Shalom Shalom

     For many years these verses, Isaiah 26:3-4, have brought me comfort and encouragement:

     You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You,

because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, 

    for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

So simple. So profound. As we keep our minds focused on our LORD, everything else diminishes in importance. And peace arrives and settles down in our hearts.

Our pastor mentioned Wednesday night that "perfect peace" could be translated  "shalom shalom."

I love it! What a great way to greet people! Now  I am saying "shalom shalom" throughout the day!  GIve it a try!

Even Little Children

"LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, You have established a stronghold against Your enemies, to silence foes and the avenger." (Psalm 8:1-2) 

We often don't take spiritual warfare seriously enough. Dare we underestimate the devil's hatred for our Lord and for His followers?

Since Satan was cast out of heaven, his mission has been to ruin everything and everyone the Lord loves.

But we have weapons and we can take heart. Even little children can defeat the devil when they speak or sing words of praise to God. The evil one is dispelled and defeated when our hearts, homes, and sanctuaries are praise-filled.

As all of us participate in worship, study and obey His Word, and dedicate ourselves to prayer and praise, we can 'silence the voice of the foe and the avenger.'

Have praise-filled commands ready to shout at Satan whenever he appears.

And we have powerful custom-made armor to wear to "stand against the schemes of the devil." Described in Ephesians 6.

And remember how Jesus defeated Satan? By quoting scripture. And then we are told, 'the devil left Him.' 

Read about it in Matthew 4: "And Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.'"

And 'the devil left Him.'

We always succeed when we imitate our Savior!

Keeping the Sabbath

In Exodus 20 the 10 Commandments are listed. It is the fourth commandment where we are told to "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy."  And we are reminded, "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."

So God made the Sabbath holy, and we are to keep it holy! (Like in the New Testament God tells us to "keep the peace." And that He "brought us peace." He gives it; we are to keep it. Like Mother used to tell us to "leave things like you find them!")

We used to sing a hymn about keeping the Sabbath. It is called "O Day of Rest and Gladness." 

I don't hear it anymore, but found the words:

   "O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light

O balm of care and sadness, most beautiful and bright;

On thee, the high and lowly, who bend before the Throne

Sing, 'Holy, holy, holy' to the eternal One.

   A day of sweet reflection, thou art a day of love,

A day to raise affection, from earth to things above.

New graces ever gaining from this our day of rest,

We reach the rest remaining in mansions of the blessed.

   To Holy Ghost be praises, to Father, and to Son;

The church her voice upraises to thee, blest Three in One."

This amazing hymn was written over 150 years ago by Christopher

Wordsworth, the nephew of the famous English poet, 

William Wordsworth.

 I think we need to reconsider how we obey God's 4th Commandment!