If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:15-16.

The everlasting God…neither faints nor is weary. Isaiah 40:28. All my springs of joy are in You. Psalm 87:7.

We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV.

Your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. Matthew 6:32-33.

Our chapter, Hebrews 4, is best understood through the eyes the Hebrews who held the memory of those who wandered in the desert 40 years because of unbelief even as God’s Presence was with them day and night. Contrast that with those who believed – Joshua, Caleb…David. To enter God’s rest is to come to Him for everything and in coming to Him to know that He IS and He is enough. It is trusting Him for all that is needed. The sermon yesterday said that so well. Jesus is Enough for this life now and for all eternity. Therefore, let us fear if – while a promise remains of entering His rest – any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, “As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,” although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: “And God rested on the seventh day from all His works”; and again in this passage, “They shall not enter My rest.” Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, “Today,” saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His. Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Why did the children of Israel fail to trust, to believe, in the very God who rescued them from slavery and was with them in the desert? The desert was harsh. The people of the land they were to inhabit were giants in their eyes…obstacles. What are my obstacles? I see today the harshness of a fallen world that does not believe in God. I see a world of people suffering and I can’t imagine how that does not go on forever because it always has existed in our fallen world. I let the “power” of what is temporary overwhelm me. Temporary. His works were finished from the foundation of the world…and God rested on the seventh day from all His works…Today…if you hear His voice…do not harden your hearts…there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. He is our rest. So let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in times of need. I don’t know about you, but living in these unprecedented times of need, I need help. I need Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, whose works were finished from the foundation of the world. I want to believe as faithfully as did Joshua, Caleb and David…and Daniel…and so many who lived in their own unprecedented times of need for God. There is no time that we do not need God and the promise remains today of entering His rest that He Himself gives. How? Turn to Him today. Take His hand and walk with Him walking with you. Walk the walk of those who believe – because we walk with Him – and with Him, our perspective changes.