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The Father desires to have an intimate place in our every day life; not shut out six days of the week, but with us all through our waking moments, a part of everything that we do, a part of all we say. Really a part of all we are.

He desires to impart Himself, His strength, His courage, His patience and love to us, making us stand out, distinct, among the people with whom we fellowship.

It is His desire that we become unusual as the Master was in His day when He walked among men. He wants to be the burden bearer, the wisdom-giver, the strength imparter for every one of us. He has no favorites. He wishes to become a partner of every life, the inspirer and the courage and fortitude in every emergency.

God Is Our Sufficiency
This has a thrill in it. To think that I will be able to meet every demand upon me and win in every emergency, to be a success in every contest, is a challenge that my heart accepts.

II Corinthians 12:9 is a picture of Paul putting it to the test. He had received revelations about Jesus that were so marvelous that there was a danger of Paul being carried away and becoming self-important, and then there was given to him a thorn in the flesh. It was really a demon that was buffeting him, or “slapping him across the mouth” as one translator puts it. It was not sickness nor disease. It was something that hindered his speech on account of his great Revelation.

He said, “I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee; for my power is made perfect in weakness.” That is, your weakness is the opportunity for God’s grace and ability. “Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

So Paul established a new law when he said, “I take pleasure in infirmities, in necessities. For Christ’s sake these things came upon me, and when conscious of my lack of ability, His strength makes me strong.”

II Corinthians 9:8, “God is able to make all grace abound unto you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound unto every good work.” God’s ability is your sufficiency. II Corinthians 2:14-17, Here God’s ability is given with liberality.

II Corinthians 3:6, “Who also made us sufficient as ministers of a new Covenant.” Here again His sufficiency swallows up our lack of ability. Our sufficiency is of God, and not of ourselves.

Resting in Him
Soul rest is the greatest boon that Christ gave to the restless human heart. To be utterly quiet with no anxiety, with no harassing cares, no devastation. It is the mountain peak of human desire. This can come only from Him. Man cannot find it in philosophy, nor science, nor wealth, nor any human achievement. God alone can give this unique thing.

Job 20:20, “Because he knew no quietness within him.” This is the natural man. There is no quietness in him.

Psalms 116:7, “Return unto thy rest, 0 my soul; for Jehovah hath dealt bountifully with thee.” There is a rest for the children of God. When man left God in the Garden, he left His rest and quietness. He went out into a Satan-ruled world of chaos.

Matthew 11:29, Jesus’ great invitation… “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” God had come down to the earth to man’s level, and is now offering the greatest blessing that the human heart ever knew.

Psalms 37:7, “Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for Him.” Rest is the child of assurance. It is the grandchild of a perfect faith.

That baby, lying in its mother’s arms, is the most perfect picture of utter rest and contentment. We cannot reach life’s best in a state of turmoil.

Psalms 62:1-5, “My soul waiteth in silence for God only.” Silence means rest and quietness. “My soul wait thou in quietness for my expectation is from God.” Here is a picture of one who has come to know the Father and has learned to rest in Him.

That quiet restful spirit is described in Hebrews 4:1-3, “Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left us of entering into His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it… For we who have believed do enter into that rest.”