's Word records, "Be careful for nothing: but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil.4:6-7). Note that this peace of God passeth all understanding. Jesus Christ alone is the source of peace and rest.confident tranquility. Jesus Christ is known as the Prince of Peace (Is.9:6). He is the solution.the permanent everlasting solution.