MGD: Rest for Our Souls - 5

0:00Shalom beloved, you are only welcome to today's morning glory devotion. We are Pastor and the Hines Kielsen from the Harvest of Paul and the National Dengame Comaset. We are humbled to be bringing you another episode of our morning glory devotion, as we continue our series, Rest for Our Souls. Let us kindly share a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for another blessed day. We are happy to be at your feet. Nourish our souls with your word in Jesus' mighty name. Amen. Amen.

1:02Let us kindly take our confession for today from 2 Sh. up to 1 this 8. 2 Sh. up to 1 this 8. This book of the Lord shall only part from my love, but I shall meditate in it day and night, that I may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then I will make my way prosperous and then I will have good success. Amen. We bring you the part 5 of our message, Rest for Our Souls. Subtitled are new eating. Rest for Our Souls. Subtitled are new eating. Our scripture readings shall be taken from Exodus chapter 33 verse 14 and John chapter 15 verse 45. Exodus 33 verse 14 and John chapter 15 verse 45.

2:02I will be reading from the New King James Version. Exodus 33 verse 14 and he said, My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Amen. Amen. John chapter 15 verse 4 to 5. Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches, you who abides in me and I am him, best much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. The Lord ad has blessings to the hearing and reading of his word. Thong speech of God. Amen. Our New Eden. Yesterday we learned that the journey to true rest begins when

3:05we hear the invitation of Jesus, turn our eyes towards him and come. But coming is only the beginning of our journey to rest. Having found Christ, we must now remain in him. To understand what rest is, we must cast our minds back to Eden. Eden was more than beautiful trees, rivers and abundance. Its greatest treasure was the unbroken fellowship man enjoyed with God. Adam and Eve lived in his presence without fear, shame or hiding. They were secure because God was always near, dwelling daily in his presence. It was sin that disrupted that fellowship and humanity stepped out of that atmosphere of rest into a life marked by toil, striving and restlessness.

4:05Yet, throughout scripture, God kept giving man hands on where to find rest. He told Abraham in Genesis 17 verse 1, to walk before him and be blameless or perfect. In the same way, when Moses faced the enormous responsibility of leading Israel, God did not merely promise him a better strategy. He said in Exodus 3 verse 14, My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. This is remarkable. God did not say when you finally reach Canaan, I will give you rest. This means that rest is not a geographical location or place. Rather, rest is a presence and that presence is the presence of God. That is why Christ gives us that invitation to come to him. For in his presence, there is the rest for our souls, as long as we remain and abide in him.

5:11So, our new Eden is not a geographical garden. It is the restored fellowship we have with God through the Holy Spirit, just like it was in the very beginning and Eden. But here is a tragic reality for many. Some hear the voice of God, walk in his direction, yet along the way they get sidetracked by the worries and pleasures of this world, making them unable to come into God's presence. Others manage to come into his presence, but only for a period when they are facing a severe difficulty. The moments their situation is solved, they go right out of it. And certainly, some are merely Sunday by Sunday presence dwellers. They dwell in his presence only during a church service or a period of fasting, and after that, they leave his presence behind. That is not a way for us to enjoy last-ten rest.

6:18Beloved, we cannot enjoy last-ten rest in a presence we only visit occasionally. Jesus did not see, visit me. He said, abide in me. To abide means to remain, to stay, to continue, to make your home in him. Dwelling in God's presence does not mean spending every hour inside a church building. That is not possible. It means carrying a consciousness of God everywhere we go, being in the office, in the classroom, in traffic, at home, in our conversations, in our decisions, in the way we treat people, and even in the way we handle money, and the resources God has blessed us with, making God our priority. To abide in Christ is therefore to live under his influence through the person of the Holy Spirit, allowing him to shape our thinking, to direct our choices,

7:24and allow his presence to govern our conduct. As long as the Holy Spirit is actively taking control of our lives, we can boldly say we are actively dwelling in God's presence. It is right there in his presence that we can find last-ten rest for our souls. Beloved, are you merely a visitor in God's presence, or are you a resident? Abide in him today. Make the Holy Spirit the Lord of your daily routine, and your soul will finally experience the permanent rest of our new Eden. God richly bless you. Let us kindly take our memory verse for today. Our memory verse for today is taken from Exodus chapter 33, the verse 14, Exodus 33, the verse 14. I will be reading from the new King James

8:28version, and he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest, and he said, My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest. Amen. Let us kindly share a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for becoming our new Eden. We confess that we have often wondered a way seeking rest in places that could never satisfy. Today, we let go of every week, every sin, and every worldly compromise that keeps us from abiding in you. Please draw us close and help us to make your presence our permanent home, in Jesus' mind. Amen. God richly bless you for staying all through today's morning glory devotion. As we

9:30lend today, true rest is found when we make the presence of both our permanent home. Kindly join us again for our final episode tomorrow morning by God's place. For part 6 of this series titled, The Assurance of Rest, as we discover how to see from our own striving and rest in the eternal security of God's love. Finally, if I perish three days continuous fast is here with us, running under the theme, rest for ourselves, all roads leads to the Habershopper International Dynamic of Masay, where we wait on the Lord in worship, prayer and continuous fast, seeking the rest he has promised us. Come in person or join online via our social media platforms at HCI Comase. And you will definitely be blessed. See you there, Shalom.