11.1.13

Hebrews 3:19 So we see because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest. 

My Thoughts
Oh wow! Looking back over my life this verse really hits home. For so long I thought I believed in God.  I did believe that God existed .... I believed that Jesus died of my sins. I had been taught that all of my life.  But there was so much that I missed...even when I thought I was trying.  All along there were things my Sunday School teachers would say, or that the preacher would preach on...that I just didn't believe.  I more felt like I didn't "get it" ...but really I didn't believe it.  Why? All because I didn't understand all that God says in His word.  Why didn't I understand?  Because I had not taken the time to read God's word for myself.  I had only read bits and pieces and then I had just gone on what the preacher preached. I probable had faith about a few things...but not about all the things that God promises me.  I just didn't know all the things that God promises me. I had not read them for myself. And all along I was never at rest... I didn't know how to enter God's rest.

If I think about it...what I believed is that Jesus died so that I could be forgiven and that I needed to be good.  That may be all that I really understood.  I sure didn't understand that if I loved God and kept my eyes and my heart on Him, He would make me want to be good, and He would make me able to be good. I had the Jesus died for my sins part right. I just had no grasp what so ever on God's amazing grace...that made me able, that gave me the deep desire to do better and better and better.  I was out in the world trying to please God by my actions, not by loving Him and accepting all that He had to give me.  Once that I learned about how God loves me so completely... I couldn't help but love Him... once I knew how to look for God's love around me, I couldn't help but feel loved by God.  Once I got that...the peace of God just flowed down from heaven into my life like a river filled from a never ending rain.

These days I just bask in the peace of God...sometimes I stop and feel a bit sad for the me that was trying so hard without direction...so void of God's wonderful peace.  Once I understood the Holy Spirit and learned to actually feel His presence inside of me... my life was, finally, forever changed.

You might be asking, as you read this, "How did you get to this place?" I always had that question in my mind when I met a Christian that glowed with God's peace and understanding.  But I would never ask for fear of looking like I was not a Christian myself.  What I was, is a Child of God stuck at the very beginning of a wonderful journey for years upon years... Found but so lost all at the same time.  And all along I was afraid to ask, "How do I get what you have?????!!!!" I can tell you how I got what I have today... I picked up my Bible and started reading.  God tells us that if we seek wisdom, wisdom will find us.  And that is just what happened to me. It happened when I had not ever known that promise of God.  I started seeking wisdom...and slowly but surly I begin to understand...and as I did I begin to live under the protection of God.  Then God wanted me so protected that He surrounded me by godly people, who taught me even more...now I live totally in the peace of God.  Every once in a while when I feel peace slipping away...I go running to God and find out where I put peace down and picked up the world... and I fix it fast... because peace, the peace of God is an amazing place to live!