Remembering The Future

When we celebrate the sabbath by resting, it is a testimony to what God has done. I like to try to think about what that must have been like.

Genesis 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

God looked at everything and it pleased Him. It must have been most excellent! Lush green watered by a fog that came up from the ground. Warm. Fruits and vegetables readily available to eat. Walking around with lions and tigers and bears (O my!) and knowing that they would do what you say AND they were vegetarians, too. Imagine mosquitoes that only bit plants! Yes! And streams and pools of water that you could dip your hands into that would be clear, clean, and drinkable. So then God decided to rest and set a day apart as special, almost like an exclamation point!

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 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.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Here is a really great part. God has a plan to restore all things.

Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.

What does all things mean? I suggest it means at least our reunited with God on a planet that is not as messed up as the one we have today, where there is peace. A place where everyone has what they need, people are happy within themselves and happy to be with other people. There will be no war and killing. And we will enter into rest with God.

The sabbath is not just about the time that God took after creation. It is not just about taking a day off each week. We do celebrate those things, but it is also a celebration of the future. It includes looking to that day when we will serve God face to face, forever in peace. If we can let ourselves live in that space, we can remember that future!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as out King! Thank You for the sabbath rest You have given to us. Thank You for the blessings You place upon us. Thank You for all You have done for us and do every day. Please be with us like a Dad today. Please give to us our healing and provision for this day. Please guide and keep us in Your ways. We love You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Getting To Understanding

For a while my wife and I have been having discussions about the ways of God. Scriptures seem to imply that knowing and walking in God’s ways are where the blessings are. Certainly we have all said we want to know God, know His ways, be with Him, and even sung many songs about these things. But looking at the objective evidence, it does not seem to me that we always experience those blessings. Not that we are way off base, but sometimes it just feels like something is not quite right. Did you ever have that feeling? Today, as I was thinking about this and contemplating our God, I saw something new that has always been in plain sight, or at least it was new to me.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

God went to great lengths to discuss the sabbath in these commandments. It was interesting to me the reasoning He gave for not working on the sabbath. It says God created everything in six days and on the seventh day He rested. Then it says He blessed it, which means to kneel down, and He hallowed it, which is to declare or make a pronouncement. This is where I saw something new for me today. If we go back to the story in Genesis, the words are the same. However, what about the days after that, like the eighth day, the ninth day, and so on? And there was no work until after the fall of man.

Genesis 3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

What I saw today was that from the beginning God set up a pattern for us to follow. It was a weekly pattern. And that pattern teaches us of a day when we will rest with God. He will be with us physically to enjoy our time together. When we follow this patter we gain the understanding that one day we will be with God physically again. We are reminded of this every week. God is on our side and wants to bless those that follow His ways.

Exodus 20:6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Today, as we celebrate the sabbath, let’s do so remembering God’s promise to one day again walk upon the earth with us!

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of all praise and honor. Thank You for Your sabbath. We long to be with You here on earth at all times. We call to You and ask You send Your healing, deliverance, and provision for us today. Do mighty works among us that all may know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

This week we in the Midwest have seen some severe weather and some serious accidents on the road. Today they closed the roads in our area. As I was praying I was lead to 1 John 5, and I saw something anew here.

1 John 5:1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?

John says it is our faith that is the victory that overcomes the world. Not just faith in anything, but faith that Jesus is the Son of God. But there is more tht comes before this that is very important. John says believing in Jesus requires us to love Him. To love Jesus we must love the Father that begot Him. The love of God is keeping the commandments, which John says is easy. So it seems that the commandments of God result in love. As I read this it made sense the purpose of the new covenant clear.

Hebrews 10:15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before,
16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;
17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.

God put the Law in our hearts so it was in us. The Law helps us to know how to love God and love others, which is the whole law. God’s commands are not grievous, and can be done by us, because He put them in us, in our hearts. Today, on the sabbath, it is good to know that God made following Him doable, that He loves us, and that He will help us even when we get off track.

Prayer
Father, we thank and praise You as the Most High. Thank You for Your rest. Thank You for writing Your Law in our hearts. Thank You for Your forgiveness. We ask that You watch over us today Father and keep us safe. Send us Your provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Where Do We Go?

In times of trouble or stress, I find myself often thinking, “I just want to go somewhere, some place where I can leave all of this behind for just five minutes.” For many of us, we are very closely tied to work or relationships or family. People depend on us to be there. That means we do not have such a luxury. Or do we? I think perhaps we do. Let me explain.

For those of us that are believers, we believe we are not the shell of skin that is walking around. We believe we live inside of these bodies, right? This is true. But we can allow ourselves to think we have to move our bodies to another physical location to get that five minutes, to get that rest. The good news is we can get that five minutes, that rest no matter where we are physically. The desire for that rest is built into us. The scriptures are full of such examples.

Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

We are made in God’s image. If we are made in His image then it is likely that we are meant to be like Him, to imitate Him, which can be seen in the assignment given to man.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 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.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

There is much being said here. For now let’s just notice that God set up a day for rest and He rested on that day. If we are made in His image, then that drawing to resting with God (which is what is indicated in the Hebrew) is a built in part of who we really are. So how does this connect to those times of stress and struggle?

Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
3 Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah.

God is our place of refuge. But God is everywhere, right? Therefore we have access to that rest, that 5 minutes, our refuge, anywhere we are physically. What we need to remember is stated in the last two verses.

Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
11 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

If we can be still in those moments and focus on God, we can be with Him as our refuge. If we are with Him and in Him, then when He is exalted, we will be too! We can experience that lifting of our spirits wherever we are.

Today, let’s be still. He is God

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Please help us today to not be afraid. Please help us today to look to you and know that You are our refuge. Please help us to know that You are waiting over us and will raise us up. Deliver Your people today Father. Lift us up to be with You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Choosing A Path

In the night I woke up several times thinking about the future. Some of the thoughts were happy and some were not. As I tried to sleep I kept focusing on the better thoughts. When I got up this morning I was able to continue to think about the future in a good light because of the better thoughts. God has a future for us all. If we choose to cooperate with that plan, it is better than if we attempt to strike out on our own. As I sit here enjoying my first cup of coffee I realize that the rest today is a part of that plan. It is meant to help us focus on God and His creation. And we can choose that, or not.

Deuteronomy 28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth:
2 And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

We see clearly that God wants to give us His blessing. Moses was saying to the children of Israel that if they continued to follow God, great blessings would come upon them and their enemies would be scattered. He continues this thought later.

Deuteronomy 30:15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.
19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20 That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

So we get to choose to serve God and have blessings or not choose God and have tougher times. We see here here that Moses told them to choose, and then told them to choose life. We can walk in the world we choose.

Choose life!

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High God. We thank You for all You do for us. Please send us the blessings Moses spoke about. Please help us to make our lives a token for good, a positive sign, for those that do not know You. Help us to spread Your kingdom on this earth. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When We Pray

People have asked me and others at various times in our lives how we can endure some situation or difficult time. When I hear this question what I hear is people asking me how I can be at peace, or “rest”, when what can be seen seems to big to handle. The answer has been given time and time again by those that have gone on before us. And we can take advantage of what they learned because some of these have been recorded.

Psalms 102:12 But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations.
13 Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.
14 For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof.
15 So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.
16 When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.
17 He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer.

We rest because God is forever. When we cry out, God has mercy on us, the citizens of Zion to come. When we call, it is time for favor. God shows up, and He regards the prayer of the destitute, those in need. So for those of us that believe that God exists and is on our side, we can rest in times of trouble knowing that He will come to our aid when we call.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. Please come to our aid. Please watch over Your people today and deliver them from their troubles.Please keep Your people safe over the next few days from the challenges of the weather and other things that threaten them. Show Yourself strong on their behalf. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

The Last Rest

Each year we get firsts and lasts. This is the last sabbath of the year. For me I think about how I made it through one more year sometimes. At other times I am very happy that God has blessed me with another year of memories. I think today, more than anything, I am glad I will be able to rest. Some of us really have a hard time with that. We are driven to try to do more, to achieve more, to be more. The truth is, unless God is doing it, it is all for nothing anyway.

Psalms 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

God is the reason we work. He is the reason we rest. And in all things, He is with us. If you feel like you just really have to work seven days a week, stop and ask yourself why. Maybe it is time to just let God do what He does in the six days so you can spend a day with Him. Maybe it is time to just rest with God.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the King. We thank You for all You have done and all You have created. We ask Father that You reach out today and change our circumstances. Make it possible for us to rest with You. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

A Song For The Sabbath

Today as I was reading I saw something that I had noticed once before in the Psalms. In Psalms 92, in the version of the bible I was reading, there was a title to the psalm, “A Psalm or Song for the Sabbath”, which I found interesting. First, I do not know if these titles at the top of some of the Psalms and other scriptures are actually in the text or not. I assume they are. But more interesting to me was that this one was dedicated to the sabbath. The reason it interested me is because I was trying to understand what the people at the time this was written had for an expectation of the sabbath. I see it as a time when God turns to kneel down and spend time and play with His children. But what do the kids do?

It seems that one thing is to sing for their Dad. For those of you that have ever been involved in any type of production at church or school where the kids get up as a group to sing, you already know how the parents view what is going on. They are excited for their kids, they are proud, and they don’t really care about the quality of the sound. And many times the parents will go to great lengths before to help prepare the kids, and then reward them with something afterwards for the great job, regardless of how it really was. The same is true with our God.

Psalms 92 A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.
1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
5 O Lord, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not; neither doth a fool understand this.
7 When the wicked spring as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish; it is that they shall be destroyed for ever:
8 But thou, Lord, art most high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an unicorn: I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see my desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear my desire of the wicked that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing;
15 To shew that the Lord is upright: he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

In this psalm we see it begins with singing to their Father. Then they talk about His protection and deliverance from the evil people. It even addresses how sad it is that the evil people do not know the greatness of God In the end it continues to praise God for how He lifts us up and does so many good things for us. Not sure I like the being made fat part – :-).

This sabbath day, remember as you enter into praise and worship, think of it like your Dad (God) has brought you to school and is so proud You are His. He doesn’t care what it sounds like, and He will reward You once more when the day is over.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for the sabbath time we get to spend with You. We love to lift our voices to You and we will do our best. We know You love the sound, no matter what. Please be with us today and every day. Please reach out and drive evil away from us. Please help your people to have their needs met for healing, provision, and deliverance from darkness. In Jesus (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Those Gone Before

Perhaps you know of one of God’s people that has recently left us to be with Him. Or perhaps someone comes to mind from the past that you knew that to you was a person whose walk with God you admired. There are a few of those people for me, and then there are some people that are recorded in the scriptures that cause me to reflect on my own life. For me, the letter to Philemon is one of those passages that causes me to admire those that have gone before.

Having only had a jail ministry but never been in prison myself, I only have a limited understanding of where Paul was coming from when he wrote this letter. But if you can, imagine being thrown into prison for telling people about your God? Again, this is difficult for me to image. So what did Paul do while he was there?

Philemon 1:9 Yet for love’s sake I rather beseech thee, being such an one as Paul the aged, and now also a prisoner of Jesus Christ.
10 I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds:

Here is Paul, and old man, a preacher and miracle worker. He is thrown into jail for spreading the kingdom of God. There he meets a younger man, a slave that likely was thrown in for owing money. While there Paul develops a relationship with this younger man and Onesimus repents and gives his life to God. It is time for Onesimus to be freed. What does Paul do? He writes to his boss/owner (if he was a slave) and asks that anything that Onesimus might owe Philemon be place on his (Paul’s) tab.

Philemon 1:13 Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel:
14 But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.
15 For perhaps he therefore departed for a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever;
16 Not now as a servant, but above a servant, a brother beloved, specially to me, but how much more unto thee, both in the flesh, and in the Lord?
17 If thou count me therefore a partner, receive him as myself.
18 If he hath wronged thee, or oweth thee ought, put that on mine account;

What inspires me is no where does Paul complain about being in prison. He looked at it as an opportunity to get things done for God’s kingdom. And instead of keeping Onesimus with him in prison (which somehow was possible), he sends him back to server his master. I am inspired because it is hard for me at times to not complain about my lot in life. It is hard for me to not want things my way or in my timing. I want to be like Paul and Jesus and others that had the trust and patience and willingness to believe in God, and were able to God’s hand working in it all. This is truly for me a worthy reflection on the sabbath. May God let us be like those that have gone before.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High God. You are our King, and we are so blessed to have You as our King. Please reach out to Your people today, and let them forgive each other. We are human, Father, and we make mistakes. Please help us to do better. Please deliver us from those that mean us harm. Please send Your healing and provision, that those that see us know You alone are God. In Yeshua’s (Jesus’) name. Amen.

Who Am I?

On the sabbath I find this to be a question I like to ask myself. The point of the question is that what I want to try to better understand is who am I in God. It is easy for me to get off track and focus on my stuff about family, work, the car, or whatever. These things are all important. However, God already knows they are important to us, and they are important to Him as well. God sees the much bigger picture.

God rested on the sabbath. That does not mean He is not still at work on the sabbath. God holds everything together, everyday, at all times. God has a plan. So what did He rest from on the sabbath, and what was His rest?

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 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.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Some have said it meant resting from creation, therefore we should not create. If that was true then He would only have had one sabbath, because as it says in verse 1, the heavens earth, the creation work, were finished. It seems better to think that it meant he rested from the work He was up to in the first week. He took a break from the busy routine. What I found interesting today is that it says He blessed the seventh day, which in Hebrew means to kneel down. He also sanctified it which means to pronounce like a declaration or appointment. So, here is what I get about the sabbath that God is up to and the pattern.

After six days of the routine (it is hard to think of creating all of this routine) He stopped, and knelt down to be with His creation! He just wanted to spend time with it and with His kids! The message to me is He has it in control and wants to be with us and the world around us, and He wants us to do the same. Today, let’s spend time with our God, the Master and the Creator of the universe. Sound good?

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. What a truly amazing thing You have done in creating our world! We ask that You spend time with us today. We ask that You kneel down and help us to commune with You. Help us to learn to set a day apart for You in a way that advances the kingdom of God. Help us to be Your ministers – Your hands, feet, and voice – here on Your earth. Help us to have our needs met, and overflow us that we might help meet the needs of others. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.