Archive for: March, 2020

When we worry, it is often because we are attempting to organize and order our own lives with “both the hands full.” We are living from our own self rather than allowing Christ’s life to live through us. While we may possibly succeed in getting “both hands full,” travail and vexation will not only prevent us from resting, but they will also prevent us from enjoying what our hands grasp. ⁠

Instead, a handful with quietness is better. Quietness is restfulness—a peace of our spirits as we fully trust the LORD. Quietness is the Hebrew word nachath, which indicates a “descent” or rest.  Thus, the concept of humility is strongly implied—as well as the “descent” of the Spirit upon our lives. ⁠

What we often do not remember in considering the “handful” God gives us is that He is fullness, and when we rest in Him and allow Him to fill our hand, we will have all that we need! As we rest in Him, receiving His life into our being, He will not leave our hand half-empty. He will bless us in more ways than we can dream of and give us restfulness. God loves us and we can trust Him—what more do we need?⁠

#releaseday countdown: 9! In @erikamathewsauthor’s stories today: rest for you and I today⁠

Preorder here.

Nuach is rest that is given from God; it is a verb of rest. Gesenius’ Hebrew Lexicon gives a fuller picture of the definition for nuach: “to rest…to set oneself down, to settle down in any place for rest. The primary idea is to breathe, draw breath.” ⁠

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“Sitting down and drawing breath” signifies completion, full trust and surrender, and contentment. ⁠

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Settling down is continual; it is not simply that we only pitch a tent and perhaps later on move our tent somewhere else. We are settled in heavenly places with and in Him. Nothing can move us. ⁠

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Today, settle yourself down in Christ your dwelling place and breathe in His Spirit. That’s rest.⁠

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⁠#releaseday countdown: 10! In @erikamathewsauthor’s stories today: Moses and the Dwelling Place⁠

Preorder here.

In celebration of the #RestingLifeBook launch on March 20, we’re hosting a giveaway!

PRIZE PACK

✨ Signed paperback of Resting Life (an official copy, not the proof copy pictured 😊)
✨ Peach Tranquility Tea from @teavanatea. 15 tea bags! ☕️ So delicious-looking, and doesn’t it sound restful?!
✨ Blue and white teacup and saucer

✨ Dark green tea mat/doily – hand crocheted by me
✨ “He hath made everything beautiful” art
✨”The Lord is My Shepherd” wooden home decor

HOW TO ENTER
✨Hop over to this post to find out how!

Giveaway closes at noon on March 20.
May your day be blessed with the rest of the Lord!

True beauty is rest. In fact, the very concept of being “becoming,” “decorous,” or “suitable” comes from the concept of rest. Specifically, the Hebrew word navah (used twice in Scripture and translated home or habitation) means “to rest (as at home)” and has an implied idea of “beauty.” ⁠

The connection of rest and beauty is the concept of “sitting well on any one.” Thus, being beautiful is simply that things “rest well” upon us. God’s design is that all of creation, all of His laws and principles, and all of the kingdom of God “rest well” upon His people. As we “rest well” within that kingdom – Him, our everlasting and secure home – we are made eternally beautiful through Father’s rest upon our lives. ⁠

#releaseday countdown: 11! In @erikamathewsauthor’s stories today: Elijah’s depression and rest⁠

Preorder here.

The word “nahal” means “properly to run with a sparkle, that is, flow; hence (transitively) to conduct, and (by inference) to protect, sustain.” Contextually, it is to give rest, lead with care, cause to rest, bring to a station or place of rest, guide, refresh; to lead to a watering-place or station and cause to rest there; to lead or bring to a station or goal; to give rest to.  ⁠

Examining the uses of this word in Scripture gives a more complete picture regarding how the Spirit leads us into His rest:⁠

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• This is the way in which Jacob led his family and flocks “softly” so as not to overdrive them (Genesis 33:14).⁠
• This is the way in which Joseph fed the world, nourishing and satisfying them during the seven-year famine (Genesis 47:17).⁠
• ⁠This is the way in which God guides His people in His strength to His holy habitation (Exodus 15:13).⁠
•  This is the way in which, at the word of the LORD, the armies of Israel clothed their captives, fed them, anointed them, shod them, and carried them back to their own city (II Chronicles 22:32).⁠
• ⁠This is the way in which God leads and guides us in great covenant love for His name’s sake (Psalm 31:3).⁠

from Resting Life: Jesus’ Rest for the Busy or Burdened Believer, p. 25. Preorder here!

#releaseday countdown: 12! In @erikamathewsauthor’s stories today: Jacob and the Pillow Position

Rest and restlessness can both indicate direction. ⁠

Walking in God’s ways brings rest. If we choose to go the other direction and say, “We will not walk therein,” we do not find rest.⁠

By this standard, we can know whether we are where God wants us to be. Since God promises that we will find rest as we walk in the “good way,” everything in life can be evaluated by that criterion: is this rest? If so, it is the “good way.” If we find ourselves in a situation where we say, “This is not our rest,” we can use that as a signal to us that we are not in the Lord’s ways. Once we realize that this is not our rest, we can return to our rest in Him. ⁠

The rest we find for our souls is Christ Himself…He is our resting place. In the work and routine of your life today, dwell within Him.⁠

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~ from page 145 of Resting Life ⁠

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#releaseday countdown: 15! Don’t forget to preorder the book! Preorder here. In @erikamathewsauthor’s stories today: the gospel of rest⁠

• Yahweh Shalom stretches me out, embedding me and causing me to recline in repose in new, tender grass in His pleasant home.⁠

  His flowing, sparkling love guides, protects, and sustains me in the waters of peaceful repose as I abide in Him.⁠

  “Green pastures” speak of a place of quiet rest, repose, pleasure, and comfort; still waters are “waters of quietness.” The peace to which He leads us is a joining peace in Himself. As He continually draws us nearer to Himself in His great love and embrace, He entices us to rest in Him. ⁠

  Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, is holding us in His everlasting arms, bringing us ever nearer and deeper into God’s heart! Words cannot describe the quiet rest found as we are held closely to God’s heart. It is beyond expression, beyond description. The most ornate description would seem grossly absurd and exaggerated to one who has not experienced it; and to one who has experienced it, the most eloquent language would seem pathetically inept. Such rest in love defies all attempts as description – and yet it is so glorious, so intimate, so personal, so vividly real that it ought to be the theme of all description. ⁠

  In His love, we can be perfectly confident, trusting, and excited in Him. There is nothing to fear, no basis for doubting, no foundation for fretting. ⁠

  He leads me beside still waters. Does this resonate in your own heart and life? Is this what He is doing in, through, and for you? This is rest in His love.⁠

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  May I abide quietly and restfully, embedded in the quiet, peaceful love of God as He holds me more closely to Himself!⁠

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  #releaseday countdown: 16! In stories today: why people confine soul-rest to the future and why that’s wrong⁠⁠

  Preorder here!

“In the mindset of the culture, Ruth in her widowed condition was not at rest. She needed a husband to provide for her, rather than continuing to labor in the fields with the poor and strangers. This rest was a completion of that which was incomplete. ⁠⠀
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“At first, Naomi thought that this would happen in Moab: “The LORD grant you that ye may find rest…” Once Ruth accompanied Naomi to Israel, however, a different sort of rest comes into the picture: Ruth “… dwelt with her mother in law” (Ruth 2:23). Even though this was not the type of rest that Naomi initially thought Ruth should pursue, that was God’s plan for Ruth at this time of her life: completion within Him and in her service and loyalty to her mother-in-law. When Ruth and Boaz settled down in their new life together, that also was completion and rest. This restful completion is the state of a person as she ought to be.” ⁠⠀
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~ Page 162 of Resting Life: Jesus’ Rest for the Busy or Burdened Believer. Preorder here today!
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#releaseday countdown: 17! In @erikamathewsauthor‘s stories today: why spiritual rest isn’t laziness⁠⠀

In the beginning, God created a home for mankind and put him there. In Hebrew, the word translated “put” denotes “rest.” ⁠
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In your life, God has created a home for you and put you there. Are you resting where He has placed you?⁠
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It’s easy to wonder how to “dress and keep” our home while still remaining at rest. That’s a question I wrestled with in writing chapters 18-21 of Resting Life, and it’s something God revealed gradually and is still revealing to me. Even though our brains have a difficult time wrapping around it, there is no disconnect between rest and God-given responsibilities. Through abiding in oneness in Him and receiving His rest, the work is perfectly accomplished in His ways.⁠
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Practically, how does this work? He knows. Seek Him. Receive Him. Abide in the Word . . . and you’ll find logic-defying yet kingdom-expected results in your life.⁠
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Preorder Resting Life book: Preorder here. – #releaseday countdown: 18! In @erikamathewsauthor‘s Rest Study highlights: recognizing the rest of Father, Son, and Spirit⁠