Entering into the Rest of God – Prophet Russ Walden

Entering into the Rest of God
Prophet Russ Walden teaches in Springfield Missouri on “Ascending into God’s Rest”. The PDF download of this teaching is available at http://ift.tt/1eIOhAv
ASCENDING INTO THE REST OF GOD – Father’s Heart Ministry, Russ and Kitty Walden
THE STRATEGY OF THE ENEMY IS TO ‘WEAR YOU OUT’:
In Daniel 7:25 the prophet Daniel exposes one of the primary strategies of the enemy against the family of God.
(Daniel 7:25) – And he shall speak [great] words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and …
The phrase ‘wear out’ is the Aramaic word ‘bela’. It means to ‘wear away, wear out, harass constantly’. It corresponds to another word in the original language that specifically emphasizes an attack on the mental and emotional state of the victim: ‘to wear out [mentally], to wear out [emotionally], to use, to use up completely, to wax old, become old, to consume [available resources], to waste, to fall away and to fail.’
THE ENEMY IS ALWAYS CHANGING THE RULES:
The enemy compounds this ‘wearing out’ strategy by ‘changing the times and laws’. Are you consistently facing an ever changing landscape of challenges and problems on a daily basis? Do you feel as though just when you are getting a handle on things that someone changes the rules and you are back at ground zero trying to figure out all over again how to overcome the same old problems? This is the character and tell-tale signs of a spiritual assault in your life.
GOD’S SOLUTION: THE FINISHING ANOINTING:
When you study the character of God that one of his attributes is the ability to FINISH and to put an END to the work at hand and enter into REST.
(Genesis 1:31; 2:1-2) – And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
On the sixth day (the number of man) God FINISHED His work and on the SEVENTH day He ENDED His work and ENTERED INTO REST. We are made in His image and He wants our approach to problem solving to echo His character.
(Ephesians 5:1 KJV) – Be ye therefore followers (original: imitators) of God, as dear children;
God had work to do and we have work to do. We are to follow the example he set. He has provisioned us with the anointing and grace not only to FINISH the work before us, but to END THE
STRUGGLE and enter into the rest that He has provided.
WE SHARE A STRUGGLE IN COMMON WITH THE CHALLENGE GOD FACED IN THE BEGINNING:
In Genesis 1:2 we find God in the beginning with a challenge in front of him:
(Genesis 1:2a) – And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep…
When we look at the definitions of the words in this verse we will find that He was facing a similar situation that all of us face from time to time in life:

1. WITHOUT FORM: His situation was ‘without form’. The word here describes an ‘empty, unreal, wasteland, a place of chaos’. Does that describe what keeps you up at night on occasion?

2. VOID: Defined: Completely empty and deserted. Do you ever feel empty inside? Do you feel deserted and left on your own?

3. DARKNESS: Original definition: Obscure, Miserable, Dead, Sad, Ignorant, Facing Destruction.

Does this describe what you face in life? Do you look into your future or at the present challenges and see chaos, destruction, emptiness and misery? Do you feel deserted at times and on your own? If God himself had allowed what was in front of Him to ‘get to him’, He would have felt the same way.
RISING UP, RULING AND REIGNING IN REST:
What did the Father do when He created the earth in Gen. 1:1 and consequently faced this situation in Gen. 1:2? When we face challenges many times we try to pump ourselves up and take a run at our problems, expending all our energies in a full frontal assault. Gen. 1:2 tells us that Father did something curiously opposite to that approach when He advanced on the formless void:
(Genesis 1:2b) And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The original word ‘moved’ here is ‘rachaph’. It means to: grow soft, to relax, to hover, to flutter. It also means to brood over (to incubate) with tender love and life giving vitality.
So on the first day of the world the preamble to creation was God entering into rest and the last day of creation was the Father consummating His rest.
THERE REMAINS A REST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD:
Paul taught in Hebrews 4:1-11 that there is what we can only term ‘a mystical rest’ a ‘personal experience’ of supernatural rest available in God that few enter into. This teaching is intended to invoke the activation of that rest in your life.
Note that the ‘rest of God’ is not inactivity. When the Father faced the chaos on the first day of creation, he ‘relaxed’ and ‘became soft’ in the very act of unleashing what science calls ‘the BIG BANG’, an unimaginable release of creative energy that we don’t even have instruments to measure. There is great power available and released as we enter into the rest of God.
Notice that the word rest or rachaph also means ‘to flutter’. The Spirit of God moved upon the chaos. When God encounters chaos this is His autonomic response. This is what He did in the next chapter when Adam and Eve corrupted themselves by partaking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
(Genesis 3:8-9 KJV) – And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
If you delve into the language here you will find the following variant reading:
(Genesis 3:8-9 KJV) – And they heard the voice [SOUND] of the LORD God walking [WHIRLING] in the garden in the cool [BREEZES] of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
We will come back to this in a moment.
Throughout the bible the moving of the Spirit of God was described as a ‘fluttering dove’. (See Gen. 8:8-12; Psa. 55:6; Matt. 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). This is a type of the Holy Spirit in action in the earth. When the dove flutters, creative acts are made manifest, chaos is quelled, light comes and blessing manifests.
THE PROPHESIED REST: AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF NOAH:
Jesus taught that the last days would be comparable to the days of Noah. The days of Noah are a prophetic template for the days we live in:
( Matthew 24:37) But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
There are many events, people, and things that we see in Noah’s day that are types, shadows and prophetic allegories placed in the scriptures by God to reveal hidden resources, strategies and tactics we can lay hold of and implement in our lives. When we do so we will no longer find ourselves victims of circumstance, but principalities and powers ruling with Christ.
VALIDATING THE NOAH TYPOLOGY: WHEN DID THE LAST DAYS BEGIN?:
For the record, according to the teachings of Jesus, the ‘last days’ began with his own baptism of John in the Jordan.
(Matthew 11:12-15) And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 And if ye will receive [it], this is Elias, which was for to come. 15 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
NATURAL EVENTS FORSHADOW SPIRITUAL REALITIES:
We can begin to understand what Noah’s day means to us today by comprehending the teaching of Paul that the natural occurrences in the Old Testament times foreshadow spiritual experiences for those of us in the New Testament time frame.
(1 Corinthians 15:46) Howbeit that [was] not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.
(1 Corinthians 10:11 KJV) – Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.
THE REST OF GOD PORTRAYED IN THE GENEOLOGY OF NOAH:
Names were never casually given in the Old Testament. When Noah was born, his father Lamech prophesied about his infant son concerning a coming rest of God that his son’s life would foreshadow:
(Genesis 5:28-29 KJV) – And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: And he called his name Noah, saying, This [same] shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed.
Noah’s name itself means: ‘Rest, Resting place’. Consider the following verses:
(Hebrews 4:9-11 KJV) – There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God [did] from his. Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Now what an enigmatic admonition we find in verse 11. ‘Labor to enter into rest’. I’ve puzzled for years over that statement. We will find in studying the life of Noah a suggestion as to what the labor to enter into rest entails:
WHAT DOES REST (TYPIFIED BY NOAH AND HIS GENERATION) PRODUCE?:
(Genesis 6:9-10 KJV) – These [are] the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man [and] perfect in his generations, [and] Noah walked with God. And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
The word ‘generations’ here doesn’t just mean merely the ‘days’ Noah lived in but also bespeaks his ‘race’ or his seed that came forth out of his body. Noah in his person is prophetically identified as a type of REST. We don’t know Noah’s wife’s name, but as far as Noah (Rest) what does rest produce? In typology, Noah’s sons speak of a divine order, that when implemented in our experience brings the rest of God into our lives.
Shem define: Named (to honor, authority and rule) SPIRIT
Ham define: Hot (passion, heat, where the battle is) SOUL
Japheth define: Opened (speaks of an open heaven in the natural realm BODY
When Adam fell, he allowed his soul-man (typified by Ham), the heat of his appetites and selfishness to usurp the natural rule of his spirit man (typified by Shem). This resulted in loss of fellowship with the Father, ejection from Edenic rest, and exclusion from that ordained place of authority God created man to walk and live in. Because Adam’s ‘soul man’ became conflicted by sin, the heaven’s were closed to him.
RECOVERING EDENIC GLORY IN THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE:
Normally the power of God was channeled by his spirit into his body and into the natural world around him. The recovery of this authority is seen in the life of Jesus as he rebuked storms, healed bodies, multiplied loaves and fishes, etc. Jesus was born without sin and therefore without conflict in his soul (mind will and emotions). Thus His Spirit which was ONE WITH THE FATHER could exercise its innate authority over the soul and body and the natural world around Him. By going to the cross Jesus makes it possible for the ascendency of the Christ – ruled and inhabited human spirit to regain its authority in the earth and walk in creative power, authority and reign. In effect, the work of Christ on the cross made it possible for you to live in a state of righteousness (see 1 Cor. 1:30) whereby everything you say and do becomes as effective as it He said it or did it.
When you accept Christ, he takes his place on the deserted and defiled throne of your Spirit – man and re-establishes the original, ordained order. The soul is brought into subjection and divine REST can once again be experienced. Accepting Christ is the beginning, the preamble to activating the authority of God and the REST of GOD in your life. Accepting Christ brings the mantle of the FINISHING anointing, the end of struggle that you might END ALL YOUR WORK and ENTER INTO THE SEVEN DAY SABBATH REST of God as a personal experience implemented by faith on a day to day basis.
WHY ISN’T IT WORKING? WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? HOW DO WE LABOR TO ENTER INTO REST?
The restoration of the rest of God has been legally provided in your life but it must now be activated. The fact that the scripture says we must labor to enter into rest implies that there is a response on our part that activates the Kingdom in our lives. This is why Jesus said in Luke 17:20 that the kingdom doesn’t come with observation. You have a role to play. Your cooperation is required.
If you look at the original wording of the mention of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in Gen. 2 you will find it is the tree of AGREEMENT and DIS-AGREEMENT. Satan activated in man through disobedience to ability to DISAGREE with God. We must first come into agreement with Him and answer the question: DO WE REALLY BELIEVE THIS STUFF?
There are many ways this happens in measures both great and small. We will look at one that we alluded to earlier:
(Genesis 3:8-9 KJV) – And they heard the voice [SOUND] of the LORD God walking [WHIRLING] in the garden in the cool [BREEZES] of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou?
It is God on the move that produces what the previous verse describes. This verse in ch. 3:8-9 is also descriptive (by comparing the original languages) what was taking place in Gen. 1:2. In Gen. 1:2 God is dealing with chaos and in Gen. 3:8,9 He deals with chaos in the same way; by moving upon it, relaxing, fluttering and releasing His sound through His whirling and His breezes.
WHERE ELSE IN THE BIBLE DID GOD MAKE THIS ‘SOUND’?
Look at the day of Pentecost. It describes the Spirit of God moving upon the 120 gathered in the upper room in a very descriptively similar way that He did in Ge. 1.2 and Gen. 3.8-9.
(Acts 2:1-4 KJV) – And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The 120 responded to the sound of God quite differently than Adam and Eve did in Ge. 3:7:
(Genesis 3:7 KJV) – And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
The 120 opened themselves up and received the experience and it manifested on their human spirits, on their souls (mind, will and emotion) and their bodies (tongues of fire). Adam and Even heard the sound of God and retreated. What did they do when they retreated? They WENT TO WORK, WEARING THEMSELVES OUT MAKING APRONS TO COVER THE PROBLEM.
Do you see what the Father was offering Adam and Eve in the Garden? When they failed He sent them the same Spirit that solved the chaos in Ge. 1.2. He sent them the same Spirit that baptized the 120 on the day of Pentecost! But they rejected it. We don’t have to do so.
Note: This isn’t solely about the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But the baptism of the Holy Spirit is one central, core way in which God restores, empowers and elevates us to pre-Adamic glory.
RELINQUISHING THE DESPOTISM OF HUMAN RATIONALE AND EMBRACING THE TRANS-RATIONAL GRACE OF THE CONTROL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT:
There are many keys to ascending into the rest of God, and activating the Edenic authority over the circumstances of life. They all involve setting the mind and emotions in abeyance and allowing the Spirit of God to take the ascendency in our inner man. One quite visceral way this can happen is through the baptism of the Holy Spirit:
(Isaiah 28:9-13 KJV) – Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? [them that are] weaned from the milk, [and] drawn from the breasts. For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This [is] the rest [wherewith] ye may cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear. But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.
The rationale mind that is contaminated with the influence of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil will always demand a well-thought out rationale answer to every problem. It will always demand a solution that requires you to do what Adam and Eve did: to vainly exhaust yourself in an exercise that doesn’t solve the problem but only WEARS YOU OUT.
When you receive and utilize what the 120 on the day of Pentecost received then you aren’t trying to solve life’s problems with your own limited resources. You are unleashing the resources of Heaven into your Spirit, through your soul and out through your body into the earth. This is the conduit through which all answered prayer and release of power and God glory comes.
(Jude 1:20 KJV) – But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
In the beginning God moved by His Spirit and created (formed and fashioned) the universe. When you pray in the Holy Ghost (and other similar activities) you are building yourself (your life) up, you are founding and framing your world in the image of God, resolving all problems and challenges in the Spirit as you rest in your mind and emotions seeing the KINGDOM WORK THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD to bring break through.
Praying in tongues doesn’t come easy, even for people who have been experiencing it for years. Praying in tongues is an offence to the rationale mind and it will work against it every way it can. However, praying in tongues is a naturally supernatural act that will flow easily if you relax and allow the moving of the Spirit access to your speech center and then vocalize from your Spirit and not from the mind.
Go ahead and try it right now.
Then implement the practice with abandon. Remember the words of Paul:
(1 Corinthians 14:18 KJV) – I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
Paul was a no-nonsense person. Before he came to Christ he would literal kill someone who engaged in what he considered religious pretence or foolishness. Yet there was something about speaking in tongues that moved him to do so with great abandon. It had to be because of the difference it made in his life when I directed his thoughts through praying in the Spirit against the obstacles and hindrances of life.
Are you sick and tired of being sick and tired? If you want things to change you must do something different than you have done. You must make decision that makes your mind go ‘tilt’ but puts your spirit in the ascendency. This is one small way to proceed toward the rest that God has accorded you from His throne.