Category: The 4th Loving Word – Take My Time

Sabbath rest is a community experience and as we, his church, are in the rhythm of God’s time, others are brought to receive and experience the rest (salvation) of the Lord.

Let’s reflect on this as we read about the Pharisees seeing Jesus’ disciples picking grain on the Sabbath in Matthew 12:2-3, 5-8, 9-13 NIV – When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”
He answered…”haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath and yet are innocent? I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you are the “Lord of the Sabbath.”  We are thankful to be in the rhythm of your time which is all about the work of your salvation and may many more in our cities and campuses be brought into your rest.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship the Lord singing “Salvation Belongs To You” by Passion (click here).

– EK

 

 

As we live in God’s rhythm of time, let’s reflect on what Charles E. Hummel, former director for Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship, wrote in his essay, “Tyranny of the Urgent” (ironmenofgod.com):

“Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day?…But would a thirty-hour day really solve the problem?
When we stop to evaluate, we realize that our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically the problem of priorities…Several years ago an experienced cotton mill manager said to me, ‘Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.’
We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important…A man’s home is no longer his castle; it is no longer a place away from urgent tasks because the telephone breaches walls with imperious demands. The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they our energy…We realize we’ve become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.
What was the secret of Jesus’ work?…Mark observes that ‘in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed’ (Mk. 1:35, RSV). Here is the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God: He prayerfully waited for His Father’s instructions and for the strength to follow them. Jesus had no divinely drawn blueprint; He discerned the Father’s will day by day in a life of prayer. By this means He warded off the urgent and accomplished the important…what could give us greater joy than being sure that we have finished the work God gave us to do? The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ makes this fulfillment possible.”

Mark 1:35 NIV – Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, may I remain in you and your rhythms of grace for all my time is yours.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s surrender our time to the Lord as we sing, “In His Time”, by Maranatha (click here).

– EK

“Jesus, I am resting, resting,
in the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
of thy loving heart.”

These lyrics are from the hymn, “Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting” written in 1876 by Jean Sophia Pigott who was the sister of Thomas Pigott, a missionary with China Inland Mission.  “We are confident that Thomas introduced Hudson Taylor to his sister’s hymns. Taylor immediately claimed Pigott’s hymn, Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting as his life song. Many of those around him attested that seldom did the day go by without him humming or whistling it. During the dark and gruesome days of the Boxer Rebellion, this song was always on his lips. Even in dark valleys, God’s children can have a song in their hearts and mouths.
One day, after hearing dreadful news about missionaries being held hostage, he simply began to whistle the tune to this hymn. He was angrily questioned about how he could whistle during such terrible times. Taylor patiently responded, ‘Would you have me anxious and troubled? That would not help them, and would certainly incapacitate me for my work. I have just to roll the burden on the Lord.’” [Micah Hendry, “Hymn History: Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting,” enjoyingthejourney.org]

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Prayer: Jesus, I come to you again today and am resting, resting in you.  In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s continue to rest in Jesus as we listen to the hymn sung by Steve Green (click here):

– EK

Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NIV – “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.”

Let’s remember what we received from Sunday’s message:

“The word ‘sabbath’…is a theological word to express the hope of/trajectory of salvation.  Sabbath or (Shabat) means: to Cease/Stop. Enter into rest.
The message of shabat is to say that God’s time is that the days of hard/harsh labor that has been the reality of sin and death will come to an end/cease, and the time of rest will come from God, and it will be eternal.
When we look at Scripture, there is such a heart of God that he desires to give rest (salvation) to the people, where there will be an end to the brokenness and harshness of life. That God’s heart for each of us today is to give us rest, salvation, rescue, as he holds us close to his heart.” (Pastor Gus)

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the true rest that you have given through our Lord Jesus and that one day, we will experience your rest in all its fullness. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s rest in the Lord as we sing, “Abide” by Aaron Williams (click here).

– EK

 

From our Deuteronomy message series, we have been receiving in new depths how much our Father in Heaven loves us and is for us.

Let’s receive again today as we read aloud these passages together:

Isaiah 40:10-11 NRSVUE 
See, the Lord GOD comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him
and his recompense before him.
 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother sheep.

Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 NRSVUE – What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else?  Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.  Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.  Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword?…
No, in all these things we are more than victorious through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for how you so loved me through Jesus and are truly for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Let’s continue in thankfulness to the Lord as we sing “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan (click here).

– EK