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.

Soul Searching and Finding Rest

The end of the first half of 2015 is fast approaching— so far it has been a whirl-wind; it is time for some soul-searching. In this mundane chronos, am I practicing what the Lord spoke into this weary saint as 2014 faded away? A look into the Brazen Laver  is sobering.

 The annual change of the calendar takes me by surprise each year; I greet each one with frustration. When the sparkling cider is gone, and the noise makers trodden under foot, nothing seems new; nothing feels new. 2015 began with my resistance to its arrival. I refused to write a list of resolutions, or fill out another prayer card; for it would only get lost in the pages of the One True Word. I desired this New Year to be different—I wanted a word. A word that would guide me through the year. A word I could cling to in tough times. After seeking God and praying for His direction, I christened 2015 with the word I felt Him whisper into my weary soul—Rest. sabbatismos; a lifestyle of Sabbath rest and Sabbath observance. The Greek sabbatismos is an idea far beyond church on Sunday. It is an attitude, a heart condition. This is not a legalistic ritual, but prayerfully seeking a new perspective on the chronos. The Omnipotent One, continues to urge me to rest. A lesson I have not yet fully retained.

The rest that was to govern my year alludes me. While my faith and trust in God does not waver; I still struggle with resting. “A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval,” Mark Buchanan writes; storms definitely describe the year and it is anything but restful. I have had enough upheaval to last a life time. It has brought sickness, heartache, sadness, and betrayals that test the most determined soul.  It is so easy to get caught up in the whirl-wind of chronos and it drains the passion from us. Kairos—God’s divine intervention, is as fleeting as spring after a hard winter.  

Chronos betrays us, always. It devours the beauty it creates. But sometimes chronos betrays itself: it stirs in us a longing for Something Else—Something that the beauty of things in time evokes but cannot satisfy… we end up as the man in Ecclesiastes did: driven, driven, driven, racing hard against chronos, desperate to seize beauty but always gasping smoke, ashes, and thorns. Seeking purpose and finding none, only emptiness (Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God, p. 37).

I am a passionate reader—a half a dozen books a month is my usual habit. Yet, piles of books await for me to get lost in their pages. Piles that once stirred me to read, now seem daunting, and overwhelming. Studying alludes me as well, as I have taken the summer to rest from seminary. This is new territory for me. Days and weeks of wrestling and torture just to pen this journal entry proves exhausting. Reading and writing is so much a part of who I am, that I feel lost. I feel as though I am wandering around—searching for my place in the world. If I don’t read and write, what do I do?  I rest.  

Sabbath is both a day and an attitude to nurture such stillness. It is both time on a calendar and a disposition of the heart. It is a day we enter, but just as much a way we see. Sabbath imparts the rest of God—actual physical, mental, spiritual rest, but also the rest of God–the things of God’s nature and presence we miss in our busyness… A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval (pp.3-4). 

One thing I have learned in spending time in His presence, is that worship is the key to rest. When I cease worrying about the cares of this world (Matt. 6:25-34), and I lay at His feet; peace overwhelms me.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:7 NASB

There are many things that vie for my attention; so many cares and distractions. But I must choose, as Mary so wisely did, to sit at His feet and worship. The Martha in me is easily lured into the drama of the day. If I never read another book, if I never pen another page, I will have peace when I rest in Him. Sabbatismos.

The New Year is frustrating, because the strike at midnight changes the chronos, and not the kairos. I want something new…I want kairos. I want to witness the divine intervention of God in my moment and see the change that I have longed for. I must be reminded in the mundane to seek out and choose joy. I must remember the greatest kairos in all eternity—He has already made all things new.

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. Rev. 21:5 ESV

He is trustworthy and true. He made all things new long before midnight of 2015. He made me new, and instead of seeking for my circumstances to change, I continue to change. When I rest in Christ, then He abides in me and Christ in me is the hope of glory. And the mundane doesn’t seem so dull after all. I witness the Divine every day through His mercy, grace, and love.