pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: rest


by Leave a comment

Steps

Reading: Psalm 23: 1-2

Verse 2: He makes me like down in green pastures… He restores my soul.

David opens the Psalm by declaring God to be his shepherd.  Because of this, David knows he shall not be in want.  Above all else, he has learned that God provides for him.  Whether dealing with a bear while tending sheep or facing a giant on the battle field or avoiding the insane king, God has provided for way more than David’s basic needs.  But God has provided for them as well, so David has a deep and abiding trust in God.  It is a trust that had grown with experience and practice.  It is one we can enjoy too if we are willing to “let go and let God”.  But it is sort of a two-edged sword you see.  If we never trust God enough to face our giants, then we never truly understand just how great our God can be.  Deep and abiding trust requires us to take another step.

David goes on in verse two to another way that God cares for him and us: rest.  God knew since the beginning how important it was for us to rest.  God himself rested on the seventh day and made Sabbath rest one of the ten commandments.  It is a practice that is deeply ingrained in the lives of Orthodox Jews to this day.  David writes, “He makes me like down in green pastures… He restores my soul”.  David is so in tune with God that he feels God leads him to a place of rest.  David’s place is out in nature, the place of his youth.  The green pastures and quiet waters are calling and David finds restoration for his soul in this place.  It is a place that God invites us to as well.  It is a space that requires deep and abiding trust as well.  It requires that we trust God enough to rest.  This means that we trust God can and will take care of tomorrow – with all of it’s requisite work and worries.  This is also a “let go and let God” practice.  It is also a means of trusting all that we have and all that we are into God’s hands.  To trust in this way also requires another step – another step towards God and away from the world.

This day may we step a little further in our trust in God, entering deeper into His love.


by Leave a comment

The Gate

Reading: John 10: 7-10

Verse 9: I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

Jesus desires to be our gate in life.  He desires to be present in our going out and in our coming in.  In the sheep analogy, the sheep would go out of the gate during the day.  The shepherd would rise from being the literal gate and would lead the sheep to food and water.  In our lives, Jesus leads us to the things we need for our daily lives.  This does include the basic needs but also includes our work, our schooling, and our other activities.  Then at the end of the day, the shepherd leads the sheep back into the fold at night.  The shepherd again became the gate, guarding the sheep.  In our lives, Jesus wants to also give us safe and good rest each day.  As we pass through His gate, He invites us to lay down our burdens and anxieties so that we are free of them.

We notice in this scenario, when it really plays out as intended, that Jesus the Good Shepherd is always with us, the sheep.  That is how God wants it to be.  That is how our relationship with Jesus is intended to be.  As we go out into the world, Jesus goes out with us, leading and guiding us through life.  Each day Jesus leads us back home and protects us during our rest as well.  But we, like sheep, occasionally wander and we get lost.  It is part of who we are.  In spite of our overall desires to stay in the flock, at times we do not.  The good news for us is that Jesus is like the shepherd in the analogy – always watching over us, always working to gather us back in, always guiding us back home.

Jesus said, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved”.  May we ever enter in through Jesus, He who leads to salvation and our eternal rest.


by Leave a comment

Hope, Peace

Reading: John 20: 19-31

Verse 26: Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you”!

The disciples are hiding in fear.  The Jews just engineered Jesus’ death and they fear for their own lives.  Jesus appears to them twice in today’s passage and both times begins with, “Peace be with you”!  In the times of worry and fear and doubt, peace is a great gift.  It is a gift we all treasure in the midst of the trial or in the storms of life.  In faith we can release our fears… to God and His peace will replace all of those emotions and thoughts.

As Jesus offers the disciples peace, He also breathes the Holy Spirit on them.  With the presence of the Spirit, the disciples will go forth into the world to spread the goods news of the resurrected and risen Jesus.  We too receive the gift of the Holy Spirit when we confess that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.  With that confession we also receive the same charge to share the good news.

Jesus also empowers the disciples with the power to forgive people their sins.  In this gift, followers of His can release people from all that entangles and hold them down.  It is similar to releasing our fears… to God and allowing His peace to flow in instead.  In sharing the hope and faith we find in Jesus, we are opening others up to feel the freeing power that comes when we accept the One who conquered sin and death as our personal Savior.  We are not offering atonement for their sins through us, but we are inviting the lost and broken to come to Jesus so He can do that.  He died on the cross to offer us all freedom from sin by paying for or atoning for our sins with His blood.  The freedom of releasing our sins is also a way Jesus brings peace.

The hope and peace we find when we rest in Christ is a wonderful and amazing gift.  May we offer Christ to all we meet so that they too may rest in His peace.


by 1 Comment

Sabbath Honor

Reading: Luke 13: 14-17

Laws are important.  Imagine for a moment living in a society that had no laws.  It is a frightening image.  In reality, all groups, societies, and cultures have laws or norms that they live by.  Even a band of thieves has some norms that govern life within that group.  Civil societies have many laws that govern behavior and establish order.  The purpose of laws is to protect us, to keep us safe, and help the community function.  And although the law is the law, there are times we see the law as optional or as flexible.  For example, we may walk across a street somewhere other than the crosswalk or we may drive a bit over the speed limit.  Other laws seem to be more absolute.  Election laws are followed precisely and none would ever condone breaking the laws against child abuse.

For the synagogue ruler in today’s reading and for other religious authorities in Jesus’ day, all of the law was absolute.  Keeping every letter of the law is what separated them from and elevated them about the rest of society.  Consequently, they held the view that if you break one letter of the law, you break the whole law.  Jesus grew up a practicing Jew.  He understood and knew the law.  He also understood that at times, as was the case today, that God’s law will at times trump man’s laws.

Jesus chooses to heal a woman on the Sabbath.  Jesus knew the laws against working on the Sabbath.  He also knew that almost everyone there had tended to the animals or the children or …  Jesus knew that the religious authorities had so defined the Sabbath through a myriad of laws that keeping all of the laws had superceded actually honoring God on the Sabbath.  They had lost sight of the day being about resting in God.  The leaders were so caught up in the laws that there was little time left to honor and worship God.  The laws had become the focus.  Lost was the renewing of the mind, body, and spirit that comes from a whole day dedicated to God.

On the Sabbath Jesus sees a women who needs mind, body, and spirit renewed.  She has been captive to her infirmity for many long years.  So Jesus frees her.  He heals her so that she can fully worship God, which she does immediately.  Instead of keeping the whole of the Sabbath law, Jesus instead chooses to honor the Sabbath by following one of God’s ultimate laws – love your neighbor.  Healing this woman was not work.  It brought honor to God.  It restored a child of God to wholeness.  May all we do this Sabbath day bring honor and glory to God.


by Leave a comment

Hope and Grace

Reading: Psalm 126: 1-4

God restores His people.  He brings them our of captivity and they can again dream.  He fills them with laughter and instills in them songs of joy.  Great joy fills the people as they realize all that God has done for them.

All of this joy and happiness is set against a long period of trial.  The people are finally returning to the land that God had promised them after a lengthy period in exile.  Their faith had sustained them in the long period of captivity and exile, but it was not a joyful time, not a time of happy laughter, not a time when they could dream of what could be.

There are times in our lives when we struggle, when joys seems far away, and when we cannot see hope on the horizon.  Like the people in captivity, we too must allow our faith to sustain us.  We may not be able to joyfully praise God, but we can continue to pray with a quiet confidence.  We can choose to lean on Him for strength we cannot seem to muster on our own but that we find when we rest in Him.

We must always hold onto hope.  We find hope inn His promises.  From the great song Amazing Grace, “The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures.  He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures.”  Like the Israelites, our journey out of captivity, out of our struggle, may be long.  But we too know that God loves us and seeks good for us.  In Him our hope rests secure.  May we rely on His amazing grace, a grace that is always present and a grace that always saves.


by Leave a comment

God with Us

This day God becomes flesh to dwell among us.  Our greatest gift this day is Jesus.  No matter how big the best gift was under the tree or how much love was poured into a gift we got for Christmas, it cannot compare to the incarnation.  In Jesus, our Emmanuel, we have God with us.

May we both rejoice in and rest in this today.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 1: 1-12


by Leave a comment

Drawing Near to Rest

Many people today still do not think they can approach God.  For some, they feel they need a “middle man”, a priest to intercede on their behalf.  For some, they feel too unworthy to approach God.  For some, they feel God is too mighty and is therefore simply unapproachable.  All of these come out of the Old Testament and the rules and ways in which the Israelites interacted with God.

As time moved along, though, God saw the need for a new way, for a new covenant.  In order to draw us close to Himself, there needed to be a new way based upon a personal, direct relationship.  The old way could not be changed.  God had to make a totally new way.  This new covenant was established through Jesus, who opened a ” new and living way” for us to connect directly with God.

As the one perfect sacrifice, Jesus opened the curtain that had separated Jews from the Most Holy Place – the space in the temple where the presence of God dwelt.  Through Jesus’ perfect sacrifice on the cross, the curtain was torn and, once and for all, He made a way for us to draw near to God.  Through Jesus all can be in relationship with and can draw near to God.

In Hebrews we are promised that through Jesus we can draw very near to God.  At times we can feel His presence surrounding us.  In this presence, Jesus calls us to rest.  Just as Jesus sat down at the right hand of the Father to rest, we too can draw near to God and rest.  For this, thanks be to God.

Scripture reference: Hebrews 10: 11-22


by Leave a comment

Finding Rest

“How lovely is Your dwelling place O Lord Almighty!”. Like the psalmist we too long and almost faint to be in God’s presence.  ” Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere.”. Again, like the psalmist, we too are blessed when we rest in God.

Sabbath – the idea of resting for a day, in His presence, to be renewed and refreshed both physically and spiritually.  To almost all Christians, we look at the idea of Sabbath as an ideal place, far, far away.  It is far away because of the schedules we keep and because of the demands we place or allow upon our time and upon ourselves.  I am as guilty as anyone.

A man in our small group shared yesterday that he had been keeping the Sabbath for a while now.  After church he goes home and does no work.  The yard, the chores, the cleaning all get done on days other than Sunday.  He shared that his time of rest and time with God really does renew and refresh him.  Sounded like a day he guards pretty closely.  I am kinda jealous.

In order to give God a day requires trusting Him.  He is in control – do we trust Him like we believe He is in control?  It also requires some planning and effort on our part because the yard, the laundry… all need to get done.  We do have a hand in allowing ourselves the Sabbath.

If we can set aside a day for Sabbath, we will find joy and pleasure resting in God.  We will be renewed by our time in His presence.  We will be more connected to our Creator.  Reports are this one day makes the other six so much better.  This week, may we all find our Sabbath.

Scripture reference: Psalm 84: 1-3 and 6-12


by Leave a comment

Rest

There are times we get run down and tired.  Life can just seem to consume us and suddenly we find ourselves with very little left in the tank.  As the disciples returned to Jesus after being sent out two by two, they were excited by all they had done but Jesus could see they were exhausted too.  His desire was to find them rest.  So they load up the boat and head out.

But a buzz moves on ahead of them and by the time they land ashore, a large crowd has gathered.  And it is not a welcoming committee.  It is a crowd full of people with needs.  The Bible tells us Jesus saw them as “lost sheep” and that He takes compassion on them.  Jesus steps out of the boat and begins to teach and to heal many people.

I can imagine that Jesus saw the crowd flowing to where they were headed to land.  So I can surmise that He made the decision not to change course and to go away from the gathering crowd.  Jesus knew or felt He was up to the task ahead so He chose to engage the crowd and to minster to their needs.

At times we too must make that assessment.  As we see a potential need coming our way we to must assess if we have enough left in the tank to meet that need.  We must remember that at times even Jesus stepped away for solitude and refreshment.  A time of Sabbath is essential to being able to minister effectively.  When we are dry and empty, we have nothing left to pour out into others.  We must care for ourselves so that we can offer our best to the care of those in need.

Mark 6: 30-34 and 52-56


by Leave a comment

Times of Rest

After healing many and casting demons from many, Jesus got up early and headed out alone to find a quiet place to pray.  After spending a lot of energy He needed to connect with God to be renewed and refreshed.

We too are called to this practice of Sabbath and rest.  We too are called to find times of rest where we lay aside job and other responsibilities to center in on God – to reconnect, to renew, to refresh.

Pretty soon Simon and the rest of the team find Jesus and call Him back to work.  They tell Him all of those people need something and He is the only one that can provide what they need.  Can’t you almost hear Jesus’ heavy sigh and see the slumping of His shoulders as He rises to return to the people?

We too hear the cell phone ringing or we cannot silence the voices in our own heads calling us back into action.  Maybe we are pretty good at convincing ourselves or just maybe the world really needs us that bad – and our rest ends all too soon.  We have only claimed a bit of the rest, renewal, and reconnection that we needed.  We too sigh and shrug our shoulders as we head back to the world.

Just as the times of rest were essential for Jesus to be most effective in His ministry, so too are times of rest essential for us.  Today may we all find some space to slow down, to center in on God, and to enjoy a time of rest with Him.

Scripture reference: Mark 1: 35-39