Dueteronomy 6:4-9

Hear, O Israel! The Lord your God, the Lord is One! You shall love the Lord your God will all your heart, with all your strength and with all your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be upon thy heart. You shall teach them diligently unto thy children and shall speak of them as you sit in your house, as you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of thy house and upon thy gates.

- Deuteronomy 6:4-9

These are the first words that the Lord tucked away in my heart many, many years ago. When I was a child my family would go to synagogue almost every Friday night, and every time we were there we would recite these words. There was something about them that was just so beautiful to me – how God’s words were to be the focus of our lives, that we were to think of them at all times, and that we were to teach them diligently to our children. Needless to say, these words have been with me since my childhood. In fact, the way that I have written the verses is the way I remember saying them in synagogue and are the only way that sound “right” to me.

I have always taken the Word of God seriously, even before I came into a relationship with God through the Messiah. But now that I’m a mother, these words that I remember from my childhood have far greater meaning for me. I am now to diligently teach our child God’s Word – no small task, and quite daunting! But I know that if I rely on the One Who sowed these words in my heart when I was a child, He will teach and guide me as I teach and guide the child that He has given to us. Because of His guidance, teaching our son is a joy! I pray that your exploration of the Word of God will be a joy for you as well!

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Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.

- Zephaniah 3:17

These words from Zephaniah are very special to me. About sixteen months ago I felt that the Lord gave them to me as a promise as I entered a very difficult and uncertain time in my life. Through these months, time and again, the Lord has indeed proven Himself faithful and His words have become so very precious to me. “He will quiet you with his love,” has come to hold a particular sweetness for me, not only because the Lord does indeed do that for me, but because it reminds me of when our son was an infant.

There would be nights when our son just didn’t seem to want to settle down. I’d check and change his diaper, I’d give him a bottle, but he’d still be fussy. At that point the only thing I had left for him was me and my love for him. I would cradle him in my arms and love him. Those nights spent with him like that were some of the most precious times with him! It usually didn’t take very long before he would drift off into a sound sleep, and I would just hold him and watch as he slept.

I think that the Lord truly wants to do the same for us, if we’ll let Him. Can you imagine the God of the universe watching over you as you sleep? Not merely watching over you, but watching you because He adores you. I pray that today He would show you just how much He loves you, and that you would be able to rest in His love.

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Psalm 103:1-5

Bless the Lord, my soul!
Everything in me, bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, my soul,
And forget none of his benefits!
He forgives all your offenses,
He heals all your diseases,
He redeems your life from the pit,
He surrounds you with grace and compassion,
He contents you with good as long as you live,
So that your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

- Psalm 103:1-5

Do you sometimes feel like you’re stuck in the mud? Just stuck in a dirty, messy place and that you’ll never be able to get out of it? Sometimes all we need to do when we’re feeling down is look up to the One Who made us.

In this psalm King David begins by commanding his soul to bless and praise the Lord. I think he had a really good idea there. It’s usually not good enough for us to wait until we feel like praising God – we simply have to do it. That could mean spending time with Him in prayer, spending time in the Word, praising Him with song, or worshipping Him by being obedient to His will. Do you need a reason to praise Him? King David gives us a few of them right here!

He forgives all your offenses. He heals all your diseases. He redeems your life from the pit. He surrounds you with grace and compassion. He contents you with good as long as you live. If you are in Christ, then you truly do have all of these benefits. You might not see the full fruition of these things in your life yet, but in Christ they are yours. And why does He give you these benefits? So that your youth can be renewed like an eagle’s. I don’t know about you, but having my youth renewed sure sounds like a good deal!

I’ll be honest with you. Sometimes in this life it seems that we will never attain all of the benefits that God has promised us. But when I start questioning God’s sincerity or His will I have to stop myself and ask a big question. Whose standards am I measuring God by – the world’s or the Word’s? There’s a huge difference. In this life we sometimes get wrapped up in wanting more stuff, more money, a bigger house, more, more, more! But we must be very careful not to gauge our “success” with God in these terms. Rather I would ask – do you have peace in your heart, in your home, in your emotions? Are you free from fear because you have an intimate relationship with the One Who made you? Instead of using the world’s yardstick, dive into the Word and grab God’s measure instead. And remember…

He forgives… He heals… He redeems… He surrounds you... He contents you…

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Psalm 119:1-2

How happy are those whose way of life is blameless, who live by the Torah of the Lord! How happy are those who observe his instruction, who seek him wholeheartedly!

- Psalm 119:1-2

Today is the eighth and final day of Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles). This day is an especially joyous day and is called Simcha Torah – Joy of the Law! I will never forget the excitement I felt as a child on this day as we stood in synagogue as the Torah was reverently paraded through the congregation.

When you think of the Bible do you think of a book of rules that cramp your style or do think of the love that God has shown us by giving us His Word? I would hope that we would all try to look at God’s Word the way the Psalmist did – that by observing the instructions that God has so lovingly given us we would find true happiness. God’s Word should be the foundation for our lives, and the joy of our hearts!

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Matthew 11:28-30

“Come to me, all of you who are struggling and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”

- Matthew 11:28-30

Here is another beautiful picture of the loving care that our God has for us. Y’shua, Jesus, wants us to come to him. Why? So that he can give us our marching orders? No. So that we can go out into the world and work, work, work for God? No. So that we can find rest for our weary souls. In this day and age that is a very welcome invitation. Y’shua is an oasis in a dry and thirsty land. He wants us to come to him – all of us who are struggling and burdened by whatever life has thrown at us. He will give us rest. Then when we learn from him and allow ourselves to be yoked with him, we will indeed find rest for our souls because we will have stopped struggling in our own works, our works of the flesh, and will be able to enter into God’s perfect rest for us. It’s an offer too good to pass up!

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Hebrews 4:9-10

So there remains a Shabbat-keeping for God’s people. For the one who has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works, as God did from his.

- Hebrews 4:9-10

Over the years I’ve come across many Christians who sincerely believe that in order to follow Christ we must follow at least some, if not all, of the Old Covenant mandates. But according to the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, if we are in Christ we are no longer subject to the law of Moses. We are free in Christ and not under the law of death. So as far as trying to keep the law, whether it would be by trying to keep the Sabbath, keep the dietary laws, or tithing, if we are in Christ we are free from the legalism and death that these things bring. But if that’s the case, then what about this Sabbath-keeping that’s mentioned in Hebrews?

Sometimes things are so very plain and simple that we just don’t get it. I think this is one of those cases, as the passage tells us exactly what it means. There is indeed a Sabbath rest that God’s people are to keep. That Sabbath rest is the same type of rest that God took on the first Sabbath so very long ago – He rested from His own work. In order for us to keep this Sabbath rest, we must rest from our own work, from our striving and busyness. We must lay down our wills and look only to Y’shua the Messiah and His will for our lives. During the times when we are able to do this we will experience the peace of God like never before. We will experience the freedom from burdens we have been carrying that we were never meant to carry. We will truly enter into the Sabbath rest – a pure rest given to us from God.

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Psalm 46:10

Desist, and learn that I am God,
Supreme over the nations,
Supreme over the earth.
- Psalm 46:10

Be still and know that I am God… Or as in this translation, “Desist, and learn that I am God.” (Complete Jewish Bible) Whether it is to be still or to desist, I don’t think either option is easy to do.

If you want to know how difficult it is to be still, ask a child to do so. It won’t be long before the fidgets start in – especially if it’s a boy. But how does that fidgeting look on an adult? There are lots and lots of ways we can “be busy” in order to avoid being still before God – running errands, endless activities with the kids, too much time watching TV, too much time on the internet, shopping, gambling, you name it. Why do we do these things? As I said, to avoid being still before God, because being still before God means that there might be some uncomfortable time learning not only about God, but about ourselves and the things in our lives which aren’t pleasing to Him.

What I find interesting in the CJB translation is the use of the word “desist.” This implies that there is an active opposition to God, which we as fallen humans do have whether we realize it or not. Our wills are not in submission to God, but are bent on doing what we want, when we want, thank you very much. But as this verse says, when we desist – when we stop fighting against God – that is when we can learn that He truly is God, that He is supreme over the nations, supreme over the earth, and supreme over our lives as well. There very well may be pain in the process, but in the end there simply is no other way to live. So for today, be still.

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