Morning Moments

Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy ladened and I will GIVE you rest. Take my yoke upon and learn of me and you shall FIND rest unto your souls."

Have you ever considered the fact that all Christians are GIVEN rest, but not all Christians FIND rest? Think about it this way: When Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were GIVEN a rest from slavery. However there remained a rest for them in Canaan (not a type of heaven), that land flowing with milk and honey. That was to be the FOUND rest; a land of their own with victory over the enemy; a land that God promised would blossom like a rose. To be sure it was not a land without conflict, but it was to be a land of victory for them.

Many of them never FOUND the rest of Canaan, even through they had been GIVEN the rest from slavery in Egypt. One of them - their leader, Moses, even "crucified the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame" (in type of course). Let me explain: In the wilderness where God provided for EVERY need of the children of Israel, Moses was told to SMITE the rock and water would come out. He did and it did! Later, however, he was told to SPEAK to the smitten rock, but in anger he SMOTE it again.

Paul said, "That rock was CHRIST." So when Moses smote the rock the first time it was a type of the crucified Christ, but when Moses smote the rock the second time, he was (in type) crucifying the Son of God "afresh and putting Him to an open shame." Hence, Moses was not allowed to enter the land (Canaan) he had led God's people to. In God's view, he committed sin unto death.

Now before you theologians jump down my throat about this consider: 1. Either Canaan was a type of th e fullness of the Spirit where the water flows freely for us, or 2. It was a type of heaven. But in Canaan there were still battles to win and trials to face. Not so in heaven, so it is not true to type that Canaan represented heaven. NOW, we know that all believers are not filled with the Spirit of God, even though they ARE true believers. Again let's look at examples from Hebrews 11, the faith chapter.

If you read the Genesis account of Lot, you would have a hard time believing he was saved and certainly not filled with the Spirit of God. Yet, he is named as "righteous Lot." And what of Samson, who is also listed as a man of faith, but he had major moral struggles. There are others too, but here is the point: We want to make everybody fit our little doctrinal biases, and it just doesn't work with the Word of God.

One more thing here. Remember James said, "If you see your BROTHER sin sin which does not lead to death, pray for him..." So if this guy is a BROTHER, he must be saved, but not filled with the Spirit of God. Again, Paul did not say of the adulterous BROTHER in 1 Corinthians, "you must pray for him." Rather he said, "deliver such an one to the devil for the destruction of the flesh, that he soul might be saved..."

Here is the conclusion of the matter: Obviously, one may be born of the Spirit and not be "being filled with the Spirit of God", just as Moses could be a man of faith and yet not be allowed to enter Canaan because of uncontrolled anger. We want to be able to have cut and dry answers for everything, and to believe that our little group is the only one right on everything. WRONG! So let's "get a life" and realize that the main thing is the main thing and that the main thing is that God designed us to express HIS life. SELAH.

Enough for now:) More to come.

PRAYER: Father, help us to see that we are accepted by YOU through the FAITH of the Son of God that you deposited in us, but we are not approved by you and do not please you unless we live by the faith through which we are saved. As Paul said, "As you have RECEIVED Christ Jesus the LORD, so WALK ye in HIM." Teach me dear Father to practice what I preach.