If we look back to Genesis 2:15 notice what God says. “15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”

He gave us a command, it’s actually the second command he gave us, we’ll talk about the first one next week. But he gave us the command to work and take care of the garden. If we look deeper at the meaning of those phrases it relates to serving and keeping or guarding. Serve the garden and keep or guard the garden.

Before we go any deeper on this, that is why when we look at Genesis 3 in a few weeks, Eve usually gets the unfair play of eating the apple first. But Adam was given the command to guard the garden, it was a warning statement before anything happened. Oh boy, there’s another message, how many times do we ignore the warning statement? That we don’t guard what is of value or important?

Some may be questioning, well the garden doesn’t exist today, Garden of Eden is long gone, how does the statement of serving and guarding the garden apply to me today?
Again, what is underneath, beyond our language. Eden means delight, or abundance or luxury, paradise. Tremper Longman says, “Eden indicates that God provides all of humanity’s needs and more when they were first created.”

Eden was a sacred space for God’s presence and provision, where humanity was to serve and guard. As we look throughout Scripture where else do we see that formation? A sacred place for God’s presence and provision?

The Temple was originally designed as God’s presence and provision, where they would have priests and levities serve and guard the temple.

That’s why when we fast forward to Jesus and the Temple, people wonder why it was okay for Jesus to get so worked up. Notice Matthew 21:12-13- 12 Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. 13 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Jesus was worked up because the priests and Levities weren’t doing what they were created to do, serve and guard the Temple, the representation of God’s presence and provisions. Jesus shows us what it means to guard, protect, keep the Temple for that intention of sacred space.

Which some may argue, well Aaron, that’s your job, you are the keeper of the Temple, you are to serve and guard the church. Yes, that is part of what I have been formed by. But let us fast forward again to Ephesians 2:10-22.

Notice the start and the finish. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 

I love it, formed by a craftsman for greater things, then it goes on to say how we came about to be formed by God, considering we were Gentiles/Non-Jews and outside of the Temple.

13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ…. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Garden imagery to Temple imagery to the Body of Christ, we are formed to be a sacred space for others to experience God’s presence and provision, we do that by serving and guarding.

You were formed with a purpose, a purpose to serve and guard. Where in your life do you need to pay attention to who you are serving and how you are guarding?

I’m going to push on men for a second. Men, how are you serving and guarding your marriage? How are you guarding/protecting your children?

At creation God had sacred space for his presence and provision, he commanded each and everyone of us to serve and guard his sacred space. That isn’t just at church on a Sunday morning, that is in and through who you are and what you do.

God’s intention at creation was to bring life. God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose, that’s living out of the Garden principal, living out his Kingdom.
Where do you need to step into your purpose today? Don’t think micro-purpose. Think macro-purpose, Garden purpose.

 

Yesterday we saw that God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose. Because Adam is an archetype, what we see God do with Adam is a model for us. God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose.

Notice how we see God, the creator forming us throughout scripture. Jot down Psalm 139, “for we are fearfully and wonderfully made.” We are made with purpose, God’s purpose as his creation.

Read Isaiah 60:21- Then all your people will be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor.

Read Isaiah 64:8- Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

He is the potter and we are the clay. That we are formed by the hands of the Creator. Pause for a second. Think about how a potter forms the clay; works it, presses into it, smooths it out, can be gentle and intricate and other times firm and starts over. That’s what God is doing with you, forming you AND has a purpose for you.

Let’s flip over to John 15:1-2- “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”

Garden imagery, where God, as Creator, Gardener, tends to his garden. He cuts away what is dead and prunes. You know the beautiful challenge of pruning is that you cut away branches that do have life, but it is for the purpose to give life to other branches that have greater fruit options. You don’t keep the branches that barely have fruit, you cut those away to give life to the branches that have more fruit options.

God’s purpose in being potter and gardener is for us to be molded and formed with a purpose and for a purpose.

How do we need to be formed by God? What edges in your life need to be smoothed out? What branches that are dead need to be cut away in your life? Or what branches that may have fruit, need to be cut away so more life can be given to more fruitful branches?
Abide by Aaron Williams

 

Have you ever created something with just a few supplies or things or resources?

We just celebrated the life of a long-time member, Jim Goostree, this past Wednesday. Jim was a modern-day MacGyver. Granted if you didn’t live in the 1900’s you might not know who that is. But MacGyver, as well as Jim, could take a few supplies (especially duct tape) and make anything. One story of Jim’s was that he made a tailpipe out of pvc, because that was what was available to him. His motto was, “why buy parts from a store when you can find a solution or some way to fix the problem using something found in the garage.”

Let’s see how that plays out with God, because as we zoom in on creation notice how God took what he had and created, or formed you. Notice what he does with humanity.

Read Genesis 2:7-8, 15- 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed... 15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Notice that word “formed”, God formed man from the dust of the ground. I love that imagery. God was an artist, a craftsman, he was creative in nature. If we can bridge the first intention, that God gave life through water and now He formed us of dust, can you see the
parallel where God took water and dust, like clay and formed us into a being. He took what was before him and he formed us.

Now does this mean we were made of dust? Even the passage that said from dust to dust, born of dust and to dust you will go.

I like how Tim Mackie and then John Walton share it. “Literal meaning of the statement that humans are formed of dust is that humans are from the realm of death and mortality – of non-eternal life.” He is saying that because of the status by which humanity was created in chapter 2, in the midst of desolation and dryness, of non-life. Which means to have eternal life, something needs to happen. (More on that next week.)

John Walton continues the thoughts. “Being formed from the dust is a statement about human essence and identity, not our substance. In this, Adam is an archetype.” Which means that Adam is an example of what it is, as a mortal man, in need of eternity, not a prototype. Which also means, for all of humanity, this begins a series of patterns of what happens here will be a pattern going forward.

Adam was a real person and an archetype for the rest of scripture and humanity.
That pattern is God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose. Because Adam is an archetype, what we see God do with Adam is a model for us. God’s formation at creation was with purpose and for a purpose.

Take a moment with this song and see how it can begin to apply to your life. Water and Dust by Cory Asbury

 

We are going to look at a few passages in Ezekiel. Ezekiel is referred to as a major prophet like Isaiah and Jeremiah. Whereas the minor prophets are like Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah. The reference to major and minor isn’t about importance, it is more about the length of each of the books. Major prophets are longer and minors are shorter in length.

Read Ezekiel 36:26-27- 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Because of the brokenness of the fall, we will get to in a few weeks. God is recreating in us and he is doing it by putting a new Spirit in us, a life source to follow his ways.

Pause, as you spend time in the presence of the Creator, how is he giving you a new heart? Is your heart, the posture of your heart the same as it was a few years ago, a few months ago, if it is, then you are still in control and you are living with a hard of stone; immovable, impenetrable. Ask God to soften your heart and put a new Spirit, a new life in you.

Look at the imagery he gives us in the next chapter,

Ezekiel 37:1-10- The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.9 Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

The visual that God gives Ezekiel is so powerful. The dry place, the desolate place, the lifelessness, even to the point that there can be the appearance of life, but without breath, they are still lifeless.

God’s intention at creation was to bring life. He did this through water and breath. Which means, today, you need to wrestle with a few of these questions.

What gives you life? Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I have come that you may have life and have it to the fullest.” Which means we have an adversary that wants to rob us of life, dare I say, give us a mirage of what life is. How have you been settling for a mirage of life? OR how have you, like the woman at the well, have been searching for life in all the wrong places hoping it would satisfy?

Seeking God, as the source of life, is orientating your life according to what gives life and his purposes. Time with his presence, following his way, doing the things of Jesus. Depending on his wisdom (get to that next week), His love, His direction.

 

Last week we jumped back into Genesis 2 and wrestled with how does this ancient text relate to today, much less relate to the creation story in Genesis 1? We dialoged around the beauty and the mystery of not simply reading the text through our 21st century, American eyes, but that when we take the time to dive deeper, we can see that there is more lurking below the surface.

We also stated Genesis 1 is a broad, overview look at creation and Genesis 2 zooms in on what I believe is creation’s Divine intention, formation, and invitation.

Remember, Israel’s creation account wasn’t about the how, it was about the who, Yahweh, God was the creator. With that being true, when we dive into Genesis 2, we see that God had intention, that God was forming, and that God was inviting, we don’t only see that in creation, but we see that throughout all of life.

Which should lead us to ask the question, where in my life do I need understand the Creator, God’s intention, how do I see his formation and what is he inviting me into?
Let’s reread portion of last week’s passage,

Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The first thing we noted last week was, God’s intention at creation was to bring life. He did this through water and breath.

Last week we talked about how water for the ancients meant chaos or destruction, there was fear surrounding water. But that God was sovereign, ruled over the water, because he told the water where to go and how water was a life source.

Which meant any time we saw water, spring, or well within scripture it is an indicator that God’s intention was to bring life, Living Water.

This week, which is part two of our conversation we are going to look at God’s intention to bring life through breath. I know we’ve talked about it before, God breathing the breath of life into us. But this imagery is so powerful, the breath of life. God’s breath into us. As well as breath is a reference to Spirit (ruach), the breath of God is God’s Spirit being breathed into us. Jot this passage down in the margin of your Bible by verse 7, Isaiah 44:3-4.

Now take a moment to read it. “For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children. 4 They will thrive like watered grass, like willows on a riverbank.

Eden language of divine life through water and Spirit. As you read this passage, God giving us imagery for life, what impacts you personally? Where in your are you dry or thirsty? How do you need his water or (Spirit) breath to bring you life?

Take some time with this imagery and passage and write something to God in return.

 

Remember, Genesis 1 waters and the Genesis 2 waters form a combined statement of Yahweh as the master of the chaos waters, the one who can turn them into a source of life. Which means, when any story happens at a well or a spring it is a connect to creation, where God brings divine life.

Let’s go a little deeper under the surface of Scripture. What do we see with Jesus and the woman at the well? Remember, any reference to well or spring is a connection to divine life. I won’t read it all, but you can read the entire story in John 4. Jesus asks the woman for a drink from the well.

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to
eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

Do you see the tie to divine life through water? Living water, Jesus harkens back to the creation story and asks her, what is the source of life? He can see that her life is desolate, a wasteland, filled with loveless or hopeless relationships. She is thirsty for something more. And she recognizes that He is the source of life.

Where is this true in your life? Continuing to go back to places that are dry and barren expecting to see relief?

Sit with this song as a guidepost and encouragement to go towards God, the Creator with Divine intention to bring you life.

Come to the Altar

 

Read Psalm 1:1-3- Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.

Do you see the creation imagery? Parallels us to trees, where are we planted? Ultimately asking the question, what gives us life? What is the source of your life? When we are planted by God’s truth, God’s presence we are given life.

Take a moment and look at the parallels between what it means to walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way of sinners. Then look at what it means to be planted by the streams. What is the key in verse 2 of what it means to be planted by the streams? How can you apply that truth today?

 

Read Genesis 2:4-7- 4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

What do you notice?

Set the scene, again creation story isn’t about the how of creation, it is about the who of creation. Who created? God made the heavens and the earth. But what is that state by which he created? No shrub, no plant, no humanity, just ground, just dust and dirt. The imagery I want us to start with is this was a space of desolation, dry, wilderness that had no life, it was a lifeless place, until the Creator comes on the scene.

What do we see the Creator do?

Streams came up and watered the surface of the ground and in the next section we see trees that have grown that are good. And we see God formed man and breathed the breath of life into him. This first intention of Yahweh, of God, was to bring life to what was lifeless, desolate and he did this through water and breath. God’s intention at creation was to bring life. He did this through water and breath.

Tim Mackie of the Bible Project shares it this way. “Water is a gift of divine life that makes two types of derivative life possible and both bear fruit in the land. Humans bear fruit through what they do and trees bear fruit through what they grow. In the biblical imagination, people are like trees and both have their life source rooted in water.”

I know this may sound unique and I will show you passages throughout scripture that carry this motif. But before we get there, let us remember what the ancients thought about water. Water was chaos to them, water filled people with fear from the chaos of a storm rising up or the chaos monsters that lurked underneath.

But what does God’s creation show us? Genesis 1 waters and the Genesis 2 waters form a combined statement of Yahweh as the master of the chaos waters, the one who can turn them into a source of life. Which means, when any story happens at a well or a spring it is a connect to creation, where God brings divine life.

Read Isaiah 43:19- See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

 

Monday
 
Read Genesis 2:4-15- 4 This is the account  of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. 5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. 8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10 A river watering the garden flowed from Eden; from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resin and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.14 The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
 
What in the world does this have to do with my life? I have more questions than answers, more confusion than application. Besides, is this a second creation story and if it is, feels like it contradicts the first creation story? I thought we were created by God speaking, created in his image, now it seems like we are made of dust. And we have rivers and trees, but where are the animals
 
That’s why if we treat scripture at just a surface level, we can read and move on, we tend to keep it to words on a page versus seeing more of what God is doing in an ancient text, with ancient people, and ancient culture.  
 
When we look at scripture we need to see what lurks underneath, because there is more to what is there when we are willing to look under the surface of our English text and American religious eyes. Not only that, but this “second” creation story in Genesis 2 is a zoom in to Eden from the original creation story. Genesis 1 is a broad overview look and Genesis 2 zooms in on what I believe is creation’s Divine intention, formation, and invitation.  
 
Today, I want you to take some time and reread the passage and what could you see below the surface? If you can’t, then what questions do you have of the text that you want to discover what is deeper.
 
Also, take a moment with the statement that Genesis 2 is about creation’s Divine intention, formation, and invitation. What could that mean to your life today?

 

Good Morning,

As we bring this week’s daily faith challenges on Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief to a close - I just want to encourage you with a worship song.

Play it loudly. Play it repeatedly.

• Let the words tend to your heart. 
• Let the words stand in the gap. The gap between what you currently may be feeling, and where you know the truth is. That gap is not too big for God.
• Let the words “It is well with my soul” be a form of warfare. 
• Let the words exalt the name of Jesus. 
• Let the words saturate you!

 

This week, we continue to talk about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.  On Monday, we talked about how we need to give our SELF permission to feel the grief. Yesterday, we talked about how we can trust and have assurance that God is who he says he is - and our grief is not too much for him.

The last thing that we need to grieve is OTHERS. We have to refuse to grieve alone. Which is contrary to so much of what we experience in our culture. I heard this powerful statement spoken by one of the leaders at a recent training I was attending. 

God’s healing prescription for loss is GRIEF + COMMUNITY=LAMENT. 

But our impulse is often to isolate in our grief. But the other reality is that if we don’t teach people how to lament - GRIEVE IN COMMUNITY - we teach them to pretend. 

When we are seen in our grief and pain, something heals deep inside of us because we need other people who bear the image of GOD - to witness our pain and not turn their face away from us. Do you realize that profound truth - YOU bear the image of God - You are an image bearer. 

In Genesis 1:27, at creation - God shows us - “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them.” We ALL have been made in his image, in his likeness. It is how we have been created! And we also see that in Genesis Chapter 2:18 - “The Lord God said, “It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” This was God’s design of community, not just marriage between a man and woman. God knew Adam needed Eve - he needed community. 

So, how do we do that? How do we grieve with others?

Being present and not looking away from others who are grieving or sharing their pain is reflecting who God is. We don’t have to have the right words, we certainly don’t need to fix or solve it, we don’t need the perfect prayer to match the circumstance - we just need to be present. And through the power of the Holy Spirit, and God’s Glory reflecting through us, through our faces - there is deep and profound healing, I believe far beyond our understanding. That is the power of grieving with others!

We  NEED others to bear witness to our grief. Just like we want others to see the celebrations we experience in our life too.

So I want to encourage you today with a few things:

• Meditate on the fact that YOU are an image bearer! 
• Who do you need to invite into your grieving? Ask God to show you who they are. 
• How may God be asking you to hold space for someone’s grief today? 

God bless you all!
~Steph

 

Good Morning, 

This week, we continue to talk about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.

Yesterday, we looked at needing attunement to our SELF in order to grieve well. And the next thing needed to grieve well is God - DRAWING NEAR TO GOD. We need to know that if we allow ourselves to feel the grief - that it will be tended to by our heavenly father. We can trust and have assurance that he is:

• SOVEREIGN - powerful, over everything, sees all and knows all, and he is BIG. Bigger than any grief we hold, bigger than any change or loss in our lives, BIGGER than it all.

Isaiah 25:8 “The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all face” 

• GOD IS LOVE. He is not just loving - he is THE VERY DEFINITION OF LOVE. 

1 John 4:16 - “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

• And that GOD IS GOOD. 

Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him”

So, we can be assured when we allow ourselves to go there -in our grief and pain - we have a God that is GOOD, is LOVE, and SOVEREIGN. He cares about everything we are going through or have gone through, and he just wants us to draw near to him! When we look at the cross and meditate on Jesus’ experience - it reminds us that there is no suffering or pain that we will ever go through that Jesus cannot relate to, that he came to heal and restore. You see, sitting in our grief allows us to see Jesus differently. He looks at us, exactly as we are, and says…”Let me love you…let me love you.”

I want to encourage you to meditate on the cross today. 

What does Jesus want to share with you about himself? 
What does he want to share with you about what you are carrying or feeling?
How does he want to encounter you today?

 

Good Morning!

This week, we are talking about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief.

God GAVE us grief in the same way he GAVE us celebration - and I love thinking about it that way - he GAVE it to us. And our good father gives good gifts! We have been given a gift, but do we know what to do with it? Do we know how to grieve well?

In order to grieve well - we need three things. 
SELF
GOD
OTHERS
And we need ALL three things - not just one or two of them. 

One thing we need to allow ourselves to grieve well is our SELF. We have to start by honoring the grief, the loss of something by permitting ourselves to FEEL IT.  And I just love this and I need the reminder myself - WE NEED TO GIVE OURSELVES PERMISSION TO FEEL. How good are you at doing that?     

Journaling is a spiritual discipline and a great way to give yourself permission to name what you are feeling. The intentional time, a safe space, and conversation with your heart and heavenly father can lead to so much healing! When I talk with folks about journaling - many often say they don’t journal. And I get it. I used to struggle in that same way. [PAUSE] I would often think: What am I supposed to write about? What if I am not consistent - or how frequent should I journal? 

Here are a few prompts to get you started today:

• God, what AM I feeling right now about ____________? (Graduation, Loss of a job, the upcoming move, the loss of my loved one)
• God, what am I not giving myself permission to feel right now? 

And…as we begin to FEEL it for/with ourselves - something deep within us is being honored. 

May God continue to meet you all in your quiet time!

 

Good Morning,

This week, we are talking about Holding Space for Both - Celebration and Grief

Can two things be true at the same time? Can we hold space for two things? Can we feel celebration and rejoicing while also acknowledging and feeling sorrow and sadness - grief? Does God want us to ignore one over the other? I don’t believe so. But…how many times do we skirt past the grief and focus on the celebration - because let’s be honest the feelings that come with celebration are often more positive and nice to feel. OR do some of us skirt past the celebration and just look at the grief/pain? 

This week we are going to lean in to something that can be incredibly hard for us as humans to feel, share, and express - GRIEF. 

Grief is the sad feeling of loss when saying goodbye or letting go of SOMEONE or someTHING (which could be disappointment, loss of hopes/dreams, loss of what you thought would once be for your life or for others in your life, the loss of what you once knew, etc.)

Grieving is the process of 

• FEELING, 
• HEALING, 
• AND ADAPTING beyond the loss.

So I want to encourage you today, in your quiet time with God. Are there moments God is bringing to your mind - ones where you abandoned your grief in light of celebration or where you abandoned the celebration because of the grief? 

I want to encourage you to spend some time with your heavenly father around that today.

 

The other reality that we need to rest in is in the power of the cross and what Christ did on that cross. I wonder, how much of your restlessness is about the “sin that so easily
entangles us.” That we feel beaten down, we feel we are our sin, versus sinners saved by grace.

Notice Colossians 2:13-15- 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

What do you have to do to take care of your sin? We can rest in the work of Christ and the cross. Today, rest in the cross, confessing your sin and nailing it to the cross. That’s what confession is, admitting that your sin is what would separate you, but because of what Christ did at the cross, you can rest in his forgiveness and his grace for you.

Maybe it is confessing your own sin? Maybe it is forgiving the sin done to you? Either way, confession and forgiveness is resting in the power of the cross.

Take time with either or both of these songs: How He Loves Us  &  East to West

 

The last word I want us to take time with is rest. Last week we talked about rest as experiencing God’s presence, goodness, and trusting in our Creator-King. We do this by setting time apart with a new rhythm of stopping and delighting. It’s more than just a day, it’s a mindset.

The first rest piece I want us to look at is a tease into our next section of Genesis 2.
Genesis 2:7- 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

I’m not going to unpack this all today, but I do believe an initiation of rest, starts with breath, because God breathed into us the breath of life.

Think about that for a moment. When we are willing to slow down enough, focus on our breathing, rest in God’s breath for us, what that can mean for our mind and heart.

This is way more than mindfulness or Buddhist or Hindu practices or even mystic practices. Breath, breathing, centering our breath on God is a creative practice that brings rest.

Because it allows us to then center our minds on Christ, center our minds on things above. Notice Colossians 3:1-2- Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

That is a practice of resting, what is filling your mind, your heart, slowing down to center them upon things above, above the fray, above the noise, on God “above” allows the Spirit to bring us rest in our mind and heart.

Today, can you practice breath? Breath prayers? Breathing in truth, breathing out lies. Breathing in hope, breathing out despair.

Also, how can you center your mind and your heart on Christ, who is above all things? What does that look like for you? Feel like for you? Rest in the confidence of God’s truth.

 

The next focus piece that I want us to reflect on this week is image. If you could pause for a moment, how would you define your image? Maybe it’s what you reflect, what you stand for? Maybe it’s what takes up your time or attention? We can be moms and dads, we can be spouses that’s what we are related to. Our image can be what we do? We can be technicians, craftsmen, teachers, accountants, administrators. Our image can be around our hobbies or activities or even the sports teams we cheer for.

But is there depth to that image? Is that what gives us meaning? How often does that let us down?

You know where I am going, especially if you heard the message a few weeks ago, we are created in the image of God. Our identity, purpose, what we relate to is God. He defines
who we are and he says, we are his children. We are his sons and daughters. Our image is one from the Creator and even as we saw in Isaiah, he loves us and is tender with us, like sheep of his flock.

Think about that for a second. The one who spoke the galaxies into being whispers to you. The one who can take the oceans in his hand, takes YOU by the hand and calls you his friend.

That’s why for me, all of this culminates in how God interacts with Jesus at his baptism, that image defining moment.

Matthew 3:16-17- 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

What do you see? What do you notice? What gets your attention? (Love, acceptance and purpose). Yes, that is with Jesus, but that is for you and me. If we fast forward to John 17, it is Jesus’ prayer for you and me, verse 26 says, “I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Which means, our image, created in God’s image, is also the love that God has for Jesus is in us. Jesus’ identity and purpose and acceptance is in us, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Do you see your image in the same way? Or do you doubt who God says you are?
What I find fascinating is that after Jesus was baptized, he went into the desert where he was tempted. Satan gave Jesus three temptations, but you know what each temptation started with? You can look at Matthew 4 … each temptation started with two letters that led to a statement about his image, his identity. If … If you are the son of God.

How often, in your life do you doubt God, doubt his love, doubt his forgiveness because of those two little words, if … if you wouldn’t have done that, if you would have done this, if you were better, if you weren’t so bad, if.

I want you to sit with the image God says you are, “Loved and accepted, created with a purpose.” Do you see that? Do you hear that? Or do you hear, if? Do you hear how your past, the lies, the agreements, your sin is trying to tell you something other than what God says?

I encourage you to write down who God says you are and maybe on the other side of the paper, who do you think you are or who you’ve been told and sit with God around what is
similar and what is in contrast. Today, how can you receive and hold onto God’s image for you versus the world, or past or others have labeled you.

You can also sit with this song as an encouragement- Who You Say I Am

 

We are looking at God as our Creator King. Take a moment with Isaiah 40:9-14,21-22, 25-26, 28-31 (take your time with each section, highlighting along the way.)

“Here is your God!” 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. 12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?

13 Who can fathom the Spirit of the Lord, or instruct the Lord as his counselor? 14 Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge, or showed him the path of understanding?

21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.

28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

We can have hope because where our hope is placed? Our hope is placed in our Creator King. One who governs, is sovereign, one who is able to create something out of nothing, so why couldn’t he do that with your life?

Take a moment with this song, as a backdrop to your passage reflection.

 

This week I want to give you space. Besides, it’s Memorial Day, which should give us the opportunity to pause, to reflect, to slow down just enough to remember, and give our attention to what should be important within our life and at times, what we don’t give space for.

I want to give space for three different things that we have discussed within the first chapter plus of Genesis. I want to pause and give us space to reflect, with our mind, heart, and actions what does it mean to have a Creator King, what is our image rooted in, and what does it mean to rest.

I will give you some passages, encourage journaling, worship, and prayer.
The first one I want to give space for is what does it truly mean to center our attention on our Creator King. Or personalize, your Creator King, my Creator King. Think about that for a second. We are so quick to see God as the universal Creator and King for everyone. But personalize it. He’s your Creator. He’s your King.

Notice this powerful Psalm, combing both Creator and King. What do you notice, what gets your attention about your Creator King? Jot down words, images, thoughts.

Psalm 95:3-7- 3 For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. 6 Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7 for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

What do you notice, what gets your attention about your Creator King? Jot down words, images, thoughts.

What does that mean for you today? How can that be a foundation for you?

 

Rest is experiencing God’s presence, goodness, and trusting in our Creator-King. We do this by setting time apart with a new rhythm of stopping and delighting.

This can happen throughout the day, this can begin to form in you a rhythm of taking a day, a Sabbath. Where do you need to start shifting from restlessness to God rest?

Hebrews 4:9-11- 9 There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

This entire passage is loaded. But do you notice how the author is getting our attention? We still need a Sabbath-rest, we enter his rest, which means we rest from our work, JUST AS God did. Notice the next part, make every effort to enter that rest. You need to make the effort to rest.

Then he refers to the Israelites who disobeyed and refused to enter the rest and it cost them.

Folks, it is a matter of wisdom, not law, that Christ followers agree set aside a day to stop and delight in God’s presence and trusting his goodness.

How do you need to make an effort to enter his rest?

Restlessness within, stop what you are doing seek his presence or council.

Maybe life is too much right now, but setting apart an hour or 4 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to stop, delight. Experience his presence through worship, prayer, reading, going in
nature, enjoying good food, better company. Turning off the phone or the TV, social media, taking a nap, idling down.

What are the things that cause restlessness or suck the life out of you and go to the one who breathes life into you.

I’m going to share the song Psalm 23 by Shane and Shane, notice the beautiful invitation and command to rest.

“The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul…”

That is rest and that is what God gave us on the seventh day, not because he needed it, but because he knew we would need it.

 

Finally, we see within this seventh day of rest a mimicking within creation, we see a rhythm. Rhythm is our third element of rest according to the biblical worldview. Every seventh day to stop, delight, set-apart from the other days. God built rhythm into creation, including the last day of rest.

I appreciate this longer quote from Wayne Muller in his book Sabbath. "In the relentless busyness of modern life, we have lost the rhythm between work and rest. All life requires a
rhythm of rest. There is a rhythm in our waking activity and the body's need for sleep. There is a rhythm in the way day dissolves into night, and night into morning. There is a rhythm as the active growth of spring and summer is quieted by the necessary dormancy of fall and winter. There is a tidal rhythm, a deep, eternal conversation between the land and the great sea. In our bodies, the heart perceptibly rests after each life-giving beat; the lungs rest between the exhale and the inhale. We have lost this essential rhythm. Our culture invariably supposes that action and accomplishment are better than rest, that doing something--anything--is better than doing nothing. Because of our desire to succeed, to meet these ever-growing expectations, we do not rest. Because we do not rest, we lose our way. We miss the compass points that would show us where to go, we bypass the nourishment that would give us help. We miss the quiet that would give us wisdom. We miss the joy and love born of effortless delight. Poisoned by this hypnotic belief that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort, we can never truly rest. And for want of rest, our lives are in danger."

Folks, rest, Sabbath, isn’t about rules, sure it is one of the Ten Commandments, but that is because the value that God has for it, not only at creation, but throughout all of life. Sabbath rest is about an invitation and an invitation, in God’s economy is always about maturity and growth. If you desire to grow and mature in your walk with God, you will accept his invitation to the rhythm of rest.

Seeking the rhythm of rest allows us to trust in the goodness of our Creator-King. Trust that he is on the throne and the world will not fall off its axis. Yes, that may sound a bit embellished, but tell me why you can’t rest? (Pause with that question for a bit).
Because I know I can’t rest for the agreements I have made throughout life that I’m trying to break. “If not me, then who? If not now, then when? How much is enough? Besides the devil never takes a day off.” Granted, the devil did lose in the end.

Yes, we need to talk about Sabbath as a rhythm, but ultimately I want you to break it down even more. I believe that God was getting our attention on our intention of rest. Yes, a day, but it is more about an attitude of rest within the mind, heart, and actions.

When restlessness begins to arise within us or around us, how do we “rest”? How do we stop, delight, set aside time, to trust in God’s goodness as Creator-King?

Mark Buchanan in his book, Rest of God says, “God gave us the gift of Sabbath- not just as a day, but as an orientation, a way of seeing and knowing. Sabbath keeping is a form of mending.”

Rest is a gift; it is an invitation. We see it in Jesus’ life as well. I always loved the adage that Jesus lived at a 3 MPH pace, because he had to walk everywhere. But routinely we see him get away, to rest, stop and delight, setting aside time with his Creator-King. Which then should lead us to what does Jesus say about rest?

Matthew 11:28-30- 28 “Come to me, all
you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

This speaks directly into our restlessness, however you name it, mind, heart, relationships. Do you see the invitation? Jesus is saying, “come and rest with me.” Have a rhythm of rest with me, giving me the load you are carrying and letting me walk with you to show you a better way.

What rhythm do you need to have with your time to be with God? Can you carve more than you expect on a specific day, each week? Even being honest with God of why that is so hard.

 

Next biblical worldview of rest is the statement, 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy… Where else do we see God bless creation? Day five and six, with animals and humanity. He created the animals and said to humanity, “God blessed and said, ‘be fruitful and multiple.”

The intention here is to be life giving. Which means, in God blessing the seventh day, his intention is for it to be life giving, refreshing, multiplying in you His presence and his goodness. God desires a time, a day to be life-giving, that’s why he blessed it.
Then it says, God blessed it and made it holy. Holy means to sanctify, to dedicate, to set-apart. What God is saying, in resting, is that he is making time holy, set-apart, sanctified, dedicated to something greater than the other days or other time. A time of rest should be different than the other time or days of the week.

Let me shift it slightly this way. We set-apart or dedicate what we value. Think about other “days” of celebration; last week we celebrated Mother’s Day, next week is Memorial Day, a few weeks after that is Father’s Day, Forth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, birthdays and anniversaries. Whatever the reason may be or the why, we set those days a part because we value the person, or role, or presence or activity of the said day.
In a larger way, the biblical worldview of rest is stopping and delighting with a time that is set-apart from other times in your life because you value God’s presence, role, activity in your life.

Today, I want you to take some time with this song, Abide by Aaron Williams. If you also want to read John 15 (vine and the branches). This gives us the picture of connecting to God as our life source. How can you take your restlessness and sit with God, share it with him, allow him to draw your attention to other passages, or songs or even nature or people.

 

Based upon Genesis 2, I want to give you a Biblical worldview of rest. Hear me, there is so much on this topic. In my preparing I came across one podcast series by Bible Project that was fourteen episodes, which is over 15 hours of insight about rest within scripture. I listened to a podcast from John Mark Comer and Practicing the Way where he did a four-week series just on rest. I don’t have the capacity in the message I shared or these faith challenges to give you complete, necessary view of rest. But I want to give you nuggets and invite you into more.

Read Genesis 2:2-3- 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

The word rested in the Hebrew is sabat, pronounced shawbath, where we get our word Sabbath. But before you start going down the road of Sabbath and legalism and you can’t cut your grass on Sundays. If you’re from Oostburg or grew up in a legalistic home, you know what I’m talking about. Hit the pause button and let us see and listen with fresh eyes and ears. We see a glimpse of what God was getting at for the ancients long before religion bastardized Sabbath.

Rested, sebat, Sabbath, actually means to cease or stop. We see that in the passage, God finished from his work, he rested from the work, from creating. Which gives us this beautiful picture, on the seventh day God ceased, he stopped and enjoyed what he created, he delighted in what he created, he was present with creation.

Think about that for a moment. God, Creator-King, stopped and enjoyed what he created. Every day after he created he said it was good and now God sits back and enjoys what is good. He spends time with what he created.

The first Biblical worldview of rest is stopping and delighting. Rest is stopping and delighting in what is around you, what you’ve created/finished, family and friendships, God’s creation, God’s presence (scripture, prayer).

Stopping and delighting speaks into our state of restlessness, it flies in the face of our running around and consuming. Always pressing for more, more of anything; experiences, stuff, titles, degrees. Not that there is anything wrong with any of them, but to what extent. Consuming, anything and everything, an insatiable thirst for more.

Stopping and delighting is celebrating and worshipping what God has done and given.
Think about it this way. If you’ve ever traveled toward the mountains and through the mountains. It is a sight to see. It is almost as though they are growing out of the earth as you approach them. Getting bigger and bigger as you speed towards the mountain range. But once you get up the mountain you know what happens, the speed limit slows down. You aren’t going 70 MPH as you traverse up Pike’s Peak. No, you are going slow, one because of safety, but two, so you can take it all in. You will not experience much of the mountains if you speed through the mountain range.

In a very small way, that’s what rest is. Stopping and delighting, versus maintaining a pace of life that isn’t safe and misses much of life.

With the first biblical worldview of rest, stopping and delighting, what does that mean for you? What gets your attention with that perspective? How can you even carve out 15 minutes in a day to do that? Trusting it can build into more.

 

I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of person that likes to push the limit with my gas gauge. My Father-in-law on the other hand, if it is below a ½ of tank, he’s filling up. Whereas I love the fact that it gives you the number of miles, it thinks you have until you run out of gas.

I wonder though, how that also parallels to life? How many of us are running on fumes? Or we push the limit in our life until we are almost empty?

Not only do we have the caution of running out of gas, we also must be attentive to what fuels us. What do you put in the tank? You put the wrong fuel in your vehicle you will wreck your engine. Why would we think it’s different with our lives?

Let me ask you, in life, what do your gauges say? What does your life “gas gauge” say? What are you filling your life “tank” with? Things that will fuel you or things that will wreck you.

Can I shift the definition just a bit? How much of our life is in a state of unrest or let me say restlessness?

Restlessness as busyness, going and going and going, running on empty, or unsettling. Restlessness of the mind; thoughts spinning, worry building. Restlessness of the heart; stifling anxiety, crippling fear. Restlessness of relationships; uncertain foundations filled with tension. Restlessness of schedules; who is in charge of who; our kids, our work, our activities. Restlessness can run us ragged, can run us empty, can suck the life out of us.
Yet, after God breathes life into us, what does he do?

Read Genesis 2:2-3- 2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
What did God do after he finished and created all that he did? GOD RESTED. Do you see the phrases? God finished the work he had been doing, he rested from all the word, he rested from all the work of creating, three different times God finished and rested.

Before I jump into the nuances of this, first things first. Was God tired? Just plain worn out. I mean think about it, wouldn’t YOU be a little tired creating Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus? Wouldn’t you need to take a break after you just got done creating the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, can’t forget the Indian Ocean? I’m sure he was worn out when he got to the seahorses and the manta rays, much less the hippos, giraffes, duckbill platypus. That’s way more work than sending emails, working on spreadsheets, making cheese and sausage, or even writing a sermon.

Yet, God wasn’t tired. He rested, but he wasn’t tired. Think about that, God rested from work, from creating, he rested, even though he wasn’t tired. Why do we think we don’t have to rest?

We have full day with the kids, or work, maybe even two or three jobs or pushing 60 plus hour work weeks, filling our schedules, our minds, our hearts with so many things. Why do we think we don’t need to rest? The Creator-King accomplished way more than I ever have, and he rested.

Which I believe, at this moment, is a moment of confession. I don’t rest well. I even struggled writing this message, because I’m going to encourage you, challenge you, call you out, and I struggle with living out what it means to truly rest.

I need to share to you, and to God, “God, I’m sorry I don’t rest. I’m sorry I think all that you have given me is up to me to make it happen. I’m sorry you’ve given me this gift of rest and instead of receiving it and living it, I’ve disregarded it and lived in restlessness instead.

Our restlessness is a distrust in who God is and his goodness in our life. Think about it for a second. Our restlessness is a distrust in who God is and his goodness in our life. Do we live as though life depends on us? Or do we rest, as though life depends on God?

Folks, we’ll get into a definition here shortly. But this isn’t about being lazy or having apathy, because some of you need to get off the couch and do something for the kingdom of God.
This is about our restlessness, God’s invitation, and what our lack of rest really says about us and our relationship with God.

Today, before we get into specifics, I want you to sit with God around your “life gauge”, what you are filling your life with, and your level of restlessness. Where are you empty or running low? How have you filled your life with other things, hoping it would fuel you? What is your level of restlessness (heart, mind, relationships, and schedule)? Sit with God and simply be honest, confess, and ask him to show you something more today and this week.

 

Our daily “faith challenge” is an opportunity to go deeper into Sunday’s message. A time to meet with God. Begin with prayer. Ask God to speak to you from His Word, by His Spirit.
“Speak Lord your servant is listening” 1 Samuel 3:9

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.” Romans 3:25

Jesus, innocent of all sin died in our place, He was our Substitute; He substituted His life for my sin, your sin. He died in our place. We should have died and been punished for our sin, but Jesus died and took our punishment on the cross. So we can be reconciled to God, our relationship restored, now and forever.

Tell God what this means to you.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Free gift to be received by faith
Have you received God’s free gift?
Why?
Why not?
Tell Him

Difference between understanding and faith. Faith is personal, based on facts not feeling. Faith doesn’t stop with mental assent or agreement.

Faith says I agree with what God says, I’m a sinner, I can’t save myself, I believe that Jesus death on the cross paid my sin debt. He died in my place, as my substitute
It’s a choice to believe, a choice to trust who He is and what He did.

That He is God, that He died on the cross in my place, paying my sin debt. I trust in Jesus Christ the resurrected Savior alone, to save me from the consequences of my sin.

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Jesus said-
“I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except by Me.”

Have you chosen to believe in, to trust Jesus as your savior?
Who might God want you to share your story with?
Who are you praying for an opportunity to share God’s either or truth with?