Irene In Christ

While studying Hebrews 3 and 4 on the rest of God, I kept hearing these words in my mind: "Reaping where you have not sown".  As I pondered on these words, a verse popped up in my mind " Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed ", from Matt 25:24.  The version in Luke 19:21 goes like this:  For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ Totally unrelated to Heb 3 and 4, but I obediently read up on the Parable of the Talents and the Parable of the Minas.  The lord/ master in the parables was described as a hard and austere man. What has that got to do with the Lord's rest? I wondered and couldn't figure out what the Holy Spirit wanted to show me or teach me.  I then went back to reading Genesis, the stories of the creation of the earth. As I read the accounts of God's creation and that Sabbath rest on the very...

On the last Sunday of 2024, I heard and learned a new song in church, 'Follow' by Passion and Melodie Malone. My pastor preached a message reflecting on 2024 entitled "Have you grown in 2024?".  At the end of her sermon, she led the congregation in worship, singing this song, Follow, as a  response to her message.  It was a new song to me. I've not heard the song before. And with new songs, it usually take me some time to resonate with the song as I need to learn the lyric and the tune first.  But that Sunday, as I sang the words 'Yes to surrender, yes to the altar', the Lord brought me back to a time in September 2022, where He spoke to me about living on the altar, through another song (On The Altar).  At the time, I was struggling, with Him.  The Lord has given me a word through an anointed man of God that afternoon. As the pastor laid hand on me and prayed for me that afternoon, he released a word for me.  He ended his prayer with 2 words - 'Go, ch...

As we read Heb 3 and 4, it is natural to ponder a few questions.  Can we enter into this rest of God? Sounds so mysterious, is it even possible? Source: Internet Perhaps it is worthwhile and helpful to ask the other question instead: "Why some could not enter God's rest?"  Heb 3:16-19 gives us a glimpse. For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses. Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness?  And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey?  So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. The key words are in verse 18 and 19: "Did not obey" (disobedience) and "unbelief".  (Heb 4:6 also tells us that th ose to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience. ) There is a process leading up to this unbelief and disobedience. It doesn't happen just like that. From He...

Source: Internet Rest.  A word that has eluded me for a long time.  Years ago, I set out to find out what God has to say about rest in the Bible. And I found myself repeatedly drawn back to this topic or truth ever since.  To say that I have felt as though I had been playing hide and seek with 'rest' would not be an understatement. Each time I felt like I had found her, I doubted if it really was 'rest' that I had found. And most of the time, I would lose her again not long after.  It wasn't so much that rest was hiding from me, rather it was that I didn't recognise her. Or didn't know how to keep/ retain her. Do you, perhaps, feel that way too sometime?  In the OT, a lot of time, when the Bible speaks of rest, it speaks about a place, a time or a state/condition of rest.  Usually signifying an absence of turmoil or adversary. Most of the time, the Hebrew word translated as rest were nuah, menuha, manoah, which means to rest, repose (verb) or resting place,...

Son of Man (Dan 7:13, Mark 10:45) Son of God (Isa 9:6, Luke 1:35) Man’s brethren (Heb 2:11, 12, 17) Man’s captain of salvation (Heb 2:10) He is Jesus The One who took on (2:16 KJV) The form of a bondservant (Phil 2:7) The seed of Abraham (Heb 2:16, KJV) Coming in the likeness of men (Phil 2:7) He is Jesus Given unto us (Isa 9:6) Born unto us (Isa 9:6) Made like us (Heb 2:17) One with us (2:11) He is Jesus Alpha and Omega (Rev 22:13) Beginning and End (Rev 22:13) First and Last (Rev 22:13) Outside of time He is Jesus Yet for a little while (Heb 2:9 NLT) He took not on Him the nature of angels (Heb 2:16 KJV) He was made a little lower than them (Heb 2:9) He did not cling to equality with God (Phil 2:6 NLT) He is Jesus He became flesh and blood (Heb 2:14) For it was only so that He could die (Heb 2:14) He became obedient to the point of death (Phil 2:8) For it was only so that He could destroy the devil (Heb 2:14) He is Jesus Yes, He suffered (Heb 2:10) He tasted death (Heb 2:9) Even the ...

The book of Hebrews was written to a group of Jewish Christians. A group who were originally deeply rooted in Judaism, but had now believed in Jesus Christ. Picture a Jew who grew up in the old covenant. Who has heard, learned and lived the old covenant all of his life. Up until the moment he believed in Christ and chose to follow after Him.  Now, the book of Hebrews was written to a people who were eagerly anticipating Christ' return and had, perhaps, grown a little discouraged.  Waiting does that to us sometimes, doesn't it? The author wrote Hebrews to remind this group of people in waiting of one truth - what they have is far better than what they had - and to urge them not to go back.  In short, the author was appealing to these Christians not to go back to Judaisam.  And I thought of how someone could have written the same to us: Do not neglect the salvation and turn back to buddhism, hinduism, taoism... (Even atheism, for that matter.)  Do not neglect nor...