Discipleship Devotional Study Guide – Becoming Like Christ – Day 296 – Zephaniah 3:17 – Is With You – Growing As Disciples
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
Rest
That definitely does not come naturally to me. What does not come naturally to you? Rest does not come naturally to me. Why is that? I am much more likely to be doing things. I have liked to be busy. I liked to go places and do things. Does rest seem like a waste of time to you? Does rest seem to have no good purpose to you? I suppose it sounds pathetic to admit, but yes, rest has seemed like a purposeless waste of time to me. You couldn’t be more wrong. I have had that suspicion. What would you think if I were to tell you that resting is not easy? I would be interested in hearing more. Rest can actually be a form of hard work. How can that be? If you were to set aside all your urges to be busy doing things would that be easy or hard for you? That would be exceedingly difficult for me. There you go then. You understand some of the difficulty of entering my rest. I guess I do. Yes, you do.
Would you be shocked to learn that you will not come to know me unless you enter my rest? No, not really. It is my hope and desire for you that you come to enter my rest. Would you like a preview of what you will learn as you enter my rest? Wow, a preview! I love previews. I always want to know what is coming next. As you enter my rest you will come to know that I love and care for you. As you enter my rest you will better understand how I have rescued and saved you from a life without me. As you enter my rest you will know that I delight in you. I delight in you so much that I rejoice over you with singing. On the day that you gave your life to me there was rejoicing in heaven. Does that blow you away? Yes, it certainly does. You, the God of the universe, who made everything, have all these thoughts and feelings toward me. Who I am? You are my child. I am your Heavenly Father. Come to rest in my love. Let my love quiet all your fears. Draw near to me and I will draw near to you. Come to rest in my presence. Come now. Yes, Heavenly Father, I will. That will be very good.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being with me to help me. You rescued me from a life without you. How wonderful it is that you love and care me. How fantastic it is that you delight in me and rejoice over me with singing. I love you with all that is within me. Amen
Key Question… How has God’s love for you put life into perspective and quieted your fears?
Living It Out… Allow God to show you how much He loves and cares for you as you rest in His presence.
Seeing It Happen… Have faith that God will help you to come to know and live in an intimate relationship with Him.
Get Ready To Share… Share with another person or your small group how God’s love for you has quieted your fears.
Prayer To Bless Others… May you rest in knowing how much your Heavenly Father loves and cares for you.
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