The God of Sabbath

 Today's meditation John chapter 9:11-23.

1. When the neighbours asked the man how he got healed he said that a man called Jesus anointed his eyes with clay and asked him to go and wash it in the pool of Siloam and when he did so he was healed. (V11)
2. They asked him where
Christ was for which he said he knew not. (V12)
3. They brought him to the Pharisees (V13)
4. The day when Jesus healed the man was the Sabbath day . (V14)
5. The Pharisees asked the man again how he got healed and the man said that CHRIST put clay in his eyes and he washed and he saw. (V15)
6. Then there was confusion among the Pharisees that he is not God as he did not keep the Sabbath day while others said if he is a sinner how he can do such miracles and there was division among them. (V16)
7. They asked the blind man himself what he thinks about Christ for which he said he is a prophet.  (V17)
8. The Jews still did not believe him and called his parents of the man that received his sight. (V18)
9. They said that he is their son who was born blind, But they don't know how he got healed or who opened his eyes and that they can ask him themselves as he is of age. (V19, 21)
10. They said he is of age and to ask him about it because they feared the Jews as if anyone confess Christ, the Jews agreed that they will be put out of the synagogue.   (V22, 23)

 LIFE APPLICATION:

The Godly Sabbath:

Many of us struggle to find rest for our souls. We run and run and run... till we are drained... to the end. This is the reason God gave us the law of Sabbath that we will have a complete  day of rest and we make that day holy for the Lord.

And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
Exodus:16:23

Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Exodus:31:15

This was given as a commandment through the law of Moses.

It is this law that the Pharisees felt offended with when Christ healed the blind on the Sabbath.

Now let us meditate on what it means by a Christ like Sabbath... that will give rest to our weary souls.

Why do we need rest?

Most of the time we get so weary of brokenness. We drench our bed with tears.

I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears.
Psalm:6:6

2. Bitterness of soul makes our soul weary.

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
Job:10:1

3.  We become weary when we labour in vain.

Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary.
Jeremiah:51:58

4. We weary ourselves for vanity.

Behold, is it not of the LORD of hosts that the people shall labour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity?
Habakkuk:2:13

5. We weary ourselves to commit iniquity.

And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity.
Jeremiah:9:5

Our God is a God of rest for every weary soul.

1. God said to Moses that he will give him rest.

And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.
Exodus:33:14

When God's presence go with us... he will give us rest.

2. Sabbath according to the commandment a way of giving us rest.

But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
Leviticus:25:4

3. God gives us rest amidst our enemies.


And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Joshua:21:44

4. We rest in hope

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Psalm:16:9

5. We have rest in our Lord.

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.
Psalm:37:7

6. There is a rest for the people of God in Christ.

For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
Hebrews:4:8

There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
Hebrews:4:9

7. The yoke of Christ is much lighter and he gives rest to our souls.


Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew:11:28


Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Matthew:11:29

This is why Christ said that he is also the Lord of the Sabbath day....

For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.
Matthew:12:8


And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
Mark:2:27

This is why Paul writes to Colossians that we cannot be judged based on traditions.

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Colossians:2:16

Christ himself is our rest. May our souls find it's rest in the Lord of the Sabbath... Amen.

See the SEA WALKER

 John 6:16-21

1. The disciples in the evening went down unto the sea and got into the ship.(v16, 17)
2. They went to the way of Capernaum.  (V17)
3. It was getting dark by then, and Jesus was not there with them. ( v17)
4. There blew a great wind and the sea arose. ( v18)
5. As they were rowing a little distance, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming close to the ship and were afraid. ( v19)
6. Jesus said that it is he And told them not to be afraid. (V20)
7. They gladly received him in the boat and immediately they reached the place where they wanted to reach. (V21)

 APPLICATION 1:
Dealing with tough times:
Many a times trouble times come over us like a shadow.. without us realising,  till it becomes too late.

In this meditation, we see three worse situations.
1. The disciples getting caught in the storm  (v18)
2.  it was becoming dark. (v17)
3. Jesus was not there in the ship. (V17)

David portrays of the emotional state of the disciples in psalms 107;

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;
Psalm:107:23
These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep.
Psalm:107:24
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psalm:107:25
They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psalm:107:26
They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end.
Psalm:107:27
Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
Psalm:107:28
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psalm:107:29
Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psalm:107:30

Most of the time, in our troubles we are like drunken people, staggering around. We are at our wit's end. Our souls meltdown in trouble. But still we try to row our boats more further against the storms.

It is then we cry out to God for help. He hears our cry from the heavens. He humbles himself, to come to us and calm the storms.

Hallelujah! We have an awesome God who listens to our screams and cries and comes for our rescue.

 Life application 2:
Calming the storms:
When we are in trouble, something dramatic happens.

Our eyes are opened to see the SEA WALKER. (V19)
 Yes, today if we are troubled, let us pray that GOD will open our eyes to see the GOD of the oceans and seas, who have the authority to calm every storm and Gale surrounding us.

Now let me compare the similarity in psalms 107 and John 6:
Jesus calms them by soothing them not to be afraid. He calms their every hidden and inner turmoil with his words. (V20)

Dear Child of God, if you are in an inner turmoil, the word of God is coming to you. "Do not be afraid". He is able to calm every storm that raises against you.

 He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still.
Psalm:107:29

But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
John:6:20

Once the inner peace sets in and we are completely quiet, he takes us fast to our desired place. Let us see these two verses below;

Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
John:6:21

Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Psalm:107:30

Dear Child of God, Let me summarise how we are to deal with storms in life.
1. Identify the storm. - physical and emotional darkness with no Christ in the situation.
2. Cry out for help till heavens hear you.
3. Pray that your eyes are opened to see the SEA WALKER, The God who has the authority to calm your storms and change your situations.
4. Allow God's word to comfort you.
5. Receive Christ into your ship to deal with your situations.
6. Once you are calm and quiet and become glad about you will see your physical situations change quickly.

May Spirit of God enlighten your spirit to know more. Amen.

Born Again : Meditation John chapter 3:1-8 ; Part 2

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
John:3:3

What does it mean to be born again?
The WORD born again is meant as ' born from above.'
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John:1:12
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
John:1:13

The WORD of GOD says, if we believe in the name of CHRIST and receive him, God gives us the power to become the SONS of God.
We are not born because of the will of man, or of blood, nor by the will of man but by God himself.

If we are in Christ we are a new creature.  Old things have passed away. 2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new.

As I am being led in the spirit I would like to explain the whole plan of God's redemption.
After Adam sinned against God, we as humans have fallen short of God's glory as it is written,

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis:6:5

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Romans:3:23

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Romans:3:10

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
Romans:3:11

They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans:3:12

We have fallen short of the GLORY of GOD.  If we say that we do not have sin, we are liars.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 John:1:10

This explains us our need to be cleansed and forgiven of all our sins as we cannot even see the kingdom of God with our Adamic nature in us. (V3)

To take victory over this nature of Adam was Christ born as a man, to die on the cross for our sins, that through this gospel of CHRIST we can be born again in our  Spirit man.

So how are we to be born again?
We are born again by the word of God being the seed
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
1 Peter:1:23,
But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
1 Peter:1:25

What happens when we are born again?
1. Stage 1: the seed of the Gospel enters our heart. 1peter 1:23

2. Stage 2: we receive Christ by believing that he paid the price for our sins on the cross and we are redeemed from our sins by his BLOOD.  John 1:12

3. Stage 3:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Ephesians:2:8
This stage is purely God's work. He creates that new birth in our spirit.

 How do we know that we are born again?
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Romans:8:16
The Holy Spirit of God speaks in our hearts and confirms that we are children of God. ( Born again)

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Romans:15:13

And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Romans:5:11
The joy and peace that God gives in our heart is the confirmation that we are born again.

This is something happening deep in the spirit that a natural man with a human mind cannot comprehend unless being experienced individually.
This is why Nicodemus was not able to completely comprehend what Christ was speaking about being born again. (V4)

And this is what Jesus refers to be born of water and of the spirit.
Water being the word of God.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
Ephesians:5:26
Spirit being the work of the Holy Spirit in the Human Spirit.

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Ephesians:1:13

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Ephesians:1:14
In other words we are born and sealed as children of God by the Holy Spirit.

So, what are we to do once we are saved?

1. As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
1 Peter:2:2
So we are to desire the word of God as new born babes to grow to be mature sons and daughters of God..

2. We have to work out our salvation with fear each day.
Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Philippians:2:12

3. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Romans:12:2

We have to be transformed according to working of the holy spirit in us... each day as he renews our mind  according to the word.

You can know more about the redemption of mankind and the prize of salvation in the links attached....

Isn't it a glorious experience to be born again? May God reveal you more . GOD BLESS YOU ALL.