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PROGRAM 19 is transcribed below.
This is based on short article.
This is Doreen Palmer of ComfortForToday.com, a weekly program based on the 400 short articles on my website ComfortForToday.com. If you have a computer, you will be able to read or listen to this message again later under the heading Radio - Broadcasts. If you do not have a computer but wish to read these articles, you may order them in booklets of 30 articles in each, $8 postpaid. Write to Comfort Books, 27 Dominion Gardens Drive, Georgetown, Ontario Canada, L7G 6B2. My two books - "Life from the Ark" and "Overcoming in the End-Time Church" may also be ordered at a cost of $10 each.
Today's message is based upon verses 28-30 of Matthew 11. My husband, Neville, is now going to read them to you:
"COME TO ME, ALL YOU WHO LABOUR AND ARE HEAVY LADEN, AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. TAKE MY YOKE UPON YOU AND LEARN FROM ME, FOR I AM GENTLE AND LOWLY IN HEART, AND YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. FOR MY YOKE IS EASY AND MY BURDEN IS LIGHT (Matthew 11:28-30)
Today's article is number 19, and is called "A Sanctuary of Rest."
A bird sanctuary is a place where birds can find safety, a place where they can go to rest.
Churches are sometimes called sanctuaries because they too can be a place of peace and rest. But all churches are not sanctuaries. Sometimes they are places of division and strife. This ought not to be.
Although churches cannot always be depended upon to be a sanctuary in times of trouble, there is a true sanctuary where I can find safety, peace, and rest. It is a place where I can go when the world around me falls apart and my friends don't understand me. It is the sanctuary of His presence.
I can enter this sanctuary by learning about Jesus' love for me. When I come to the place where I can honestly see myself as the sinner I really am, then I cry out for the mercy He showed to me by His death on Calvary. I cry out for grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. He hears my feeble human cry and He answers me. I enter His sanctuary and find not only peace and rest, but I also find it a place of joy. The Bible puts it this way, "In thy presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).
Many battles must be fought before we can arrive at this sanctuary. You see, the enemy of our souls does not want us to find this sanctuary because he knows that when we arrive there his power over us is broken. We must learn to follow Jesus, to do as He has taught us, then He will gently lead us to His sanctuary of rest. Coming to Jesus with all our heart is not easy but, when we do, we discover the joy of the early Christians, a joy attainable even in the midst of persecution (I Peter 4:14).
Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matt.11:28-29).
Jesus invites you to His Father's house, to His sanctuary of rest. Will you come? He is waiting for you.
This is the end of the article.
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At the very end of the Bible, we are told that everyoneis welcome to come to the Father's house, everyone is welcome to come into His santuary of rest (Rev. 22:17). All we need is to have His Spirit indwelling our hearts and allow Him to control our lives. We must be willing to give up our fleshly, human agenda if we want to know the peace and joy of His presence.
I am now going to quote from my book "Overcoming in the End-Time Church" to tell you about my first trip to the Father's house, that is, the first time I was able to talk to God in prayer and know that He was listening.
The verses from Matthew 11:28-30 which Neville read were instrumental to my entrance into my Father's house of rest. I now quote from page 16 of my book:
"When my children were very young, an event took place which changed my life for all time. Let me tell you about it.
The minister in the church I attended was conducting a Bible study course for Sunday School teachers in the home of one of the members. I recall the evening so clearly; I could even tell you where I sat. Because the denomination I attended did not take the miracle stories of the Bible literally, the "born again" experience in John 3:7 was considered nothing more than a self-righteous human decision to live a better life. On this particular evening I discovered that being born into the world of God's Spirit is much more than a human decision; it is a miraculous experience.
Just as God's Holy Spirit breathed the life of Jesus Christ into the womb of Mary, He breathed the life of Jesus into me. That evening I became a member of the true church of Jesus Christ.
I had already considered myself to be a Christian. After all, I taught Sunday School, and I had always lived a clean moral life. Yet that night I discovered that being a Christian was more than living a good life, it was allowing the Spirit of the resurrected Christ to live within me. The Christ was no longer hanging on a cross and I could feel His warm presence within my body.
That evening, as I sat looking into the face of my minister, I could not comprehend what was taking place. Not until the next day did I realize that this new burst of spiritual life within me had not come from my minister, but from another source. It had begun the moment my eyes had become fixed on the following verses in Matthew 11:28-30:
"Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."
Rest for my soul indeed?
How could an over-burdened heart find rest?
What did it mean to take upon me His yoke?
I was filled with many questions, yet something strange had happened to me.
I had come to Jesus at His invitation.
I had been "born again."
I was a brand new Christian.
Following this act of God, His Holy Spirit began to teach me many new truths as I Corinthaians 2:13 says He will. For the next few days I could think of nothing else but those verses in Matthew. As I did my housework and cared for my small children, the answers to my questions began to flood into my mind. I remember feeling the presence of God for the first time as I began to talk to Him.
It was such a beautiful experience!
A new joy began to surge within my being.
I knew I was not alone; another One stood beside me.
I was like a new-born infant in God's perfect loving care.
My life had been changed forever!
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Of course, if you read the remainder of my book you will find that this was only the beginning of a long life-time spiritual journey. It was only the first time I entered the Father's sanctuary of peace. But as the years have come and gone, and He has taught me much about Himself, each trip to the Father's house becomes more of a privilege than a duty.
So if you persevere with your prayer life, it will eventually become the most precious time of your life. In a world of darkness, a world which grows darker each day, there IS a way to find peace and rest. It is the Way to the our heavenly Father's house of prayer.
MUSIC: "Jesus, I Long to be Held" recorded on TACF CD "Intimate Bride"
PRAYER