A Wonderful Sabbath

It all began with my quiet time this morning. I arose early to just have some time alone with My Lord, before everyone else was awake. It was wonderful. He grows sweeter with every passing day. I learned that God has called me to be His worker. He has assignments just for me, and that most of the time, what He has called me to do, will be way out of my league. It is something that I cannot do. If I were able to do it in my power, then where would be the glory for Him, who is the only one worthy of any glory?

Then it was time to wake the house for church . . . get this . . . they all got up . . . we had breakfast without that rushing feeling. And off to church we went. On time and ready to worship. I have to wonder if that had anything to do with me getting up 1st alone with God, is that what made the difference. Anyway, my son read Ecclesiastes chapter 2 on the way to church and we learned that working for the things of this world is like chasing the wind. It was a good read and I think my son really got it.

In Sunday School, we had some awesome praise reports from several members. It really was a time of praise. Some of those with praises are not yet out of their storm, but God has been faithful and worthy of their praise through the storm. Here are some of the main points from today's SS lesson 1 John 5:1-12 :

• Genuine Faith obeys God and overcomes the world.
• God's commands are not burdensome. He has given them to us to protect us and keep us. They are a sign of His love for us.
• My relationship with Jesus is what will grow my faith.
• Faith is a firm conviction of what God says.
• The blood is what delivers us from the penalty of sin, and God's word is what delivers us from the defilement of sin.

Faith is necessary. Without Faith there is . . .

• no salvation (Eph. 2:8-9)
• no justification (Rom. 3:28
• no access into grace (Rom. 5:2)
• no living (Rom. 1:17)
• no standing (II Cor. 1:24)
• no walking (II Cor. 5:7)
• no fighting (I Tim. 6:12)
• no overcoming (I John 5:4)
• no pleasing God (Heb. 11:6)

And that was just Sunday School, we haven't' been to the church service yet. Where we learned that we are "Shaped to Serve." Hey wait a minute, isn't that how I started my day with the Lord. You know it never fails when I am into His word that He uses my church to reinforce what it is that He is trying to teach me. Here are the things that shape us to serve.

• our Spiritual Gifts
• our Heart
• our Abilities
• our Pesonality
• our Experiences

Did you know that God is glorified when we bear fruit (John 15:8), God works in us to do His good work (Phil. 2:12-13), God's word equips us to do every good work (II Tim. 3:16-17), and that God gave Himself (died & arose) to redeem us from lawless deeds, and purify us so that we could be zealous for good works.

Are we willing to be interrupted in order to serve? Some barriers to that willingness are:

• self centeredness
• perfectionism (waiting for the perfect time, or perfect words)
• materialism

Are we grateful? Some barriers to being grateful are:

• comparing and/or criticizing
• wrong motives

Well, if you're still with me thanks for letting me share. This was a Wonderful Sabbath for me. My Lord is a great God. I am so thankful that He chose to pursue me. I so want to be all that He wants me to be. I pray that you also had a great sabbath with your Lord.