Thinking about Sabbath Rest

Thinking about Sabbath Rest

Posted on by Matthew Laker

In the summer of 2015 I had to take some leave time from work. It was a time for self-care and restoring. I remember sitting in a canoe with my fishing rods. Often when I fish the time is also filled with reflection and prayer. I remember asking God, what do you want me to do this summer? Should I read a book, or go somewhere, or do something? Then the thought came, do nothing, just sit with me. In that statement was the idea of sitting with Jesus, and taking a break from work.

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Psalm 23:1-2 says “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

 

We live in a 24/7 world. I still have this small memory where things were closed one day a week. In my lifetime I have watched how in Canada the general workforce in a lot of areas has moved away from working five days and having two days off to many working 6-7 days a week. At the same time, North America, as a society, has seen an increase in the percentage of people who suffer from depression and anxiety.

 

In scripture, there is a rhythm for God’s people to practise. For Jesus followers, this is not a salvation issue. God is not going to reject you because you do not keep this rhythm.

 

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he started by declaring that he is the “LORD of the Sabbath” and the meaning of the day (Matthew 12:8; Luke 4:21). In a sense the Sabbath was a stop day from work, it was a day for restoring.

 

When we look at the Sabbath we can become legalistic and create all kinds of boundaries around the pattern and forget the intent of the law. It’s not about keeping it, (although in a way it is), but it is really about restoring and trusting God. I am beginning to understand that that part of the Sabbath is not just about rest or restoring, but growing my trust in Jesus.

 

What if Sabbath is meant to be a refuge and not a prison?

 

There is much research out there now that is building a strong case for the need to slow down and take rest. In my personal life, I have gained wisdom through experience about the need to have a stop day–the need to just sit with Jesus at various times in our life.

 

The challenge is understanding what work is. Work has changed over time and is different for many. The Sabbath is about taking rest from the work we do. It is taking a break from the regular work of our daily week.

 

In my life I have seen that by taking a break from the routine of work/commerce has helped to build relationships with my kids, to the point that they anticipate a certain activity that has become a tradition for us. I have seen how it can help restore my physical body. I have found benefits to my mental capacity. I have found benefits in my spiritual walk and often I will take extra time in my prayer and meditation. During this time, I will often take the time to look both back and forward in my life.

 

I have lots to learn from this practice and believe me, I am not where I think I should be. However, Sabbath rest is something I see in scripture that can help us enter, engage and experience the life we were created for.

 

I would love to hear about your experience in this area and any lessons you have learned. Do you have a question about Sabbath?

Keeping It Simple

Keeping It Simple

Posted on by Matthew Laker

desk-640x427When we are living to engage, enter and experience the life we were created for sometimes things get crazy and we make things over complexed.

Creating a life plan is a great way to be intentional about how you are living your life.

However, no matter if you have a written working plan, have a picture of one in your mind’s eye or just going with it in life, the unexpected happens.  This is when we need to remember to “Keep your life simple.”

 

Recently I was reminded of the value of keeping things simple. One Sunday the teaching plan was to remind people of the Gospel and God’s love for us. That Sunday morning I was supposed to tag team the sermon with another staff member.  It turned out that life happened and I ended up having to take the whole message last minute.  We had worked out this illustration that was the core of the talk that morning.  I struggled with my part earlier in the week to stay simple and keep focused on the illustration.  To add to the tension our timing that morning was of even more importance as we had a shorter time slot then normal for the teaching time.

 

The message at its core was a reminder of God’s story of redemption and our struggle in filling our life with everything but Jesus.  It was a simple message and the illustration made me look better than I spoke.  When the other staff member first shared part of the idea of what became the illustration/object lesson, right away I knew that was the message.  They had a great idea and so we worked out the illustration. me preaching

 

After the service, someone shared “you took something we already knew and gave us a simple picture to remember it.” I am glad that it worked out.  They had no idea the struggle I had with staying to the core of the message and keeping it simple.  There was tension even as I spoke to not get too complicated or add too much.    In the end, that was what helped me get through the moment.

Sometimes in life, in the midst of all the information and knowledge and messages and circumstances, we just need to keep it simple.

 

What are the core things that you need to focus in on? 

 

There were other things I could have spun off on that were not bad.  However, they were just that, roads taking me from the direction I needed to go that morning.

Do you find yourself running around putting out fires or jumping from one thing to the next?  Chasing the rabbit trail.

 

What if you pause and ask what is the goal?  Often, to get to that goal, it does not need to be overly complicated but instead there are simple steps that need to be taken or held to.  If you have ever developed a life plan, it is crucial you keep it focused and simple.

 

When you find yourself in the moment of feeling overwhelmed and unexpected events or life is feeling a little chaotic, pause, keep it simple, remember the core paths, and then walk.

 

As you look to enter, engage and experience the life you were created for, keep it simple, remember the core paths and walk.

4 Challenges to Entering Wholeness

4 Challenges to Entering Wholeness

Posted on by Matthew Laker

 

A.W. Tozer “Faith, as the Bible knows it is confidence in God and His Son Jesus Christ, it is the response of the soul to divine Character as reveled in in scripture;…” (Tozer, A.W. The Best of A. W. Tozer, Book 1. Wingspread; New Edition edition, 2007. Warren W. Wiersbe (Compiler) p. 172)

 

Combining faith with God’s word leads to wholeness.

 

road 5 640x427Hebrews chapter 4 speaks about the faith vacant response of the ancient Israelites and how we can be like them.  The reason they failed to enter the promise land, aka “rest” or “Wholeness”, was because they failed to combine faith with God’s word.

 

Hebrews 4:2 “For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them because they were not united by faith with those who listened.”

In my journey with Jesus, even after a long time in following him, I still struggle at times in combining faith with God’s word even though I understand it in my head.

 

4 of my personal challenges of combining faith with God’s word

 

a. Looking at life through the eyes of the situation and not Jesus.

 

I once heard a story of a professor who gave his students a piece of paper and asked them to write about what they see. On the paper was a small dot and the rest was white space. DSC01808 The student wrote as fast as they could and all wrote about the dot.  They focused in on the dot and missed talking about all the white space.  Sometimes we get so focused on the problem we fail to see Jesus all around.

 

b. Forgetting who I am

 

The apostle Paul often reminds those he is writing to of who they are.  He calls them to live out who they are in Christ.  If I am having trouble combining faith with God’s word, at times I am forgetting who I am in Christ.

 

c. Having to control everything.

 

We live in a day that pushes us to make sure we are controlling every element of our lives.  I can even have the arrogance in my life to think that if I dropped something everything is over.

There can be an attitude that comes up in this area of “look at all I did.”  Combining faith with God’s word is understanding “I do not have to control everything.” I still need to work, but combining faith with God’s word means some things are in fact in God’s control, not mine.

 

d. Fear as a driving force

 

Fear can drive so many of our lives.  Fear and shame are a direct result of sin in our life.  Now, there is a goodness in fear, but it is only to cause us to ask questions.

Questions like: is there a real danger?  Sometimes fear stops me because I am putting my faith in keeping my comfort or security or the illusion of power I may or may not have.  For many of us God is calling us to let go of fear and live.

 

Combining faith with God’s word leads to wholeness.

 

What about you? What keeps you from combining faith with God’s word?

 

Hebrews 4:16 “Lets us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”

How to be filled with the Spirit – Part 3

Posted on by Matthew Laker

How to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

This is Part Three of a series on How to be Filled with the Holy Spirit (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

What is our motivation for wanting to be filled with the Spirit?  When we seek this, we do not always understand what we are asking for.  Being filled with the Holy Spirit,  means that Jesus is taking charge in our life, we will not be the master.  There is no magical formula, dance or puppet string we attach to our body. It simply is, but what is not so simple is offering your life on the altar of God to him.

Acts 5:32 (ESV)

32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Romans 12:1-2 (ESV)

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, [by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This is where it starts and continues, offering our life to Jesus that he be Lord of our life.

Let’s test it in our life.

In prayer and song we sing about how we are sinners and need God, thinking that we have submitted to Jesus. Then, someone at work or a close family member or class mate or teacher says to us, “You are so selfish.”  How do we react?  Do we say you are right, show me how I was selfish?  Many of us will put up walls and get out our guns.  We will try to defend our self in hopes that they feel our pain of their judgment.

We could ask, “What lies are you believing in this moment?”  Paul says in Galatians 5, we are led by the Spirit, not the sin nature which is contrary to the Spirit.  However, in the midst of the text is an  understanding of the struggle between the two in ones’ life.  Perhaps there is some need for confession in your life.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is about Jesus being Lord of your life.

What do you find hard about living in Romans 12:1-2?  Where do you need to empty yourself so the Spirit can come in?  Seek the things of God and not self and the Spirit will rest with you.

Galatians 6:25-26 “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Repentance is the road to being led by the Spirit.

How to be filled with the Holy Spirit – Part 1

Posted on by Matthew Laker

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What do we mean by “filled with the Holy Spirit?”

How are we filled with the Holy Spirit?  (This is part one of a series on How to be filled with the Holy Spirit (add later Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 links).   For me there are four thoughts behind the term – “Filled with the Holy Spirit”

1. When one first follows Jesus, there is a placement of the Holy Spirit into one’s life.

The Holy Spirit is a marker, a guarantee, of our inheritance in God’s kingdom. (1 Cor. 12:13).  The full presence of the Spirit is given, but the full anointing is not always seen or experienced.

A.W. Tozer shares “Everyone has the filling of the Spirit but not the anointing.”

Check out this post to learn more about who the Holy Spirit is, and his role in the believers’ life.

2. Connection to the Sanctification process.

“In what may be an over-simplification, salvation depends on Christ as our Saviour; sanctification seeks to establish Christ as the Lord of our life.”

As Jesus becomes Lord of our life, there is opening to the power of the Spirit in a greater capacity.  As Jesus becomes Lord of all areas of our life, the Spirit can flow through us in a greater capacity.

Resources:

This is an older resource, but may help to stir some thoughts.

http://www.wesleyan.org/d/TSyVx/The-Baptism-with-the-Holy-Spirit-Greathouse.pdf   

3. Extra Anointing moments or refreshing moments.

The giving of the Spirit to an individual or group for a task or the mission of the Church.

The giving of the Spirit to an individual or group for a refreshing, restarting of faith, or refocusing of mission to a group of believers.

4. Someone following the leading of the Spirit.

Paul says in Galatians that we are not controlled by the Spirit, so we should keep in step with the Spirit.  As we do that, the fruit of the Spirit is produced in our life. Thus, when we speak of someone filled with the Spirit, there is a recognition that they are not only being led by the Spirit, but also following the Spirit.

This is an area not all believers in Jesus will agree on, but it is my working understanding.

Next week we will start to help you understand how to be filled with the Holy Spirit in your life.