pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: sabbath


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All in for You

Reading: Amos 8: 7-12

The time of action and judgment has come for the people of Israel.  These people who wanted to focus on money and crops instead of worship will get what they want.  They had endured worship and the Sabbath like it was a chore.  So God has chosen to grant their desire – He will step away from His people.  He will allow His petulant children to live without Him for a while.  A time is drawing near when a foreign king will conquer and destroy.  God will be a silent, non-involved observer.  Public worship will not occur in captivity and there is no Bible yet.  It will be a difficult time for Israel.

It is hard for us to imagine what it would be like to have all of our churches shut down.  It is even harder to imagine that our access to the Word of God could be removed.  We have easy access to physical Bibles and constant access to a myriad of virtual Bibles.  So imagine for a moment if all access to the Word were removed and we could not gather for worship.  It would be very hard to remain connected to God and our faith.

Although this idea of no access to God or His Word seems so foreign to us who have easy access to these things, our attitudes at times are not so far removed from those of the people of Amos’s time.  We have all been reluctant worshippers.  We have all looked at our watches or cell phones as we creep past the time church was supposed to end.  We have all drug our feet or scowled all the way to church and part way through it.  This is not the worship God desires.

Lord, make our hearts like Your heart.  Help us to love you with all we are.  Lead our spirit to seek Your Spirit.  Draw us into You.  Move us to offer all of ourselves in grateful response to Your love and mercy that never fail.  May we be all in for You, O Lord.


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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


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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


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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


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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!