In the New Testament writers use the terms “Kingdom of God” or “Kingdom of Heaven” 20 times to describe the good news of Salvation. Yet when the message that Christ preached is compared to most contemporary Gospel messages the difference is like night and day, and I think this is one reason this country and culture is seeing such decline in participation in mainline Protestant Churches.

One message emphasizes a future salvation … you know … you will have complete peace when you die if you do the right things until that time. The other invites people to enter the Kingdom of God, or the Rest of God NOW. With one you must wait to experience the blessings of the Kingdom or God’s Rest, but according to the other the benefits of God’s rest are available for you to enjoy this moment.

I think about God’s rest all the time. I have a dear friend who is a strong Christian, has a vast knowledge of the Bible, and strong roots in mainline Protestant religion. Yet, when I shared with her that I was doing a video series on the Rest of God her remark was, “Oh good! I’ve always wondered what that meant.”

Perhaps you have the same interest as my friend, and if so, discovering the Rest of God and its relevance for you today will revolutionize your life. It’s a game changer. I hope this video series helps.

Some morning in your corner of the world, get up very early and watch a day begin. The moon goes down, the sun comes up. Clouds drift, birds sing, and the wind rustles leaves and grass. There is order, rhythm, balance, and peace.

This is God’s world, and in the beginning, we were part of it.

On this same morning be aware of how things often change when man wakes up. Sounds become noise, order turns to commotion, rhythm is sacrificed for rushing, and the new day’s surprises and joys are overridden by the hard, harsh, pressing of man’s made duties and goals.

The heart of God continues to beat, but most folks don’t notice. John 5:3 says that when we are saved, we can see the Kingdom of God, and John 5:5 says that when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit, we can enter the Kingdom of God.

To reside in the Rest of God we must know it is always here. In this vignette the distinction between God’s world and Man’s made world is made clear.

Energy is not life.

Satan is alive, but he has no life. When he got too big for his britches he fell out of heaven and out of the presence of God like lightning! (Luke 10:18)

But Satan must have energy to live. So just like lots of folks who confuse the energy produced around entertainment, drama and chaos, Satan lives off energy … negative energy … our negative energy.

The Bible says that Christ holds everything together. (Colossians 1:17) Christ is our peace (Ephesians 2:14), so when we are in Christ, meaning we are full of Christ, we are held together with His peace. If we are full of God’s peace Satan doesn’t have any food to keep him alive sooooooooooooo … Satan sets you up to get you upset.

We must recognize this little game of his and choose not to play.

Before I was a serious Christian I was saved and I was grateful I was saved, but I did not understand what the “Good News of Salvation” was all about. I was grateful that Jesus, the Son of God loved me and that I would go to heaven when I died and that I would live forever, but hopefully I had a lot of living to do between now and then and frankly I did not understand what the “Good News” had to do with my day-to-day living until then. I do now, and this first video explains why.

By the way, I am on camera in this video lots more than I am other videos. That is because I could not find any good video other than charts to cover my voice overs. I apologize for that, but this Sabbath I video is vital to understanding the Sabbath, so please don’t skip it because of my talking head.

The Christian has the authority and power to bring heaven to earth, and we work in partnership, or relationship with God to do that. If we do not do our part, it will not get done. So, what is our part?

To facilitate our progress, we will be inspired by God to use some disciplines, but we also need to be aware of new ways to live that are fun and bold and proof that we expect God to do His part.

“Our part” is right in front of us, and we are well equipped to do it. And when we’ve done all God’s asked us to do, I think it is fascinating to sit back and watch God work!

In one of the Star Wars movies Yoda, the mighty little Jedi tells Luke Skywalker during training, “There is no ‘try’, only ‘do’” .

That is the way God’s rest works in God’s Kingdom. The only thing the Christian must be concerned with is obeying God.

Religion can and often does make our relationship with God hard, as though it is up to us. You know, we must figure how to help God; what to do, where to do it, and when.

No. No. No. That is work and worry as if we could earn our keep and our relationship with God. We must get hold of the truth, and that is that Christ did all that for us and we are simply to believe in Christ and trust Him. (John 6:28,29)

Christianity is simple. Once we let go and believe, we can relax. There is nothing to figure, nothing to worry about, nothing to earn, and nothing to prove. It is easy, and that is Rest.

Time is a man-made mental construction and if we don’t believe in and trust God, we become slaves to it. If we do not trust God we rush against a manufactured clock, trying to get all we need and want to get done before we die. Time created death, the grave, and gravity. God is eternal, and the Christian must live like he believes this until he sees that it is true.

To rest in God means to reside in His kingdom which is not a kingdom of time but of eternity; it is not a kingdom of reason but of faith.

Understanding the Sabbath and taking it’s rest is to live in a different reality that shines a bright light and message to a world starving for the Rest of God.

The promises of God in Deuteronomy 30:11-16, 19 are absolutely astounding. They are echoed in Hebrews 4.

These promises were our reality in the Garden of Eden until Adam chose for all of us to disobey God, and to go his own way.

Today. Now. It is time for the Christian to grow up, and the Christian is at a point of consciousness where he can choose to mature and to return to the garden, but he must believe he can have it, and he must choose to take it.

The key to Christian maturity and to his return to Eden is faith, and he must consciously choose to use it.

As a Christian have you ever noticed how many books, eBooks, articles, workshops, and seminars focus on helping you hear God’s voice? Evidently many Christians agonize over how they can hear God as though it is difficult, mysterious or both.

It is not. God is in constant communication with us, and this communication is simple … yes … simple … natural, comfortable, and consistent. It is one of the most satisfying, fun elements of the Christian’s relationship with God.

This video explains why there are only two voices, and how knowing that immediately catapults you into a much closer relationship with God.

At some point in the Christian’s life he will be in a corner … a situation where no distraction can help, none of his effort can save him, and his ungodly emotions are useless. The situation … and it will come because it is part of our life on earth, will force the Christian to consciously be aware that nothing he has done before can help him now, and it is upon this realization that he may consciously turn to God.

When have exhausted ourselves we can choose to let go and become still. When we become still and let God have His way with us He can send His guidance, love, peace, joy and all that He is right down in a true, clear, and perfect vertical line of connection and it’s going to stick … we are going to hear Him and see Him because we have chosen to be still and consciously receive.