Sabbath Sanctuary: The Doxology Giving Praise To God

 “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father” {Col. 3:16-17 NASB}. 

Sabbath Sanctuary: Resting In His Grace

Fall has officially arrived here in Colorado. Fall is one of my favorite seasons, but I do not readily welcome the winter which follows—which appeared today in 22-degree weather and snowfall. I have written about the tension between me and winter for the last couple of years and it seems to reflect where I am spiritually as well. If I am honest, I feel as though I have been stuck in winter for several years, regardless of what season the calendar reads and no matter how hot the sun blazes. I am in winter. I am tired and weary and long for a change of season in my walk with my Savior.

This season has been particularly hard. Many times, it is all I can do to awake from my slumber to face the challenges of the day. The Lord has been so good to me this week as He gently reminded me of His grace.

We know grace to be that attribute that is part of the manifold of God’s love. God deals with us not on our merit or worthiness, or on what we deserve—our lives consistently displaying our fallenness. He deals with us on the basis of His goodness and generosity. God’s grace supplies us with undeserved favor—grace is a precious, beautiful gift. We cannot earn it and we do not deserve it.

Grace, however, goes beyond undeserved favor. The New Testament book of Luke describes Jesus as having “the grace of God upon Him” {Luke 2:40} and as “growing in grace with God and man” {Luke 2:52}. Many more references to grace are found in the Book of Acts. The good Doctor Luke makes a strong association between grace and power. Grace is often linked with the power of God to create spiritual life and to sustain Christians. Grace, in the New Testament, “God’s unmerited favor,” has a new aspect added to mean power in the Spirit.[1] In many of Paul’s writings; {Rom. 1:5; 12:6; 15:15; I Cor. 3:10; Gal. 2:9; Eph. 2:2,7} it means the power and equipment for ministry.[2] Grace is the power to do what you cannot do for yourself.

I have worked so hard at trying to make things change and happen in my own strength—which explains my weariness. Working in our own strength will drain us and deplete us of any life. We must rest in Him and allow Him to do the work for us. This does mean that we become complacent waiting for Him to do something, we must abide in His presence through the Word and prayer and allow Him to fill us with His grace; remembering always to cultivate a heart of worship. Through His grace this week I have been able to face the challenges and the hard times knowing that He is my strength and is working everything according to His purpose.

Rest in His grace this sabbath weekend. He is waiting to fill you with grace to empower you to run the race. Oh, and when you rest in Him, He will refresh you to overflowing and bring you to a place of rest from the storm. 

When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of refreshing springs. The autumn rains will clothe it with blessings {Psalm 84:6}.

Read all about Grace in the 11th edition of SHINE Magazine and you can order one here 

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[1] Walter A. Elwell ed., Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “grace,” (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1996), 314.

[2] W.E. Vine, ed., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old And New Testament Words, s.v. “grace,” (Nashville: Thomas Nelson), 500.

School of The Bible

Preparing to teach my first class tomorrow night for the School of the Bible. I will be teaching on Women of the Bible, a survey of the lives of some spectacular women in the Bible and their personal stories. These women felt unworthy, rejected, and abused yet experienced God’s grace in miraculous ways and became witnesses to God’s restorative power.

Everyone is welcome to come out to the School of the Bible! Classes start Monday September 17, @6: 30 PM and continues every Monday through October 29th, @Word of Life Christian Center on Park Meadows Dr. In Lone Tree.


If you are interested in other classes, this is what the schedule looks like:

Session 1 6:30-7:20

Piper Green Women of the Bible

Kevin Goos The Gospel of John: The Word Made Flesh

Cynthia Jean Getting A Grip on the Basics

Session 2 7:30-8:20

Lisa Dragan: Psalm 91: Living in the Shadow of the Almighty

Pastor Mike Dragan Colossians: The Preeminence of Jesus Christ

All these teachers are amazing! This is a great way to join a community of believers and study God's Word together! See you there!

Waiting In The Winter

I am sitting on my pink prayer couch listening to worship music. I need some time in the Presence of the Lord to be refreshed—a sabbath rest. I feel drained—I need this time desperately.   

It’s bitter cold out but the sun is shining brightly. Snow is falling from the trees in the chilling breeze—giving the appearance of snow-fall. The twirling flakes glisten in the sunlight. Capturing the beauty on camera eludes me. I am not familiar enough yet with my camera to know how to capture the beautiful scene happening just outside my window. I remember that I snapped a couple of photos the day before while it was snowing. God’s creation is amazing and beautiful. It gives me peace.

Winter. I feel as though winter is my perpetual season—naturally and spiritually. I am awaiting Aslan to arrive and break this curse of winter over the land. My beloved lilac shows no sign of life; I long to see the beautiful lavender flowers waking up from their cold slumber. I long to see fruit blossoms on my apple and apricot trees. The past few years we experienced mild winters that fooled the trees into blooming, only for the blossoms to be lost to one last frost that rears its head and destroys any hope of fruit. Where I live, it doesn’t matter if the grand groundhog sees his shadow or not—there are at least six weeks left of winter to be had.

The thing about seasons is that though it seems that they will last forever—they do change. They are a constant in the laws of nature. I have found that there is little one can do to make the natural seasons change. It is also true that spiritual seasons will last as long as the Lord needs them to last. You can pray, read the Word, and fast but if the Lord wants you in that season there is little you can do to break from the cocoon of winter and spread your wings and fly into spring.

There is a time and purpose for everything under heaven {Eccl. 3:1 NASB}.

Winter may last longer than you or I want, but God promises that He will never leave or forsake us. Though it is hard sometimes, we can rest in His promise. Winter is long, dark, and cold but He will not leave us in those hard times forever.

Every seed buried in sorrow you will bring forth in its time.[1]

After I have prayed and stood on the Word and believed and I find myself still in winter, I have to rest in the Lord and know that He has me there for His purpose. So, I pray some more, I worship, I cultivate a grateful heart, and I seek the beauty in the season that I am in and rest, knowing God cares for me and is working out everything for good. There is always a reason to worship and praise Him for all He has done—all that He has created.

Before I know it spring will be here and I will soak myself in the warmth of the sun. And it will be His timing and for His purpose. Look for the beauty in every season.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end {Eccl. 3:11}.

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[1] Elevation Worship, There Is A Cloud 2017. 

Christmas Grace

This year has been a year of grace; a year of learning to give grace and to receive it. The theme for the new edition of SHINE is grace, so I spent a great amount of time editing articles from some very gifted writers on God’s grace. God’s grace is abundant in every area of life. If I may—I need some Christmas Grace from you.

I wrote back at the beginning of Advent, that I was on a journey to thankfulness, and I promised to post everyday a list of ten things that I am grateful for. I am still on that journey, I just didn’t post it on the blog. I had my last week of the term in school, which meant final papers and projects; my son broke his hand; and the same night I was in the ER with him, a very close family member was also in the ER, and after a trying week—was diagnosed with cancer. I regret not posting as events were unfolding, but I just couldn’t. I have so much to be grateful for, my son will not need surgery for his hand; the cancer is treatable. God is so good—even in the midst of some very trying circumstance. I love that through these hard times, the spirit of Christmas surrounds me. The Savior is before me wherever I turn and His grace sustains me. I still plan to keep writing on grace and thankfulness; keeping to my journey to thankfulness. Thank you for your grace.

I pray that you have a very Merry Christmas. May the Christ child be before you constantly, and the His peace abide with you. Remember, that wise men (and women) still seek Him. Seek for Him in every need you face, every trial to walk through. He is there. He was there for the Wise Kings who ardently sought for Him. The same Christmas gift available to them was also available to the shepherds—it is available for all who will receive.

The more we are proud that the Bethlehem story is plain enough to be understood by the shepherds, and almost by the sheep, the more do we let ourselves go, in dark and gorgeous imaginative frescoes or pageants about the mystery and majesty of the Three Magian Kings. ~ G.K. Chesterton, Christendom in Dublin

Seek Him. Prepare for Him. Make room for Him.

The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why. ~G.K. Chesterton, Generally Speaking

May the spirit of Christmas surround you and give you peace.