
We Unite, as the body of Christ, in Worship of the Father. The Son came to reconcile us back to the Father. There is unity in worship because all of our focus is on GOD as we acknowledge there is nothing or no one greater. In the act of worship, we yield our body and mind as instruments of worship. Before I go any further, I don’t want anyone to confuse what I am sharing here with church service in a building or virtually. I am referring to the life of an individual believer in an ongoing, never-ending, sweet communion with GOD.
I once worked with a 7th Day Adventist. After work one day, I was giving this co-worker a ride to the bus station, and he decided to try and proselytize me. He expounded on the biblical evidence and other facts that indicated that the Sabbath day was Saturday, the last day of the week, and Christians should worship on that day. I explained to Him that to comply with what he was teaching; I would have to reduce the time I spent in worship to GOD because I had entered into the eternal communion with GOD presented in the rest of Christ the Savior. In addition to that, the ministry I was attending at the time gathered on Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday of each week to worship and study. There was also many of us that would commonly gather on Saturday evenings for dinner and fellowship. We had been freed from the tradition of men and was following the leading of the Spirit from our hearts.
GOD has called us to enter into His rest.
“7 Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, “To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.”) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; 15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation. 16 For some, when they had heard, did provoke: howbeit not all that came out of Egypt by Moses. 17 But with whom was he grieved forty years? was it not with them that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.” (Hebrews 3:7-19 KJV)
“1Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7 Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.” (Hebrews 4:1-11 KJV)
If you are trying to live this life in your own understanding and forge your own way, you have not entered into this blessed rest. It doesn’t matter who you are or how much money you make. If you have not entered the rest of GOD, then your soul is screaming for the living water that only comes from GOD.
“28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV)
A principle I learned a long time ago is that as children of GOD, our lives should not be driven by ambition, but calling. When I say calling, I am referring to heeding the voice of GOD in the direction He is giving you for your life. Many people live to vindicate and validate themselves through either fame or monetary riches. Both of those goals represent compromise in the heart of a Christian. Seeking fame compromises the heart of a Christian because as a servant of Christ they are called to glorify Him and not themselves because He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. The only way the lost can be recovered is for Christ to be lifted up. If GOD chooses to lift us up it is only because we are a faithful signpost to Him. Seeking monetary riches requires that a Christian split their affections between treasuring the things of GOD and treasuring the things of this world. This leads to instability and conflict because the two are contrary to the other. This is why GOD requires that we seek Him with our whole heart. It is the only way we find true stability and peace, which equates to rest for our soul.
“1At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn and to eat. 2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. 3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? 5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? 6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. 7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. 8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:1-8 KJV)
We enter the rest of GOD when we surrender the governance of our lives to Him to see His will done. We learn what His will is through a lifestyle of worship, through abiding in His presence in spirit and truth.
This next scriptural exert is from the conversation YESHUA had with the Samaritan woman at the well. Once she perceived He was a prophet, she started to tell Him what she knew about religious matters. Here is what YESHUA told her.
“22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:22-24 NKJV)
Are you walking in new life after your spiritual identity, as one born not of the will of man but the will of GOD? Have you divested yourself of all loyalties other than those committed to the Kingdom of GOD? This single mindedness is a key component to sanctification of Spirit. We must be spiritually minded to flow with GOD because He is spirit. All who are spiritually minded, as a result of being surrendered to the will His Spirit, have been united in Christ through sanctification of the Truth. You can’t partake of this divine unity unless you are crucified to this world and this world is crucified to you. The wicked powers of this world have devised all manner of classifications and divisions to keep the people of GOD divided, because it is known that a house divided cannot stand. You cannot allow the world to define who you are by allowing it to conform you through its strategic social programming. Defining who you are is a privilege which belongs to GOD alone.
This is what Paul is talking about in Colossians 3:2-11.
2 Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. 3 For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 So put to death and deprive of power the evil longings of your earthly body [with its sensual, self-centered instincts] immorality, impurity, sinful passion, evil desire, and greed, which is [a kind of] idolatry [because it replaces your devotion to God]. 6 Because of these [sinful] things the [divine] wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience [those who fail to listen and who routinely and obstinately disregard God’s precepts], 7 and in these [sinful things] you also once walked, when you were habitually living in them [without the knowledge of Christ]. 8 But now rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, malice, slander, and obscene (abusive, filthy, vulgar) language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new [spiritual] self who is being continually renewed in true knowledge in the image of Him who created the new self— 11 a renewal in which there is no [distinction between] Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, [nor between nations whether] barbarian or Scythian, [nor in status whether] slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all [so believers are equal in Christ, without distinction]. (Colossians 3:2-11 AMP)
This is what it means to be sold out. You are not yoked to the temporal and small-minded interest of this current world order, which all of this world’s nations are yoked too. You are living in the grand picture of GOD’s purposes. You are a sojourner here because you seek a Kingdom not of this earth, but one that is spiritual and eternal. Until this is your mindset, you cannot unite with GOD or His true worshippers because your heart is adulterated, and your carnal allegiances and mindsets will clash with the things of the Spirit. There is no marriage between the things of this world and the things of GOD. It all has to be put to death on the cross in surrender of the old life. This putting to death of the old life is what makes way for the new life which is in the likeness of Christ.
9 After these things I looked, and this is what I saw: a vast multitude which no one could count, [gathered] from every nation and from all the tribes and peoples and languages [of the earth], standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Christ), dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands; 10 and in a loud voice they cried out, saying, “Salvation [belongs] to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb [our salvation is the Trinity’s to give, and to God the Trinity we owe our deliverance].” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the [twenty-four] elders and the four living creatures; and they fell to their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and majesty and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might belong to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders responded, saying to me, “These who are dressed in the long white robes—who are they, and from where did they come?” 14 I said to him, “My lord, you know [the answer].” And he said to me, “These are the people who come out of the great tribulation (persecution), and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb [because of His atoning sacrifice]. 15 For this reason, they are [standing] before the throne of God; and they serve Him [in worship] day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them and shelter and protect them [with His presence]. 16 They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any [scorching] heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of the waters of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes [giving them eternal comfort].” (Revelation 7:9-17 AMP)
These are those who answered the call to worship GOD in spirit and in truth and were allowed to enter into His eternal rest. Christ said many are called but few are chosen. Will you be among the few that believe unto total surrender and lay down your life in this world to become a sanctified, unadulterated bride of Christ. A believer committed to seeking GOD with your whole heart.
Leave a Reply