Why talk about Tithe and Giving?

Why Tithe and Give?

Was watching the God Money and Me seminar by Paul De Young, from my home church, Life Church. I want to honor leadership for the dedication to the flock in bring this teaching to the church. Finance is such an important area for the body of Christ, and the lack of understanding in this area, really hammers our effectiveness to spread the gospel. During the seminar, a lot of the question so far comes with the viewpoint about how much we are to give to God? is it before tax, or after tax. There are many parts of the scripture that talks about tithes and offering. Many people are asking because they genuinely do not know what the bible says about giving. But more over I feel there are many that is coming from an attitude or mindset that says, “HOW much do I need to give back to God?” It’s like our response to taxes, what is the absolute legal minimum we can pay the government in taxes?

 

The attitude is, I want to be obedient and go by the book and give what is Required and ONLY what is required. Because some belief Tithes and offering, like taxes, it’s a system that TAKES AWAY resources that we have personally, and hence limits our financial ability to allocate resources to our desires, our family, our retirement, and all the good stuff that we could do with that money. Ultimately the belief is, Tithes and offering is a system that affects us negatively financially, it’s a sacrifice, it is a tax from God. at least this is what I used to think religiously.

 

I would presume like myself, the reason most people are asking all these questions about the tithe and offering, is based out of the incorrect motivation that see Tithe and offering as a “Giving”, meaning when you GIVE, you GAVE, and it is GONE. It a sacrifice, it’s an expense, and it takes from you.

 

Why would the father ask us to give a tithe?

Let’s explore this, why would the loving father in heaven, gives his sons and daughters a command to tithe and give? Is it so that he can take things from us? Limits us? Make our lives harder than it already is? To humble us? No! He did not give this law to us to humble us. He gave us this law so that he can set us up for Success.

 

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Malachi 3:10

 

You see when you give, what you are doing is, you are saying, God I trust in you. You are real. You are my source, I do not rely on the sweat of my brow to eat, I am relying on you to be my provider. “Giving” is not an EXPENSE. It is a Supremacy INVESTMENT. Like you invest in a fund, when you transfer the money to the broker, you are not sad because your bank account now has less money, you are excited because the investments have fantastic returns. When you “give”, your money does not disappear, it comes back in many folds.

 

When you tithe, “God will “pour out a blessing” on you. Do you know what this means? It means the blessing like Abraham has, that when he departed with Lot, he told Lot to choose whichever part of the land he liked, because it doesn’t matter, I Abraham has the blessing. I plant in the desert, and it will flourish just as well, because I have the blessing of God on me.

The blessing comes from the finished works of Jesus.

I am not saying you need to give tithe or offering in order to be blessed. You ARE blessed because of the divine Exchange, when Jesus took your sins, and he gave you his righteousness.  

9 For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. 2 Cor 9:8.

You are blessed because he HAS ALREADY Blessed you, and you receive that Blessing when you believe he has already done it.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: Eph 1:3

However what I am saying is the Tithe and Offering is one of the predominate Channel for God to enable the financial blessing that is already on you, to reach you. 

God provides for us when we give.

6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Cor 9:6-8

 

In 2 Corinthians Its simply saying, you give little, you get little, you give more you get more. And as you give, GOD is able to bless you, that you are in abundance, in all things, at all times, having sufficiency for every good work. The coverage is very universal.

 

10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. 2 Cor 9:10-11

 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38 

We have both Seeds as well as Bread in our resource basket.

When you are a sower, God is the one who gives both Seeds to you, as well as Bread. When you sow into the kingdom of God, God will provide for your needs and more. As a person sows, he does not look at what is in his hands, he is looking at the eventual crop that is coming at harvest time. The sowing system is a supernatural system. It is beyond the natural.

 

The question we are really addressing, is not how much we should give. But “Do I trust God to be my provider?” Is he going to meet me where he said he will, with all sufficiency for all things? Does he provide bread, as well as seed to those who sows? That is the challenge we are faced with, is God legit? Because that is what his word says.

 

Do we give everything?

Well do we go all out in giving everything I have? You do not want to sow your bread and eat your seed. And as he gives bread as well as seeds, it does mean that there are some resources which are for your living, and resources that are for you to sow. You want to be prudent, and know in your season, what things are for your living, and what resources are for yours to sow, it takes wisdom, knowledge and understanding to tell the difference. No one gets it right absolutely all the time. But we have grace to learn, and in time with experience we all become better farmers.

 

Havesting

I used to be a sower, that does not harvest. Meaning I will give, and not be expecting any returns from my giving. However, God does not reap for us. We need to be expecting a harvest and looking out for a harvest. When you sow, expect a harvest, when you sow expect a return in whichever forms that it comes. If you are sowing seeds, but not expecting anything to come back, you are not harvesting, and whatever efforts you spent in planting, if you do not reap, you will not have fruit. The harvest does not fall in your lap. Harvest needs to be reaped. And by reap, I mean, expect to succeed in the area of finances, my it be your investments, your career, your business, may it be in whichever form, ask God what you need to be reaping, and God will give you ideas and insights into where your sowing is ready ripe and ready to reap.

 

Conclusion

So, in conclusion if you feel that you are having trouble in giving. This most probably is because we have a limiting mindset, that we think when we give, it is taken out of our life, and its gone forever. This is a wrong understanding of what a tithe or offering does. God never intend to take things away from us, his intention for us is to give us more, give us abundance, and the tithe is a "channel" and means to do that.  

We don't "give" in order to "get", so that we can horde the stuff for ourselves, We give to get, so that as sons we can be more effective for God to have influence on this earth. 

The big Picture

Money is only a medium of exchange in this world. We do live in an economic world, and it does take finance to move things here. But this will all pass away, in heaven they use genuine gold for pavement. If we understand that our ability to create or acquire wealth is given to us, so that we can establish God’s covenant on earth. (Deut 8:18), it does give us a better perspective for the whole goal of the above, sowing and reaping is not so that you can hog more, its so that we can be more effective people for the kingdom of God. That we make disciples of all nations telling them about the good news that the war is over, God has won, we are now redeemed. 

Praying for the US Election 2020

During this US election season, I was praying for the US that a particular administration would be elected. Searching within, I am asking God, what am I actually doing and how does it work? What does praying for one administration really mean? What does praying to God  for anything for that matter looks like?

So exploring down this route, the idea of praying for something, looks a little bit like this. When I was praying to God about the election, I was basically saying to God and asking of him to supernaturally arrange for the outcome of the election.

But how could this even work? Are we asking God to rig the outcome of an election? In order to do so, He will need to violate people’s will. Which if we looked, throughout the history and records in the bible, is not something that God does, or theoretically can do. So if God can’t change the will of the people, he can’t change the outcome of the election (unless he cheats and turns in some fake votes supernaturally).  So when we are asking God to intervene in the election, then these intercessionary prayers are really a waste of time, and misleading.

So if God can’t change the results, does that mean we shouldn’t pray about it? For whatever will be will be?

Well no, Jesus told us in the Lord’s prayer that we should pray that “His will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10). We need to look at what this really means in the context of an earthly system that is under the control of man. As many may understand (I will have another blog on this topic), God is NOT in absolute control in what happens on earth. Otherwise he would not have asked us to pray for “His will to be done on earth”. His will is followed absolutely in heaven. (hence “as it is in heaven”) but on earth, his will is not fully followed, because man don’t fully follow God.

So when Jesus asked us to pray, Say in the context of the US election? What did he want us to talk to God about?

Insight:

I think there are lots of things going on in the Election backdrop. What we firstly want to understand is Which party would God vote for, what will be the Father’s will? You may think well, if God was here he wouldn’t vote for any of these guys! That probably is true, but again God doesn’t have full control at the moment on earth, we as the body of Christ only has certain options to choose from. We look back in the Old Testament, this was the same during the time of Egypt, Babylon, Persia with  Joseph, Mordecai, Daniel, Nehemiah all of them served under nations which were not the “chosen” nation of Israel. Yet they chose to perform their duties to the best of their ability under those administrations, and surely there are some administrations that are better than others, and there are some which are more evil than others, so which party you support do in fact count.

So ask God about which is the right party to Support. Do the research,

Understand what the parties represent and what are their policies? How good are they in keeping what they promised? I have never heard a Politian give out a policy that doesn’t appeal to at least a segment of the audience, however these policies needs to be weighted into the workings with other policies, does it practically make sense? For example, in our local state election, LNP has a $300 “Car Rego” rebate, if we voted for them and they win. Yes, $300 rebate sounds great! But how does that look on the Government’s budget? How is the government going to pay for this, is it sustainable? and what are their other policies if they win? So one must study in details what the policy is offering from a practical sense, as well as a biblical moral sense. This takes work, time and takes effort. But if we put God’s kingdom first, this should take priority over watching TV dramas.

 

Action:

Once understood what God wants, takes action to do our part in enforcing the results of the Kingdom. Vote! If you truly believe it is God’s will and you are doing what God wants, then inform others who are probably uninformed, tell others why you are voting the way you are, why you feel this is Godly. A lot of people are voting out of some false premises or are viewing things through a particular narrative. Until shown an alternative, will think they have the correct perspective. So be proactive in sharing why you vote who you vote, and understand the issues others may have that’s contrary to what you say, they may have a legitimate reason, and if correct, you may want to have the party address it. Be influencers. We are called to be world changers, to change for the better.

Wisdom:

Pray for wisdom and strategies, as to how you can play a part in influencing others to take on what is right. Because If you “should”, then you “must”. For thing that are blatantly against God. Speak confusion to the enemy. We see this time and time again, that the enemy that came against God, when facing Israel started attacking each other. In the same way, we pray for confusion to t he evil plans of the enemy that it will not succeed.

The votes are in, what else can you do?

Pray for the correct outcome. As God would not rig the votes, we pray that the correct votes are actually counted, that there are no counterfeits, fraud, and unfair conduct. God is a God that plays by the rules, and so should we. If there are misconduct, pray to God again for insight and wisdom, and also for other’s to spot the misconduct and bring it to light. The devil is the one who lies, steal, kills and destroys. Pray that there are revelations as to what those lies are and strategy to expose them to the light. Prayer for the operatives, who were involved, to come up and come clean if things were done wrong, again people do wrong because they have been lied to, Adam didn’t intentionally rebelled against God, he was deceived. He believed in a lie.

What if the other side wins!

Choices has consequences, our peers choices impacts us, our government’s choices impacts us, and their policy will impact us. If the administration that you chose did not come into power, pray for the leadership of the party in power to have wisdom in enforcing beneficial policies, and scrap the ones that are no good. At the same time, know that there is another election in 48 months. It is not the end of the world, and if it is, thank God we know where we are going! So don’t be stuck in fear. Be in faith, Pray to God, asking for insights, Wisdom, Strategy, and take action and to be an influencer.

Reading the bible during a Crisis?

In times of Crisis, Christians turns to God for strength, directions and insights. They pick up the bible and wants to read and hear what God has to speak to them about. I tried doing this many times during times of difficulties, yet I rarely see anything that gives me directions that is specific related to the problem or the issue at hand.

And I asked God, Why is it that you don’t speak to me via your word? Why are you not speaking to me about the issues that I am dealing with. And I was reading Luke 11:28.

 But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:28

The verse Jesus says, The Blessing comes when we heard the word, but we need to keep it. The word “keep” can be talking about “keeping” in terms of actions, (ie keeping the law, keeping the Sabbath), but also “keeping” can mean in treasuring and preserving it. So when we are just reading the word in the times of crisis, we maybe reading from the page we last read, or some people flip open the bible like a lottery, and see if something divine will happen.  When we do that, we are not actually keeping the word, we are focusing on the problem, looking to the word as a word search looking for answers. At that moment most of us are just glossing over the word and have not studied or esteem the word, which causes you to be fully persuaded of the power that worketh in us.   

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 TIm 2:15

I am generalizing the above of course, as I have done that many a times myself. If you already have the context of what God said about a certain thing, and you are going in to study that topic or the verse to get a deeper revelation, this is different, and is is part of "keeping" the word.    

The word of God is not an instant super soldier serum 
Reading the word of God, it is like training for war, You don’t try and learn the word of God in the middle of trouble, just like you wouldn’t go learn how to shoot a rifle in the middle of the battle. If you are not trained up before the fight, then you have to use what little you got in the fight, but most probably you won’t be using anything that you are unfamiliar with. Soldiers are trained before they are sent off. They are not looking at the manual in the heat of the cross fires.

So reading the bible on a routine basis, allows us to be equipped with the arsenals that God has for us, for different times and over different challenges. Reading the bible, should not be viewed as a thing we HAVE to do, and you set yourself a routine of reading 3 chapters a day and you are hoping it is over ASAP because you got real fires to fight, but it should be viewed as a time of equipping, getting to know our commander and chief, understanding the battle, the enemy and our position as the body of Christ on earth. It is also a time to spend with the father, to understand his heart. As the word of God gives us proper perspective of the world, it will provide context to the things that is happening around us, and also allows us to take position and use our authorities as the spirit filled man, to make the right choices, and be material in facing challenges that is in front of us.

23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Mark 11:23-24

The offering of Cain and Abel

 

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Gen 4:2-5

 

Why did God looked with favor on Abel’s offering vs that of Cains?

 

Some people belief God likes animal sacrifice more than that of produces. So God looked with favor on Abel’s offering. But can this be the determining factor? Some people belief the “fat offering of the flock” maybe a type and shadow of the ultimate lamb, so maybe God favored this more than the fruits offering to demonstrate a point? These can be true, and yet if were to be the only reasons, it limits our perspective as to what God desires, because if it is true, instead of just giving money as an offering, we should incorporate some sort of animal sacrifice and more preferably lamb sacrifice as God looks with favor on this type of offering. And God doesn’t change.

 

We also see the bible talking about God delights in obedience over sacrifices, that it is better to obey than sacrifice.

 

“Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
As in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed [is better] than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22

 

Maybe Abel obeyed God, where as Cain didn’t? That maybe true, but this is in the beginning of time just after the fall. Apart from the initial command to not eat the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, there was no other recorded command to obey to. There was not even a command on offering.

 

In Gen 4:2, we see that Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. So as a profession, one grew produce, and one raised flocks. So in context you would think, giving something that they were making would be the right and the fair thing to do. What I am trying to say is, on the flip side, it would be not logical for God to desire of us something that we do not have access to, to give. Ie demand Cain to give his some flocks where he doesn’t have, or Abel to give some fruits which he doesn’t have. So it would be unfair of God to condemn Cain’s offering because it was produce.

 

So what was wrong with Cain’s offering?

6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” Gen 4:6

 

“If you do what is right?” is quite a strong statement, What was Cain doing that was wrong? Why was his offering not accepted, and why was Abel’s offering accepted? What did Abel do right?

 

In Genesis, we were unable to find the answer as to this. However the answer was given in Hebrews.

 

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead. Hebrews 11:4

 

Abel, approached God with an offering that was in faith. Where as Cain’s offering was not offered in faith. So if we look at Hebrews, we see that, it is not about what you offer, but it is about if you did it in Faith.

 

But the question is what does it mean we offered in faith? In faith of what? And in faith to do what?

 

This comes back to the reason of an offering. Why did they offer part of their produce or flock to God? What is the reason for doing so? There was no law to do it, there was no suggestion that God required it or even desired it. The offering was something they did as part of their communion with God, it was an expression of worship. Cain and Abel, both worshipped God because that was the right thing to do. Knowing how great God is, they had an understanding that they had an innate need to do something to recognize how great God is.

 

However, Cain did it out of a heart of duty and obligation, God is great, so there is a need to worship God. So out of obligation and motion Cain responded to that greatness.

 

And Abel on the other hand, offered not out of obligations, but he did it to bless God, God is great, so I am believing that what I am giving to God, God will like it .

 

So God approved of Abel’s offering, because Abel believed that God will like what he gives.

Whereas Cain was indifferent to if what he gave was pleasing to God, but he did it because he felt a need to do it.

 

The difference is Abel’s response was a relational one to God, where as Cain’s response was a mechanical one. Both of them knew God is great, and they were in need to express that.  But God condemn Cain to be wrong in how he related to God, and accepted Abel in how he related to God.

 

 

So how does this impact our giving?

When we give, bless our giving, and believe that God is so pleased with whatever we are giving him.  That he is well pleased with whatever it is we are giving him, may this be money, a cent or a billion, our time to serve, or anything that you set aside, separated for God. If you are offering in faith that he likes it. He is well pleased with that! Live life as a constant offering, dedicating and separating your life as an offering that pleases God, As you put faith in your life offering, may you do well or not, God is pleased with you. He is not looking at the lean or fat of the lamb, he is looking to your heart.

9-11 recollections

 

9-11 recollections

It has been 19 years ago since 9/11. I recall that morning when I was on a business trip with my father, I was leaving the NY hotel, taking a taxi at 6:00 in the morning heading towards the airport. The city was waking up, and the morning light was about to break. The taxi went by the Twin towers, and I thought, it would be nice going up to the observatory deck next time I am in town.

Roll time forward, 3 hours after that, I landed in Boston, and was told by the taxi driver that a plane flew into one of the towers. It must have been 8:50am or so. As we walked into the Hotel lobby, everybody has their eyes glued onto the TV, as we see footage of the 1^st plane flying into the tower one. As everybody was dumbfound, looking at the TV in disbelieve, as if it was a movie that has gone wrong. Moments later we see real life footage of the second plane UA 175 (later found out to be the plane that I was originally booked on) flying into the 2^nd tower.

Now as nobody knew how to respond to such graphics, my father and I queued to get ourselves checked in. To our surprise, our name was not found on the register. Feeling a little loss, I decided to call my mom back in Hong Kong who was the one who booked for us. Being guys, (my father and I) it never came across our mind to call home, to say everything was okay. Now this is before the internet days, there is no free internet calls but just IDD and its ROAMING IDD that costs 20 bucks a minute. So the first word that the phone was answered was. MUM DID YOU FORGET TO BOOK US A ROOM!??? Mum obviously was devastates, and started weeping hearing our voice. The reason being, on our itinerary, we were flying out of Boston to LA, on flight UA175. Unaware of this, I continued. “MUM, this is an IDD CALL its really very expensive!”  Did you book our hotel or not???? Ending the call in anger as my mum took an extra 15 seconds to say I am glad you guys are save, which costed me an extra 20 bucks. In the end all was sorted out, as they had the middle name and last name swapped around. We thank God that it was done that way, otherwise I would have never called home. Actually after like an hour of that, it came to my lightning fast mind that I should call my girlfriend (now my wife) to let her know I am okay! (Yes I have grown to be more responsible now)

So God kept me save, by moving my whole schedule one day later because a customer said he needed to see us, and he can’t do it unless we reschedule, so originally I was to fly out of Boston to LA on the 11th, instead my whole trip was shifted one day later, so I flew out form NY to Boston on the 11th, and then supposedly to fly out of Boston to LA on the 12^th. (In the end I flew home on the 16^th.)  

So I am alive here today, because God made some divine arrangements and changed my schedule., instead of flying into tower 2. I am glad I am alive.

No deadly thing shall hurt you. Luke 10:19

  

This is a personal testimony, experienced today. I was washing my car in the afternoon, and at the end of the cleaning when I was tiding up, I had this sting in my right thigh. I thought it might have been some hair getting caught and was getting pulled on. Then I had another sting. The initial pain was actually stronger than a tangled hair. So in my mind I though, my God! there might be a spider in my pants, and its biting me!!!  By this time I have had multiple stinging sensations. So I started slapping my leg repetitively in multiple locations hoping I would have killed the spider by my machine gun slaps.  I quickly took off my pants, and then found a dead wasp rolling out of my leg.  (Actually I just slapped it unconscious, after I tried to pick it up to study it, It was actually still alive.) Immediately I took hold of the truth of Luke 10:19.

I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, nothing will harm you. Luke 10:19.

And as God said nothing will harm me. I started commanding my skin to be completely whole, and not be affected by this, according to what the word of God said. I told the pain to go, and I washed my wound with some soap. By this time there were mosquito welt looking thing on my leg, There was 6 of them total near my knee and thigh, Thank God it didn’t go higher!

As I mixed faith into what God said, There is no pain, and no itchiness. For a lack of a better word, it feels like I have not been stung. Its even better than a mosquito bite as that is itchy. This was like normal. And before the hour, the swelling and welts is completely gone.

3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. Acts 28:3-6

Whilst this is no snake, I felt that this was a minor episode like that of Paul’s when something poisonous bit him. No harm came to him, because the word of God is truth.

After this episode, I was thinking, if Ella my little daughter was stung, I would have wanted the bites to be on me rather than on her. And God told me, that’s how he feels about us getting sick and hurt. And that is the reason, Jesus took our sickness and infirmities, our pain and hurt away from us at the whipping post.

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 1 Peter 2:24

Jesus was whipped so that the scriptures could be fulfilled, that by him being whipped, all our sickness and pain He has paid for, just like our sins are paid for at the cross.  As sickness was paid for, this is the reason Peter instead of quoting Isaiah 53:4 word for word, he changed the tense, from “By whose stripes you ARE healed” (Isaiah 53:4) to “By whose stripes you WERE healed.” (1 peter 2:24)

 

The Labour of Rest

 

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief. Hebrews 4:11

We are told to "labour into his rest" in Hebrews 4:11. It sounds like an oxymoron. You have to "Labour" which is active, but it is into the "Rest" which basically is inactive. How does one actively do something inactive, and expect a result?

To understand the full context of the verse, we need to look back starting from Hebrews 3:9.

The context is, the people of Israel did not enter into the rest of God, which was symbolized by the promise land. The promise land was where it was flowing with milk and honey. And they did not enter it, because they were in unbelief that God will give them the victory. They saw the giants, and they did not esteem to the pillar of cloud and fire. They were in unbelief about the power of God to make good what he said.

When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest. Hebrews 3:9,11.

They did not enter into the promised providence of God, because they did not belief that God had the intention or the means to put them into the promise land.
Just a reflection, we need to ask ourselves, do we belief God’s intention of good things for our life? and then secondly do we belief he can pull it off?

 

So what is the “Rest” of God?

Is it just the peace that is above our understanding? That is part of it, but it includes much more than this, as it has more practical applications than we think, it is not just an emotional disposition. Let’s unpack this from the symbolic of the Promise Land. When the Israelites entered into the promise land, the fields were already flowing with milk and honey, and had clusters of grapes that needed 2 man to carry (numbers 13). They didn’t need to build hives, raise cows, and plant grapes, this was all already there, when they were to go occupy, they inherit what is already there. They don’t need to labour to get these.

Lets look at how the writer of Hebrew expressed it.

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 .Hebrews 4:4-5

 

It was the same rest, that God had after he has FINISHED all his work at creation. God ceased to have an active creation plan, but is at rest, where his already established order and law is working and producing. Adam didn’t need to plant in order to reap, he harvest that which God has already set in motion.

So how does this show us what we are to do when we enter into the Rest of God?

In the same way, that the promise land was already built up to produce and the Garden of Eden was already fruit filled. In the rest of God, things are already provided for. In contrast, we are not there to build the hives, raise the cows, and plant the vines, these are already provided for. We just enjoy what God has already provided for.

So how does the “Labour” part work?

It is a “labour”, because it is counter intuitive.  It is going against the curse of “by the sweat of our brow we will eat”. Gen 3:19. Man being historically under the curse from Adam’s time. Man has understood in order to eat, we need to labour the cursed ground. What that means is, we need to work hard, in order to get little, because the ground is cursed.

For us to enter into the rest of God, which is a place of providence, we need to labour, “work hard” in the renewal of our mind, renewing to what God said and has already done, and mix faith to what he had said he has already done.

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. Hebrews 4:2-3

So what does this look like in the practical? When faced with a situation, labour to make the decision that God has got this, and whilst things may not look clear, and a 1,000 things can go wrong. Trust in God that those 1,000 bad things won’t happen, and whatever the hurdle is, God has already got a solution lined up, and is available, because Jesus had it finished.

Remember the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. In all our situation, if we look only at the physical, from what we see, feel, hear and smell, we are not seeing the holistic picture of the real world, where things seen are framed by the things unseen.  And by only esteeming the physical and making decisions based on that, we are not approaching life with a full deck.

Does that mean, we seat back and relax, and all things will be merry and things will be automatic? No, because that is an inaccurate picture of rest. Rest is not being frozen, or you walking around, and a grape will fly to your mouth, you still need to take “action” to put the grape in your mouth. However at rest, you take action to reap what Jesus has sown, and receive what God has already given in Jesus. At rest, you are in communion with God, and the holy spirit will show you the right things to take action on.

The reality of the Rest of God, is very much active and available today, there is a process of transformation of our mind to be able to perceive it. But it is the position that God wants us to be in, at Rest. And his every intention is for us to enjoy this rest.