Recently I took a short walk to clear life’s challenges from my mind, and I happened to look up. When I gazed at the blue sky filled with the amazing cloud puffs, I felt Jesus’ love, which erased all of my weekly concerns.
Every week, Sabbath-keepers are blessed to savor the spiritual gift of 24 hours to commune with God, and to focus on His love and faithfulness. All of the cares of life are placed on hold as we intentionally reflect on the goodness of God.
Yet, there is so much more, not only do we receive a spiritual blessing from worshiping in the Church Service, but God also gives us the blessings of mental, emotional, and physical restoration and renewal.
The History of Creation Sabbath
“And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” (Genesis 2:1-2).
God’s Declaration of Sabbath Worship for Eternity
The primary Scripture in Isaiah that speaks to the ongoing practice of the Sabbath in the future eternal state is Isaiah 66:22-23, which states, “For as the new heavens and the new earth that I make shall remain before Me, says the LORD, so shall your offspring and your name remain. From new moon to new moon, and from Sabbath to Sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, declares the LORD.”
“This passage verifies that the Sabbath will continue to be observed by God and the redeemed in the New Heaven and New Earth.”
Lord God, we pray for a Sabbath blessing as we worship You in Spirit and Truth. We pray for every individual who is faithfully obeying Your Commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy, and ask for Your gifts of peace and joy. Thank You for hearing and answering our prayer that we ask in the Worthy Name of Jesus, Amen.
Yeshua, the Eternal Word: “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 were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3).
As magnificent as this eagle is, we must never forget that God, Jesus, the Son, knelt on the ground, picked up clay, created us in His image, and breathed His Divine breath into Adam.
King David proclaimed, “we are fearfully and wonderfully made.” Live every moment with gratitude for Yahweh’s Divine Ruach (רוּחַ) life-giving breath flowing through your lungs.
Yes, the eagle is magnificent, but nothing created supersedes humanity who is created in the Divine similitude of God. Embrace your gift of life by dedicating your love, loyalty, and faithful obedience to worship our Triumphant King, and Creator God, Jesus Christ. Yes and Amen!
Jesus, we bless, honor, and revere Your Holy Name. Amen.
Our Daily Walk with Christ – Sabbath Devotional – July 13, 2024
“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit…” —Luke 6:43-44
“Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Corinthians 13:5). As followers of Christ, we are given a great responsibility, to work out our salvation with reverence to God and trembling [to do our best in serving God]. The Apostle Paul tells us to examine and test ourselves because obedience is the spiritual qualifier needed to abide in Christ.
The Offering of Isaac: “On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ‘Stay here with the donkey,’ Abraham told his servants. ‘The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.’ ” —Genesis 22:4-5
Obedience is our only acceptable sacrificial worship to God. Anything less is not fulfilling the commandment to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Our spiritual journey requires continuous testing of our faith. Abraham did not share God’s command to sacrifice their only son with Sarah, his wife. Certainly, a mother who was childless until she was 90 would have interfered with a mother’s love to rescue and save Isaac, her only son.
“When Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to him again and said, ‘I am God All-Powerful. If you obey me and always do right, I will keep my solemn promise to you and give you more descendants than can be counted.’ ” —Genesis 17:1-2, CEV
“Abraham, from now on your wife’s name will be Sarah instead of Sarai. I will bless her, and you will have a son by her. She will become the mother of nations, and some of her descendants will even be kings…But your son Isaac will be born about this time next year, and the promise I am making to you and your family will be for him and his descendants forever.” —Genesis 17:15-16, 21
Father Abraham remembered God’s promise and faithfully followed God’s instructions without doubting, his steadfast faith was demonstrated by telling the servants, “and then we will return to you.” Our Omniscient God knew that he could trust His servant in this command and Abraham knew he could trust God to keep His promise of countless descendants through Isaac.
Where do we stand in our tests of obedience that only flow from converted hearts filled with love and loyalty to God?
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” —Jeremiah 29:11
Many Christians believe in God but do not trust God. And God also deems compromising believers as untrustworthy. Faith and Scriptural knowledge reinforce our belief in God’s Sovereign Omnipotence. Yes, we know He can fulfill His promises, yet, we lack the mature faith to believe that God is willing to abundantly bless us. So we use the world’s standards and compromise our relationship with Christ by pursuing our desires.
“You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.’ ” —Revelation 3:17
Two consequences happen when we disobey God by not following His plans with the promise of an expected end: We live a life of missing out on God’s greatest blessings [Who can compete with God?], and we lose our reward of God giving us “an expected end” of Eternal life. A life of compromise not only takes its toll on our desire to be holy, but we cannot strive for righteousness without Divine strength. Day by day, we also lose our joyful anticipation for the Second Coming of Jesus.
“The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” —Isaiah 43:21
We were created to worship God. Yes, we have the free will to obey or disobey, but we must not console ourselves that all is well when we fail to surrender in obedience. We cannot follow our feelings and dreams, bring them to fruition, and worship God in Spirit and Truth. True religion suffers devastating consequences when disobedience takes control of our minds.
From our failure to obey God, we turn our inherent faith toward worshiping ourselves. Not only do we lose sight of God and righteous living, but our lifestyles reflect erroneous beliefs, and the practices of self-gratification replace the pursuit of God’s Righteous Standards as commanded in the Holy Scriptures.
Step into Your Spiritual Inheritance: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” —1 Peter 2:9
There is no Middle Ground: “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” —Joshua 24:15
“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!” —Psalm 95:6
Surrender to God’s Sovereignty in love by worshiping our Creator, Lord, and King with love, loyalty, and obedience. Peace and blessings. Happy Sabbath!
Lord God, forgive us for pursuing our inclinations and desires. We confess that we have stopped following You in humble obedience. Restore to us the joy and peace that comes from serving You. In Jesus’ Triumphant Name, we pray, Amen.
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