Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 25
Tuesday


"LIE DOWN"

READ:
Exodus 20:8-11
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He makes me to
lie down in green
pastures; He leads
me beside the still
waters. He restores my
soul. __Psalm 23:2-3
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Our golden retriever can get so overly excited that he will go into a seizure. To prevent that from happening, we try to calm him. We stroke him, speak to him in a soothing voice, and tell him to lie down. But when he hears "lie down," he avoids eye contact with us and starts complaining. Finally, with a dramatic sigh of resignation, he gives in and plops to the floor.

Sometimes we too need to be reminded to lie down. In Palm 23, we learn that our Good Shepherd makes us "lie down in green pastures: and leads us "beside the still waters." He knows that we need the calm and rest that these provide, even when we don't realize it ourselves.

Our bodies are designed to have regular rest. God Himself rested on the seventh day after His work of creation (Gen. 2:2-3; Ex. 20:9-11). Jesus knew there was a time to minister to the crowds and a time to rest. He instructed his disciples to "come aside...and rest a while" (Mark 6:31). When we rest, we refocus and are refreshed. When we are filling every hour with activity__even with worthwhile things__God often gets our attention by making us "lie down."

Rest is a gift__a good gift from our Creator who knows exactly what we need. Praise Him that He sometimes makes us "lie down in green pastures." __Cindy Hess Kasper
``````````````````````````````Hevenly Father, thank You for Your```````````````````````
``````````````````````````````care for our well-being in every area``````````````````````
```````````````````````````````of our lives. Help us to be rested````````````````````````
`````````````````````````````````````and refreshed in You.````````````````````````````
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If we don't come apart and rest awhile, we may just plain come apart! __Havner

**********************************************Today's Bible Reading __ Exodus 20:8-11********************************

8 Remember the Sabbath
day, to keep it holy. 9 Six
days you shall labor and on
all your work, 10 but the
seventh day is the Sabbath
of the LORD your God. In it
you shall do no work: you,
nor your son, nor your
daughter, nor your male
servant, nor your female
servant, nor your cattle, nor
your stranger who is within
your gates. 11 For in six
days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the
sea, and all that is in them,
and rested the seventh day.
Therefore the LORD blessed
the Sabbath day and
hallowed it.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The Ten Commandments, or Decalogue (Greek, meaning "ten
words"), are 10 laws given by God as guidelines for daily living. The
first four commandments (Ex. 20:1-11) place the worship of God
as primary for His people. The first commandment (v.3) calls us to
worship God alone. He is the only one we are to serve. The second
(vv.4-5) urges us to worship God appropriately and correctly, for
God doesn't tolerate idolatry of any kind. The third commandment
(v.7 directs us to worship God sincerely and reverently. Our actions
and attitudes must not dishonor Him. The fourth commandment
(vv.8-111) lays out the frequency, regularity, and consistency of our
worship. We are to set aside one day each week for worship.