Heb 4:9   There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

Heb 4:10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.

Heb 4:11  Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest. . .

Lam 3:21 This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope.

Lam 3:22 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

Lam 3:23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

Opening Thoughts:

Your Mercy is new, how real I desire that to be everyday. Your faithfulness is great, how I long to be in belief of these truths, these traits of my God, my Savior.  So many times I feel inadequate, I feel drained, burnt out, and downtrodden, too many times actually.  “I recall to my mind”, what a powerful piece of scripture this is in Lamentations!  What does it take to be in your presence God? how I desire to be with You all day, thinking with You, acting with You and present with You. this is my prayer, this is my deepest desire.

Devotional:

I recall to my mind and I hope again.  It is amazing how hopeless we are without Christ’s presence, just read the verses before 3:20 its dire.  I recall to my mind, I cannot get over the simplicity and power of this.  Is it crazy to think God is only a recall away, a stream of thought, a moment away from being present with you? This is true,  God is one recall away and His rest is a door keyed with recall waiting to be opened.  There remains a rest to the people of God, there is hope for a believer today, there is hope for the unbeliever today.  His mercy is new everyday and his rest is eternally provided.  These are profound revelations from scripture for anyone who approaches seeking it!  I have so many things occur on a day to day basis, so many concerns, so many responsibilities, so many this and that.  All these things using my most precious resource, my time.  Who would think that an eternal God only needs a moment to renew you?  A moment with God changed my life.  Romans 10:13 states that a relationship with God, salvation from eternal punishment of sin ,an eternal offense to a Holy God, is only a believing call away.  Crazy talk right? No, it only took a moment to exclaim ” it is finished” and it only takes a moment to rest in that truth.  This is why the word of God is so powerful, so profound.  God spoke the world into existence, and He intends to save every willing person who calls out to Him in a moment.  In Isa 55 I see the disconnect we have with God from verse 8, but it is verse 11 that shakes my mind as I recall my experience of salvation and what it took to get there. His word. . .

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

this is a truth, we cannot deny no matter how hard we try. Just recall your own story of coming to Christ.  You received a word in season and it took root and grew.  It is truly amazing to talk to atheist and others in unbelief and see the word permeating in their hearts.  It is truly great so many in unbelief read the Bible. they read with skeptics eyes and a carnal mind, but the words are being planted.  So many times I have seen someone come along and I share a quick devo or stream of thought from the scripture that I think will just fall to the ground and immediately I see this light illuminate their countenance, and they see Christ.  God is faithful and His word will accomplish what He pleases and prosper in the way He sent it to prosper. And as it has renewed us to relationship with God, through the gospel of Jesus Christ it also can renew us today in our circumstance.  Resting in God is truly as easy as calling out for help.  So many times we do not get to verse 21 of our 3rd chapter of lamenting, so many times we don’t look at what remains available to us.  So often I labor and toil to obtain, obtain, obtain when all I really need is what remains.  The rest of God. One recall away from salvation, one recall away from renewal, one recall away from comfort the walk with Christ,is only one recall away.

This now brings us to the question of what to recall, what to rest in. the answer is in His new mercy revealed through His word.  My Pastor says it quite simply stating, “let the Word of God do the work”, God has a new and fresh stream of thought just waiting to be revealed to you everyday.  Will we put all else aside to labor and find it as Heb 4:11 clearly lays down?  We will never unlock the door of His rest, if we are not recalling that new mercy provided to us? That word in season, that doctrine for healing, and that truth is what we need.  As most of my devotionals will charge, I charge you again to read the love letter addressed to you, 66 chapters with new mercies set aside to renew.  It is not a chore, it is not routine, it is our life, our food, and our hope.  We need hope to live in this life, we cannot function without a sense of hope.  And what better hope is there other than in our Savior Jesus Christ?

A story I have heard many time talks of a prisoner in the Soviet prison who stayed alive solely by a hope of being free.(true story) He lived and clung to a hope of freedom, and in this account there was someone with high authority who dismissed that hope and denied it from Him by telling him he will never be free.  Short after being told he literally died of hopelessness in the ensuing days.  His body just shut down slowly as he retreated to the depths of his mind to find no reason to function anymore.  We face a prison of hopelessness, but unlike any other hope our hope is in something eternal, faithful, gracious and just. There is a reason there are so many accounts of Christians  overcoming hopelessness in prisons. In face of danger and persecution so many stood steadfast and truly immovable in the mind.  Richard Wurmbrand gives a gruesome account of this in his writings and provides an amazing picture of how powerful our hope is. No matter what, we have a hope and therefore will not be moved from it. A traditional idea or ideology cannot compare to the hope of heaven, being present with God! No other name, no other god compares with our all powerful creator God of love and grace. who came down into our earth and died in our place? My God. Who promises eternal life through a gift of a sacrificed Son? My God. who gives grace to a world of evil? My God. Debate it all day, there is none like my God. There is none who offer a peace beyond understanding, and a rest that can  be entered into by recall in the mind.  We are the only people who serve a God who is always just a moment away from us!  God is only a moment away from you. His word is the only thing you need in your mind body and soul.  So many of us pursue a knowledge, a mastery and a skill that will only provide for our short time here.  By all means continue, but I encourage you to pursue God. Pursue a mastery in His word with a new zeal and urgency today. For in its contents we can be with God.  We will find those new mercies, we will enter into rest, and we will be so blessed to be thinking with God in His Spirit. We have a hope!  Be transformed to His way today resting in Him always as His compassions fail not and His faithfulness is great.

Chad Brockmeyer