"A Keeping Sabbath"

 "There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God." (Hebrews 4:9 KJV)

  "Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For those who follow godly paths will rest in peace when they die." (Isaiah 57:1-2 NLT)

 The first thing I experienced, after Christ entered into my heart, was peace and joy; no matter what was going on around me, I felt as though my life was secure and nothing seemed to bother me. Even though I was in a jail facility, I didn't feel as though I was locked up, but I felt free because I had been given a purpose: To share the reason for why I had such peace and joy! 

 I am pretty sure that there have been days when I struggled to have that same feeling; but to be perfectly honest, it is more than a feeling! Our peace and joy come from the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, it is not something that we conjure up on our own. He has placed the Holy Spirit within us; so, when there is any sort of discomfort within us, it is most likely because we have not followed the Spirit's guidance in our life. 

 Thinking back to my early days as a new believer, I depended upon the Spirit's prompting me, showing me what to do, and the chance to be used share the Good News. Has that always been the case? Sadly, to say, no! But it has been some wonderful kind of journey! 

 I heard something the other day that made me feel better about the things I have done wrong. It was about God's speaking to Abraham, saying, "Take your son, your only son - yes, Isaac, whom you love so much - and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you." (Genesis 22:2 NLT)

 The thing that I never thought of before, was that God called Isaac Abraham's only son! The first son that was born from Abraham was born of the flesh; meaning that he was not following and trusting God would give him a son by Sarah. But God did not count that sin against him, by calling Isaac his only son! 

 Even though Abraham messed up, sometimes not trusting God, whether it was Sarah's ability to give birth, or that some king might want to kill him and take his wife, God still called him righteous! That is what we have in Christ Jesus: Righteousness, even though we still mess up, He does not count our sins against us! 

 The "rest" we see in this verse before us today, is a different rest; one that is continuous and everlasting! "The blessed rest from toils and troubles looked for in the age to come by the true worshippers of God and true Christians." "A keeping Rest"...

"For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:6-10 NLT)