Removing the barrier to entering into God's Rest.

Pretty loooooong!

My sister told me a joke that her friend shared with her. This was almost 20 years ago. It was about some pastor that commanded his congregation thus:

"Ę gbá èşù l'étí! Ę gba l'étí!" 

In English: "Slap Satan! Slap him!"

Nobody wanted to do that:)

Her friend said to her: "Satan is probably reading a newspaper and minding his own business. Why risk getting his attention by slapping him?" 

I absolutely shared the same sentiment as we laughed over the joke. Little did I know that all it takes for Satan to actively hate and plot to destroy anyone 24/7 with zero provocation is for that one to be made in God's image- that's all of mankind. 

But in Christ, we do not have to be afraid, as if we are like grasshoppers that Satan can just crush randomly and at will. Believers in Christ, the powers of darkness and their works that we are often afraid of are more scared of us than we are of them, because God is for and with us. 

Check out what the Israelites said after God told them to go and possess the promised land and the twelve spies  had returned with their reports from spying out the land (Numbers 13,) bearing in mind that these things (the Old Testament) are types and shadows of Christ and our salvation in Him:

30 "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

Grasshoppers??!!! How wrong they were!

38 years of their wandering/dying in ths desert passed. Then, Joshua sent two spies to the same land. Rahab (of the red rope on the wall of Jericho) told these spies what their enemies really thought of them, even way back when they first refused to enter the land (Joshua 2):

8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof, 9 and said to the men: “I know that the Lord has given you the land, that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land are fainthearted because of you. 10 For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. 11 And as soon as we heard these things, our hearts melted; neither did there remain any more courage in anyone because of you, for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath."

After almost 40 years had passed, the so-called giants and strongmen in the land were still petrified of the Israelites. But the 10 Israelites spies interviewed these sons of Anak in their hearts on the first scouting mission and decided that they looked upon them like grasshoppers!

Today, we all have the same choice as did the Israelites when God told them to take the land. The unbelieving Israelites refused to enter because they considered the giants and other challenges in the land as their responsibility. They acted as if the battle was theirs and not the Lord's. They neither believed God's word (He said He was giving them the land, and not because they deserved it) nor saw the work that the He had accomplished for them. The Israelites could not enter the land because of their unbelief. See this in Hebrews 3:

"16 For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? 17 Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? 19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief."

Because of UNBELIEF, God swore that they would never enter His rest. Paul wrote about this and how the entire incident applies to our lives in Christ in Hebrews 4:

"1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. 2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. 3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said:

“So I swore in My wrath,

‘They shall not enter My rest,’ ”

although the works were finished from the foundation of the world...11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience."

Beloved of God, today, our "rest" is not a physical land. It is Rest in Christ. He says in Matthew 11:28- "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

But many churchgoers are depending on their own human effort (arm of flesh) at obedience and doing works to take them into His rest. Such "fall according to the same example of disobedience" of the unbelieving Israelites.

The promise of entering God's Rest remains, and the barrier to entry is unbelief in Christ- the same kind of unbelief that the Israelites expressed when the Lord God told them to take the land and they refused because they saw their weaknesses and shortcomings as barriers to their entry and victory over the giants and strongmen in the land:

This is a picture of churchgoers seeing their sins and imperfections (that Christ came to save us from!) as barriers to entering His Rest and thinking that in Christ, Satan can still overpower them. 

The "giants" and other strongmen that occupy our "Rest" that the Lord is giving to us are not flesh and blood. We see who they are in Ephesians 6:12- "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Remember 12 spies went out to scout the land and all but Joshua and Caleb came back with a good report. The 10 unbelieving spies reminded God's people of their weaknesses, shortcomings and inability to battle the giants, strongmen and the challenges that were occupying the land that God already said He was giving to them- freely. This is a picture of pastors and leaders who point out sins and imperfections and make the flock feel that our own version of "giants" and challenges of life will crush us unless we first cleanse and fortify ourselves with our arm of flesh that is designed to fail. Such teach that that you have to do things by your own power in order to deserve or earn God's freely-given Rest in Christ.

But Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said:

 “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.”

Believer, the Lord God did not give the Israelites the land because they deserved it. See what Moses said to them as they were about to cross the Jordan to take over the Promised Land- after the unbelieving generation had died in the wilderness- Deuteronomy 9-

"Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! 2 The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ 3 But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.

4 “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that He is pushing them out of your way. 5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath He swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people."

Believer in Christ, we are Christ's and thus Abraham's seed. God is not giving us Rest in Christ because we are good. It is because we are children of the New Covenant in Christ.

Believer, let's not be like the Israelites who refused to enter the land because they walked by sight- focusing on our weaknesses, shortcomings and the power of Satan to destroy instead of looking to Jesus as our Rightousness and Strength. 

God had already given them the land, but they refused to believe that the land was theirs as the Lord God said. Instead, they focused on their own weaknesses and shortcomings as well as the "giants"in the land and the threats that they posed - beware of church leaders who keep you focused on you saving yourself from your sins and those that magnify the power of Satan and generational curses instead of pointing you to Christ as your Salvation.

Beloved of God, it does not matter how big these "giants and strongmen" of spiritual wickedness in high places are. It does not matter how powerful their mouthpieces behind many pulpits make them out to be. It does not matter the severity of our shortcomings and imperfections that these false pastors describe as barriers to entering Christ's freely-given Rest are- whether it is our sins or life's challenges of bad prognosis from the doctor, lack, depression, fear, anxiety, bad thoughts and all earthly ills. Beloved of God,  see the word of the Lord concerning all who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ: Romans 5:9-

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

As if we had never sinned! Righteous through the blood of Jesus, we have unfettered access to every single blessing in God's word, not because we deserve it but through the blood of Jesus. And in His Rest, our Saviour Jesus Christ does not just leave us to continue to wallow in sins as antichrist pastors like to imply, as if we just want an excuse to commit sin! Titus 2:14 says of His work in our life-

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

The reason why many cannot enter the Rest that God freely gives to all who are Christ is because they are following after the example of disobedience of the unbelieving Israelites: God's word says in Deut. 9:6-

"You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people."

God's word says in Romans 8:32- "He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

But many are trying to possess His Rest by doing good things like keeping the law in order to be good with God, fasting to break the "giant" of generational curses and sowing seed to overcome the "giant" of lack. Many churchgoers are being shuffled about from one "yoke-breaking" convention to another by antichrist pastors who subject them to the oppression of "giants and strongmen" by causing them to depend on what they can do or give by their own power to earn entry into God's freely-given Rest. No friend. His Rest is found in utter trust and dependence on Christ as Saviour (even from sins) while putting no confidence in the flesh (human effort) at attaining godliness.

The arm of flesh will fail. When it is none of self and all of Christ, we get to enter His Rest and slay those "giants and strongmen" aka spiritual wickedness behind pulpits that try to keep us from resting in Christ, and with them the fear, depression, anxiety and other mountains that they try to put us under- like Caleb.

Believer, our sins and shortcomings can never prevent us from entering or fully occupying the Promised Land (Rest) that Christ died that we might have. Christ came to save us from those same sins- Matthew 1:21-

"She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Those "giants and strongmen" aka spiritual wickedness in high places and life's challenges such as sickness and lack are more afraid of us than we are of them! With Christ as our Righteousness and our Strength and us putting absolutely no confidence in our own ability to live a godly life in a bid to enter Christ's rest, Satan and his minions are 100% afraid of us. Always. Why? Because the battle is not ours. The battle is the Lord's! 

This is is why antichrist preachers always preach sermons that keep the churchgoer focused on saving himself from his sins and living a godly life by human effort (Law) and never what Christ has done to make us righteous and free to enter God's Rest (Grace.) Satan can only devour those who believe that they can overcome sin or live a godly life (be like God) by their own human striving. 

For we who believe, the Lord  Himself is our Righteousness and our Strength.

The Holy Spirit will teach you all things. 

Believe Right and you will Live Right.