Rest

It’s a Beautiful Morning —

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I have always believed we still need to remember the commandment to remember the Sabbath even in this age of grace. The Sabbath is included in the law but its origins begin on the first week of creation and are a wonderful way to honor God.  I have enjoyed Carole’s posts for a few years and especially loved her perspective on the Sabbath preparing us for the new day. I pray you would also be blessed.

 

I haven’t met many mornings that I didn’t immediately love. I love the excitement of the sun rising, of a fresh new day (with no mistakes in it, as Anne of Green Gables would say), the fresh energy that courses through my body and the reminder of

 

walking with God in the very beginning. In […]

via It’s a Beautiful Morning — itsawonderfilledlife

Music in the Rest

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But the Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.
Habakkuk 2:20 KJV

Since I come from the “If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” generation it has taken me decades to learn the value of quiet. Only now am I beginning to see that silence is also worship.

In the busy symphony of life God places some whole rests in between our Allegro movements. We must learn to play not only the grace notes but also the pauses placed in our score. God being both kind and gentle hears our voices even when no words are uttered.

Yes one day we will return to the happier pace of marches or the soaring crescendo of horns and timpani. But even in a moment of silence God is still keeping time. Our hope is not in the loudness of the part assigned us but in the kind and loving conductor who leads us in Christ to hear heaven’s music even in the rest!

Gift of Rest

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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 Matthew 11:29

In all our hurry towards Christmas, it is easy for us to forget to rest for a moment at the manger. Remember how He waited the unhurried nine months in the waiting room of Mary’s womb. Then at His birth the shepherds were the first to know as they rested with their flocks.

For the next 30 quiet years Jesus lived in the tiny village of Nazareth. He didn’t burst forth with proclamations of greatness instead he worked in the back of Joseph’s carpenter shop. He had brothers and sisters with whom He shared a straw mattress on the floor and the same meals that Mary cooked for everyone. Never do we hear of a complaint an attitude of frustration.

He simply waited and rested in the place where God had put Him. It was there in Nazareth that He learned to give thanks for bread and fish. In the ordinary circumstances of His life He learned how to wash feet, celebrate weddings and how to handle wood and nails.

Whenever we feel the push to get into the holiday swing of things we need to stop and take a deep breath. Then in a moment of calm remember that the same Jesus who rested in the storm has also invited us to come and rest our souls in Him!