by Stephanie P. | Apr 9, 2020 | Uncategorized
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11.
How do you view the Sabbath? Is it going to church on Sunday? On Saturday? Is it twenty-four hours of rest or just going to church in the morning?
Growing up, my family went to church on Sunday morning without fail. We went on Wednesday nights, revival weeks, missionary weeks, and when the Evangelists came to town.
But Sunday was special. We had a big meal in our home after church, most often with friends or family. We could not do laundry or clean, and we could do no yard work, either (we LOVED those rules).
But, it could be legalistic, too. Sometimes a girl needed to wash her favorite pants for school on Sunday night. Nope, not allowed. It was Sunday, we should’ve done that on Saturday.
Although, this seems extreme to some, I realized later, my parents were trying their best to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
My father loved sports. He watched all the games throughout the week and weekend, until one day…The Lord convicted him of spending too much time on Sunday in front of the TV, watching sports and ignoring Him and his family. From that day on until he was in a nursing home later in life, he never watched sports on Sunday.
God takes Sabbath rest seriously.
He set the example for us in Genesis 2:2-3:
“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”
Do you think God really needed to rest?
In Babylon, starting around 605 BCE, the evil king Nebuchadnezzar took the people of Judah captive three different times. God even called Nebuchadnezzar “His servant.” (Jeremiah 25:9.)
They stayed in Babylon for seventy years until king Cyrus allowed them to return to Jerusalem to repair the desolate city.
According to the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary, the 70 years was “the exact number of years of Sabbaths in four hundred and ninety years, the period from Saul to the Babylonian captivity.” https://lifehopeandtruth.com/prophecy/understanding-the-book-of-daniel/daniel-9/
Not only were they to rest on the seventh day, but as a country, their land was to rest on the seventh year as well. They did not do this.
Why did God allow this exile and captivity to happen? Judah was disobedient and would not listen to the Lord. (Jeremiah 25:3-4.)
Bottom line, they did not keep the Sabbath for 490 years. So, God sent them to a pagan country where they might appreciate what they had, and have plenty of time to make up the Sabbaths they missed.
When I consider the time we are in with nearly every restaurant, park, movie theater, sports event, and anything fun closed indefinitely, I can’t help but consider how many Sabbaths have we missed?
Could the Lord be using this time to make up for our missed Sabbaths? Have we ever celebrated Sabbath like God wanted us to?
Rest.
Unless you are a healthcare worker or considered an essential business employee, we all have time to do that, right?
I wrote a post a while ago called Living out the Sabbath (Shabbat). I wrote about a time we visited Israel and ate a Shabbat meal with an Orthodox family. They explained the customs as we ate the meal and we watched them honor each member of the family. They wowed us the entire night.
There was not a dry eye.
Would it be so hard to carry out the real Sabbath, now? Can we enjoy the rest God has granted us once this is all over and (hopefully) things return to some normalcy?
It’s God, family, and friends in that order on the Sabbath. It’s not a punishment, it’s a gift.
What changes can you make in your life, “To remember the Sabbath and keep it holy,”
by Stephanie P. | Mar 31, 2020 | Uncategorized
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV.
I like the King James version of this verse because it uses the phrase “sound mind” instead of self-discipline or self-control. Fear tends to make us conjure up a lot of possible (usually frightening) outcomes as a response to something we can’t control.
I am not usually a fearful person, but this past week tested me.
My 23-year-old daughter started showing symptoms of the coronavirus last Tuesday—sore throat, headache, and fever. We hoped it was a normal virus or cold. But by Friday she had pressure in her chest and was weak and dizzy.
She could barely walk across the room without resting. She was nauseous if she thought about eating.
My momma heart hurt for her, and fear was crouching at the door of my emotions. I told the Lord I didn’t want to give in to the fear that was threatening to take over me. I told Him this many times. I kept praying for Alexandria.
If you’ve read many of my blogs, you know my twins were preemies—born at 27 weeks. They had their share of ventilators, pneumonia, and asthma. We worried that her lungs could be ripe for this virus.
Let me just say here she was never officially tested or diagnosed. We were told to stay away from hospitals and doctors’ offices unless you were having trouble breathing. She wasn’t. So we stayed away.
We have a holistic approach to health care. So, we had her on liquid silver and zinc, and vitamins A, B, C, and D. I felt like a pill pusher…
On Friday morning, my husband and I anointed her and prayed for healing. During prayer, the Lord gave me a picture of Alexandria as an infant in the NICU isolate. I remembered this day.
We received a call at 4:30 in the morning telling us our baby girl was in critical condition. She had pneumonia in both bronchial tubes within her chest. She was no longer breathing on her own.
When I got to the NICU, I saw my very sick baby girl. She was gray and still. The doctor gave her a drug to paralyze her so she would not fight the ventilator. We prayed for her and asked everyone we knew to pray for healing.
So, I as saw this picture in my mind, I felt as though the Lord reminded me He healed her then and He could heal her now.
Peace ran through my body, just as it had twenty-three years ago.
Monday morning Alexandria got up, feeling herself again. The fever was gone, the headache, aches and pains disappeared. She wanted to eat.
I am thankful for all the people who were praying for our daughter.
But, mostly, I am thankful for my Heavenly Father who knew her plight and never left her or our family.
My family is in quarantine for at least another week or two. The rest of us have no symptoms and I am praying it stays that way.
But my house seems small with five adults here ALL. DAY. LONG! Let me tell you.
I am thankful for friends who have dropped off groceries and hair color, too :).
Stay healthy and don’t give in to fear. It has no place in your home or life. Give it to Jesus and let Him send it to go back to the place it came from.
We have much to be thankful for. We have homes, food, and people who love and care about us.
What are you most thankful for during this time?
by Stephanie P. | Mar 24, 2020 | Uncategorized
With the current state of our world, many are thinking this is the beginning of the end. While Scripture tells in Matthew 4:8, “All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” What does that really mean?
Unfortunately, this world is not getting better. People are inherently selfish and evil without God. The Bible tells us this.
I saw a video with Chinese nurses, doctors, patients, and dead in Chinese hospitals. (I am not sure when these videos were filmed, it may have been at the height of the epidemic). It was heartbreaking!
It’s so easy for us to see China as the enemy, or a place filled with godless, evil people. But, these are people under extreme stress, crying, wailing, and begging for help. Nurses watching people die before their eyes, while working 15-18 hours or more everyday–overwhelmed.
These people are tired and hopeless. They need our prayers and they need a Savior.
The truth is there is a growing, thriving, underground church in China. When people are denied human rights for their emotional, spiritual, and physical well-being, hopelessness escalates. But, when they search for hope they will find Jesus. And they are!
How long will it take for our country to become this hopeless? We are already on our way. But, are we so bad that we are searching for Jesus? Are we willing to surrender our will, pride, materialism, and desires to be wholehearted, all-in, followers of Jesus, yet? What will it take?
How bad does it have to become?
Persecution grew the early church. Laziness and apathy stunt its growth.
Would we be willing to go against our government and meet in underground churches in the cover of night for hours, feeding on the Word of God and mouthing songs of praise? No, we don’t have to live this way, thank God!
But can you imagine your neighbors, or you or your family doing this?
The United States is becoming more and more godless. Some churches forego teaching holiness for a feel-good, do-as-you-please-God-will-still-love-you gospel.
God is Holy. He tells us to be holy as He is holy.
God is also LOVE. He is the very embodiment of love. He calls us to Himself. The Father disciplines us in this lifetime, so He does not have to punish us in the next.
“So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – Matthew 10:26-28
We need not be hopeless! Neither do we need to let fear overcome us. The almighty, all-powerful Creator loves us.
God can right all wrongs with a thought or eradicate a pandemic with a word.
So, why doesn’t He?
Did God create this virus? I don’t believe so. But whether man created it or it was the result of eating animals we were never meant to eat, we have free will.
God will not take our free will away even if we use it to kill ourselves and those around us.
The Father uses all things to bring glory to Himself and for our good. If God cannot use it for good, then He will not allow it to happen.
This is not the end of the world.
Could this virus be a wake-up call? Can it change the way we have been living? I hope so.
I believe God will and is using this virus to open people’s eyes and hearts.
We have a non-fragile God who can help us in our time of need.
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11
This is God’s promise.
We love to quote these promises. But there is more to these verses….
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you…” Jeremiah 29:12-14
This is our part…
I’ve studied Revelation. It’s gonna get much worse than this.
Birth pains tell us something is getting ready to happen–new life is on its way. This present time may or may not be birth pains. Only God knows.
That is not meant to cause fear, but to encourage us to live a life for Jesus. He is on the winning side. We need to take that seriously.
There will be New Life–God has promised that for all who love and follow Him.
There is Hope.
His name is Jesus.
