Here is an acrostic to remind us what true rest is.

Releasing

Everything

Simply

Trusting

Burying things that trouble us will come back like a boomerang. Have you ever said things that you wish you hadn’t? Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” 

Unresolved issues continually seep into our thought processes. They escape unexpectedly through our words and actions. Burying emotional pain is man’s way of coping with our past. God’s way is perfect. Psalm 18:30. 

Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.” Pour out. Picture a glass of stagnant water. Would you drink it? No, you would pour it out and clean the glass.

Psalm 51 was written by David after his sin with Bathsheba. What did he try to do? Bury his sin through deceit. Verse 10 says, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” Confession is God’s way for cleansing. 1 John 1:9.

Remember from Hebrews 4:15 that Jesus was tempted just as we are. Isaiah 53:3 says, “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief…” 

Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.”

Isaiah 53:11 says of God the Father, “He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.” Iniquity is doing anything independent of the Lord. John 15:5.

Yielding to a temptation means we have to do it all alone. We will knowingly act apart from the Lord. That alone is a truth that will empower us to repel ourselves away from the lure.

Are you laboring under oppressive thoughts? Matthew 11:28 is Jesus’ invitation. It says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” 

My grandpa C was a fly fisherman. In his little shop were all types of fascinating lures. The enemy of our soul has myriad lures to capture our attention. 1 Peter 5:8 says that he roams around, “…seeking whom he may devour.”

Peter is a chilling example of warning for us. In pride he boldly claimed that he would never deny Jesus. Matthew 26:35. Luke 22:31 says, “…Simon, Simon! Indeed, satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat.”

Every lure that the devil dangles in front of us will be coated with pride. We will fall if we think that we can handle it on our own. “O Lord, I ask You to give each one of us keen discernment to recognize each and every deceptive pull towards sin. Remind us that You endured every temptation ~ yet without sin.”

Temptations are designed to oppress. I like the definition in Luke 4:18 from the Amplified. It says that He came, “…to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed (who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity).”

Hebrews 4:15 says of Jesus, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” When we are tempted, we have the privilege to instantly access the Lord’s help and empowerment.

Verse 16 says that because Jesus endured temptations and resisted them, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” God gives grace to the humble. James 4:6.

When tempted we can cry out to the Lord to deliver us. His model prayer to His disciples says, “…deliver us from the evil one, for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” We get our power to resist from the One who is All Powerful!

Temptations are strategically designed to ensnare and bring us into the devil’s captivity. 2 Timothy 2:26 says, “And that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”

The temptation is the bait that satan’s dangles in front of us. James 1:14 says that we won’t fall for it unless, “…he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.” This verse clearly delineates the process. 

The temptation may be visible, or a suggestive thought. Let’s pick up the first word from 2 Timothy 2:22. Flee! Don’t give it another thought. Thoughts have motivations derived from what we believe. Temptations are aimed at our hearts, which is our belief center.

I am so grateful that the Lord knows my thoughts before I even think them. 1 Chronicles 28:9 Amplified says, “…For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands the wanderings of the thoughts…”

Hebrews 4:12 says of God’s word that it pierces, “…even to the division of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Have you ever had a good intention, but failed to follow through? 

Temptations are not fought by good intentions or willpower. They are fought against through applying truth from God’s word.

Isaiah 53:6 says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Think a moment. Every person. Jesus bore the sins of our own way. That is staggering to me.

Peter quoted that verse in 1 Peter 2:25. Verse 24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed.”

Did you see the Passion Of Christ? I did. I vividly remember the scene where Jesus was scourged. Pieces of sharp objects were tied on the whip’s cord. They dug into His back and ripped it to shreds.

His stripes. May that be a visual for us the next time we are tempted to act independently of the Lord. Romans 6 is a great chapter to help us remember. When we accepted Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we were buried with Him in baptism into death. We sin because we bit satan’s bait ~ deceived.

My working definition for iniquity comes from John 15:5 which says, “…for without Me you can do nothing.” Iniquity is acting independent of God. As we saw in some earlier devotionals, those who didn’t finish well were looking to man’s ways rather than the Lord’s way.

Proverbs 3:7-8 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones.” Hebrews 3:12 says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God.”

Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before Jesus died on the cross for us. Verse 5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

Jesus died bearing our sins that were committed, because we were acting independent of Him. He died because of them. We are duped by the devil when we make the conscious decision to do things in our own strength.

I have a mentee that will not forgive the one who hurt her deeply. She is tormented. She breaks glass and cuts herself with it. She uses drugs. She cannot sleep. She has to live with her mom because she is not functional. Though she understands that she has been forgiven, she says, “I can’t forgive.” Using can’t is translated as not being willing.

Who has hurt you? Even if they have passed away, carrying unforgiveness in your heart is hurting you. This is often the case with those who carry grudges. The person they hold the grudge against has no clue. 

Unforgiveness is often the root to chronic diseases. It certainly disrupts and often destroys marriages, and creates destructive interpersonal relationships. Years ago, a friend of mine died, I wondered “Was it worth all their anger, bitterness, and railing over the years?”

Jesus died on the cross. He bore the sins of every human that ever lived and will live. He paid the price by taking our place. Rejecting His offer of salvation, will plunge one into a Christless eternity of torment.

Acts 8:22 reveals unforgiveness is intrinsic in our thoughts. It says, “…the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.” Verse 23 reveals the impact. It says, “For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

This is from page 56 in my book, “Victorious Garden: true heart forgiveness.” ‘Here is a vivid example of what unforgiveness does. The Etruscan pirates’ form of torture was to tie a living person to a rotting corpse, face to face, mouth to mouth, limb to limb, with an obsessive exactitude in which each part of the body corresponded with its matching putrefying counterpart. Shackled to their rotting double, they were left to decay.’

Matthew 18:23-35 is the parable of the unforgiving servant. Verse 34 says that his angry master, “…delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him.” Verse 35 brings it home to us. It says, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Are you tormented?

The book of Isaiah was written 700 years before Jesus died. It was a prophetic word of what was to come. Isaiah 53:4 says, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.”

Verse 5 says, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we were healed.” Verse 6 declared us as the ones He died for.

It says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” I love the word all because it means everyone without exception.

My cousins are archers. Sin means to miss the mark of God’s standard. We cannot earn salvation. It is a gift that was purchased for us through the death of Jesus. In receiving His gift we gain eternal life with Him forever.