Today we continue our series entitled, “Pursuing Grace-Based Success!”
Here are our foundational scriptures:
(Ephesians 2:8-10 ERV)
8 I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God.
9 You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about.
10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.
(1 Corinthians 1:30,31 NLT)
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.
31 Therefore, as the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”
(2 Timothy 1:9 NKJV)
Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Yesterday we looked at Hebrews 4 and I deal with entering into God’s rest. Let’s look at Hebrews 4:2 today and flow in the same vein.
(Heb 4:2 KJV)
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.
The “gospel” the writer refers to in this verse was the good news that the Lord was giving the newly freed Israelites the land of Canaan, the land promised to the forefathers to give them. This was a message of grace. The Israelites did nothing to earn their deliverance from Egypt and did nothing to deserve the Blessing of Canaan. The Lord instructed Moses to send 12 spies into the land on a reconnaissance mission. The recon team was supposed to survey the land, bring back evidence of the land’s goodness, and bring back information about the inhabitants because taking possession of the land would require a fight. Moses told the people what God said — he preached the gospel.
The spies went into the land and brought back physical evidence of how good the land was, but they then made the fatal mistake of allowing fear to cancel out their faith. Because the land was inhabited by giants (the Anakin), 10 of the 12 spies developed a ‘grasshopper mentality‘ and told the people that there was no way that they could do it. Although two of the 12 (Joshua and Caleb) did their best to drive home the message (preach the gospel) that they COULD do it — that they were WELL ABLE to take possession of the land and enter into God’s rest — the crowd (millions of people) sided with the ten instead of the two and the rest, as they say, is history. Millions of people died desert without ever entering God’s best because they did not believe God.
So what does this mean to you today? You may be thinking, “I got it, Rick, I have read the story, but what does this have to do with me today?” Several things:
1. God has offered you divine rest.
The Father offered a supernatural rest to the Israelites, and the writer of Hebrews tells us that the offer still stands. When I say “rest,” don’t think of laying down on the couch or taking a nap. Think of a supernatural internal peace that enables you to maximize your purpose and potential in life. Without this rest, crossing over into frustration is far too easy.
Frustration is “A feeling of dissatisfaction, often accompanied by anxiety or depression, resulting from unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems.”
Will there be times when you feel like you have unfulfilled needs or unresolved problems? Of course, there will be, but that’s where divine rest comes in. The Father wants you to trust Him SO much that you can truly rest, even while you are waiting on the manifestation of His promises in your life. Because if you don’t enter God’s divine rest and allow His rest to enter you, satan can creep in, get you to lose heart, get you to relax the grip you have on your faith, get you frustrated, and before you know it, you run the risk of giving up and quitting!
Remember, becoming a success, in God’s eyes, is a marathon and not a sprint. It is about arriving at God’s overall expected end for your life. It is about getting OUT of you everything God placed IN you before you die. And that is easier said than done if you don’t have divine rest. But when you do, and you grow to the point where you are at peace in your heart, you will develop endurance, perseverance, and patience, which are all required to succeed in your life’s journey.
2. God’s grace is accessed with your faith.
God freely offers you His promises by grace, just as He did with the Israelites in the text. They did nothing to earn or deserve their deliverance from Egypt, and the same can be said about God’s offer to give them Canaan. It was all an act of God’s unearned grace. In the same way, God offers you His best by His unearned grace.
— God made plans for you before you were born. You obviously did not earn the plans becuase you were not around to do anything. God’s destiny for your life is not performance-based becuase God set your destiny before you could perform.
— The promises found in the Word of God were written before you were born, so you did nothing to earn them either. They were written for you by God’s unmerited favor, and they stand as open promises, waiting for you to access them with your faith.
— The Israelites in the text failed to mix faith with what they heard. Their lack of faith led to a catastrophic failure where millions of people missed experiencing God’s best. Don’t let this be said of you. You must hear what God says to you through the filter of faith and see what God reveals to you through the lens of faith. Because without faith, it is impossible (and this word means impossible) to please God (Heb 11:6).
3. Just because God’s promised it, that does not mean you will not have to fight for it, and many times your fight will be the fight of faith.
The nation of Israel had to engage in a physical fight to take possession of the land God promised. Most of the time, for us today, the fight is a faith fight. When you are in a faith fight, and you are believing God for the breakthrough, it might take a while. That is where divine rest comes in.
The writer of Hebrews went on to say, “Let us labor to enter into that rest” (v.11).
— Remaining in God’s rest is not always easy. The enemy will do his best to get you over into fear, fret, and frustration, but you must be strong enough NOT to allow him to.
— While you are waiting on God, believing that He will do what He said He would do in your life, satan will do all he can to get you over into fear, doubt, and unbelief. If he can’t do that, then he will do all he can to get you to “put your hands” on something God told you to wait for. If satan can get you to TAKE ON THE CARE OF IT, to the point where you become impatient, and you start meddling while you are supposed to be resting, then you will wind up doing something that will cause a delay. You may not be DENIED, but if you sow bad seed while you are waiting on God, you will surely be DELAYED!
— While you are waiting on God, you must work on not working. You have to work on not CARING about it. Instead, you must CAST YOUR CARES over to God, knowing that He will manifest His best in His timing.
— When the negative thoughts enter your mind, you must take control of them and bring them captive into the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:3-5). This is how you fight the fight of faith. It is an internal fight in your soul.
4. If God expects you to fight, He has already given you the grace to win.
— God expected the Israelites to physically conquer the Anakin, to fight in faith, and to rely on His grace the entire way. Whether the fight you are facing this morning is physical or spiritual, just remember that God will never EXPECT you to do something He has not already EQUIPPED you to do. If He expects you to do it, it is because He equipped you to do it. And if He equipped you to do it, then He expects you to do it.
— God had already given the Israelites the grace to fight and win in order to take the land. But since they lacked faith, they failed to tap into God’s grace, and millions died without experiencing God’s best. Don’t let this be you!
— God’s supernatural empowerment, His grace, is already on you to do what You are called to do. Face your challenge head-on, face it in faith, trust God and His grace, and enter into God’s rest as you wait on the manifestation of your breakthrough. If you are worried, then you are not in faith, nor are you in rest.
— Supernatural rest will help feed your faith and starve your doubts.
Declaration of Faith:
Father, I thank You for teaching me about grace-based success.
I now see the type of divine rest that is possible through Your Word and Your Spirit. You have offered me this rest by grace. I access Your rest with my faith.
I enter into Your rest today, and I allow Your rest to enter into me. I receive the Word, I mix it with faith, I apply it to my life, and I rest every step of the way.
I trust You with my whole heart. I believe You can do all things in, with, and through my life. I live by faith, and my life of faith enables me to live every day in Your divine rest.
When the enemy attempts to get me out of Your rest, I resist every negative thought and bring them captive to the obedience of Christ. I will not allow myself or the enemy to get me OUT of Your rest.
I live in a stress-free environment from this day forward. I am IN You, and You are IN me. I am IN Your rest, and Your rest is IN me. I embrace Your grace to face challenges head-on, by faith, fully confident that You have already graced me to WIN! This is how I know GREATER IS COMING FOR ME! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
