Tag Archives: Sunday School

Christian Living, KWT Paraphrasing, Something Jewish

Forced Rest

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It is late in the day for posting this, especially since I may not post tomorrow but perhaps some will read it today and others tomorrow. I hope so.

I think I have a better understanding of a practical purpose for the Sabbath.  Let me explain.

Friday (9.20.13) I made a simple awkward movement; the sharp stabbing pain immediately told me it was not good; but it was only for a moment and I went on with my business. However a slow-growing pain and stiffness made my business less enjoyable for the next several hours; and then by Saturday morning I was  — well let me just say giving birth to my daughters was more enjoyable; contractions do give you a break in between.  Aspirin and another much TV promoted product did little to nothing to combat the pain. Sunday came with minor and I do mean minor relief. I began a regime of large doses of ibuprofen and a cartilage building supplement as well as heat/cold pain patches applied every 8 hours.  Late into Sunday evening I began to think it might be okay if I lived. :)

Monday was a new world; still pain, still stiffness; but still a new world for me from Saturday and Sunday.  I rested and I rested and I rested. And that resting included sleeping – hours of it – day and night.  Then came Tuesday morning – better but still some serious stiffness and continuing reduced range of motion. More resting, more sleeping.

As I sit/recline to write this piece I am gratefully aware of my heat/cold patch and I am mindful that I will not be reclining at this angle for an extended period. But for some minutes I wanted to share a word or two with you. 

For more than a year now I have been dragging myself through my life on borrowed strength. Every day the same; tired and sleepy from morning till I fell into bed at night; all to begin again the next day.  I knew I needed rest but just how was I suppose to get it? Really? Our few days away was great and it had a ring of rest to it but there were places we wanted to see and there were trails to walk and waterfalls to ooh and aha over. And we did.  And then we came home to the same old grind.  And then . . . this!  A Forced Rest.

GOD knew better from the beginning. 

Deuteronomy 5:13-15 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

13 You have six days to labor and do all your work,

14 but the seventh day is a Shabbat for Adonai your God. On it you are not to do any kind of work — not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your ox, your donkey or any of your other livestock, and not the foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property — so that your male and female servants can rest just as you do.

15 You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and Adonai your God brought you out from there with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore Adonai your God has ordered you to keep the day of Shabbat.

 

Egypt worked them 7 days a week, from can to can’t and beyond.  This world will work us the same with its activities, achievements and entertainments.  It is up to us who have been set free in CHRIST JESUS to say No I will not live that way. We can choose it or we can be blessed enough to be forced.  :)

JESUS, I truly prefer to say YESHUA but for the sake of my audience I most often say JESUS.  JESUS said:

Mark 2:Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

27 Then he said to them, “Shabbat was made for mankind, not mankind for Shabbat; 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of Shabbat.”

 

In reading a Rabbi’s comment (I am not familiar with this Rabbi or teachings but)  I thought I’d share this comment here:

Shabbat is a covenant sign between G-d and His people of their relationship and sanctification.  . . .  welcome this appointed time created for us to reconnect and to be recreated[source]

I know for sure that Shabbat (Sabbath) however you choose to speak it is for reconnecting and recreation and we need it!! How you reconnect with Him and other relationships is for you and HE to decide I think and the re-creation of our souls is another choice that HE and you should make together.  At least that’s my paraphrasing. 

I’m still meditating on what a Shabbat should look like for me but this I know unless I want to wear out before my time I must observe this appointed time.  And for it to be on Sunday will take some planning; for you see Sunday as practiced now is the least restful of all days of the week at our house.  NO! I am not advocating staying home from Sunday School and  services but I am thinking some changes are in order. 

When you have had some moments to ponder this what changes could you make and would you consider it and would you consider sharing your thoughts with me?

Thank You ABBA ADONAI.  Thank You for this forced rest. And I know me well enough to know without Your help and reminders I will be before too long head long again into tiredness if You do not help me.  I don’t know what Shabbat should look like for this little Christian with only spiritual Jewish roots girl but this I know I want it to please You. So I pray my back will continue to heal; that my range of motion will become flexible again, even more than before; I pray for wisdom to exercise and sleep properly. I pray for the will to attend this ‘temple’ in ways that please You.  And I pray for means of reconnecting and re-creation that pleases You. I pray these things not just for me but for my family and friends. I pray You will forgive us for our pride and sin that has driven us to be proud of our busy-ness. I pray Your Church LORD JESUS will embrace that You are YESHUA and Your Feasts, Dress Rehearsals and Appointed Times are for us too and we are the losers when we refuse to learn, observe and give You proper reverence. Thank You ABBA ADONAI in JESUS name.

Kathie

Copy Paste Chew Again, You Tubes

Sunday Evening Ramblings (again)

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IDOK DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2010

Sunday Evening Ramblings

Here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down,

Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely

All together worthy,

All together wonderful to me

It was not until the fourth time we sang those words that it finally dawned on me what I was saying!   And then there was a question.  Why was I there?  Why did I get up, get dressed, go to Sunday School and ‘Preaching’ (that’s what I remember hearing folks call it when I was a young one)?  Why was I there?  The only worthy reason for me to be there was to worship; to bow my heart, my soul, my will, my wants, desires, dreams, needs, all of it – bow and surrender all to Him.  Only then can I say to Him, You are my God.  And then I will be saying You are all together lovely, You are all together wonderful to me.

And that’s just one of the things I heard since we last met at this screen.  Jerry and I watched a movie last night entitled The List.  The film is based on a book by the same name written by Robert Whitlow.  It ended with this line: And God said My people and My enemies do the same thing; they underestimate the power of prayer.  Ponder that a moment.  We did and we immediately prayed.  And you know what — He heard and I know that for which we prayed is handled and in time we will SEE that it is.

And on page 75 of a wonderful little book titled Touching Wonder, Recapturing the Awe of Christmas by John Blasé, I read these words:

Always… Mighty One, I know of my own pleadings for You to do something! My life’s story tells me that You have, are, and will.  But it’s always in Your time, I do want it that way, even when I scream to the contrary. 

Sincerely, John.

Do you so totally get that?  If it does not come to you with the first read, read it again.

And one more before I close.  Of the many things my Pastor said this morning, this is one I must share with you.  As he spoke of the Body of Christ and our day-to-day living he said folks of the world might say to us: ‘If you will show me your redeemed life, I might be inclined to believe your Redeemer’.

Isaiah 47:4 As for our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel. (source)

LORD GOD, You are my Redeemer and You do LIVE!  Praise You now and forever!   I pray You will take these disjointed ramblings and make them gel; bring Your Word to bear upon our souls so much so that our lives are indeed redeemed and honest seekers looking on have no choice but to say You did it.   Holy Spirit, I pray more and more we will come to experience the power You release when we pray.  And I pray more and more we will scream less and less to the contrary; and that we really do in the nitty-gritty of our hearts want everything done in Your Time and in Your way, not ours.  ABBA, You know every name spoken here today; we ask You to provide for them and if any one of us can enter into work with You on their behalf with deeds added to our prayers, please so move us, Lord.   And we pray for our IDOK Troops for their safety and health and well-being, each one of them. Please bring each one home safe and sound.  And in this moment as we close and post and send, I ask You to give rest and peace to each IDOK and each Reader and it is in the Holy and Beautiful name of Yeshua that I ask. Amen and amen.

Kathie

Discipline of children, Guests

My Find

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A find I didn’t know I had.

Off and on for much of this fleeting Saturday, I have invested in studying for tomorrow’s Bible lesson during Sunday School hour at First Baptist Satsuma. And in the process I chased a number of rabbits. :) I do that often with the various study tools I have. This one is Logos. Isn’t it delightful when you find you have something you didn’t know you had?

So reading, clicking and exploring my Logos Library I found the following and decided I’d post a small portion of my find here. I am thinking of my grandchildren. Perhaps you have children or grandchildren that will come to  mind as well:

Selecting a Mate

Many young people have a romantic expectation of meeting someone who is erotically attractive and elicits a mysterious sense of compatibility. “Falling in love” hits like a powerful religious experience and is taken to be the voice of God: “This is the one for you.” Christian young people are sitting ducks for this deception.

They need compelling instruction that identifies Christian love as service love, founded on a decision, drawing from the emotions but not grounded in them. They also need wise criteria for selecting a spouse. We suggest they consider questions like the following:

—What kind of life is God calling you to live? What kind of spouse would support that?

—What kind of person would likely make a good father or mother for your children?

—What personality traits would put additional stress on your personal weaknesses?

—What are the important qualities in a spouse “for the long haul”? How do attractive appearance and an urbane sense of humor rate over time with a trait like faithfulness?[1]

I wonder how many divorces would have been avoided had the marriages been predicated on these criteria?  I also wonder how many godly homes would have been established?  It is not too late for this generation if our generation will make some changes. 

Food for thought.

Happy Saturday, my Friends,