“It is finished” were the last and most important words of Jesus Christ, spoken moments before His death upon the cross. What did He finish? The work that He alone as the holy and sinless Son of God could accomplish, the ultimate rescue mission: the ongoing salvation of man from the consequences and penalty of sin. Salvation from sin provides peace with God, rest and soul prosperity.

Made to live in peaceful union with the glorious God of the universe, man chose to walk in his own dark and restless ways. We were seeking fulfillment in lie-based beliefs and self-indulgent behaviors. Jesus saw our miserable condition apart from our Creator. He came to rescue us.

The enormity of what Christ accomplished is staggering. Like the liberating forces who freed prisoners of war from cruel enemies, Jesus destroyed Satan’s works and his authority over us. Satan holds no power over us as we reject his lies and replace them with God’s truth. Why would we continue to live as morally emaciated prisoners, captive to Satan’s lies, when Christ has opened our prison doors through faith in His death and resurrection?

What will you choose? Will you esteem Jesus as your most vital necessity, your Way, your Truth and your Life? The soul-peace and rest Christ offers is found only through daily seeking Him with your whole heart. Will you humble yourself, inviting the indwelling Holy Spirit to fill you and reign over your mind, emotions and will? It involves daily dying to all desires, attitudes and dreams that are self- centered and self-pleasing. Dying hurts, but it produces life.

Consider the cross. See the nail-pierced feet and hands as Jesus’ blood flowed in sacrificial love. That love defines your indescribable significance and worth as a child of God. As Jesus did in His agony on the cross, fix your eyes on the future joy that will be yours as you resist the fleeting pleasures of sin. You will find abundant life, rest from sin and wholeness. Come to Jesus, believe His Words and receive rest for your soul. Let Him finish the good work that He has begun in you!

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept (firmly held) the faith.”

2 Timothy 4:7

“Have it your way at Burger King” and “You deserve a break today at McDonalds.”

Companies hope to increase sales by suggesting a need or desire will be met if a particular product is purchased. Many advertising claims fall far short of the generated expectation. There’s a claim, however, made by God and reiterated by Jesus that will meet our great need and far exceed our expectations:

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

Speaking to a crowd of people who were weary and burdened, Jesus promised rest. What was this rest? It was freedom from sin and the power of Satan. Rest is receiving provision for our every need from God’s abundant supply. This freedom is obtained not through endless striving and countless religious rituals, but by coming to and believing in the sin-conquering power of Jesus. In doing that, we receive His rest.

The rest of God is the rightful inheritance of every child of God. Are you experiencing it? Do you expect daily victory over the sin in your life? The nation of Israel failed to enter God’s rest because of their unbelief. On the border of the Promised Land, ten of the twelve men who surveyed the land voted not to enter, saying, “The people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large” (Numbers 13:28).

We will not experience our freedom in Christ if we believe the strongholds of sin are too powerful, too deeply-rooted and entrenched to conquer. Yet we can experience great victory and rest if we repent of our unbelief and instead trust in God. After Israel did so:

“The LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to their forefathers. He gave them rest on every side. Not one of their enemies withstood them. Every promise of God was fulfilled” (Joshua 21:43-45).

Fix your mind on a life-changing slogan: Be Free!

“For if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed! “

John 8:37

Could you imagine inheriting a vast piece of property the size of a small country worth an incalculable fortune? Could you imagine the foolishness of deciding that it would be too inconvenient to do whatever was necessary to appropriate such an inheritance? Such was the case for the people of Israel upon entering the land of Canaan, the Promised Land that God had chosen to give them. Out of 30,000 square miles of fertile land, they chose to appropriate only 3,000. Fear of enemy inhabitants and a lack of obedient faith in God’s commandments forfeited much of their rich inheritance.

God has given the promise of a rich rest-land to each of His children. That rest-land for the Israelites was the promise of peace and victory over their enemies if they would listen to, believe, and obey God’s Words. But they often chose to act independently of God, refusing to receive His deliverance.

As part of God’s chosen people through faith in Christ, we are often no different from the foolish Israelites. The rest-land God has equipped us to inherit is victory over sin: holy conduct and character. The enemies we must conquer are defeated in the same manner as the Israelites’ enemies were: through obedient faith that triumphs over fear. Satan’s lies, fears, temptations, prideful independence and self-seeking are conquered by believing and obeying God’s Word’s. We, unlike the Israelites, have the additional help and hope of victory because of the indwelling Holy Spirit who guides us.

Too often, our words of faith are invalidated by our actions. Instead of clinging to Jesus in every circumstance, no matter how difficult, and seeking His wisdom, we quickly follow our own independent ways, quenching the Spirit’s power.

God desires to enlarge the borders of your Promised Land – holy character that comes from victory over sin. Are you aligning your will in trusting obedience to God’s Word no matter what? As you do so, expecting God to work through impossible-looking situations, difficult people and battered emotions, He will! Your territory of godly influence will expand, deepening your joy and bringing glory to God.

“For we who have believed enter that rest, as He has said…”

Hebrews 4:3

Our society moves at a fast pace, a fact aptly symbolized by the 70 miles-per-hour in which we speed down our nation’s interstates and highways. At such high speeds, safe driving practices are crucial, especially the need to keep a safe distance between cars. The three-second rule is a time-proven guideline. The rule suggests you first choose a fixed point in the road, such as a road sign or mile marker. Then, begin counting from the moment the car in front of you passes it. Reaching the fixed point in three or more seconds means you are probably following at a safe distance. Passing the point in one to two seconds indicates you are following too closely.

While the three second rule is a wise practice when driving a car, it should be a warning clause when seeking to follow Jesus. Circumstances and opportunities come to us at an alarming rate. For all of them, we need to cling to Jesus and His Word. Though Jesus tried to prepare them, the road to the cross came upon the disciples quickly. While praying in Gethsemane, Jesus warned his disciples:

“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The sprit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).

Between Jesus’warning and the moment Peter, one of Jesus’ closest friends, denied even knowing Him, there’s a phrase we’d be wise to learn from:

“But Peter followed Him at a distance”(Matthew 26:58).

A lot can happen in three seconds. With a properly positioned, well-timed lie Satan can distract or even derail us in three seconds. Unlike following a car, there is no such thing as following Jesus too closely. Whether on clear roads or ones made slick by temptation, safe and successful passage in this life comes as we navigate every mile clinging to Jesus and the truth of His Word. It’s a time-proven practice.

May we heed God’s Word:

“For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel to cling to Me,’declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory.”

Jeremiah 13:11

Weariness is a fact of human life. Physical exertion, lack of sleep and anxiety all contribute to fatigue. We live in bodies of flesh that wear out, break down and eventually succumb to the effects of aging. Leisure and vacation time give us moments to recharge our bodies and souls.

God is not like His created beings. The Creator of the ends of the earth is a Spirit being who can never grow weary in a physical sense. His supplies of wisdom, understanding and strength are inexhaustible. He never sleeps. Jesus, our Creator, lived amongst His created beings as the Son of Man clothed in human flesh. He understands in an experiential manner every form of human exhaustion: physical, emotional and spiritual. Those who choose to come to Him in continuous faith receive His mercy and grace to help them in their times of need. As we come to Him, we not only receive strength, but are transformed into the beauty of His holiness and fulfill His yearning for an ever-deepening love relationship with His children.

Yet as God’s children, we can cause God to be burdened with emotional weariness. How?

“But you have only burdened Me with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities” (Isaiah 43: 24).

If we ignore the cleansing power of God’s Word and refuse to enthrone His Holy Spirit to reign over us, we will continue to walk in sin. In doing so, we fail to demonstrate our belief that Jesus died to heal us from our sinful ways.

What about you? Are you weary of ongoing sin patterns and wearying God with them as well? If so, take a permanent vacation from all wickedness. Jesus died to release you from sin’s power. Repent and confess your iniquities to God. He delights in any heart that is broken over sin. Believe that faith in Christ means that you have died permanently to sinful behaviors and have been raised with Him in newness of life. Let your behaviors mirror your identity as God’s chosen, holy and beloved child by turning your eyes of obedient faith to Jesus.

“…present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments of righteousness.”

Romans 6:13

Imagine the scene that first-century day. Jesus had sent seventy-two men on a mission: to prepare the people in selected towns and villages for His visit. The men returned with exuberant joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name” (Luke 10:17). Like a parent responding to a small child who accomplished a new feat, Jesus said, “I saw.” He continued, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” Seeing in the spiritual realm, Jesus saw more than these men did. They saw demons cast out. Jesus saw the works of Satan defeated.

Jesus told the men, “I have given you the authority to overcome…all the power of the enemy” (Luke 10:19). As children of God, we’ve been given that authority as well. Jesus knew we would be in a constant battle for our faith. Satan bombards us with lies, ones that can come with the seeming power of a ballistic missile. Yet we have the power and authority of Jesus to defeat every lie Satan launches our way. Armed with God’s truth, we are like an anti-ballistic missile system. We can detect, intercept and destroy all of Satan’s lies. How? Obedient faith ignites and launches the truth of God’s powerful Word against lies, successfully demolishing them.

When lies are destroyed, the works of Satan are defeated. His intended mission fails. How great is his defeat when a child of God, bound for many years by deception and unbelief, chooses —regardless of what they see or feel —to believe God.

Let this be your battle cry:

“Lord, grant me a change of mind leading to a knowledge of the truth that I may come to my senses and escape the trap Satan has set for me and the destruction he seeks to bring on me” (from 2 Timothy 2:25-26).

With such a prayer, we too will see the works of Satan defeated in our lives.

Clear skies can be quickly overshadowed by the gathering of dark rain clouds. Sometimes the clouds unleash a gentle and short-lived rain. At other times it is torrential and relentless. But without the temporary gloom of clouds and rain, lush landscapes would wither and die.

So too, the fragrant fruit of godly faith cannot be developed without clouds that bring rainstorms upon our souls. When sudden difficulties come upon us, we choose to believe God’s promise of keeping us securely in His steadfast love as we patiently receive the rains that He allows. When we feel deluged and enveloped in heartache, fear, and trouble, we cling to God’s Word, depending on the Holy Spirit to obey it despite our distressed emotions. God will use our circumstances, even the darkest ones, for His good and glory. As we seek Him in confident dependence, He will grow us in deeper faith and godly character.

How do we persevere with confident hope in the gloom of clouds? Know that clouds are most frequently associated with God’s presence in the Bible. He revealed Himself and spoke to Moses from within a thick cloud. God’s presence was in a pillar of cloud by day that led the Israelites on their journey to the Promised Land. Three disciples were overshadowed by a cloud at the transfiguration of Jesus. Filled with fright as they entered into it, God’s voice spoke from the cloud, revealing the mighty presence of Jesus.

As He was with those men, God is always with us in our clouds. He speaks to us, His beloved children, as he did to them, assuring us of His love, power, and faithfulness to accomplish all that concerns us.

What clouds are presently overshadowing you? What do you see in your clouds? Look beyond the darkness and see only Jesus. Invite Him with an expectant heart of praise to work deeper faith in you through your storm. The sunshine of God’s love will soon flood your soul, dispelling clouds of fear and doubt.

“There came a voice out of the cloud, saying, This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to and yield to and obey Him!”

Luke 9:35

From his salvation at age 19, Taylor strove fervently to live a godly life. Yet for all his striving, he often experienced defeat and frustration. He wrote letters to his mother begging for prayer in his ongoing struggle with sin. After 15 years on the mission field, Taylor’s life and ministry changed radically when he learned of the pinnacle provision of God’s grace: the opportunity to live an exchanged life.

Scripture explains the exchanged life:

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20).

The experience of Hudson Taylor is familiar to many Christians. Seeing the righteous and holy standards of God, we put forth our best effort to attain godliness. In doing so, we experience frustrating cycles of defeat. Our human nature is frail. Our power to change ourselves is gravely limited. Like Taylor, we need to understand the exchanged life: we no longer live. Jesus Christ lives in us. He lives through us as we submit to Him.

In the exchanged life, our hope and trust lie in what Christ has done and will impart to us, not what we can provide and do for ourselves. How do we live such a life? According to Galatians 2:20, we live it by faith. We believe that whatever our need, God will provide. We place our hope and trust in His endless supply. In living the exchanged life, we see the open channel between the Vine of Jesus and our great neediness as a branch. We see it, ask for it and expect to receive all we need through it.

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.”

1 John 4:9

“Seeing is believing” is an old saying that suggests concrete or material evidence is the only basis for faith in a given object. This phrase is commonly applied in many different circumstances, scientifically and relationally. It involves the quest for substantive proof of truth. For instance, the pronouncement of “I love you” is often met with the rebuff of “prove it to me.” Tangible evidence is sought to validate proclaimed facts.

Many Christ-followers mistakenly apply this phrase to their spiritual lives. God-pleasing faith is believing and seeing the fulfillment of His spoken promises as a present reality. Instead of searching for visible signs and wonders, we are to use our eyes to search and study the Word of God. We are to see God as He truly is, experiencing for ourselves His love and integrity. We are to hold fast to what He promises to do for those who believe and obey Him despite visible evidence to the contrary. Believing God results in seeing His power in action. Moses persevered in leading the rebellious nation of Israel because he “saw Him who was invisible” (Hebrews 11:27).

Are you like the Israelites who believed God’s promises and sang His praises, but then quickly forgot what He had done for them? They, like us, often lived with the bitter consequences of disobedience. Why? Their faith was dependent on visible circumstances, despite God’s continuous and mighty workings on their behalf.

Do you put God to the test by giving in to faithless cravings and fears when you cannot see the way ahead? Come to Jesus. Confess your sin of unbelief. Acknowledge your desperate neediness for His guidance. Stop striving according to your foolish “wisdom.” Put your trust and obedience in His eternal Word and Spirit. He will intervene in the most challenging of circumstances as you cling tenaciously to His Words.Your faith will become sight, just as He promised. Believe and you will see.

 “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed…Because of your faith, it will happen.”

John 20:29; Matthew 9:28

Patterns and templates are invaluable tools when seeking to model an object to a specific design. In woodworking, a thin metal plate is used as a guide, detailing the specific dimensions and cuts needed to form a new object into the likeness of a perfected model. The design process is similar in sewing. Patterns formed from tissue-like paper are laid over and pinned to fabric. By cutting and sewing according to the lines and darts outlined, a seamstress can create an article of clothing nearly identical to the pattern.

When God created the heavens and the earth, He intended heaven to be the divine pattern to which everything on earth conformed. Yet when sin entered the world, man began to design his own templates for living. To this day, we tend to pattern our lives after what seems right and desirable to us. Sadly, our perspective is very limited. Lives modeled after man-made patterns never receive the joy and soul-peace God desires to give. They will never display His glory.

What would it look like to submit to God’s divine pattern for our lives?

1. We would seek to know God accurately and worship Him continuously. Speaking of heaven, Scripture says: “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty’”(Revelation 4:8b).

2. We would daily access the abundant provision available in heaven, for God has: “…blessed us in Christ with every spiritual (given by the Holy Spirit) blessing in the heavenly realm”(Ephesians 1:3).

3. We would seek God’s will above our own: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”(Matthew 6:10).

One day, heaven will fully come to earth. God will bring all things together under the rulership of Christ. Today, heaven comes to earth as we conform our lives to the divine template of heaven.

“The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15