Learn How to Labor to Enter into the Lord’s Rest

For if Jesus had given them rest, then would He not afterward have spoken of another day. [9] There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. ~Hebrews 4:8-9 KJV

Entering into the Lord’s rest is actually a lot bigger than sitting with a cup of Chamomile tea and the Word. When Jesus told people to enter into His rest, He was referencing two things: 1.) He would give rest to those who were actively laboring  2.) Those who labor are laboring to get to the promised land of rest in the afterlife.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day:  and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing. ~2 Timothy 4:6-8 KJV

Let me just say that this “promised land” is not about having tons of money or things as some would have us to believe, but rather a complete fulfillment of understanding God’s word and living it out perfectly. This is one of the ways we obtain great favor, or grace, from God.

We ultimately discover this in the book of Hebrews that “entering into the Lord’s rest” goes back to the example of Moses and the Israelites. They had to go through the wilderness to get to the promised land. It is the promised land that brings rest and fulfillment. It took them many years and lots of suffering. The imperfect, lazy, and rebellious ones did not get to the promised land, but died in the desert.

I would not have known this if I had not been going through the experience. God chastises His own children and Paul calls it grievous. I can tell you, most of it was the worst experience of my life, but also the best thing that I needed in my life; nine years of long-suffering. I’m thankful I survived. Believe me, I have had plenty of bad things happen to me before I was born again, but long-suffering was so bad that it takes your breath away for years. I had to labor to keep going or else I would fail and not make it. Often, the memory of it makes me cry.  Remember, the Israelites had to endure the harsh realities of the desert and many did not make it to the promised land, even faithful Moses. This is our example of what a Christian goes through.

The main thing that I had to learn was to fear the Lord. It is the same with all Christians. I cannot stress that enough because there is a mentality among many Christians that encouraging others in the body is “without warning,” but rather filled with “Jesus loves you”s and a life of joy and peace and just living until Jesus returns. Remember, Jesus never walked around telling people how much He loved them, but it was because of His love that He warned them to be prepared. Understand that when people believe they’ll never be perfect, they’ll never be prepared.

I’m here to tell you that there is a rest for the people of God and “entering into the Lord’s rest” only comes after great affliction and endurance to mold you.

Warning unruly Christians daily is the true encourager of keeping one’s life in line and if you’ve been exercised by God, you basically cannot help yourself.

You can read more about the correlation between the Israelites and finding rest in Hebrews chapter 3-4 of the King James Bible, which tells us to exhort 1or warn, strongly encourageone another daily because the Israelites, how they behaved with Moses, gave us an example of how most of them never entered God’s rest because they failed to believe even though they thought they weren’t doing anything wrong. Unfortunately, they were sinning because they did not know God.

My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains: they have gone from mountain to hill, they have forgotten their resting place. ~Jeremiah 50:6 KJV

The shepherds, that Jeremiah speaks of, are pastors who have misled their followers. This is what has happened today and the Bible tells us that even the elect are deceived. People trust their pastors, especially those who have large audiences, which is why it is hard to turn the congregation’s stiff necks back to the truth.

The best way to know God is to do what He says, which is to meditate on His word day and night, teach it to your children all day long, warn one another, and apply it. This is why, after discovering complicated false doctrines, I do my best to untangle the knots that people have trusted as truth, but are lies.

The bible tells us in Hebrews 11-13 KJV that we are actually supposed to labor to enter into His rest (using the example of how the Word of God examines us) and come boldly to His throne to obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.  Read more facts about grace here.

Remember, we labor like the Israelites who, after receiving their freedom from the Egyptians by God’s hand, labored in the wilderness. This is how to get to that perfection that brings us into the promised land of rest.

For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ~Hebrews 2:10

Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, ‘To day if ye will hear His voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted Me, proved Me, and saw My works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, ‘They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways.’ So I sware in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter into My rest.’ ~Hebrews 3:7-11 KJV

Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. ~Hebrews 4:1 KJV

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