Enjoying Sabbath Delight – Healthy Life Priorities and Rest in Jesus
Sabbath delight is biblical: to last for the long haul we need healthy life priorities, real rest in Jesus, and joy in the good gifts of God.
(Acts 17:11: Please learn to do your own Bible studies like this one – here.)
Enjoy Shabbat and Family – Rest From Work and Full Enjoyment
Why is this chapter here? It is Biblical to enjoy the creation and the good gifts of God – people and things to do that bring us joy, delight, and satisfaction.
What brings you healthy joy, delight, and satisfaction? Is it walks, nature, biking, reading, watching movies, running, golfing, fishing, watching sports, good food, deep talks – all of the above? None of them are bad in themselves. All of them can be bad if it is all we do – there is a healthy balance to life.
The Cure for Stress
So many suffer from stress today. They over-extend themselves and run on empty – yet – do not realize it. They fight in life out of fear – not from a platform of total acceptance.
As Christians we are healthy if we realize – we are already completely and fully loved, seen, accepted, adopted, heard, understood and made perfect – and it is a free gift paid for and given freely by Jesus, our brother, The Father, Daddyo, and the Spirit.
It is called righteousness or justification, perfection and adoption, leading to intimate friendship by faith alone.
Find a Bible study going deep into this subject here – if it is a bit unfamiliar to you, or you can see you need to go deeper into this: Justification by Faith – Perfect Forgiveness (an extremely important foundational Bible study) – also on YouTube.
My own journey
I feel like God at times has guided me in my thoughts to remember to fully enjoy all the good gifts of family, friends, and good enjoyable activities and things.
Paul sums up a healthy Christian work ethic
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them – yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:10
We are to work hard – to enter the grace of God as Hebrews says:
There is a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest …
Hebrews 4:9-11
So, God created us just before the 7th day of rest (Genesis 1:26-2:3) – so we were given responsibility to govern, rule, administrate, manage, to steward, the creation and name things – but our next day was rest. Why – because God already totally loves us – and has created all things – also for our enjoyment.
An absolutely amazing book to read on living emotionally healthy: The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero.
Keeping the Sabbath
Must Christians keep the physical Sabbath by the letter of the Old Testament law?
Must Christians keep the physical sabbath by the letter and the law of the Old Testament?
No. Paul says here (1 Corinthians 9:20-22) – he is free from the Jewish law – yet not the law of love in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:14).
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
Jesus is our “Sabbath” from all good works – He is our rest, our peace, our perfector. When we believe in Him – we keep the Sabbath of God perfectly. We accept that we must rest from good deeds to satisfy God’s justice, love, and perfect loving judgment.
It is by faith by grace by the cross, the blood, the suffering, the atonement and redemption and the resurrection proved that it worked – not by good works that we are saved: Ephesians 2:8-9 – 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith–and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God– 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
Should we still keep the physical Sabbath?
We can choose to do so, and it can help us remember the true Sabbath we already have simply by faith – Jesus.
Having a day a week to relax, Sabbath, is a great way to relax, de-stress, it is a great reminder to re-remember that Jesus is the King, Savior, Redeemer, Justifier = Sabbath, Peace-with-God-giver, Jesus is the Peace from us doing futile good works of appeasement to achieve the love of God and intimate friendship with God – ourselves – giver.
And that He gives it for free – it is not our good works.
Keeping the physical sabbath is a great reminder that for our good works – which we must do (Ephesians 2:10) – are only coming from a healthy place in us – if they come from us fully knowing and enjoying Sabbath – already having rest, from already having obtained full perfect grace and forgiveness and deep intimate friendship with our Daddyo – absolutely for free!
Therefore, it is a good thing to have times of total relaxation, peace, and presence, enjoying sabbath delight – the good gifts of God in your life. It is good, and right, and God-honoring to do so. But do not be religious about it getting into shame, guilt, religion, if it doesn’t work out perfectly.
24/7 Sabbath – the greatest Sabbath delight truth
But know that inside you always, always, always have sabbath peace inside you, absolute peace and perfection in the eyes of God through faith in Jesus – by the Holy Spirit – and you must use your authority (delegated by God to you) to command anything disturbing that (demons) to go.
Healthy Life Priorities for All Christians
And none of these are against the other. All are important and need to be part of a healthy Christian life. But there is a priority as well if you are challenged on what is the most non-negotiable.
And all are submitted to the healthy leading of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, the Bible, as well as the direct example of Jesus in the 4 Good Stories of His Life according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, & John as well.
- Best friends with God. All that is in salvation must be discovered and opened up. True personal one on one deep intimate constant time invested friendship with Daddyo first
- If that is not there – forget all else. Work on truly fully accepting and acting on that He sees you as His best friend – will you respond and do the same with Him – and prove it in action – spending time one on one with Him – and talking with Him normally throughout the day? If not, you might need deep inner healing and maybe some deliverance from spirits of rejection, loneliness, accusations, a root of bitterness, rebellion, self-pity, and any kind of sin self-satisfaction (porn, drugs, fear of peoples’ opinion).
- To be clear: This point is not first about prayer routines, Bible reading, worship, fellowship and ministry. This is deeper than that – it’s real friendship. All of those are good – but if they are above deep reconciled intimate friendship – all the “obedience activities” will be deeply unhealthy – for they easily become terrible idols = false gods.
- Obedient discipleship. All that is in sanctification. Being a fully theoretically and practically trained disciple who does it all and trains others to do it in all the fullnesses of the fullness of Jesus Christ – Master – apprentice – directly under Jesus first, yourself – and living it out – and we keep growing. Being a disciple who is trained to do all that the 12 and the 70 were trained by Jesus to do. Each one is directly responsible under Jesus first – to obey and follow Him – for He is love and He knows best, and He lives by His Spirit in each of us who believe and humbly are submitted to Him. We can do what He did and what He therefore trains us to do and then commands us to do.
- You and your ministry / work – callings: Being a disciple: Where, when, how much, to whom, with whom?
- You and Sabbath delight: Delight for a whole day, weekly, in God, friends, family, hobbies, the blessings of God, etc.
- You and your spouse. Quality time. Unity. Prayer. Bible reading together – planning together, enjoying life together. Serve God together.
- Or fully enjoying your singleness if you are single.
- You and your children. Your spouse is more important than your children. If you and your spouse are good – your children will be good in a healthy way as an outcome of that.
Whatever you obey first – is your actual God!
Family, friendship, hobbies, even ministry for God, yes, any of the good things God has given you – can become a false “god”, an idol, a replacement for deep intimate loving friendship with the Father, through the Son, Jesus, by the Holy Spirit.
God is God – nothing and no one else is – and He is a jealous God (James 4:5) – Who loves you wholeheartedly – and wants you for Himself – therefore that is what is best for you. All that can be shaken, will be shaken.
All that is not truly in, under, through, and with Him in intimate real quality friendship – will therefore, be shaken.
A Prayer
Holy Spirit: Is there any pride, any rejection, any rebellion in me? Take away my blindness. Holy Spirit – help me see what you see is hindering me from fully living in and only from the fullness of peace with God, Daddyo, through you Jesus – by you – Holy Spirit.
Grant me wisdom and ears to hear to not work so hard that we overextend ourselves. But also, not work less than we are able and called to do. Wisdom to navigate time priorities – so we live to a ripe old age. To the fullness of our day.
Grant me grace and wisdom to live from the peace, love, acceptance, justification, and deep personal intimate friendship with Daddyo, bro’ – Jesus, and Holy Spirit – Helper, Guide, and Truth. Help us to fully enjoy your good gifts to us given freely to us, Daddy. Our family, our things, our possessions, our blessings.
And help us – when we are suffering and being unjustly treated – to go into co-suffering with you, Jesus – and to praise and thank you in the midst of it – and remain under the wings of your love – in you, Christ Jesus – for then we are strong – unbeatable – for nothing will ever shake the love of God proven on the cross!!
To read positive life changing and selfish life breaking teaching – see All Bible Studies of Peter Skov of Action Christianity. Let God lead you to what to engage with first.
And here is my YouTube course on the very minimum foundations of normal discipleship.
