Believe And Rest In Jesus

“My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him” (Psalms 62:5, AMPC).

 

Unlike the Hebrew word used for “wait” in other verses in the Bible, the Hebrew word for “wait” in this verse means “to be astonished and to stop.” 

 

How many of us are truly astonished by the Lord? Do we stop our anxious thoughts and wait only on Him? This verse says that our hopes or expectations are from the Lord. When we don’t expectantly wait on the Lord, we rely on ourselves. We yearn so desperately for someone or our circumstances to change that we often make hurried efforts to rectify them. And God just wants us to exercise our faith in the waiting that will bring His promise to astonish us.

 

^“He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved” (Psalms 62:6, AMPC).

 

Victory comes when the Lord Jesus is our only defense and our only salvation. Jesus told Jairus to only believe when others rushed to quickly tell him of his daughter’s death (Mark 5:36). When we trust in what someone says or something other than what God reveals, we weaken our faith. 

 

We can trust the Lord without question. Do we stand strong in His Word, not allowing ourselves to be moved from what it promises? Do we believe what He says about our circumstances, health, or needs, regardless of how we feel or what anyone, learned or unlearned, says?

 

Psalms 61:3 says, “For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary” (NKJV).

 

We have a powerful defensive position in Jesus. We must never be lured out of it. Never forget how the Lord has been your strength against the enemy. Pay attention to what God says in His Word. Don’t ever forget His promises. Don’t ever let His words depart from your heart. Guard those words when you find them. They are life to you and healing to all your flesh (Proverbs 4:20-23).

 

^“With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God” (Psalms 62:7, AMPC).

 

Many people say nothing will lure them away from God’s powerful defense, but when it comes down to it, few people practice it. Most people trust man’s words and wisdom as their defense instead of relying on the Lord.

When we rest in Jesus’ finished work on our behalf, instead of letting anyone or anything steal His Word from our hearts, He becomes our unwavering and impenetrable source of strength. Nothing can tear us away from His protection. We are at peace in the storm. He is our refuge, sanctuary, haven, anchor, shelter, and unending protection in this world where the enemy tries to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

 

The New Testament equivalent to Psalms 62:7 is 1 Peter 5:7. This verse speaks of casting all our care upon the Lord. When we truly rest in the Lord, we don’t worry. We allow Him to capture any fearful thought. Because we trust in the Lord, we keep our thoughts upon Him, and His perfect peace guards our minds (Isaiah 26:3). We can sleep at night without obsessing about our problems. We can sleep because we know we are safe in His victory (Psalm 4:8). 

Nothing has the power to stand against His Word. His Word is Truth. Your God is completely reliable, and He doesn’t lie. Just believe Him, and rest in His promise.

 

“The Lord, your God, is He who fights for you, as He promised you” (Joshua 23:10, NKJV).

 

Just as promised, Jesus has fought for you and won. His victory is your victory. You can rest in His perfect work and life-giving power. 

 

“I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psalms 16:8, NKJV). 

Jesus has sat down at the right hand of God. His work is finished. There is no need for you to be shaken. When you rely on the wisdom of men and are told death and destruction should be what you expect, Jesus says, “Only believe.” Rely upon Him. Trust Him. Put your faith only in Him, and rest in Him. Allow nothing to lure you from His victory. Your faith in Him overcomes (I John 5:4).

Build My Life, Jesus

Through wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;

By knowledge, the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.

—Proverbs 24:4-5

Our spiritual lives are starving for the advice in this proverb. We may not acknowledge it, but it’s true. Without God’s wisdom to build my life, His understanding to ground my life, and His knowledge to fill my life with His purpose, my life is empty; I miss the blessings of His grace.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it.

—Psalm 127:1a

Unless I seek God’s wisdom, my efforts to grow spiritually will fail. My labor will be in vain. Unless I allow the Holy Spirit to reveal His understanding of the Word, my knowledge will not be His. I will miss out on God’s purpose that He designed for me and all its rare blessings. I can’t build myself. Only He can.

When I surrender all my efforts at running my life and allow God to have control, my life begins to change. I have a hunger for His will instead of my own. I yearn for my life to be filled with knowledge of His Word. I seek His spiritual understanding so my heart will be fertile soil. When I apply the knowledge I gain from the Word and the revelation I receive from the Holy Spirit into my life, I’m sowing each one into a heart that is primed for His Word to produce His life in me. As I continually apply His wisdom and understanding, I discover that each and every day I become more crucified with Him, and it’s not I who lives in me, but Christ who lives in me. His life is being built within me through God’s wisdom, understanding, and knowledge of Jesus’ finished work of grace.

If I do my part, He will do His. If I allow Him ownership of all of me with nothing concealed—nothing owned, reasoned, judged, idolized, or loved more than the One who gave Himself for me, I become free to receive what He has for me. He gives me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in my knowledge of Him. The eyes of my heart become enlightened, so I may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance, and the immeasurable greatness of His power toward me when I unquestionably believe His Word. 

My life is filled every day with the joy of His purpose. I receive the rare and beautiful treasure of His Spirit, empowering me to heights of His purpose with a passion that is beyond anything I might ask or think. The rooms of my life fill to overflowing with His presence. He favors me with His spiritual blessings in heavenly places. 

Jesus satisfies me. May I never be empty again.

Jesus, The Prince Of Peace

And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”  But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

—Matthew 8:24-26

 

What was the response of the disciples to the sudden storm that came upon them on the Sea of Galilee? They were filled with fear. They saw the wind and the waves, and that their boat was in danger of sinking. Then, they saw Jesus! How could He sleep when everything around them spoke of death? Shouting above the tumult, they woke Jesus up. His response was to rebuke the winds and the waves. A great calm came, and in that calm was peace.

 

Just like the disciples, uncertainties surrounding unfamiliar or unexpected situations can cause us to fixate solely on what we perceive. We can even fixate on all the potential negative outcomes. Look at the disciples. They were fixated on the storm, and they were convinced they would die. They were in total panic while Jesus was peacefully sleeping. Our doubts can quickly become an obsession, dominating our minds and spilling over into our mouths. 

“Lord, save us,” we cry out!  “Don’t you care we are persishing?”

The words we speak are powerful. The disciples spoke fear. But Jesus spoke peace. We must choose to speak life into our circumstances because the words we speak either produce life or death (Proverbs 18:21). 

 

If we think the worst, we prepare ourselves to receive the worst. When we declare our doubts, fears, and uncertainties, we speak exactly what the enemy wants to hear. When we don’t feel peace, the enemy immediately plays it to his advantage. He acts quickly to make sure we continue to believe our issues are bigger than our God. 

 

Peace is not an emotion. It isn’t something you feel. Peace is a person. His name is Jesus. He’s the Prince of Peace, who wants to rule your heart. You don’t have to feel peace (and often you don’t) before you speak the victory that is yours in Jesus Christ. Instead, you must remain confident in who the Word declares Him to be. You must remain confident about His promises regarding your circumstances.

 

The wind and the waves appeared to be certain death. However, Jesus was the answer. When our circumstances appear to speak death, we must look inside ourselves to Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who lives in our hearts. By telling our problems how big our God is and declaring His Word, we strip our circumstances of any power to control us. We must seek the Holy Spirit’s revelation of the Word to remind us of God’s truth and promises. Through the whole process of renewing our minds, our senses are trained to discern God’s truth and align us with the Word of God. 

The Lord has made His home in you. If you have a relationship with Jesus, the Prince of Peace, you have no reason to fear. But you must invite Him into all your circumstances and expect His promise to change what you entrust to Him. Let Him be in control of your emotions, bringing your thoughts into obedience to Christ. Continually choose God’s truth over what you see or feel or what others speak.

 

Jesus speaks death to your storm and life to you. The storm that rages hears Him. Do you hear Him? Do you trust Him?

Trusting God is peace. Trust doesn’t yield to your problem. It believes God has overcome it. The disciples didn’t need to yield to their fear of the storm. They needed to believe that Jesus, who was asleep and unconcerned with the storm, already had it under control. When a person is outwardly unconcerned about his circumstances, you can be sure that Jesus, the Prince of Peace is working deep within his heart.

When Jesus is Lord of all of me, I know that He’s the Lord of all that concerns me. I think on thinks that are pure, lovely, and of good report. His perfect love casts out fear. I follow His peace. He’s my wonderful counselor, mighty God, and my everlasting Father. He’s my Prince of Peace, who rules my heart.

I Come

You remain, Lord.

In my darkest moment 

And in my deepest despair,

You speak softly, 

“Child, I love you. Come here.”

My heart, longing, aching,

And reaching, 

I come.

I come vulnerable,

Broken of self.

I give you my pain—

My loss. My rejection. My offense.

I hold nothing back.

Stripped of all pretense,

I own nothing.

You paid it all—

So I owe nothing.

There is no image to save.

No mask to hold in place. 

No perfection to maintain.

No expectation to meet.

No hindrance.

Only you, Jesus.

You in me, 

And I, in you.

Deep calling to deep,  

I draw you from 

The well within.

Your waves crash over me.

Praying what I cannot,

You finish me.

My faith takes flight,

Trusting without measure.

I am—

Not abandoned, 

I am known.

Not rejected, 

I am accepted.

Not fearful, 

I am at peace.

Free of pain and loss.

Rejection and offense,

I am filled to the fullest

Of you, Jesus. 

As a deer pants for flowing streams,
So I thirst for you, 

My Living Savior.

You satisfy my soul.

Without our fellowship,

I thirst, and I thirst

So I come, and I come.

My hope remains in you, 

My salvation and my God.

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.

—Psalms 42:11

Come Here

The Lord longs to be gracious to you. He waits on high to have compassion on you.

—Isaiah 30:18

I have never left you.

I am that gentle stirring—

That faint kiss against your cheek—

That quiet whisper,

Waking you and lingering.

I’m your prayer from long ago,

A remembrance of closer times

When your heart beat as my own.

I wait in your darkest moment

And in your deepest despair—

Heart longing and arms reaching

Aching to hold you once again,

Speaking softly

Hoping you will hear

Child, I love you.

Come here.