First, I’d like to give a short introduction. -------
In the Ten Commandments, the fourth commandment in Exodus 20:8-11 begins by saying, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.”
Most people who believe in God’s wonderful Sabbath day do “REMEMBER” it as requested by God. But, most of those same Sabbath-keepers largely ignore the last part of that same verse in Exodus 20:8 which says to not only remember the Sabbath day, but also, TO KEEP IT HOLY.
God made the Sabbath HOLY, and He asks us TO KEEP IT HOLY.
Our wonderful Father God and His Son Jesus both say, as Jesus did in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments”.
If we refuse to keep God’s Sabbath HOLY as taught in the Bible, then we are showing that we don’t really love Jesus and His Father.
If Christians use God’s special day to catch up with their friends about all their other six days secular chit-chat, then they are NOT keeping the Sabbath day HOLY as taught in the Bible.
This is quite a serious issue. Jesus is coming to take people home to be with Him who love Him enough to obey God’s Law of Love, the Ten Commandments.
There is nothing in the Bible to say that
people who REMEMBER the Sabbath day,
but deliberately refuse TO KEEP IT HOLY
will receive eternal life.
The purpose of this section of the website is to give us some PRACTICAL IDEAS FOR KEEPING THE SABBATH HOLIER so that we will be ready for Jesus to take us home to be with Him forever when eternal life is ushered in.
I am praying for you every day that with God’s help we will be strong on our journey together towards God’s wonderful golden city.
My love and blessings are with you. Thank you.
Here is a P.S. --- a Please Note ---
Some of the messages below have been sent in by Sabbath-keepers of various church denominations. Also, some of the messages may have come from wonderful people who may not even go to churches, but who love God and want to keep His wonderful Sabbath day holy.
Some of the messages have also been presented as posts on my ‘SABBATH HOLY’ Facebook site. Please join the group here.
You may not agree with every practical idea that is included in this section due to your own personal bias or past traditions and thinking, or even from your own interpretation of Bible verses.
Nevertheless, there may be some gems here, that if we try them, it will lead to less unholy secular chit-chat on God’s day, and a more wonderful love relationship with Him.
My God bless you all, as together, with His help, we endeavour to keep His wonderful Sabbath day holy. Thank you.
Donna, one of our wonderful Sabbath-keepers, posted this message and it is worth repeating.
Please prayerfully consider her advice and with God’s help put it into practice and be blessed, and also be a blessing to God and your Sabbath friends.
(I have personally made some of Donna’s key words into bold type along with a couple of other changes.)
Here it is from Donna:
PP I prayerfully plan activities (Bible study, teaching Bible classes, group and individual prayer, music, singing, nature walks, Bible dramatizations) that will keep my mind on God and on sacred themes.
PP Sometimes I intentionally avoid conversation with those who refuse to keep the Sabbath holy or who have a history of drawing me into secular discussions on Sabbath.
For these people, I call/visit/chat with them during the other six days of the week so that I am not trapped into secular chit-chat on the day that God asks us to set aside to remember Him and to keep His special day HOLY (Exodus 20:8).
Dear friends, like Donna, with God’s help, please remember His very special Sabbath day by keeping it HOLY. Please join the ‘Sabbath HOLY’ group on this link.
Blessings to you all from Ray at ‘Sabbath HOLY’
Here are some ideas for a Holier Sabbath at church, in your small home group, or even at home after church with your family or a few friends.
It could be a Sabbath afternoon programme beginning with a simple prayer to ask for God’s blessing on us and that we will be a blessing to God and each other.
After the prayer could come 15-30 minutes of singing praise and worship songs as a group, ‘making a joyful noise to the Lord’ as the Bible says. If you feel some of the songs listed here are a bit too heavy on the drums then you may know other versions or songs to send in to me so I can recommend them to our members. Nevertheless, …
Please do choose ‘bright’ music because Sabbath is a wonderful celebration of time with our Creator on His wonderful day, so don’t use music and songs that may be more suitable in a funeral service.
Some songs that can be downloaded from Youtube or a similar site, could be on the following lists. If you go to the printed manuscript, simply click on the praise and worship songs you wish to watch and they will come up.
After the singing you could watch a video about our amazing Creator God such as: ‘INDESCRIBABLE’ or ‘HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD’ by Louis Giglio. After viewing the video, take time as a group to discuss the amazing fact that this awesome God loves us and wants a relationship with us, and our friendship, not just one day a week but every day.
One Sabbath it would be lovely to have a simple Communion Service and include what is known as ‘The Service of Humility’ where you wash each other’s feet as explained in John 13:3-17. There’s a real blessing that comes from participating in this foot washing service as is clearly explained in verses 13 to 17.
Friends, let’s not skip over the foot washing service because of pride, but humble ourselves as Jesus did, and receive the blessing He promised in verses 13 to 17. Jesus said “You should wash one another’s feet… You should follow My example… You will be blessed if you do it.”
Watch the sun set at the end of Sabbath if you are able to, and thank God for His wonderful Sabbath. Pray also for God’s blessing for a wonderful week ahead as we excitedly count down the days and prepare again for the sunset on Friday to usher in the next Sabbath.
Thank God for the lovely health-giving food you are about to enjoy together now that the sun has set. Enjoy the meal and social time now that the Sabbath has passed, but, continue to let your thoughts and talk linger on our wonderful Creator and His wonderful day.
Set a date for the next ‘Holier Sabbath’ get-together. Finally, have a closing prayer of thanks for being together for a Holier Sabbath with friends and to ask God to impress us about who to invite next time.
May God bless you all, as together, with His help, we keep His wonderful Sabbath day holy.
You may like to try these ideas for a happier and holier Sabbath.
Having prepared for the Sabbath during the week and on the Preparation day, then Sabbath food, Sabbath clothes, Bibles, note pads etc. could be ready by Friday sunset.
If you are going to church on Sabbath, make the journey a pleasant time, singing songs and rehearsing Bible promises. Please don’t spoil the Sabbath by arguing on the way to church.
Sabbath programmes should be designed to be a delight to adults and children alike, but young children sometimes find it difficult to sit quietly through the church service.
Try giving them a notebook with a few beautiful words written on it – words like God, Jesus and Love. Ask your child to make a mark beside the words each time the speaker mentions them.
Because it is God’s special day, these words will hopefully be used quite a few times during the sermon.
The children will listen more attentively during the sermon, and at the end they can count up the number of times each word was used.
God’s word can sink into their minds through listening ears.
Also, for their good behaviour during church, you may give them a special treat after lunch as a ‘thank you’ reward.
If your child has a very short attention span, you might like to tell us what ideas have worked in your family.
I wish you God’s very richest blessings as we journey together. I pray that our love for God will grow as we get closer and closer to the golden city.
Love and blessings to you all from Ray at ‘Sabbath HOLY’.
Please join ‘Sabbath HOLY’ on this link.
Dear Friends,
I am very happy to have received several very good Sabbath-keeping notes from our different ‘Sabbath HOLY’ group members.
Over the weeks I will re-post a number of your ideas to help us keep God’s wonderful Sabbath day holier. I will occasionally choose to make some words bold for emphasis, add some notes, or even sometimes delete a thought if I can’t see any clear Bible verse to back it up.
I do pray that you will enjoy, be challenged and blessed by the posts received.
I also pray that together with God’s help, each one of us will prayerfully search for and contribute more ideas that will help us to keep God’s wonderful Sabbath day HOLIER.
If you and I find some things about our Sabbath-keeping that we should improve in our lives, I pray that with God’s help, we will do it and so become a greater blessing to Jesus and our Father, and in turn, receive the blessings that our wonderful Father and Jesus want to bestow on us.
Friends, your own thoughts and experiences will be appreciated very much. Thank you.
Here’s a thought for today from one of our Sabbath-keepers about how our preparation through the week can help us to have a more blessed and holier Sabbath.
PREPARATION THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
As our love for our heavenly Father grows,
so will our joy for the Sabbath grow.
Then, something very interesting happens.
We develop an attitude of valuing God’s day
as the very most important day of our week.
Soon we find we are arranging the entire week around the Sabbath, rather than saving all of our preparations till Friday – the ‘Preparation Day’ designated by Scripture. This allows us to enter the Sabbath less stressed.
Once Sabbath-keeping becomes a rhythm of relationship with God, we benefit from better organization of ALL our weekly activities.
The Sabbath is not a day for commercial commotion. God instructs us to not be distracted with buying and selling. This requires advanced planning of meals and major chores.
Nehemiah 10:31 “If the people of the land brought wares or any grain to sell on the Sabbath day, we would not buy it from them on the Sabbath …”
Nehemiah 13:15-22 tells us that it is actually evil to do our ‘everyday’ work, and buy and sell on the Sabbath, and to profane the Sabbath in any way.
To keep the busyness of Friday’s preparation to a
minimum, it is helpful to complete grocery shopping,
laundry, and major housekeeping earlier in the week.
Also, you might consider filling your car with fuel on
Thursday or earlier.
Keeping up with house cleaning, and Sabbath food planning etc. during the week will reduce the rush on Friday so we can enjoy a relaxed and blessed entrance into God’s wonderful Sabbath day.
Blessings to you all from Ray at Sabbath HOLY
Make the Sabbath a special day for our wonderful Creator God, by saying no to phones, no to social media, no to sport, no to television, no to parties etc. and saying YES to God.
We can have the privilege of spending the whole day with God on His special day. On Friday night and on Sabbath we are also blessing Jesus and our Father by singing and playing quality praise and worship music throughout our homes.
Sing the words that go with the praise and worship music as we bless and honour our wonderful Father and Jesus. My prayers and blessings go with you all as we give glory to our wonderful Creator.
Love to you all from Ray at Sabbath HOLY
Dear friends,
Here are some more thoughts from Members and Friends as to how to keep God’s wonderful Sabbath day HOLIER.
In the Bible, Exodus chapter 16 tells the story about the manna that God gave to the children of Israel and how He did not want His children to work on the Sabbath. In the Ten Commandments, God tells us the same thing in the Fourth Commandment about the Sabbath in Exodus 20:8-11. Please take the time to read these verses again during the week and on the Sabbath.
The following ideas are about the Preparation Day as we prepare for a wonderful Sabbath time.
Prepare Sabbath food beforehand – on the days before Sabbath. Sabbath is a day when mothers can have a break from slaving in the kitchen. Keep the menus for Sabbath meals very simple. Use lots of foods that don’t need to be prepared, cooked, or even re-heated on the Sabbath.
WRITE A LIST
Use your imagination to write down a Sabbath food list of items that are available in the area where you live. Keep the list so you can add new ideas and refer to it during the week on the days before Sabbath arrives.
In our country, some of the things we prepare and put aside in a basket or box during the week for a Sabbath treat are as follows: …
Fresh or roasted nuts, fresh sliced health bread,
dates, dried figs, vegetarian sausages or patties,
that are already cooked and don’t even need to be re-heated,
olives, fruit and nut health bars,
cool drinks, fresh fruit,
savoury biscuits and dips like hummus.
If you have a refrigerator, you could even prepare a cooked savoury to eat cold on Sabbath, or perhaps make a nice fruit salad and vegetable salad on Friday afternoon for Sabbath breakfast and lunch.
During the week and on Friday, tidy up the house so that the Sabbath rest can be enjoyed in a neat environment.
Perhaps you could set the table in a special way – adorning it with a tablecloth, or beautiful flowers, or candles to be lit just before the sun sets on Friday afternoon. Do something to make special memories and instil a fondness in your family for the joy of God’s holy day.
You may copy Scripture promises on small pieces of paper to be hidden under the dinner plates on the table. At the end of the meal, each family member will have a treat from the Word of God.
Turn on inspirational music an hour before the Sabbath begins to prepare your hearts for the occasion. Also, here’s a link to a short article called ‘THE PREPARATION DAY’: on my website.
TAKE TIME NOW
… to go back over the suggestions above and decide if there are some new ideas you would like to put into practice this week, and in future weeks, to enjoy a more wonderful Sabbath day with God and your family and friends.
Please send any extra ideas about how you or your friends like to keep the Sabbath HOLIER. Thank you for your kind help.
Blessings from Ray
Find a new way to make Sabbath something you WELCOME into your home. USHER IT IN!
Have Sabbath meals prepared earlier in the week and on Friday. Family bathed and dressed. Sabbath music on. Candles. Meal ready. Special prayer time at sunset. Discuss the many positive points about the Sabbath. Enjoy the wonderful meal and being present with our awesome Creator God on His very special day.
Try to imagine what our first meal in heaven and the new earth may be like.
Love and blessings from Ray
Friends, …
SIMPLIFY the Sabbath by preparing for God’s wonderful day during the first five days of the week, and then do final preparations from sunset on Thursday to sunset on Friday (the Preparation day), so that we don’t have to work on the Sabbath. That way, we simplify the Sabbath so we can enjoy a lot more quality time with our wonderful Creator God.
Philippians 4:13 (says)
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
If we really want to, He will strengthen us to even keep the Sabbath MORE holy than we may have in the past.
Love and Blessings from Ray
Have you ever thought about you or your children writing a letter to God during the week or on Sabbath? I am sure He would love to hear from you.
In your letter, let God know how you feel and how you are doing and where you are improving or falling short on the fruits of the Spirit in your life (Galatians 5:22,23). Look up these verses and then share them with your family.
We all change on our journey.
We all need to take time to stop and to examine ourselves and our feelings.
So please write God a letter to express your feelings.
Love and blessings to you from Ray
“Regarding the Sabbath, I have always been drawn back to Matthew 5:17 NKJV “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
Peter Warland then went on to say, “Now as we know, Christ Jesus took away the sacrificial part out of worship by giving Himself and allowing us to have access to the sanctuary, but from what I have found, the other Sabbath protocols given to the Hebrews did not change when the Christian church started.
1st Timothy explains about church leadership which is similar to that of the Hebrew Priests.”
“As I see it,” Peter said, “the Roman intervention played a big role in changing the Sabbath and how it was to be observed.
“Today, Sabbath keeping churches retain some of the Sabbath rules of old but because of worldly pressures have forsaken or watered-down others.” As a result , we may “Remember the Sabbath day”, but forget the last part of that very same Exodus 20:8 verse that says, “…to KEEP IT HOLY”.”
Thank you Norma Rodriguez for this message:
Spend the Sabbath with family, (teaching your children and your children’s children the ways of God), and with the family of believers because Proverbs 27:17 tells us that “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.”
Spend the day with our Father: reading His Word (that is God talking to you), praising and worshipping Him and thanking Him for what He has done and what He is still to do. Dwell on things that bring glory and honour to Him. Share testimonies to help grow our faith. And do NO BUSINESS or WORK on His wonderful day.
Sabbath is ALL ABOUT GOD, our awesome Creator.
Thank you Nonkanyiso Ngcangula for your very good thoughts. (Please note that I have edited them slightly to make them easier to understand).
Our thoughts must be heavenly bound. We must not engage in spiritual talk in our mind only, without putting it into action.
Talk and belief without works (action) is dead.
If we can’t give God the 24 hours that He said is holy, now, then how would we survive in heaven and the earth made new and then on into eternity?
Thank you Magoma Nyangaresi for your two Bible verses.
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.”
“Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them.”
v20 “Hallow (keep holy) My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.”
If God can do that through you, something that’s impossible for you to do by yourself, it is a sign that He is sanctifying you. Ezekiel 20:12 (Please see Idea No. 015).
For many, Sabbath is a day of works. Sabbath can only be kept holy through relationship with Jesus and our Father. Quit thinking ‘works’ and start thinking ‘relationship’, and the correct works will then come naturally.
Thank you to Victor Villareal. Make the Sabbath special and personal between you and God.
I’m sorry I have misplaced the name of the person who sent in this idea but thank you so much for it.
Prepare for the Sabbath.
Genuine Jews count down the days with great expectation.
Prepare our homes throughout the week - on Friday put away work related things – communications, books, publications - tidy and clean the house - read the creation story as a family – read how Jesus kept the Sabbath.
Formally welcome the Sabbath at Friday sunset with praise and worship, Bible reading and prayer, and have special food for the Sabbath meals.
Intentionally leave aside discussions about surviving in this world and focus on God’s providence and goodness and His beautiful character.
Spend time as a family – our own family and our church family out in nature. Visit with people who are unable to be with you such as the sick and elderly.
Lead out in sharing stories of faith, Bible stories, testimonies and nature lessons, and encourage and help the children to prepare and present some of these things in their own way.
Sincerely ask for God’s beautiful presence in all of the experiences we are involved in on His wonderful Sabbath day.
Friends, we will continue to add more ideas to this list as you send in your own thoughts.
Thank you so much my very dear friends. As we spend more time with Jesus and our wonderful heavenly Father, we begin to grow like the company we keep. As life, and the Bible both teach us, “We become like that upon which we dwell.”
Please spend more time learning how to be a blessing to our Father and Jesus as, with their help, we learn to keep God’s wonderful day holier.
“Remember the Sabbath day, TO KEEP IT HOLY”
Friends, if you have been blessed and challenged by these ideas, then please take time now to send them on to your friends.
To God be the Glory!
Thank you.
Blessing from
Ray Archer
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