By M. Fontaine
Download Audio (7.3MB)
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”1
Resting in the Lord is putting your weight down on Jesus and spending time in deep communion and fellowship with Him so that He can infuse you with strength, renew your vision, and love you long and tenderly. It’s carrying a spirit of peace and faith, putting Jesus first, learning to see in the spirit, surrendering your will to Jesus. Resting in the Lord is one of our lifesavers, or sanity savers, in busy times.
Resting in the Lord is pleasant because it involves thinking about Jesus, spending time with Him, and reveling in the wonders of the spirit realm. In that sense, it’s not hard or taxing, although it does take faith to slow down and stop our other activities in order to do it. It takes faith to work in the spirit. But as we do, we will reap wonderful benefits.
We need more and more of Jesus in order to be effective witnesses and soul winners. If you try to plow through your outreach and witnessing and teaching in your own strength, you’ll wear out. Being a professional missionary is taxing, and there is always way more to do than you can possibly get done. The way to survive and avoid stressing out and burning out is to learn to rest in the Lord, to learn to work in the spirit, to learn how to effectively cast your burdens on Jesus and let Him carry the load.2
Our work for the Lord needs to be a work of His Spirit—Him working through us. It can’t be an arm-of-the-flesh approach. It has to be each of us leaning hard on Him, committing our work to Him, resting in Him, and looking to Him.3
Our lives are busy, and they’re probably not going to get any less busy, so we need to have the calm and peace and strength that come from resting in the Lord and taking time for meditation. The more at peace we are, the more faith we manifest to others, and the more they will want what we have. So many people in the world long for peace. Being full of faith and calm and trust is a part of our witness, and it’s part of what will draw others to Jesus.
Aside from the physical and spiritual benefits that we personally reap, and the renewed anointing that we receive for witnessing and winning, we can receive the power to do the difficult, because we’re letting His Spirit work through us. We can better know how to care for those we’re ministering to because we have spent quiet time alone with Jesus, meditating on Him, connecting to His Word, and He is able to minister to our spirit and speak to us.
Another benefit of resting in the Lord and meditation is that we give the Lord an opportunity to prepare our hearts for those that we will meet that day. He might even give us a feeling, or a picture, or a word that could turn out to be key. We’ll also be attuned more acutely to the Lord’s checks throughout the day, as a result of time spent resting in Him and meditating, and can be more sensitive to out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected witnessing opportunities or open doors.
When we’re resting in the Lord, our spirits and minds are more filled with the Lord’s Spirit, and we’re able to pass this on to those we’re ministering to. Even if it’s not always something physical or tangible that we give to others, they will be able to sense the Lord’s Spirit in us more readily. As we slow our spirits down in order to spend time resting in the Lord, meditating on Him, and getting into the spirit, He can show us what our priorities are, and we’ll have increased faith to act on them.
Resting in the Lord and meditating brings a whole lot more peace and calm to our spirits. It gives us more strength and more joy in our labors and in our witnessing and winning. It will be a testimony to those whom we come in contact with.
Words from Jesus
As you meditate and reflect on Me and My Word, you will become more of a reflection of Me. You will become more of a mirror of Me as you turn your face up to the light. When the needs press hard upon you, reflect Me on to whatever situation arises. When obstacles arise, reflect My answers. When hearts are awaiting My truth, reflect Me. Resting in Me will help you reflect more of My Spirit, and My Spirit is the ultimate in overcoming obstacles, in answering problems, in touching hearts, and performing miracles.
*
I will allow crisis moments so that your quietude, your reliance on Me, will be a testimony to others. When everything seems to be falling apart around you and yet you keep your cool, this will help draw others to you. It will spark interest; it will cause people to want what you have. Even in the petty daily cares of life, the peace that you exude will cause others to take note. The simple, everyday-business tasks you have to do can lead to a witness if you are filled with Me, resting in Me, and reflecting My Spirit.
*
When you take the time to meditate and give Me time to work in your heart and spirit, I am able to reveal to you things that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. These will be as jewels of great worth—such as insight into the lives of those to whom you are ministering.
*
Resting in Me is like a charge-up for your spirit.
*
Resting in Me can give you the steady hand of faith and keen eye of vision so that you will more likely spot the target when it comes into view, avoid distractions, and hit the mark of My will.
*
Have you ever tried to push a stalled car? It’s pretty hard work. Have you ever tried to push it uphill? That’s incredibly difficult. But I can turn on the power and get that car moving so that you don’t have to push. I’ve got the keys. I’ve got the juice to power your venture. If you push so hard in your own strength, it’s just like pushing a dead car, and it’s going to wear you out and exhaust you. You’ll be in for a long and grueling uphill fight with a heavy car. Resting in Me is like asking Me for the keys so that you can turn the ignition and zoom off into the sunset under My power.
Original published August 2008. Updated and republished June 2013.
Read by Irene Quiti Vera.
1 Psalm 37:7 NKJ.
2 1 Peter 5:7.
3 See John 15:5 and Zechariah 4:6.
Download Audio (7.3MB)
“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”1
Resting in the Lord is putting your weight down on Jesus and spending time in deep communion and fellowship with Him so that He can infuse you with strength, renew your vision, and love you long and tenderly. It’s carrying a spirit of peace and faith, putting Jesus first, learning to see in the spirit, surrendering your will to Jesus. Resting in the Lord is one of our lifesavers, or sanity savers, in busy times.
Resting in the Lord is pleasant because it involves thinking about Jesus, spending time with Him, and reveling in the wonders of the spirit realm. In that sense, it’s not hard or taxing, although it does take faith to slow down and stop our other activities in order to do it. It takes faith to work in the spirit. But as we do, we will reap wonderful benefits.
We need more and more of Jesus in order to be effective witnesses and soul winners. If you try to plow through your outreach and witnessing and teaching in your own strength, you’ll wear out. Being a professional missionary is taxing, and there is always way more to do than you can possibly get done. The way to survive and avoid stressing out and burning out is to learn to rest in the Lord, to learn to work in the spirit, to learn how to effectively cast your burdens on Jesus and let Him carry the load.2
Our work for the Lord needs to be a work of His Spirit—Him working through us. It can’t be an arm-of-the-flesh approach. It has to be each of us leaning hard on Him, committing our work to Him, resting in Him, and looking to Him.3
Our lives are busy, and they’re probably not going to get any less busy, so we need to have the calm and peace and strength that come from resting in the Lord and taking time for meditation. The more at peace we are, the more faith we manifest to others, and the more they will want what we have. So many people in the world long for peace. Being full of faith and calm and trust is a part of our witness, and it’s part of what will draw others to Jesus.
Aside from the physical and spiritual benefits that we personally reap, and the renewed anointing that we receive for witnessing and winning, we can receive the power to do the difficult, because we’re letting His Spirit work through us. We can better know how to care for those we’re ministering to because we have spent quiet time alone with Jesus, meditating on Him, connecting to His Word, and He is able to minister to our spirit and speak to us.
Another benefit of resting in the Lord and meditation is that we give the Lord an opportunity to prepare our hearts for those that we will meet that day. He might even give us a feeling, or a picture, or a word that could turn out to be key. We’ll also be attuned more acutely to the Lord’s checks throughout the day, as a result of time spent resting in Him and meditating, and can be more sensitive to out-of-the-ordinary or unexpected witnessing opportunities or open doors.
When we’re resting in the Lord, our spirits and minds are more filled with the Lord’s Spirit, and we’re able to pass this on to those we’re ministering to. Even if it’s not always something physical or tangible that we give to others, they will be able to sense the Lord’s Spirit in us more readily. As we slow our spirits down in order to spend time resting in the Lord, meditating on Him, and getting into the spirit, He can show us what our priorities are, and we’ll have increased faith to act on them.
Resting in the Lord and meditating brings a whole lot more peace and calm to our spirits. It gives us more strength and more joy in our labors and in our witnessing and winning. It will be a testimony to those whom we come in contact with.
Words from Jesus
As you meditate and reflect on Me and My Word, you will become more of a reflection of Me. You will become more of a mirror of Me as you turn your face up to the light. When the needs press hard upon you, reflect Me on to whatever situation arises. When obstacles arise, reflect My answers. When hearts are awaiting My truth, reflect Me. Resting in Me will help you reflect more of My Spirit, and My Spirit is the ultimate in overcoming obstacles, in answering problems, in touching hearts, and performing miracles.
*
I will allow crisis moments so that your quietude, your reliance on Me, will be a testimony to others. When everything seems to be falling apart around you and yet you keep your cool, this will help draw others to you. It will spark interest; it will cause people to want what you have. Even in the petty daily cares of life, the peace that you exude will cause others to take note. The simple, everyday-business tasks you have to do can lead to a witness if you are filled with Me, resting in Me, and reflecting My Spirit.
*
When you take the time to meditate and give Me time to work in your heart and spirit, I am able to reveal to you things that you wouldn’t have known otherwise. These will be as jewels of great worth—such as insight into the lives of those to whom you are ministering.
*
Resting in Me is like a charge-up for your spirit.
*
Resting in Me can give you the steady hand of faith and keen eye of vision so that you will more likely spot the target when it comes into view, avoid distractions, and hit the mark of My will.
*
Have you ever tried to push a stalled car? It’s pretty hard work. Have you ever tried to push it uphill? That’s incredibly difficult. But I can turn on the power and get that car moving so that you don’t have to push. I’ve got the keys. I’ve got the juice to power your venture. If you push so hard in your own strength, it’s just like pushing a dead car, and it’s going to wear you out and exhaust you. You’ll be in for a long and grueling uphill fight with a heavy car. Resting in Me is like asking Me for the keys so that you can turn the ignition and zoom off into the sunset under My power.
Original published August 2008. Updated and republished June 2013.
Read by Irene Quiti Vera.
1 Psalm 37:7 NKJ.
2 1 Peter 5:7.
3 See John 15:5 and Zechariah 4:6.
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