Come to Me . . . and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me... and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29)
Our previous meditation on Jesus promising spiritual rest provides an excellent opportunity to reflect again upon the relational aspect of living by the grace of God. God's grace does not abound toward us by means of some religious procedure. His grace flows into our lives as we walk in a developing relationship with Him. This is essential to understand, since it is "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 8:9) that we are to be experiencing.
It is in coming to the Lord, in relating to the Lord, that we find His grace at work in our lives. "Come to Me...Take My yoke... learn from Me." When we first come to Jesus in humble dependence, we find His grace to forgive us of our our sin and guilt. When we yoke up with Him, walking intimately with Him each day, we find His grace to rescue us from religious, fleshly striving.
This pattern of coming to the Lord is prevalent in the scriptures. Isaiah wrote of it concerning salvation. "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other... Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength. To Him men shall come" (Isaiah 45:22, 24). Isaiah also declared that spiritual refreshment and life from God would be available by simply coming to the Lord. "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters... Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isaiah 55:1-3). Of course, Jesus restated this profound invitation concerning Himself. "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water" (John 7:37-38).
The Apostle Peter wrote of another significant issue for which we come to Jesus. "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2:4-5). If we are going to access the grace that edifies our lives, we must consistently be coming to Jesus Christ, the Father's chosen and precious cornerstone.
Dear Lord, I praise You for the grace that I find every time I come to You in humble dependence. Coming to You, I am cleansed, sustained, refreshed, and built up. I am so thankful that Your grace is accessed through relationship with You and not through religious performance by me!
Be the first to react on this!
Bob Hoekstra ( - 2012)
Bob's involvement with the Calvary Chapels began in 1971, when he and his wife Dini visited Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa on a Sunday evening. They were deeply touched by the life-giving teaching of the word of God, the simple worship "in Spirit and in truth", and the profound expressions of the love of the Lord among the saints. Upon returning to Dallas, they regularly obtained Pastor Chuck Smith's teaching tapes and eventually became daily listeners of the Word for Today on the radio.Since 1993, Bob had been teaching at Calvary Chapel and other church fellowships across the country and overseas (including, Seminars, Pastors' Conferences, Church Services, Leadership Conferences, Retreats, and Schools of Evangelism/Ministry). He has taught numerous classes at Calvary Chapel Bible College (both at its former location in Twin Peaks, CA and its current location in Murrieta Hot Springs, CA) as well as at the extension campuses of Costa Mesa, Vista, San Diego, El Cajon, and others. Bob's teaching generally highlights such subjects as Counseling God's Way ,Family God's Way ,Growing in the Grace of God ,The Church: How Jesus Builds It ,Contending for the Faith ,Promise Believers ,The Sufficiency of Christ and His Word ,The Psychologizing of the Faith , and related themes.
Pastor Bob Hoekstra is the founder and Director of Living in Christ Ministries (livinginchrist.org). He has been in ministry since 1967, including fourteen years in Dallas, TX and eleven years as Pastor of Calvary Chapel of Irvine, CA. He and his wife, Dini, were married in 1966, and have three adult children and eleven grandchildren. Bob graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1973 with the Master of Theology degree.
Bob's involvement with the Calvary Chapels began in 1971. Since 1993, Bob has been teaching at Calvary Chapel and other church fellowships across the country and overseas. The Living in Christ Radio Program is heard on several stations across the country.