Sabbath Grace

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For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;

With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

- Psalm 5:12

I am no longer as driven as I used to be about writing blog posts. When this blog was new, I could write as many as three or more entries per week.

This blog was born on February 7, 2008, in Chiang Mai, Thailand. That was nine years ago. (Click on link to read my maiden blog post: What's in a Name?)

That same year, my husband Ernie went home to heaven. And as I put my feelings into words, my blog became a trusted companion as together we walked down the road called Grief, a God-given provision to help me come to terms with the pain of that season. (Here's the link: My Journey Through Grief)

On my 60th year, this blog was a silent listener as I talked about some life lessons God taught me through the years. Again the electronic pen and paper became my partners who helped me put together those meaningful chapters of my life story. (Here's the link to the first life lesson in the series: Restoration-A Matter of Perspective)

These past years, I have endeavored to write at least one post a month, to sort of summarize what the past four weeks have been like, and also to give the month a name.

February is far from over, but tonight I am led to share how this one particular Sabbath went for me. It is much too special to just let it go by.

I know that God's mercy and compassion are new every morning.

Each morning, I make it a point to kneel at the foot of my bed as soon as I awake, I pledge my allegiance to Him as King who sits as sovereign ruler over my life, and to thank Him for the brand new mercies that He has placed at my disposal for the next 24 hours of the day.

Each evening, at sundown, whenever possible, I welcome the new day, because the 24-hour day actually begins at sundown. And I thank God for His provision of rest and renewal during the night that will give me the strength I need for the daylight hours the following morning.

Each night, before I close my eyes, I thank God for the more than enough store of grace and compassion that was available to me, and I realize that I have not even scratched the surface of what God had intended for me. Indeed His love knows no measure!

But today was just so special... it felt like God poured buckets of favor over my heart!

The past days, I have been savoring my time alone here at home. There's been time to visit my garden, to read, and to have chunks of time to myself listening to worship music.

I'm thankful for the time of unplanned prayer ministry with two dear friends of mine this week.

After the fast pace of the previous months, the slower days of February are so refreshing to my soul.

And this week I have been thinking about the words of Jesus in John 15:9 --

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love.

That word "remain" means to continue, to abide, to stay in a close relationship of delight.

God invites us to reciprocate His love. The phrase has the connotation of giving, and receiving, joyful affection.

I have looked at the different passages in the Bible that speak of delight. The very first word in the Bible that speaks of God being "delighted" is mentioned in Genesis, where it says that He looked at all He had made, and it was very good.

God was delighted with what He had done.

I thought of the word delight in Psalm 37:4.

Delight yourself in the LORD, 
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

My own interpretation of this verse is that if I take delight in the Lord, He will also be delighted to give me what my heart desires! The passage speaks of a reciprocal relationship of delight!

Delight in this passage has the connotation of being pliable and soft.

Being gentle.... flexible... teachable.

It means easy to be entreated.

Or easy to please.

Compare that with hard-hearted... difficult to please... demanding and easily offended.

I'll take delight any day.

In the midst of the greed, unkindness, selfishness, and disappointments in the world, delight in the atmosphere will change the spiritual environment and landscape of our lives!

Today was such a day.

I was awakened at 3:45 a.m. As I awoke, there was a sense of overflowing joy in my heart.

Today is a Sabbath day, I thought to myself. I will prepare my heart and be ready in time for the 6 a.m. dawn watch at the House of Prayer.

First thing I did was to thank God for the new day.

Then I went to my prayer desk to listen to a few chapters from the gospel of John, and the first chapter of Revelation. 

Then to the kitchen for some fruit - starting with a small cup of freshly squeezed native lemon juice.

Prepared dog food for my pets.

Took a shower and got dressed.

Arrived at the Negros Island house of prayer a few minutes before the dawn watch prayer time began.

For the next two hours, we were in the awesome presence of God, praying for the nation, for Israel, and other things that were placed on our hearts. It didn't feel like two hours at all. The prayers just flowed... and blended in with the worship songs and the Bible verses...

What a delight it was!

We went to Tom N Toms Coffee Shop for breakfast. So grateful to a friend who offered to pay for my food. Again, what a delightful time we all had.

When I arrived home, my ever efficient helper had already finished watering the garden and doing the laundry and she was in the process of cleaning the house. Again... my heart was filled with so much appreciation for her... My heart was delighted!

Back at my prayer desk, I prayed for my sister-in-law Faith who was arriving from the US within the morning to spend a few days with her mom. In my heart, I wanted to see her today, but nothing was finalized. There were flight delays... her mom had already scheduled a family lunch... and there was still a two hour road trip for them after the lunch.

Okay, Lord... I leave everything in Your hands. 

I sent her a welcome message on Messenger.

It was 12 noon. By then, I was quite ready for a nap.

I woke up with a start and looked at the clock. It was 1:30 p.m. already!

I checked my messages on Messenger. My sister in law had sent a message at 1:10 p.m. saying they had just come in, and was inviting me to join them for lunch...

Got dressed in one minute and hopped on a cab the next. Got to the restaurant just as they were finishing their lunch.

In short... everything turned out beautifully.

We had a brief but sweet time together. And I went back home with a huge bag of goodies from the States, gifts of grace for me and my family.

Again, my heart felt so delighted. 

So thankful to Abba Father for the gentleness of this Sabbath day. A day of rest, renewal, and restoration.

A day overflowing with His favor, mercy, and grace.

I am so thankful to You, my dear Abba, for today.

For making me experience the delight of Your love in a tangible way!

The Message version puts it this way: "Make yourselves at home in my love." 

That is exactly how I feel, Lord! I feel very much at home in Your love!

Here's the Hebrew song of worship I listened to as this beautiful day was coming to an end.