If anyone should have been stressed out and weary it was Jesus. He lived the perfect human life, yet–He lived in a whirlwind of activity.
He was constantly eating, walking, talking, and sleeping with twelve men who never seemed to leave Him alone.
Vast crowds and desperate individuals sought him out.
He was chided, rebuked, and even scoffed at by His own family.
He was the personal target of Satan, who tempted Him, tried to derail Him, and entered people to drive them to destroy Him.
He was attacked by every demon that could be rounded up to scream at Him, thrash around in front of Him, and seek to bother Him.
Civil and religious authorities, always plotting to catch Him and take Him off for punishment and execution, hounded him.
His life was so full of people and ministry that he often didn’t even have a moment to stop to eat.
Yet, in the midst of all that,
Jesus was peaceful, calm, focused, and confidently following God’s will.
How did He do that?
If we follow Him, we can find His secret. Though we can never be sinless, we can learn and follow His pattern for the perfect life in step with God’s will. Although Jesus lived an extremely full, busy, and demanding life, every time He is seen in the Scriptures, He is quiet, composed, and led by the Spirit.
Jesus was God, yet He lived the perfect human life as a man. What kept that perfect life on earth so strong? What was His secret? Time alone with God that rested His soul. He stopped everything else and rested in God.
You can revitalize your walk in this world by starting or restarting a habit of cultivating rest for your soul—time in the Word and time in prayer. The songwriter #497 captures this solitude in secret with God:
There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God, a place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God.
There is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God, a place where we, our Savior, meet, near to the heart of God.
There is a place of full release near the heart of God, a place where all is joy and peace, near to the heart of God.
Chorus: O Jesus, blest Redeemer, sent from the heart of God, hold us who wait before Thee near to the heart of God.
Jesus had cultivated the discipline of resting in His Father by getting alone with Him. He had learned the secret of waiting on God. His life shows us that intimate communion with God is needed to live a godly life full of power, under the control of God’s Spirit. He calls each of us to do the same. We must learn to seek and find a solitary place in our lives to get along with God regularly.
Rest for our souls is a great necessity in our spiritual lives. We need to be alone with God daily. We need to find times to get away alone. We need to get up early if necessary. Few of us are called to spend many hours in daily prayer, but we all must spend some time. If it is impossible when the family is awake, pray before they get up. If you have no place, you can do this at home, find a place to park your car on the way to work and pray in the anonymity of the passing traffic.
COR-06 – Christ – Refuge for the Weary (050703PM)
Join the LAND OF THE BOOK channel to access weekly video releases over the next year totaling 50+ EXCLUSIVE VIDEOS featuring weekly in-depth Bible Study lessons with John & Bonnie. Clips are taken at just one of the places where we are taking our virtual journey through all the Lands of the Bible & Great Museums of the Bible on the Paul’s Life & Letters Course. Plus all the assigned HOLY LAND, Paul’s Life & Letters Course STUDY RESOURCES, and John’s two most loved books–David’s Spiritual Secret & Living Hope for the End of Days at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVK6dN-9kLDnQhYBFuES09A/join
Follow Discover the Book Ministries to stay up to date:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/discoverthebook/
DTBM Academy Courses:
https://dtbma.com/Default.aspx
Purchase John’s Books, Mp3 & DVD resources:
E-Books: https://tinyurl.com/y3wbhlxy
Here are links to our Amazon Pages–
https://www.amazon.com/shop/dtbm
Donate to the ministry: https://dtbm.org/donations/partnership/
For more of Dr. John Barnett’s Bible teaching messages, go to: https://dtbm.org/
https://youtu.be/FHtrrx1bks8