SOUL CrossTraining

I've always thought of resting after expending energy -- as a replenishment for what I had just experienced or endured. So, if I took a run then I'd rest once I had finished my run. Or if I had been really busy finishing up a project, I'd work really hard for an extended period of time THEN I'd rest and recooperate. And to some degree that is still true -- however... I've been learning both from looking at SABBATH over the last several months and practicing SABBATH for the past couple of years -- that it really is more about a rhythm that prepares my heart, soul, and body for what lies ahead. When I am rested and my soul is replenished through time with God I am in a much better place to live well in whatever circumstance I find myself in. Let me be very practical -- and literal. We've been facing some difficult family situations that are requiring a lot of emotional and physical energy. My point is this... if I were to have walked into this new challenge...

This week we're stopping to set our heart right as we "right size" God. The root idea of Sabbath – all living things thrive only by an ample measure of stillness. Stillness like rest, requires a settling of the heart, a calming of the spirit. Sabbath keeping requires two orientations. 1. One is God-ward. 2. The other is time-ward. To keep Sabbath well--both as a day and attitude--we have to think clearly about God and freshly about time. We likely, at some, level, need to change our minds about both. Unless we trust God's sovereignty, we won't dare risk Sabbath. And unless we receive time as abundance and gift, not as rations and burden, we'll never develop a capacity to savor Sabbath. The first orientation for good Sabbath-keeping, the God ward one, takes practice, mostly through thankfulness. Thankfulness invites and acknowledges the presence of God until you are utterly convinced of his goodness and sovereignty, until he's bigger, and you find your res...

Sabbath? a time set aside for rest and restoration Sabbath invites us to STOP . In that ceasing, fresh possibilities abound. We can shut our eyes, if we choose—this is one of Sabbath’s gifts, to relax without guilt. But there is also time enough to open our eyes , to learn again Jesus’ command to watch and pray. Mark Buchanan, The Rest of God Sabbath is a a day or time period set aside for feasting, resting, worshiping, and play. But it is also a posture of the heart and practice we can choose to partake in. Let's start with the heart. When we say sabbath is a posture of the heart, we mean it is a heart that is restful in the midst of the ups and downs of life while being attentive to the presence of God and others. When we say practice, we mean sabbath is siezing opportunities throughout your day to slow down, stop working or focusing on accomplishing. It is both intentionally setting time aside in your day to experience sabbath while paying attention to your surr...