How do we get God’s peace and rest? Jeremiah says (Jeremiah 6:16) ask for the good old ways and walk in them and you will find rest for your souls. Jesus says (Matthew 11:28-30) come to Me and take My yoke because My yoke is easy and does not chafe like the yoke of legalism. My burden is light and not like the crushing burdens of man-made rules and traditions. If your soul is resting in Jesus, you will have the peace that comes from obedience. Great peace (Psalms 119:165) have they who love Thy law and nothing shall cause them to stumble. Then we will (3 John 2) prosper spiritually in every way and be in spiritual health even as our soul prospers.
Some things are necessary but all of them are secondary.
There is an essential FIRST.
FIRST, (Matthew 6:33) seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. I must seek God’s righteousness for my own life because God’s righteousness is the foundation of His kingdom. If we are foolish enough to put secondary things first, we will reap the consequences of our folly. I have no hope of entering God’s heavenly kingdom unless (2 Corinthians 5:21) I have become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. The effect of righteousness (Isaiah 32:17) is peace and the result is quietness and confident trust forever.
(Oswald Chambers) “There is one prayer that God must answer and that is the prayer of Jesus (John 17:21) that we will be one with Jesus just as He was one with the Father.” If you are going through a rough patch or a solitary way, it is because these are the things God is using to answer the prayer of Jesus. To be one with Jesus is to be so identified with Him that all thoughts desires, attitudes, goals and purposes will be identical with His.
Are we helping God to answer that prayer by our complete surrender, or do we shrink back into fleshly desires and selfish concerns? All that God must do to answer the prayer of Jesus will either make us more critical and fault-finding or will make us more like Jesus in precious oneness with Him.
Jesus said (John 14:21) the person who obeys My commands, is the one who truly loves Me. I will reveal Myself to him, let Myself be clearly seen by him. I know that does not mean to see the physical appearance of Jesus. I could be wrong, but I think that what it means is that in our oneness with Jesus, we will have deepening comprehension of Who, What and all that Jesus is as the eternal GOD-MAN. Our Redeemer had to be God in order for Him to ordain salvation for us and (2 Corinthians 5:19) our Redeemer had to be Man in order to be able to die to purchase our salvation.
Behold this mystery - - the Immortal died! We need to worship in words and to explore in gratitude and growing comprehension the tremendous victory of the Resurrection of Jesus and all that it means for us. Because Jesus was sinless, death could not conquer Him but because He was sinless, Jesus had the power (John 10:18) to lay down His life, take it again and conquer death forever.
He will give us greater understanding of the mystery of eternal holy God and perfect sinless Man living together forever in one human body. I am filled with wonder, and I don’t want to miss out on anything Jesus purchased for me at such horrendous cost. I desire and pray that the touchstones of my character, my entire being, will be adoring worship and holy fear continually of my glorious Triune God.
I pray that my heavenly Father will manifest the Son of God (Galatians 1:16, Ephesians 1:18) in my mortal flesh so that my life will be lived by not I, but Christ Jesus will be seen and known and heard.
I will gladly be a doormat for Jesus, but I will not be patsy for this world and its corrupt philosophies, no matter how seductively attractive, they are dressed. Satan knows exactly what buttons to press and what itches to scratch to deceive us into believing that his lies are truth, and we will drink poison just because it tastes good. God-given discernment (Hebrews 5:13-14) detects deception. When God chooses for us rather than our self-interest choice, (Genesis 13:9) we get a whole future of the best. If we are living the life of faith in God, we recognize (Oswald Chambers) “that the good is always the enemy of the best so we will waive our rights and let God choose for us.” Because God has all the wisdom, all the power and all the love - - we can’t lose if God makes our choices for us.