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Reconciled, with right standing. When we realize and understand what that means, we will be able to take the place of rest. Our attempts to perform right are no longer needed. Because of the covenant of blood through the cross, we can receive the unconditional love, mercy and grace of God, and enter into God’s place of rest. Enter into rest. How often do we push ourselves physically beyond our natural limits. I think we probably do it all too much. Think about those words, enter into rest. Sometimes to enter into something new, we have to exit the highway that we are on. To enter into a restful place, a place of Sabbath, a place of peace, we have to press the off button, or take our foot off of the accelerator. We live in a fast paced world. But God continues to operate at the same speed all the time. We can think that if we take time to rest, we will just get behind. But in reality, our bodies were made for rest. A third of the daily allotment of hours should be in times of physical sleep. Taking time to wind down and give our bodies a break is God’s idea. He started it at the beginning, and he knew our tendency to want to perform at optimum speed would need to be tempered. When we listen to the voice of our creator, and realize He is way smarter than us, we will follow His pattern and plan. We have right standing. We are reconciled. We don’t have to out perform our neighbor. We just have to do what we are called to do and enter into more and more of the rest that God wants for us to experience .

So many people don’t get enough rest. Our bodies need rest and God knew that even from the very beginning. God wasn’t tired when he rested after creating the world, but He knew that we need time to refresh our bodies, reflect and just be still. Ps 46:10 tells us to be still and know that I am God. It is important that we are still. We have to quiet our minds, and then quiet our bodies, and just “be” every once in a while. God’s idea of resting in the Old Testament was to rest one day a week. People who lived in the Old Testament times would prepare ahead so that one day would be totally without work. We have stores now that are open 24 hours, and you can get anything online 24 hours a day, every day of the year. Amazing isn’t it. We live in a world that never sleeps or shuts down. We have to follow the plan God had for us. Taking a break isn’t just beneficial, it is necessary. I’ve always said when I start a project that I don’t have an off button. We need to push the off button every once in a while. That’s why we need to develop a pattern of not only sleeping well, but finding quiet in your life. That kind of rest is just as important. So next time you feel like you “have to” do something, why not try just resting in stillness. Let the spirit of God minister to your heart, and be re-energized for the next thing you do. I hope you can find some quiet space, and get refreshed to live out your life’s calling for God.

Rest is being still, doing nothing, to be quiet and to reflect. After God created the world and said it was very good, the Bible said that God rested. Not because He was worn out and needed a break, but because He had just created something amazing and wanted to be still and reflect on what was made. Living this life on the earth, so often we go from one thing to another without even taking a moment to reflect on what we just did. In churches we do this so often. We have a great conference, or an amazing season of worship and we just move on without stopping to rest and rejoice in the great things that we accomplished. Let’s change that. If we want to avoid the post victory blues, we have to get good at taking time to rest in the presence, before starting something else. The benefits are plentiful. We not only get a moment to thank God for what was accomplished, but we get some time to see what our vision should be for the future. That refocus moment can keep us from living in the past, and keep us on the right path for the future. Just because we have always done something one way doesn’t mean that it needs to be done that way in the future. Maybe there is a different, or maybe even a better way. When we take that Sabbath moment, we are saying to God that we want to be still in His presence so that he can give us new direction. In the midst of the resting place, we can also be refreshed and rejuvenated for what is next. So for you to experience more rest in God this year, let’s keep this time line in focus. We get vision or direction, we do what we are called to do, we stop, get rested, then we get refocused for the next thing we are called to do. This helps avoid burn out, and keeps the vision fresh before us. So take time to rest, be still, do nothing, and reflect. God’s dreams for your life can come into clearer focus for you.

Our sins are paid for and God is not angry with you. Many believe the first part of that statement, but not the second part. God is not angry with you. Sometimes because we relate to God as a parental figure, we think that God gets upset with us like our parents would when we disappointed them. God doesn’t have anger toward you. We are enfolded into God’s family by a covenant of peace. In the Old Testament we see a picture of the covenant of peace that God wanted us to experience when we look at the Sabbath day, the Sabbath year, or the Year of Jubilee. God offered rest as a chance to start over. As people who live in a busy world, we need His rest now more than ever. So many people live with the impression that God is mad at them. Our God is a loving God who took all the sins, anger and rebellion of mankind and placed them on his son, so that the price could be paid for once and for all for the sins of the world. The Bible says it is the love of God that draws people to repentance. It was love that sent Jesus to the cross, to be our substitute, to be the supreme sacrifice so that we can become the righteousness of God in Christ. It is love that continues to bind us to the covenant of peace that God established. The effects of the covenant are perpetual. We receive the benefits from the time we come into salvation. God wants us to experience the peace of God that surpasses understanding. Peace comes where there is no turmoil. There is no turmoil in the presence of God. When we choose to dwell in the presence of God, we can experience that rest and peace that only God can give. It is permanent and perpetual and God provides it for our protection and our promotion! Enjoy the rest from God.

The righteousness of God is now fulfilled in you. That means that we don’t have to strive to get on God’s good side, or work ourselves to the bone trying to make it into God’s good graces. We are already there. In fact, II Cor 5: says that we are made the righteousness of God in Christ. That means what Jesus accomplished on the cross, finished the work. Jesus said it is finished, and it was! When we receive salvation, we receive the finished work. Just like God who, when he was done creating the world, sat down and said it was good, Jesus did, when He rose from the dead, after dying on a cross. The good work was complete. He said it is done, Jesus did the work, so we don’t have to. There would be no way for us to pay for our own sins, so Jesus did it for us. We now have the righteousness of God fulfilled in us. We hear so often that our own righteousness is as filthy rags, that we easily can go back to the place where we feel dirty and unworthy. But that is unnecessary, because it isn’t in our own righteousness that we can boast, it is in the glory of the cross. We get the benefits without any of the blame. Instead of the consequences of sin, which is death, we get the benefit of the payment made on our behalf, which is eternal life, the gift of God. So take a deep breath, and enjoy the knowledge that we can rest. The wrestling match is over. Jesus won and handed us the victory in the form of a place to rest comfortably in the hands of a loving God. No more wrestling, just resting!

Romans 8:1 We are made free…. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. We are accepted. We are loved. We come to the throne of GRACE and we don’t have to get what we deserve, which would be damnation. We get to live in the rest of God. What an amazing trade. When we choose to walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, we live in that no condemnation zone! The enemy works overtime in guilt and condemnation. He tries to hold us down by reminding us of our past. One thing we can remind him of is his future! Because our past is under the blood, satan’s words of condemnation have no hold on us. Our past doesn’t define us. We know that even if we have had a set back, God is planning a comeback for us. Our future is bright in God. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, it gets brighter and brighter! If we could grasp what God’s plan is for our life, we would realize that it is more wonderful, more amazing, and more supernatural than we can imagine. So the mistakes of the past are under the blood. What can be is all because of the wonderful fact that we are totally loved and totally accepted in the beloved. When that becomes revelation in our life, we will find rest. We will make our home in the place where no worry, no circumstance, no plan or attack of the enemy will take us from the place of Sabbath rest in God. That place of rest is a place of peace, where nothing is missing and nothing is broken. So rest in that wonderful place of peace in God, He wants to lighten your load!

Is God at the center of everything in your life? We know that God can transform our lives, but do we really give Him the opportunity to do that? Hi, this is Dorette Schaal with your dailyeword Let’s depend on the Spirit of God fully, 24/7/365 days a year by being fully immersed in the Word of God, and living fully in tune with the Holy Spirit. Do you know that God has more for us than we could think, dream or imagine? You were made for more, so I encourage you go for it, and live the life that God has for you. Here is your encouraging word about more rest for you, today.

Matt 11:28-30 “says come unto me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” What a beautiful scripture. God invites us into his rest. He wants us to experience soul rest. Do you want to receive the rest that God wants to give you? We can see how opposite our life can be from what it could and should be. Our yoke can be hard and our burdens can be heavy. All you have to do is look at the faces of those carrying those heavy burdens, and you can tell that God’s plan is much better for us. God’s plan includes rest! A rest that not only brings sweet sleep at night, but a rest in your soul that you are doing what you are called to do, and living for God, 100%. In those moments when life gets busy, or circumstances seem overwhelming, you can truly experience that soul rest that comes from the quiet confidence of being called to the rest of God. It seems opposite to say you have to work at rest, but in a way you do. It means making provision ahead of time, it means putting it on your day timer, and making rest a priority. When we experience the rest that God has for us, and take time to be still in His presence, we will accomplish much more in the times where we are committed to doing. To be or to do? Well there is a time for both. Doing is much more effective for God when we choose to be in His presence on a regular basis. So are you willing to give up those heavy burdens and experience rest for your soul? It is the best way to live, starting in this moment, today.

Sleep in heavenly peace. Those are words right out of the song Silent night. At our home, we say that every night, except I say it in German. Slaf im himlissher ruh (phonetically). After I say it to our kids and my sweet husband, they all repeat it back to me in German too, and not just at Christmas time when everywhere you go you hear the song Silent Night. Peaceful sleep really is a wonderful thing. To have a comfortable bed with warm covers and, if you are married, someone to snuggle up next to is really a delight. I know many people deal with lack of sleep, or with sleep problems of many kinds. There are lots of you I am sure who are just not being able to sleep well for a variety of reasons. But, we all need peaceful rest. In fact, peaceful sleep makes you a happier person. If you don’t sleep well, you don’t function well. So how can we get the physical rest we need when our lives are overrun with stuff that calls for our attention 24/7? One great way to get good rest is to just do some things in the natural that facilitate it. Taking time to wind down is a good thing. Turn off your computer, turn off the tv, get in the bathtub and soak, drink something warm without caffeine, and gear your body down. We can do that spiritually as well. Take a few minutes to read the Word, or a good Godly book. Listen to some soft worship music. Fill your bedroom with things that bring peace to you. Get rid of clutter from your mind and your surroundings, and then close your eyes and go to sleep. The Bible tells us in Psalms that God gives His beloved rest, and you are His beloved! So sleep in heavenly peace, tonight and every night! You require it, and you deserve it! This could be part of the more peace you are believing for!

What is it about kid that they just love to stay up all night? When my girls used to come home from an over-nighter with their friends, they were so proud of the fact that they stayed up late. I think young kids (preschool and younger) think that as soon as they go to bed their parents begin to party! For most parents, we have to get some great rest because we are up early to get kids off to school, or to teach an early morning Bible Study, or to go work out before the regular workday begins. If you live on a farm like we do, maybe there are animals to feed, or other chores to do before you head out the door Life requires sleep to be able to function at our best the next day. Sleepy people do crazy things. They drive off the road, or they forget important things. We need to be reminded to take advantage of all the sleep we can get! We have lots of reasons to stay up late, and most of them are doing stuff that isn’t all fun, like catching up on laundry, doing dishes, or paying bills. Peaceful sleep is really hard for some. They can’t shut their minds off, or their body clock is messed up and they will just lie in bed for hours, looking at the ceiling. Sometimes it is because they are worried or anxious about something. Sometimes there is no explanation. My prayer is that you get in the habit of making restful sleep an important part of your life. Make your bedroom a peaceful organized place to be. Make it a habit to read your Bible and pray before you snuggle down underneath the covers. Talk to God, cast your cares on Him (I Peter 5:7), let peace rule in your heart (Col 3:15) and learn to sleep in heavenly peace.

The word peace is translated Shalom in Hebrew. It means nothing missing and nothing broken. The world and the enemy have a way of breaking us into little pieces. Unfortunately, so many believers think that God is the one who causes pain and brokenness. If we look at the ministry of Jesus, we can see that God’s plan for humanity was that we be healed and whole, and He sent Jesus to accomplish that on the cross. We live in a fallen world, and on an earth that still has a curse on it because of sin, but Jesus blood and His death on the cross made a way for helaing. We have a new dividing line. When the New Covenant was established, the veil was torn in the temple from top to bottom. When Jesus said it is finished, it was. He did all that had to be done to redeem man back to God. The law of sin and death no longer had a hold on believers. Jesus became our Shalom. We read that He is our peace, who has broken down every wall. He came to restore us to the place of wholeness, with nothing mission and nothing broken. He is our peace. We have peace through Him. We can be healed and whole, and live as if the fall of man has no affect on us. That really is pretty amazing. When the enemy tries to break us into pieces, we serve a God who heals and restores. He is our peace. He restores what was missing and fixes what was broken. What a wonderful God we serve, and what a wonderful way to live, in the peace of God. There we are healed and whole, spirit, soul and body, and helping others walk in that same peace that we know.