37 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
37 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
|
|
<html>
|
|
<head>
|
|
<title>Blue Letter Bible: Day By Day By Grace — Bob Hoekstra</title>
|
|
<script src="../../../js/basepath.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
|
|
<script src="./js/nav.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
|
|
<script src="./js/MainHeader.js" type="text/javascript"></script><div class="head">
|
|
Day By Day By Grace
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="subhead">
|
|
Bob Hoekstra
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="desc-center">
|
|
<div class="pad2020">
|
|
August 6
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="main-just">
|
|
<div class="pad2030">
|
|
<h1>More on God's Promises and God's Rest</h1>
|
|
<div class="block"><i>There <b>remains</b> therefore a <b>rest</b> for the <b>people of God</b>. For he who has <b>entered His rest</b> has himself also <b>ceased from his works</b> as God did from His.</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Hbr', 4, '9-10');">Hebrews 4:9-10</a>)</div>
|
|
<p>Included in <b>God's promises</b> is <b>rest</b> for His people. This rest not only begins with <b>rest</b> from the <b>guilt</b> and <b>condemnation</b> of <b>sin</b>, but it also can grow into <b>rest</b> from <b>carnal striving</b> and <b>vain self-sufficiency</b>. Our verses speak of this latter rest. <i>"There <b>remains</b> therefore a <b>rest</b> for the <b>people of God</b>."</i> When we became the people of God, we entered into God's rest from sin and guilt. Yet, having tasted of this rest, there still <i>"<b>remains</b>…a <b>rest</b> for the people of God."</i></p>
|
|
<p>Entrance into this additional spiritual rest requires a ceasing from one's own works. <i>"For he who has <b>entered His</b></i> [God's] <b><i>rest</i></b> <i>has himself also <b>ceased from his works</b>."</i> Renouncing one's self as the source or cause of spiritual growth, we can then rest in the Lord for a growing life of godly service and fruitfulness. Previously, we saw that the Apostle Paul walked with and lived unto God in this manner. <i>"I <b>labored</b> more abundantly than they all, <b>yet not I</b>, but the <b>grace of God</b> which was <b>with me</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('1Cr', 15, '10-10');">1 Corinthians 15:10</a>). Paul worked harder than any other leader in the early church. Yet, he acknowledged that the enabling reality was the grace of God, not himself. This fits perfectly with another confession of Paul's that we considered in previous devotions. <i>"<b>Not</b> that <b>we</b> are <b>sufficient</b> of <b>ourselves</b> to think of <b>anything</b> as being <b>from ourselves</b>, but <b>our sufficiency</b> is <b>from God</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('2Cr', 3, '5-5');">2 Corinthians 3:5</a>). Ultimately, such a life is explained as <b>Christ Himself</b> expressing <b>His life</b> in and through <b>our lives</b>. <i>"I have been crucified with Christ; it is <b>no longer I who live</b>, but <b>Christ lives in me</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Gal', 2, '20-20');">Galatians 2:20</a>).</p>
|
|
<p>This cessation from our works is to be as complete as God's ceasing from His work at creation. <i>"And <b>God rested</b> on the seventh day <b>from all His works</b>…For he who has <b>entered His rest</b> has himself also <b>ceased</b> from <b>his</b> works <b>as God did from His</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Hbr', 4, '4-4');">Hebrews 4:4</a>, <a onClick="return mV('Hbr', 4, '10-10');">10</a>). God rested on the seventh day, because His "creation-work" was finished. We are to rest from our works, because we cannot add to the finished work of Christ for us. He completed our redemption upon the cross. <i>"He said, '<b>It is finished</b>!' And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Jhn', 19, '30-30');">John 19:30</a>). He has also fully prepared the works that He wants us to now enter into by faith. <i>"For we are <b>His workmanship</b>, created in Christ Jesus <b>for good works</b>, which <b>God prepared beforehand</b> that we should <b>walk in them</b>"</i> (<a onClick="return mV('Eph', 2, '10-10');">Ephesians 2:10</a>).</p>
|
|
<div class="dbdbg_prayer">Lord, I see that I must rest in You for daily growth and service as fully as I rested in You for initial salvation. Help me to cease from my own vain striving, that I might trust in You to work in and through me, Amen.</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="desc-center">
|
|
<div class="pad2020">
|
|
<a href="./devotions/daybyday/08/0805.html">Yesterday's Reading</a>
|
|
<a href="./devotions/daybyday/08/0807.html">Tomorrow's Reading</a>
|
|
</div>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<div class="return"><a href="./devotions/daybyday/index.html">Return to Day By Day By Grace Page</a>
|
|
</div>
|
|
<script src="./js/MainFooter.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
|