RHYTHMS OF TRANSFORMATION #3

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RHYTHMS OF REST

The Practice of Sabbath and Solitude

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 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 manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 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

Sabbath ­— Background

God blessed them and said to them,“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”  Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 1:28-2:4 (NIV)

WEEKLY REST­…
Stop the daily grind and the common.

On another Sabbath he went into the synagogue and was teaching, and a man was there whose right hand was shriveled. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal on the Sabbath. But Jesus knew what they were thinking and said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Get up and stand in front of everyone.” So he got up and stood there. 

   Then Jesus said to them, “I ask you, which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” 

   He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and his hand was completely restored. But they were furious and began to discuss with one another what they might do to Jesus. Luke 6:6-11 (NIV)

One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain.The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” 

   He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions.” 

   Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:23-28 (NIV)

WORSHIP & REJOICE­…
Remembering God is God and we are not.

“…but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.”  Exodus 20:10 (NIV) 

“…The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  Mark 2:27 (NIV)

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV)

Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol Him, all you peoples. For great is His love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117:1-2 (NIV)

Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise His Holy Name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all His benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 

Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Psalm 103:1-6, 22 (NIV)

REMEMBER & ALIGN…
We are free to live for Christ.

Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 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… Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 (NIV)

RESTFUL SOLITUDE…
The practice of resting through solitude.

At once the Spirit sent him out into the desert, and he was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.  Mark 1:12-13 (NIV)

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.  Mark 1:35 (NIV)

Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.  Luke 5:15-16 (NIV)

…Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him.  Luke 6:12-13 (NIV)

When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place.  Matthew 14:13 (NIV)

After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone.  Matthew 14:23 (NIV)

They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  Mark 14:32 (NIV)