THE SEVENTH DAY

Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work

                                          Exodus 20:9-10  

When writer Bruce Feiler was diagnose with bone cancer in his thight. he couldn't walk without some help for over a year. Learning to get around on crutches caused him to appreciate a shower pace of life. Feiler said. "The idea of slowing down became the number one lesson he learned from his experience.
     After God's people were liberated from Egypt. He gave them a commandment that would cause them to slow down and view Hil and the world. "in pause." The fourth commandment introduced a dramatic contrast to the Israelites' slavery under Pharaoh when they had no break in their daily work routine.
     The commandment insisted that God's people set aside one day a week to remember several important things: God's work in creation (Gen. 2:2). their liberation from Egyptian bondage (Deut.5:12:15). Their relationship with God (6;4-6). and their need for personal refreshment (Exod.31:12.18). This was not to be a day of laziness. but one where God's people acknoxledged, worship and rested in Him.
     We too are called to slow down to be refreshed physically: mentally and emotionally and to behold God in His good creation.
Lord, I need spiritually and phydically rest. Help me to deliberately take the time to spend with You. Please remove any obstacle that keeps me from having a more balanced rhythm to my life.

"LOVING JUSTICE"

"He is the Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice."
                                      Deuteronomy 32:4

Do you ever find yourself emphasing the loving and forgiving nature of God, especially when seeking to reach a friend who is "turned off" to Christianity? Scriptures like 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord...is not willing that any should perish," and I John 4:8, "God is Love" shed light on the gracious and accepting nature of God.
    However, if, in talking to your friend you only emphasize God's lovingside, you run the risk of mispresenting the power of His redemption of mankind. You see, God's love if cvmpcounter/balanced with His wrath. God's wrath is not a popular concept these fays, but it is real, and every person must reckon with it.
    The Scripture teach that God will judge the lost. A Holy God can do nothing else than to turn away unholy things Thankfully, He had created a solution, through the shed blood of His Son. When God draws all history to a close, His judgment will stand alongside His mercy and love. Remember to keep both in balance as you share the Gospel with those around you.

"The Rainbow"

"The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth."
                                                Genesis 9:16

Its appearance stops you in your tracks. As you look up to see the rain clouds roll back and the sun break through. A rainbow paints the sky with color. Do you marvel every time you see a rainbow? For Christians, it is far more than a visual phenomenon.
     From Scripture, we know that the rainbow is a sign from God. After the flood that covered the earth, He sent the rainbow as His promised never again to destroy the earth with a flood.
     This covenant--a binding pact that God promises He will never break--still hold today. God's promises are unchanging they are everlasting. He is faithful to keep every covenant.
     The next time you see a rainbow, stop for a momemt and look up. Remind yourself of the beauty of God's mercy in your life, and the over/arching ways He has forgiven and cleaned you of sin.  Thank Him for the sign of  the rainbow, and for its message of mercy and faithfulness.  

Listen to obey

Listen to counsel and receive instruction, that you may be wise in your latter days.                    Proverb 19:20

To stake or not to stake? That's the question Marilyn faced when she planted a tree sapling last summer. The saleman said, "Stake it for one year so it will be supported in strong winds. Then remove them do it can grow deep roots on its own." But a neighbor told her, "Staking may cause more harm than good. The trees needs to start building strong roots right away: or it may never. Not staking is best for long term health in long term health."
      We Wonder about that question in relationship too. For instance, if someone has gotten himself into  trouble, do we "stake him down" by rescuing him, or do we let the person "grow strong roots" on his own by allowing him to face the consequences of his choices? Obviously it depends on what seems best for the person's long/term spiritual health. What does love do, and when does it do it? have "pity" and lend our assistance (v.17), yer there are dangers in rescuing anothee because you might need to do it again (v.19).Providing the right help requures wisdom beyond our own.
     God hasn't let us on our own He will give us the wisdom when we ask Him. As we lean on Him our own roots will grow deep in Him as well

"His divine will for us"

And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know hat he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of 

                                             1 John 5:14-15

People have remembered John's phrase "according to his will," and they had to pray,? "Lord do this or that, if it be thy will,"  But inserting this expression into a prayer when God's Word already states that what we're praying for is his will is confessing that we don't believe God's Word. And that  kind if praying will not work.

    How can we find out what God's will is?

     God's Word is His will! We can find out God's 

will for us in the Bible because the Bible is God's Will, His covenant, and His testament. And it is God's will for us to have whatever God  has provided for  us!

      First we must find the Scriptures that reveal God's will for us. Then we can go before God with great boldness... this is the confidence that we have in him..."When we pray for things that God's Word tell us are His will, we know that He hears us! And when we know God hear us, we know we have the petition we ask of Him. We know we have them, praise God!

"Road Construction"

We have been delivered from the law,. . . so that we should serve in the newness of spirit.
                                                                                    Romans 7:6

Here in Michigan we joke that we have two seasons: Winter and road construction. Harsh Winter damage road surfaces, so repair crews begin their work as soon as the ice melts and the ground thaws. Although we call this work "construction," much of what they do looks like "destruction" In some cases simply patching holes is not an option. workers have replaced the old road with new one.
     That's what it can feel like when God,  is at work in our lives. Throughout the old Testament, God told His people to expect some major renovation on the road between Him and them ISAIAH 62:10-11; Jericho 31:31). When God sent Jesus. it seem med to the Jews as if their way to God Was being destroyed. But  Jesus wasn't destroying anything He was completing it (Matthew 5:27). The old way paved with laws became a new way paved with the sacrificial love of Jesus.
      God is still at work replacing old ways of sin and legalism with the way of love that Jesus completed. When He removed our old ways of thinking and behaving. it may feel as if everything familiar is being destroyed. But God is not destroying anything; He is building a better way. And we can be confident that the end result will be smoother relationships with others and closer relationship with Him 

"Divine Analogy"

And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead: that in all things he might have the preeminence.
                                                                     COLOSSIANS 1:18

This is where we believers have missed it! We've recognized that Jesus is the head of the Church, and we've exalted Him to His position of Power, all right. But we've failed to see that the Head is wholly dependent upon its body for carrying out its plans. We've failed to see that we are seated with Christ in heavenly places. We've failed to see that Jesus has authority over Satan's  power. If this authority is over exercised, it will have to be exercised through the Body. We've been so sure that we couldn't do  anything , that we've left everything up to Christ the Head of the Church and the Head is powerless without the Body.
     Take your own physical head as an example. It is powerless no carry any of its plans without the cooperation of the body. Your head might see a songbook on a rack in front of you, but unless your body cooperates, your head will never be able to sing from that book.
      The ministry God wants to accomplish through His Son in this world will be carried out through the Body of Christ. And we the Body of Christ have the same authority the Head has!