Sabbath Sanctuary: The Burning Bush Finding the Holy Among The Common

Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes. The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Piper © 2015

The Messenger of Yahweh appeared to him there as flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses looked, and although the bush was on fire, it was not burning up. So he thought, “Why isn’t this bush burning up? I must go over there and see this strange sight.” When Yahweh saw that Moses had come over to see it, Elohim called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”  Ex. 3:2-4  (Names of God Bible, God's Word Translation)

© Piper Green 2015

I love fall. Aesthetically, it is my favorite season. The red, yellow, and oranges consume the landscape; standing in oceans of red and orange of their own fallen leaves. This year, some trees are exhibiting a dark merlot that is simply breathtaking. The glory of God displayed in awesome wonder through His creation. His paintbrush is evident everywhere. When I glimpse at these brilliant colors, they often evoke images of the burning bush, though I am sure not quite as magnificent, dramatic, marvelous or wonderful, for what can compare to the burning presence of Yahweh? 

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NASB

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Heb. 1:3 NASB 

© Piper Green 2015

I am reading Exodus this morning, and I couldn’t help but notice, that when Moses reached Mount Horeb, the mountain of Elohim, he happened to see this bush that was burning—but not being consumed. The Word says, that Moses went over to see it, and because Yahweh saw that Moses came to see…then He spoke out of the bush. 

The bush was burning before Moses arrived, but because he turned aside to see this marvelous sight (NASB), God spoke to Him.

The beauty and the glory of God are all around us, burning to spark our attention. God is not just babbling and hoping someone hears; He is patiently waiting for us to turn aside and see the marvelous sight, so that He may fellowship with us.

This Sabbath, look—seek the divine callings of God. So often the holy is hiding among the common. Don't miss burning bushes all around you; turn aside to His marvelous wonder, take off your shoes—for this is holy ground—and rest in His Presence.

This is my scribbling...

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Sabbath Sanctuary: Awe and Wonder

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Rosh Hashanah commenced the New Year—literally the head of the year. It is a fresh start, a brand new year. It also is the beginning of the Days of Awe, (Yamim Noraim), or the Days of Repentance, which will culminate on Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement.  It is a season of chronos, interrupted by a kairos—an appointed time. Jews worship in the synagogue, and break bread with loved ones—at home and within the community of faith. 

The Days of Awe are filled with wonder and worship. They are days for self-reflection, fasting, and prayer; they are solemn days. The Yamim Noraim are meant to set the tone for the coming year. Traditionally, this is a time of reconciliation with others.  Reconciliation and Reflection.

Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering (Matt. 5:23-24).

So that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless (Eph. 5:26-27).

 But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world (1 Cor. 11:31-32).

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 Our heart should be drawn to the Lord in worship; worshiping Him in spirit and truth (see John 4:24) We should stand in awe of Him and all that He has done for us, and all that He is going to do. He is Amazing. He is Awesome. He is Wonderful. He is Magnificent. He is Holy. This is awe.

YHWH (Yahweh) is God’s sacred covenant Name. Adonai and Elohim were heard among the nations, but Yahweh is the name unique to His people; by this Name God identified Himself with His people. He desires to dwell with His people. The Creator of the universe desires to make His abode in our hearts. I am brought alive by this, and it should stir in us the Awe and Wonder that He deserves—He wants to be with us. He loves us that much. 

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Yom Kippur is approaching next week, though I don’t keep the Jewish festival of The Days of Awe, I feel a nudging in my heart to spend this week in self-reflection, fasting, and prayer. I will search my heart: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).

I pray for a revival to restore the Awe of God to His beloved, precious, blood bought Church, and that His people would come alive with Awe and Wonder at the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. I pray His Word would come alive in the hearts of His people, afresh and new. That our eyes will be opened and our hearts awakened again by His Word. 

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Piper's Farm

They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us? (Luke 24:32).  

Yahweh, I want to be in awe of You. I want to fall in love with You and Your Word. I pray that it wash and cleanse me of all that breaks Your heart. Open the eyes of our hearts Adonai, to all that Your Word reveals about You. Let us be in awe of You again. 

Rest this Sabbath in Reconciliation, Reflection, Awe and Wonder. 

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Don't forget to check out my book, A Life That Sings: Finding Your Song In The Midst of Brokenness

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Sabbath Sanctuary: Rest in His Resurrection Power

Jesus is alive. No, it is not Easter. The resurrection is not only a message for Easter. It is the Message for all time and all ages. It transcends the chronos—it is the most significant Kairos moment—ever.

I shared a few weeks ago that life seemed dreadfully unfruitful. Barrenness causes a deep wound in the heart; spiritual barrenness is almost unbearable. But God is faithful; He promises that if we remain in the Vine, we will bear fruit.  Though it may seem dark now, God has not finished your story.

Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Heb. 12:2)

What kind of love is writing my story till the end With Mercy's Pen?^[1]

Your dreams are not dead. God’s promises are still yes and amen in Christ Jesus (2 Cor.1:20). Your barrenness is over. Everything God has promised you is hastening toward you.

Then the Lord answered me and said, “Record the vision And inscribe it on tablets, That the one who reads it may run. “For the vision is yet for the appointed time; It hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; For it will certainly come, it will not delay (Hab. 2: 2-3).

Do not be afraid though the drought is long and hard; You are a tree of righteousness—not afraid of the dry spell:

They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit (Jer. 17:8 NASB).

Christ is faithful. He is full of grace and truth. He did not bring you this far for you to drown. He is the I AM. He is your Deliverer. Your refuge. Christ is alive! That means you are alive—Christ in you the hope of glory. He is:

Emmanuel, the promised king, the baby who made angels sing, son of man who walked with us healing, breathing in our dust.

The author of all history, the answer to all mysteries, the Lamb of God who rolled away
the stone in front of every grave.[2]

Rest this Sabbath in the arms of the Father. Christ is Alive! You are alive! Your dreams are alive! He is rolling the stone away from the grave of barrenness that has kept you down. The stone is rolled away. Rest in His resurrection power.

[1] Nicole Nordeman, The Story: Mary Magdalene “Alive”: Everything surrounding The Story movement is part of an unprecedented partnership between World Vision, Zondervan, EMI Christian Music Group, Provident Label Group, Word Entertainment, Proper Management and CAA.
[2] Ibid.

Don't forget to check out my book, A Life That Sings: Finding Your Song In The Midst of Brokenness

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Sabbath Sanctuary: Leave It To God

This Sabbath I am absorbed in my thoughts of  resting in God. His Word today is bread for this weary soul. Hold on to God’s faithfulness. Breathe. Breathe in God’s Word like oxygen. Exhale all your cares on Him. He has you and He will fulfill His promise to you.

To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Col. 1:27 NASB).

Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you (1 Pet. 5:7 NASB).

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful (Heb. 10:23 NASB).

I know the words “leave it to God” can be misunderstood…the sense in which a Christian leaves it to God is that he puts all his trust in Christ: trusts that Christ will somehow share with him the perfect human obedience which He carried out from His birth to His crucifixion: that Christ will make the man more like Himself and, in a sense, make good his deficiencies. In Christian language, He will share His “sonship” with us, will makes us, like Himself, “Sons of God” (p. 128). C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside (p. 129). C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity

 When Christ is in me (my only hope of glory), my circumstances may stay the same, but I change because Christ is working in me. If you feel like you are being crushed like a grape in a wine press...God is preparing something amazing for you. 

Give it to God and Rest.

Sabbath Sanctuary: Holy Saturday

Yesterday we remembered Christ and His crucifixion; His holy sacrifice for our filthiness and sin. Every sin I have committed, every idle word I have spoken was nailed to the cross yesterday.  

As Good Friday passes we look forward to Easter Sunday and celebrate the greatest event of all time—the Resurrection. Christ came out of the grave and defeated death, hell, and the grave. He tasted death for us and overcame it. He holds the keys to hell, it is a celebration indeed!

Somehow, Saturday seems to get lost in the holiday preparations. We return to the mundane— life as usual, preparing food, doing the laundry, preparing meals, preparing for worship on Sunday. But what about Saturday, the Sabbath day, the morning and evening—before Sunday. Scripture too, seems to quickly pass over Saturday. There seems to be a void after the horrific crucifixion scene the previous day, and the celebration of an empty grave on Sunday. Matthew grants a glimpse into some of the events on Saturday; the Pharisees before Pilate ensuring the grave is guarded, there will be no grave robbing this night!

Holy Saturday seems to be a time of waiting; a place where nothing significant occurs. “The crucifixion, deliberately timed to precede the Sabbath day (which in John’s chronology was the Passover itself), was naturally followed by a pause when nothing would happen, and certainly no visit to the tomb by Mary and the others to anoint the body” (Alan Lewis, p.3).  Saturday is just an ordinary day, with Jesus body seemingly lying in the cold hard tomb, leaving all creation to groan for Him.

Though Jesus’ body may be entombed and laying on that cold, hard, rock slab—there is much happening behind the scenes, taking place in the unseen heavens before His pierced, precious body is resurrected.

Jesus was not lying idle on Saturday, He was busy freeing the captives who died before His glorious appearing, when all of heaven kissed the earth. He was battling the devil and his minions. The prophet Hosea foretold the descent of Christ into Hell in Hosea 13:14: O death, I will be thy death; O hell, I will be thy bite. And so too, the prophet Zechariah 9:11: Thou also by the blood of Thy Testament hast sent forth Thy prisoners out of the pit.”  Peter penned in 1 Peter 3:19 In which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient.  Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:9 what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? Jesus defeated death, hell and the devil and mocked them openly; When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Colossians 2:15.  

Sabbath Saturday seemed quiet; the dust settling from the events and commotion of the traumatic events of Good Friday, and a quiet hush seemed to hold the city captive. It looked like everything was dead. Everything the Disciples hoped for is gone—their dreams died and were buried with Jesus. They could not see all that Jesus was doing, He was overcoming hell so that He could ascend to take His place at the right hand of the Father. There were many things Christ had to do before He could present Himself, the perfect sacrifice, and sprinkle His blood on the Heavenly Mercy Seat.

So rest this Sabbath, and know that though everything seems dead, and your heart is broken from disappointment, broken dreams, and betrayal, that Christ is working behind the scenes to resurrect NEW LIFE. Sabbath Saturday is a time to rest, to regain your strength for the New Life Jesus is preparing for you right now! Rest this Sabbath Saturday—tomorrow is Resurrection and New Life!

Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you. Joshua 3:5

Alan E. Lewis, Between Cross & Resurrection: A Theology Of Holy Saturday (Grand Rapids: Eerdmens Publishing Company, 2001), 3.  

Sabbath Sanctuary: Be Thankful And Rest

And now the gift of drifting snow, Wind-sculpted beauty. Cold Comfort (not all His gifts are cozy) invites entrance into a season of austere. Eugene Peterson, Snow, Holy Luck

Colorado is cold and snowy today, but the psalmist refers to both natural and spiritual winter. Rest in the Sabbath of God this weekend, and be assured that when it is cold and dark, God will send forth one Word and melt it all away.

Be thankful this Sabbath rest for even the seemingly small thing. The snow; the cold…yes, be thankful for it all. God always works out His good in us through the cold, dark seasons. Know that He will melt it away. Your thankfulness to Him will grant to you a most restful Sabbath.

In the expiring sun, we squint through the Narrow Gate: the candle flames; we lift our glasses, l’chaim, “to Life!” Eugene Peterson Snow, Holy Luck

Sabbath Sanctuary: God's Love is Unfathomable

Rest In God. Spend time in your Sabbath Sanctuary this weekend with the God who loves you so much, that He created you, called you by name, and made you His own. The best valentine one could hope for. 

Sabbath Sanctuary: New Life

One of my favorite things in life is witnessing the springing of new life; blooming flowers in the midst of winter. For me it’s witnessing the divine. It is a beautiful reminder by the Lord, that the harsh winter is almost over, and He is springing new life—even though it still looks cold and dark, new life is on its way. 

Look! The winter has passed, the winter rains are over and gone. Song of Songs 2:11 NET

So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; And He will come to us like the rain, Like the spring rain watering the earth Hosea 6:3

Rest this Sabbath, God has a new thing on the way. Rest. This cold dark season will pass, and new life is springing up.

Sabbath Sanctuary: The Path

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, “Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way, the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’” John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Mark 1: 1-45

Walk by Faith

There will come a time and there will come a day

You will face tests and trials but I have come to say

I will not let one of you go even when you stumble

I will protect you and cause your enemy to fumble

Though things may get hard I give My grace to you

So you can walk by faith and know just what to do

You will not smell like smoke when you stand in My Name

Those who hear My Word through you won’t be the same

So even if you can’t see all the way in front of you

Walk by faith and not by sight do as I would do

 I will protect you and defend you when you do what is right

Take My grace and love with you and all of My power and might 

 Piper Green

©2004

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. 

Proverbs 3:6

Rest in Him this Sabbath; He guides your every step...the steps of the righteous are ordered (see Psalm 37:23).

He Will Keep You In The Shadow Of His Wings

Just a whisper to remind you that the Lord loves you. You are the apple of His eye, and He will keep you hidden in the shadow of His wings. Whatever trial you face, yesterday, today, or to come, He will keep you.

Sabbath Sanctuary: Celebrating the Word

Today is a beautiful fall afternoon; I am witnessing the divine change of the season all around me. The last of the apples have fallen to the ground; save one or two stragglers hanging on to the last glimmer of warmth. I have chosen to let those on the ground return to the ground from which they came, to enrich the soil through the winter.

The plumbago exchanges green for a beautiful red that is only found on the brush of the Master of the universe—the Grand Artist. 

Signs of life are still to be found; the grass proudly displays its lush green with pine cones for ornaments. 

One wildflower shares my rebellious heart to hang on to dear life...

I love fall, it is my favorite season. The reds, oranges, and yellows are breath-taking here in Colorado; I catch myself wanting to walk the museum of God’s creation endlessly. Creation displays God’s glory and I want to bask in that glory for as long as I can. 

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 NASB

Though I love fall, I know that it leads to winter; the cold, harsh, freezing, dark. A time when everything must die to make room for new life in the spring. Spiritually, winter is not an enjoyable season either, but God prunes us to grow more fruit, and though it is painful, new life will spring up in abundance. I purpose not to worry about the coming winter and enjoy the beauty of fall. 

For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.Colossians 1:16-17 NASB

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. John 1: 1-5 NASB


At sundown on October 17, the Jewish holiday of Simchat Torah began. It is a celebration of the Torah; the Word of God, and concludes the Feast of Tabernacles. For believers in Yeshua, it is a celebration of Him, the Word made flesh; He came and tabernacled with us. Simchat Torah shares this evening-morning day with the Sabbath, a time to rest from all the distractions and worries of this world and turn our gaze upon the Lord.

This evening I lit two Sabbath candles to usher in the rest of God to my world, along with this blessing: 

Blessed are You, LORD our God, King of the universe, who sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to be a light to the nations and who gave to us Jesus our Messiah the Light of the world.

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” John 8:12 NASB

Jesus is the Light of the World. When life seems cold, harsh, and dark, Jesus is our Light and He will give us rest for our souls. 

When we focus on the cares of the world---our trials, the cross becomes blurry...

Rest your soul this weekend; create a Sabbath sanctuary in your world and allow Jesus to minister to your tired, weary soul. Let His light refresh you as you celebrate Him—the very Word of God, who tabernacles with you.

In His Grace,

JJ Jesu Jura: Jesus Help 
SDG Soli Deo Gloria: To God be the glory!