Hit the breaks

Ever felt like things are spinning too fast? I feel that way today. The brain is just too tired to do anything. Well, that is when we do need to slow things down. Do only the minimum tasks needed for the day then take a time out.

Time outs for me come in various forms. An early night in bed. A warm candlelight bath. An evening visiting friends, or simply just spending time on the couch watching TV. Building strength in our lives requires knowing when we can push ourselves at 120 Km's per hour, or when we need to hit the breaks. Be sensitive to how your body feels and listen too it.

God made us Spirit, Soul and Body and we cannot ignore either part. When we learn to clearly see ourselves in those three parts, we'll be able to diagnose our own problems and get them solved quicker. So here's to hoping I can get an early night, how about you?

Just a little bit crazy

You have to be honest, doesn’t Paul sound just a little bit crazy.  For in 2 Corinthians 4:17 he says, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”  And that while he is suffering in prison.  Not the type of prison with a TV and commode.  No, a hell hole dark, stinky, sewer filled dungeon with virtually no food or supplies. 

I thought about that today as I bleated once again about sitting in traffic on my way home from work.  How bad is our perspective when we complain about the small stuff.  Sometimes in life we just have to toughen up, suck it up and get on with the job.  Becoming strong in God, sometimes means we have to strengthen our mental resolve, not to let little things derail us.  

Then again, if you are going through a “real momentary light affliction”, don’t forget the words of the Apostle…….these afflictions are preparing us for eternal glory!

Escape button

Don’t you ever wish there was an escape button to life, not that you want to end things, but just a way that you can morph out of your current situation and find a more restful place.  Annual leave just doesn’t cut it.  For weeks before there’s planning and overtime just to make sure your office runs smoothly while you’re away.  Then when you get back, there’s dealing with the fall out of what did go wrong and tasks that other people couldn’t cope with and two days back, you feel like you haven’t had leave at all.  

I know I’ve been there many times.  Somehow though, we have to find a way to recharge our batteries without putting a stop to everything.  My escape button is praise and worship.  Whenever possible, I’ll break out in song.  Be it quietly at work or in my kitchen while doing the dishes I’ll hum and sing away whenever possible.  

So why does this escape really work? I can give you a couple of reasons:
While singing out loud, it is hard for other thoughts to prevail.  Science has taught us that you can    very seldom be thinking one thought and speaking or singing something different (sorry ladies, even with multitasking, this works).
Music lifts our spirit very quickly, God designed it that way.
God inhabits the praises of his people, when we worship, he draws near immediately.
Most worship songs should be scripture based, so while we are singing we are confessing the word.

There really is a long list and I could keep going, but why don’t you just try it for yourself?   :-)

Waiting, waiting, waiting

Ever felt like you are just so tired of waiting. Waiting for the promotion, waiting for the blessing, waiting for the promise, waiting for the baby, or waiting for the breakthrough. It just feels like all you ever do is wait. I have good news for you.

Isaiah 40:31 tells us, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength...” I feel this applies two ways. First, when we wait on the Lord, have patience with his timing and wait for God to do a work in our lives instead of doing it ourselves, the bible promises that we will be strengthened and encouraged. Waiting and not rushing into things produces patience and wisdom and allows time for us to gain perspective.

Secondly, when we go to a restaurant we are waited on.... :-) Do you see it? When we serve God with our whole heart, we will renew our strength as well. That's because, gathering with fellow Christians, serving God together and sharing our lives with them will help us to stay strong as they are able to encourage us.

Whatever you are going through right now, maybe it's time to sit back and just allow God to do the work in you that needs to be done and wait for him.

Oh to remember

A typical Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday evening as Jews celebrate the Sabbath from sunset on Friday night to sunset on Saturday.  There is much preparation that goes into making sure that the meals are prepared and all the household appliances that are not allowed to be used are switched off.  The preparation also includes bathing and dressing and preparing for the day as though a special guest was arriving.   (Is Jesus the special guest in your worship?). 

There are many prayers and rituals throughout the day, most memorably to me the lighting of two candles prior to sunset representing the two commandments:  Zakhor (remember) and Shamor (observe).  This process is so significant to me as how many times haven’t we heard or said, forgive and forget.  Yet here God calls Israel to observe and remember.  God’s desire is that we overcome the slavery of our past hurts not by forgetting them, neither by building a memorial to them but rather by honouring the part they played in our victory and freedom in Christ. 

When we try to forget, all we do is give the devil a place to build a stronghold in our lives.  Rather we should seek the anointing of the Holy Spirit to heal those memories and then honour them as being part of our past and then move forward.  

I believe when we learn the art of forgiveness God’s way, we will find the rest, relaxation and refreshing that comes with the Sabbath.  God’s desire for us in celebrating the Sabbath is to receive strength so that we can live overcoming, victorious lives! 

To work or not to work?

When I first decided to take this journey into looking at the meaning of the Sabbath, I honestly didn’t know where to begin.  Strangely it just wasn’t a subject we did in Bible School (unless I slept through that part).  When Googling I found a Jewish website about the Sabbath and decided this would be a good source of material.  I was sceptical though as I did not want to get lost in the “letter of the law.”

In looking at this next point it does indeed speak to that concept.  Jews forbid several types of work on the Sabbath and the list is quite long, so I won’t share it here.  The list does seem to focus on manual labour, i.e. sowing, plowing, reaping etc.  In interpreting the spirit of the law, I guess that would apply to what we would classify as our jobs.

To redefine it another way, I would say that God desires to have all of our attention.  We should not partake in activities that would otherwise legally be allowed to draw our attention to everyday employment.  I suppose it is learning how to practically apply that is where the challenge lies. I suppose the question we need to ask is, “Does what I am doing now worship God or money?” 

Tough one. 

How could we forget this?

In the ancient world, leisure was reserved for the wealthy, so there was no such thing as a day of rest for workers.  By remembering and observing the Sabbath, the Jews celebrated their freedom from slavery.  By resting, we give God honour as creator of the universe.

Here’s the challenging thought…… If God rested from his work on the 7^th day, why do we see our work and labours as more important than his?   In all our consumerism we have forgotten that observing the Sabbath isn’t just a good idea, but a commandment from God.  I know what know what you’re thinking, because I’m thinking it too….. Ouch!  How could we have forgotten about this and ignored this sacred command?

Observing the Sabbath and resting will train our hearts to focus on our God as creator and if we do that then no challenge we could possibly be facing could ever be too big for God to resolve.  It helps us gain divine perspective. 

This word is as much a challenge to me as it may be to you, but I would like to encourage us all to receive God’s word of correction with joy and humility and set your mind to change some bad habits that are keeping us honouring God the way we should on the Sabbath. 

What a feast!

The Sabbath is more than just spending time in church and prayer. It is a precious day to be eagerly awaited like a bride coming to her husband. It is not simply a day of prayer but a day of spiritual enrichment, where we feed our spirits with the word of God and spend time in worship before God.

The Sabbath is not simply a day of eating, but a day of feasting more lavishly than normal (now the Jewish figure makes sense, tee hee). Isn't that such a beautiful picture, we not only get to feed our bodies in a way that will allow us to feel truly satisfied but we feed our spirits and nourish our spirit man too.

I think if we were to ask God to open our spiritual eyes, what would see would be a bunch of anorexic Christians. Let's be honest, most of us go to church out of duty or habit, we seldom make the effort to feast our spirit man in God's presence.

Why not ask God to create a desire within you for the coming Sabbath, ask him for a hunger for his word. Then prepare your heart to feast before God in worship.

Bed day

When last did you take a day out to do nothing but rest? I did that on Saturday. I felt burn out coming on and chose to do something about it.

It definitely made me stop and think about the Sabath, a day of rest instituted by God, yet ignored by most due to the hustle and bustle of our modern lifestyle.

Maybe it's time we did stop and consider this sacred day and learn more about it. I'd certainly like to take that journey.

Happy or sad

Earlier today I had the thought in mind, “I feel sad.” Today some of the details relating to my late gran’s estate were finalized, so I suppose it would be natural for sad feelings and memories to pop up. A short while later though I received an email stating that we had to nominate our “employee of the month” and after sending that through another thought popped up, “I feel happy.”

So how come our moods can change from one moment to the next without warning? That’s because our emotions are directly linked to the thoughts we are having. Happy thoughts release happy feelings and sad thoughts produce sad feelings.

So is there a way to overcome sadness? Most times I can say yes. Grief is somewhat different and can override all other emotions. For the most part though the way to control our emotions is through our thought life.

Doesn’t Revelation tell us, “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony?” Absolutely! So when sad emotions hit, where possible take control of them by thinking and feeling thoughts that bring your mind back to God and his goodness.

It wouldn’t hurt to hum a little ditty that makes you smile…. Something like the “Happy Talking” song from the old movie “South Pacific” usually does it for me.

Eat what you can, can what you can't

“Eat what you can, can what you can't.” A phrase often used by my dad in response to my young self protesting, “I'm full.” This was used to encourage me to take take a few more bites and not waste food. And then, left overs were to be safely stored.

I often apply the same principle now to life when things get a bit hectic and I just don't feel like I'm going to cope with the days “to do list”. What can I handle now and what can't I? I often find in this mix that unintentionally reading the word (which I love to do dearly) just slips by for pure lack of time.

It really helps then to have access to the bible in every place possible. Hard copy, application on my cell phone and even another for my laptop. Even when you are rushed, I'd encourage you again to just find a way to fit a little scripture reading in. Even a short piece can give your soul plenty soul and spirit food to chew on for the rest of the day.

Hand in my side

Have you ever over reacted to a situation? I know I have. It's usually because whatever we are reacting too has caused some form of pain and the wounds are still fresh. Anything coming near that sensitive area of our lives may cause a fierce “get back, leave me alone” reaction.

Strange then that Jesus would walk up to his disciples, “Come, put my your hand in my side.” You might argue that Jesus wounds were healed and that he would therefore have felt no pain. That may be true but there was still a hole there and I am sure that even with the resurrection power of God flowing through his being that the memory of the pain of crucifixion would still have been fresh on his mind......and yes.... that pain he did feel.

So what was Jesus secret to overcoming the memories of pain and hurt? Those simple words he spoke on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Tough to hear and do, but a work that only God can do through you.