pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: rest


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We Too Will Be Amazed

In the story of Israel crossing the Jordan, God only works when the priests come to rest in the middle of the raging river.  Once they stop in the middle of the rushing waters and trust in Him to act, then the Lord provides a safe way for the people to cross over to the other side.  Because they rested and trusted, God provided them a way that they could not provide for themselves.

Rest was an important part of Israel’s faith.  For the Hebrews, the Sabbath was strictly observed as a day of rest from work and as a day when they would worship God.  In this time of rest, God goes to work.  As they rest and seek God, He responds by coming to them, by being a presence in their lives.So it must have made sense to the priests to stop and rest in the middle of the river, to wait on God to work.

In our society today, rest seems almost a foreign concept.  We are so busy.  For many, rest is that time at the end of the day when they collapse into bed at the end of another busy day.  We even fill our weekends with all that we did not get done during our busy week.

God still calls for us to rest in Him.  He desires for a personal relationship above all else.  And that requires time.  To connect with God in an intimate way we must carve out time daily where it is just God and us.  We must allow Him time to work in our lives.  When we do these things, we too will be amazed by what God will do in our lives.

Scripture reference: Joshua 3: 7-17


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Follow God’s Example

On the 7th day, God rested.  He blessed this day and made it holy.  He went on to lead the people of Israel to set laws to honor the sabbath.  At times, Jesus even took his sabbath rest by going out into the wilderness, away from the disciples and crowds.

We too are called to honor the sabbath. We are called to take one day a week to rest and to honor God by setting aside that day as holy – as a day dedicated to God.  But oh how countercultural that is!!  To suggest one unplugs and powers down for a day sends shudders through some people!  (Side note: if you are just feeling the shudders pass and are grinning and nodding now, I encourage you to try it.  Take a morning and unplug.  Sit with your Bible in a quiet place.  Center in on God and rest.  Thank Him for the many blessings in your life.  Pray through the worries of the past week.  Read His word.  Go fora walk.  Pray some more.  Enjoy a nap.)  Even when one chooses to make a habit of honoring the sabbath, there will be sabbath days when one must ‘do’ something.  Yet it is a practice worth cultivating.

To set aside a day and to make it holy is essential to good spiritual health.  Not so long ago out nation honored the sabbath on Sundays.  It is still the common ‘church day’ but it is also often filled with other “stuff”.  To physically rest, to honor our past week, to connect deeply with God is great for body, mind, and soul.

Lord God, help me to honor You by keeping a sabbath day holy each week.  May this be your prayer as well!