Sanctified for Worship

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 122:1.
God has given us the whole of six days in which to do our work, and has reserved only one to Himself. This should be a day of blessing to us—a day when we should lay aside all our secular matters and center our thoughts upon God and heaven.
All heaven is keeping the Sabbath, but not in a listless, do-nothing way. On this day every energy of the soul should be awake, for are we not to meet with God and with Christ our Saviour? We may behold Him by faith. He is longing to refresh and bless every soul.
On Sabbath morning the family should be astir early. If they rise late, there is confusion and bustle in preparing for breakfast and Sabbath school. There is hurrying, jostling, and impatience. Thus unholy feelings come into the home. The Sabbath, thus desecrated, becomes a weariness, and its coming is dreaded rather than loved.
The Sabbath is God’s time. He sanctified and hallowed the seventh day. He set it apart for man to keep as a day of worship.
We need to cherish and cultivate a spirit of true worship, a spirit of devotion upon the Lord’s holy, sanctified day. We should assemble together believing that we shall receive comfort and hope, light and peace from Jesus Christ.
All heaven was represented to me as beholding and watching upon the Sabbath those who acknowledge the claims of the fourth commandment and are observing the Sabbath. Angels were marking their interest in, and high regard for, this divine institution. Those who sanctified the Lord God in their hearts by a strictly devotional frame of mind, and who sought to improve the sacred hours in keeping the Sabbath to the best of their ability, and to honor God by calling the Sabbath a delight—these the angels were specially blessing with light and health, and special strength was given them.
The Faith I Live By p. 35
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Prayer Requests
—–In a few weeks I will be going to court to fight for custody of my 5 year old son. Dolly
—–I have a dear friend in Martinez, CA that is in deep need of prayer. Things in life look bleak. Not sure of the circumstances entirely. Aaron
—–PLease pray for a certain situation. Andrew
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Dear Friends,
Before I was married, I had the privilege of visiting many of the large museums and art galleries east of the Mississippi such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd’s Aquarium, and the Field Museum in Chicago. These were places of wonder and discovery for me during my childhood and teen years. Throughout the ensuing years, we have taken our children to countless numbers of other fine museums, aquariums, caves, zoos, and historical sites in many areas of the country as we have moved around quite a bit. At these places, they were able to gain knowledge of history and of our Great Creator’s handiwork.
Having been to so many fabulous places, I was not sure that I would enjoy what Dodge City had to offer, but some years ago, Ron and Eileen talked me into going there. I was pleasantly surprised (once I got used to the smell of the many feedlots)! We spent about four hours in the Boot Hill Museum which is the main museum of that city, and visited many of the town’s other sights. It is a small town, but has many interesting buildings and artifacts from that part of the old west. I ended up really having a good time. Eileen enjoyed it so much, in fact, that when she and Mike came out on vacation, she wanted to take him there.
So it is with God’s Holy Word. The sixty-six books that are contained in the Scriptures are of various size and content. Some deal with history: some are prophetic. Some have many chapters: several have only one, but each is important and should be studied daily in order to receive the message that our Great King has prepared for us. Over and over again, our Dear Saviour points us to the Old Testament as worthy of our study. Paul tells us that it is “the sword of the Spirit.” Eph 6:17 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Tim 3:16,17 Peter declares that God’s Holy Word is more sure than the things that we see, hear, or experience. (2 Peter 1:19-21)
How often we study the Gospels, Romans, Psalms and Proverbs, perhaps even Genesis or the prophecies of Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation and think that we have seen it all, that there is nothing more to learn, nothing more to glean from the Scriptures. However that is not the case. Even the “minor prophets” have something to offer us: Hosea’s life was an illustration of Israel’s spiritual adultery and a warning that we follow not in their footsteps; Joel, that small, but powerful prophetic book, has relevance for us who are living in these last days; Amos, a lowly gatherer of figs, tells us “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7; Obadiah who taught “as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee.” Ob 15; Jonah, the runaway prophet, who was embarrassed of the mercy of God; Micah, who sought to bring Israel back to their God; Nahum, who assures us that when sin and sinners are no more, that “affliction shall not rise up the second time.” Nahum 1:9; Habakkuk, whose message was so important to those going through the Great Disappointment (Hab 2:3); Zephaniah, who sought to bring God’s people back to their Redeemer (Zeph 2:3); Haggai, whose message gave the returned captives the hope and courage needed to do the work of rebuilding; Zechariah, that young man, who interacted with the angels while in vision and learned of the Great King of the Universe’ forgiving, cleansing power (Zech 3:1-5); and Malachi, whose message is so full of meaning for us today.
Let us be diligent to “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 Let us discover the treasures that are scattered throughout the entire Bible even in the not so often studied minor prophets. Let us turn from the distractions of this world and focus on the Word of our Great Redeemer.
Rose