“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Exodus 20:8-11 ESV)

We must remember to take the seventh day for rest. It is not a suggestion it is part of the ten commandments. It is easy to get caught up in the hectic craziness of life and in consequence get burnt out lose focus and slip away from the joy and peace God has given us. If God the creator of the universe took a day for rest so should we. Remember there is blessing from God in the sabbath, resting is not weakness but a restoration to strength.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5 ESV)

When we go through tough times we have to remember the fruit that is produced by the struggle. Let us look back at all that was accomplished from our last hard experience and glorify God for the growth we experienced and now not only expect but rejoice in the next struggle for we will grow stronger, and produce more character of our God as we look to the hope found only in Him.

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:13, 14 ESV)

We have the God of the universe fighting for us every moment of every day, let’s take the challenge to be silent to no longer fear and trust in that, find peace in the truth that God is with us.

And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Matthew 21:21, 22 ESV)

If you have faith…It’s easy to let our thinking overwhelm our prayer life and ultimately choke it out. Jesus lays it out plain when we pray without doubt we see the power of God literally move mountains. Our faith in our prayers directly relate to our faith in our God to do big things. Let’s take a challenge to ask God for the impossible in our lives to see His greatness unfold. Stop thinking. Start believing.

But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.“ (Matthew 20:26-28 ESV)

We are called to serve others just as Jesus did. We are to represent him to this world so let us serve those in need putting the needs of others in front of our desires and the Lord will bless our efforts not just here but in heaven. The servants heart is not given to a few select but to all when we accept Christ as our savior.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.“ (Matthew 18:19, 20 ESV)

How encouraging and powerful is this verse? That when we come together as followers under one accord God is one, with us and two, working that much more for our desires in heaven. Let us not forget the power of group prayer. Today take the challenge to pray with someone and feel the weight and beauty of these verses. He is with us in our midst and we must take full advantage of this incredible offer from our God.