New Wine for New Wineskins July 2022


Categories :

How To Take A Real Rest (Part 2)

 

Paul asked a very clear question of the Galatian church. He asked them if having begun in the Spirit they now assumed that they could become perfect or mature through their fleshly efforts and futile attempts to keep the law.

The truth is that there is only one way to begin our new creation life and that is by being born again from above by the Spirit of God. Jesus said we must be born again of the Spirit. But then we are to continue in the Spirit and to finish in the Spirit.

Paul actually attributed the failure of these Galatian believers to continue in the Spirit to their being bewitched.

Galatians 3: 1 (Amplified)

1 O you poor and silly and thoughtless and unreflecting and senseless Galatians! Who has fascinated or bewitched or cast a spell over you?

Paul found some disciples in Ephesus who were a bit stuck in their experience of the new creation life. He asked them if they had received the Holy Spirit since they believed. Then he helped them move forward in their experience. He didn’t tell them to hang in there because there was going to be a revival one day – he moved them into revival because life in the Spirit is revival.

Later on in Acts 19 it says that within two years the whole of the surrounding region had been impacted by the word of the Lord and the supernatural confirmation of the Holy Spirit.

There is only one way to successfully and effectively live our new lives supernaturally naturally and naturally supernaturally and that is in the power of the Holy Spirit. We are Holy Spirit people.

Back in the early 1990’s I was walking with our dog on the croft behind our house. I was meditating on the word and fellowshipping with the Lord and I was remembering how Jesus said that he came to reveal the Father, and how he said that when the Holy Sprit came he would reveal Jesus and so I asked where did we fit in and what was our role. The answer I received was that we are to reveal the Holy Spirit. We are here to reveal the Holy Spirit who always points people to Jesus who is the only way to the Father.

Matthew 11: 28 – 30 (The Message)

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me- watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

How to take a real rest by learning from Jesus the unforced rhythms of grace.

I believe a real rest is more clearly defined in the NKJV. 

28 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

For too long people, including God’s people, have been trying to deal with the issues of life from the inadequate resources of the human soul, and as a result they have been wearing themselves out. Or even worse they have burned out on religion which is the soul’s attempt to perform oneself into God’s favour.

When Adam fell, he fell from his spirit to his soul and then he sinned and his spirit connection was lost. But Jesus, the second and last Adam restored the broken connection. Jesus resisted the devil’s attempts to move him from spirit to soul and he often asked his disciples, why did you doubt? or where is your faith? Doubt and unbelief manifest in the soul.

1 Corinthians 6: 17

17….he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

4D life has been restored because reconciliation has taken place. We no longer have to rely on the inadequate resources of our soul since spirit life has been restored and we can now truly live again from the fourth dimension of spirit.

When man sinned he fell from his spirit to his soul – from connection to the 4-D of heaven’s supernatural resources to the 3-D of the earth. Man was created in the image of God to have 4-D dominion in the 3-D earth (see Psalm 8).

Domination is the soul’s very poor substitute for dominion and the cause of much of the trouble in the world. The blessing of dominion became the curse of domination. Dominion is ours when we pray, Our Father in heaven, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Domination says, my will be done over your will. True spiritual authority then becomes authoritarianism. In fact, all of the isms that bring schisms originate in the soul of man.

Hebrews 1: 1 – 4

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.

Note that it doesn¿t say the he upholds all things by the power of his word but by the word of his power.  You might think that is just semantics and playing with words but God never plays with words. He creates with his word – the word of his power – “And God said…” (Genesis 1)

He saves with his word – the word of his power – “I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15) He heals with his word – the word of his power – “He sent his word and healed them.” (Psalm 107He delivers with his word – the word of his power – “He drove out the spirits with a word…” (Matthew 8) He raises the dead with his word – the word of his power – “Little girl, arise…” (Luke 8) and even when they have been dead for four days, “Lazarus, come forth…” (John 11)

We were born again to live the 4D Life. Jesus wants us to come to him and learn how to take a real rest in the unforced rhythms of grace.

Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? Are you continuing in the Holy Spirit?

There really is no other way to live the 4D life we were created to live and to learn how to take a real rest.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *