Rest.

Paul Manwaring's message. Entering His Rest: Recreating the I Am in me.

"I'm putting my boots on." "Those boots are for crushing cancer."

Prosperity with purpose- the supernatural in the wilderness is to sustain us. the supernatural in the promised land is to advance us.

God told Moses, "You will not enter into my rest."

Promised land is the supernatural + natural. The supernatural working with the natural.

Thats what Moses did not enter into. Why?

Two instances of interacting with rock, two actions.

Exodus 17:8 - Hit the rock the first time, water came out. He did what God told him to do.
Numbers 20:8 - Second time he hit it, it caused him to miss the promise land.

"Take the rod, assemble the congregation, TELL the rock to yield its water."

First time he meets God in the burning bush, he encountered the I Am. I am the I am. And God showed the I Am that is in him. The sign that it is I who have sent you. You'll know its me because you'll come back and worship me on this mountain.

That's the place he hit the rock. Serve - you'll worship and serve me at this mountain.
The second time he served himself.
He forgot who he was.
The first time he did what God wanted him to do.
The second time - God said, 'speak to the rock."

Could it be that Moses was commissioned to be the voice? 
"Go to Pharoah. Tell him to let my people go!"
Moses didn't trust his voice. Stammered and asked Aaron to be appointed instead.
Moses asked, "What if they won't believe me or listen to what I say?"
God said, what do you have in your hand? The staff - throw it down and it becomes a snake.

The rod is the fall back for the voice. The voice is the first.
Speak. and they'll believe you.
If they don't, there's the fall back - the rod.

He'd seen this rod work before. The second time, he used what he'd seen before. That's not faith. Not obedience in moving with faith.

That's when we fail to enter into his rest.

Rest isn't inanimate nor stationary. Rest is not a destination. Rest is not a place we arrive at. 

Exodus 4: If they don't believe your voice, use the rod.
"If they will not believe you, or heed the voice of the first sign, they may heed the voice of the latter sign."

If you are striving right now, if life is stressful right now, no rest right now -- you may have forgotten the I Am that's in you. There's the piece of the I Am in you.

Rest is about re-creating. On the 7th day, God rested. He recreated. He recreated himself on the 7th day. ("to give new life or freshness to")

Worship is recreating the I Am in me.

Recreate the I am in us for the next year.

When we lose sight of our promises, then we lean back on what we've seen before, instead of leaning into the unseen.

Hebrews 3:11 - I swore in my wrath, they shall not enter my rest.
Hebrews 4:1 - Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. (mixed with faith)
Hebrews 4:8 - God gave Joshua rest on every side. Yet that verse says, "if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on." Joshua knew of a greater Rest.

Rest is not a place. Not an arrival point. Not a kicking back.

Rest is where we take our identity and promises, and we move forward in faith into what we cannot see. When those three get separated, thats when we cannot enter rest.

We need to refresh ourselves in worship, in the sabbath day, in the sabbath experience of looking at his face and looking at the I am in his face that is represented in my life. We need to see that.

We need to be recreated in his presence, then we need to remind ourselves of the promises of what he has said and then we need to step in faith.

Some of us haven't hit the rock. We haven't tested his word, where we do what he said to do and see that it happens.
Some of us keep hitting the second rock with the first rock's instructions. We're frustrated because its not working as for the first rock - we're not entering into rest, and we're confused and not sure why its not working. That's because we've forgotten the I Am that's in us.

The first rock is kindergarten year. When God says something and it happens.
The second rock is where we need to be walking out of who we are and not just what he said. We don't make formulas out of what said once, taking it to the next rock.

I will walk in the identity of who I am.

Joshua did not give them rest though God gave them rest on every side. Joshua knew there was a greater promise land.

Jesus Christ is the beginning of the greater promise land. How sad if we miss it! Or fail to enter it! Walk in faith and enter his rest.

Some of us are tired and weary because we forgot we had an encounter when the I Am said something to us.

The Psalmist said, "One thing I ask, that I may see, that I may dwell and look on the face of God." I don't think that meant living in church every day.
He meant to live in the constant awareness of his presence, to meditate on him, refreshed, rested, recreated by his beauty, in his presence. Its a way of life. Rest and recreation is a way of life.

The next leg of the journey is different. When Moses parted the red sea, God split the waters. They walked through on dry land. When Joshua crossed the Jordan, the priests walked into the waters and stood.

In the next phase, you are called to just stand. Stand in the middle of the water - in the awareness of who you are and what you carry. The priests were carrying the ark of the covenant.

Stand in the knowledge and presence of the I Am you are carrying in you.

Moses with his attitude - he might have been shuffling and trying to figure out what to do.

Priests stood, and the waters parted. That's rest.

All we need to do is stand, and the waters part.

You're carrying I am. When you stand in worship - look for the I Am that is in his face, that is in you.

If you don't carry it, no one else will. It's your piece.

Find your piece of the I Am.

Don't forget it. Don't make it a formula "I'm gonna hit rocks all the days in my life."

Step up to the next level - know that the I am I carry is actually sufficient.

Don't lose sight of the promise. Of the promise land. What is your promise?

Take the prophetic word, and with it, fight.

The prophetic word is the Offence, not the Defence.

It's not just a shield for fear. The prophetic word is your sword.

And, be Obedient.

The tangible being married to the intangible - I have a word, and I need to do something. The doing something ended up with another result. Putting on boots let him be free of cramps and aches.

You don't need love on your honeymoon. You don't need hope when you've won the lottery. You don't need faith when you see it.

You need love for your enemy. You need hope in the wilderness. You need faith when you have an impossible situation and don't know what to do. 

If we're waiting for what we can see, then we'll be waiting a long time.

You'll know its me because you will come back to this mountain. You'll see that I Am happening in your life. See the I am when you worship and serve him on this mountain.

The supernatural in the wilderness is to sustain us. The supernatural in the promise land is to advance us.

The surgeon says, "Holy Spirit, show me where to put the scalpel." That's their I Am. That's them knowing who they are and what they can do. That's them stepping into rest and recreation.

It is the place of convergence in our lives. Where I Am and faith is fully manifested, comes into alignment and we see more than we can ever see.

You may be at a place where you can't find peace, tired. Find your prophetic word. Put your boots on. Do something by faith. Remember who you are.