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What day is the Sabbath? 2 of 2 Entering into rest

7/26/2025

Hi all,

Once we realize Christ is in us, and Christ IS the Sabbath, we have great freedom. Others however, don't have that knowledge. They feel compelled for their own emotional needs to 'do something' towards God. That is fine of course, as Paul explains.

Walking in love, while understanding people's practices through NT realities
In Romans 14 Paul addresses those who choose to eat or not eat meat, worship on one day or all days, and drinks wine or not drinks wine.

Romans 14:1-2:"Accept one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over. For one person's faith allows them to eat anything, another who is weak, eats only vegetables....(v5) One person considers one day more sacred than the others; another considers every day alike. Let each person be fully persuaded within their own mind. He who regards one day above another does so unto the Lord, and one who considers all days alike, does so unto the Lord."

The rest of Romans 14 is about walking in love, realizing each person does what they do unto the Lord, and He accepts them. We should as well, as he wrote. At the very start, in v1, he says talk about it but not to the point of quarreling. Paul repeats himself in Colossians 2:14-23 where he writes of the completeness of Jesus' work on the cross, stating in v16-17:

"Therefore don't let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or in respect to a holy day, new moon, or Sabbath days, which are shadows of what's to come. But the substance (body) of these things, is Christ."

(The new moon reference is of the rapture, from the Feast of Trumpets, which is the only festival that starts in the new moon phase, when the moon is hidden. In Judaism, the moon represents believers, who were made to rule the night, derive their light from the sun, and will be hidden in Messiah at the natzal, or what the church calls the rapture).

What the Father taught me about a personal Sabbath
When we take 1 day a week to rest, that is to cease our work as God did from His, we honor Him. Every day of rest is a type of our salvation, for Jesus bought our peace with the Father, bought our rest between us and the Father.

Some years ago I worked non-stop. I'd try to unplug a day, but always found myself answering emails or messages or texts or whatever. I could not quite completely take a full day off. In Exodus 20:8-11 where the law of the Sabbath is first stated, it says you'll do no 'menial' work. The Hebrew is literally 'accomplish no', or 'accomplish nothing' on that day. Barb and the Father were increasingly insistent I learn to take a day off, but it is against my nature to just be a blob for a day.

We were in the Netherlands for one of our annual conferences, and vertigo hit me hard. I'd had a serious episode on a previous trip to Lithuania, so vertigo wasn't new to me. It always happened when I was very tired, after working many days without rest.

What changed me
This particular trip to the Netherlands changed everything for me. I don't sleep on planes, and flights to Europe from the US leave in the evening and arrive the next morning, so a whole night's sleep is missed. I could feel the changes in my body telling me I was on the edge of vertigo, but the conference was before us. During Friday night's worship I was fighting to stay upright.

As so often happens at our conferences and retreats, the Lord came during one of the worship sessions, opening my eyes to His visitation as well as many others. It is like Elisha in II Kings 6:15-17 when Elisha asked the Lord to open the eyes of his servant so he could see what Elisha saw. Afterwards several spoke how they saw or sensed Him, felt His peace when He put His hand on them, and one man spoke through tears how He came and hugged him which melted away years of personal insecurities and fears.

I saw Him, and He looked at me and smiled, but didn't say anything; He just started walking among the people. That was Friday night. Saturday morning I was so sick with vertigo I could barely stand, going back to bed, dry heaving from the nausea, and had to have Barb and Brian take the afternoon session.

As I lay there I talked to the Father, saying:"The Lord was there last night, why didn't He heal me? He could have, He was there, many saw Him and received healings or peace or what they needed, why didn't He heal me?" The Father responded:

"You're suffering the consequences of your disobedience. I've been dealing with you for some time trying to get you to take a full day off, but you've ignored me. Even your wife has been telling you for a long time to take a day off, and you haven't even obeyed her. Learn this my son:Your body is going the way of the earth, and you need to learn to adjust."

I apologized (repented) right then, and spent the next few hours in bed, re-hydrating, napping, and promising I'd change. By that evening I was a little better, on Sunday better, and almost normal on Monday. The Father didn't instantly heal me, allowing me to fully experience my own disobedience and walk out my newfound obedience. With few exceptions when circumstances didn't allow it, I've taken a full day to unplug, rest, stay away from my phone and computer, once a week. Sometimes 2 days when needed. I haven't had an episode like that in the Netherlands since.

When is your Sabbath rest?
Earlier I mentioned Hebrews 4:11 which tells us to 'labor to enter into that rest', making the statement that there isn't a problem with your faith, it is about working to enter into that Sabbath rest. Christ is in us, so we would think when life's problems come our way loaded with their fear and confusion, we would easily combat them with His peace. But it isn't that easy. Thus, 'labor to enter into that rest.'

For me, resting a full day IS a type of work, a new behavior that I had to learn. The issue went from chapter and verse to living reality, teaching myself how to slow down, how to disconnect, how to let the Sabbath rest of Christ in me flow outward to 1 day a week.

You may have to plan your day of rest by letting others know you won't be available. Letting work know you can't pick up that extra shift on that day, and above all, resisting the urge to look at that phone, that computer, that tablet. Jesus is quoted 3x that He is Lord of the Sabbath, meaning once you have Jesus, you have all the Sabbaths within. The rest IS there in the person of Christ in you, so get with Him and see how the two of you can plan a rest time. Every Sabbath rest is as I said earlier, a type of the rest Jesus bought on the cross between God and man. He is at rest with us, we are at rest with Him.

Ahhhh....let that peace flow from your spirit, to your soul, out to your body and physical world....new subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]

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What day is the Sabbath? - 1 of 2

7/19/2025

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Hi all,

For some Christians, the Sabbath is a very important day. But which day is THE Sabbath to observe? This is a trick question.

Messianic Christians usually meet Friday nights or Saturdays, believing they are obeying God's Word.
Many believe it is more pleasing to God to gather Friday nights or Saturday, because they believe that is what He commanded. That sounds godly, but if you examine the many passages on the Sabbath, there is nothing said about gathering either Friday night or on Saturday (Sabbath). In fact, God only required them to go to temple 3x a year.* Exodus 20:8-11 which is the Law of the Sabbath, merely says don't work. *Deuteronomy 16:16, Exodus 23:17

First mention of meeting Friday nights or on Saturday is during Israel's time of captivity in Babylon (500's BC), but disappeared when they were released back to Israel during the time of Nehemiah and Ezra. Meeting on Friday nights or Saturdays didn't become a practice until about 150 years before Jesus was born. It became elevated in importance under the Pharisees, who you will recall, had several clashes with Jesus about the Sabbath. (Mark 7:9-13/Mt 15:1-6 for example)

But well meaning Christians such as 'Messianic' or "Hebrew roots", "7th Day Adventists", "Church of God 7th Day", and "7th Day Baptist Church" also meet on Saturday. But they don't believe according to New Testament realities.

The Sabbath is a Person.
In Exodus 31:16 God calls the Sabbath a 'perpetual covenant'. The reason God's rest is perpetual is because the Sabbath is a Person. Jesus Christ IS the Sabbath. Christ is in you, therefore you are at perpetual Sabbath rest from your religious works. It is done! It is finished! You have peace with God and He with you, because of the perpetual Sabbath of Jesus Christ.

In Genesis 2:1-3 it says:"Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in their vast array. On the 7th day God ended all His work, resting. He blessed and set aside (sanctified) the 7th day because He had quit from all He had created and made."

The 7th day Sabbath is a type and picture of the person of Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. It is when God quit. In II Corinthians 5:18-19 Paul writes:"And all (new) things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is to say, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not charging their sins to them...We then are Ambassadors for Christ saying; Be reconciled to God." (God's not angry with you; He made peace with you through Jesus - accept His peace offering!")

When Jesus said "It is finished", He rested. God the Father rested. They quit, it was done, salvation was won. The Sabbath from the start of creation itself, prophesied of Jesus. Do you think the Lord was tired or worn out after 6 days of creation? Of course not, He is a Spirit, He can't get physically exhausted from work. He quit. It was done. The same with "It is finished" on the cross. It was done, the darkness lifted from the cross, the sin of the world was paid for. God quit. Jesus quit. Salvation had been won.

Every Sabbath in every festival in the Bible is a type of the rest accomplished by Jesus' work on the cross. These Sabbaths spoke to a future appointment, a time when God would literally fulfill the appointment with the final Sabbath. These festivals are 'moed'*, divine rehearsals for the true. (Exodus 23:15; 34:18, appointed times*)

Hebrews 4:The Sabbath is Jesus Christ
In the first 8 verses of Hebrews 4 the author writes of Israel under Moses and Joshua, saying they had the gospel preached to them as we have, but many didn't believe in the Lord. He compares those who were believers with the unbelievers who died in the wilderness, with people today who either believe or don't believe. He wrote in v3:"We who have believed enter into that rest..." He is alluding to the fact that had you lived back then, you would have been like Joshua and Caleb and others who believed in the Lord, not like the unbelievers.

He goes on to talk of the rest Israel received after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as they entered the Promised Land, in v8:"If Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoke about a future (Sabbath) day of rest. There is then a Sabbath-rest for the people of God. Anyone who enters into God's rest also rests from their own (religious) works, as God rested."

Verse 9-11:"There remains, then, 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, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."

He continues in v12 that the Sabbath is a person:"For the word of God (remember there was no NT at the time, he is talking about the Person who is the Word of God) is sharper than any 2-edged sword, dividing between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and critiques the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Nothing in creation is hidden from His sight. For all things are open and naked before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Seeing then we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus Christ...."

Here we see Jesus Christ IS the Sabbath. Next week we'll see a Sabbath within a Sabbath, and what Paul wrote about those who choose to honor one day above the rest. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]

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Things the Father, Lord, or angels have told me, Healing. 4 of 4

7/12/2025

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Hi all,

I had picked Chris up from his group home for his usual Friday and Saturday home visit, and Saturday morning we were driving along doing the errands I saved up during the week to do with him. Chris is mentally about 4 years old, so when this happened in 2024, he was a few months shy of 45 years old physically.

As we drove I was thinking on how we've had 41 years of children's songs - 41 years of being 4. I was tired, listening to the same songs on my 'Chris' play lists we've listened to for years, but to Chris, they are familiar, comfortable, like home, and he never tires of hearing them. Also, Chris is very talkative. He's never met a stranger nor dog he didn't instantly like. He keeps a running commentary on traffic around us. It's all at a 4 year old level.

I talked to the Father inwardly, silently as we drove:
"Father, I long for an adult relationship with Chris. I long to talk to him on an adult level." Suddenly as we drove there appeared a rectangle, like a TV screen, in the air to my right. I could see the natural world as I drove along and that screen at the same time. It is what Elisha and his servant experienced in II Kings 6:15-17 when both men saw the physical army assembled against them, AND the angelic army protecting them at the same time. That's most often what happens to me, like 2 dimensions seen at the same time.

I was in heaven standing next to Chris, on his left side. Because I was standing and he was seated on what seemed to be a rock, I could only look down upon the top of his head and shoulders. I noticed his size - if he was normal he would by my size of about 6'6" (2m) - but due to his brain damage in labor with muscle atrophy over the years, he is smaller. I noticed his head was normal size and he still had his dark hair that he got from his mom (my wife Barb). He was a big man.

There were people sitting on the ground in front of him, listening intently. Some of their faces were blurred and I knew by the Spirit, just knew it within myself, that they had been some of Chris's care givers at one time on the earth. "Father, what am I seeing?" "You're seeing Chris in heaven." "What is he doing?" "He's telling people what it was like to be trapped in a flawed body, his thoughts, experiences. Also, how even though his injury robbed him of his ability to fully communicate, he knew things, he perceived things that people said and what was going on around him. He will continue to share his life with others that they may be blessed." Then the 'screen' disappeared and I was back in the natural, driving along, and I looked at Chris next to me in the front seat, and though what a good man he is, and how blessed we are as his parents.

I've seen a future with my son in heaven.
I realize countless people would love to see their 'special' child or grandchild as I did in their future life in heaven. All I can offer is the certain hope that there is a heaven, and our spirit and soul are eternal, combined, one, as the Father and His (Holy) Spirit are one.

The human spirit and soul are eternal, and down inside those frail, flawed, damaged, human bodies of those we love, is the real person. The eternal person. One day we and they will receive bodies made of indestructible, eternal, heavenly material, like our risen Lord's body. But for now, we work through life's struggles with that certainty inside us, that knowing in our spirit that our life here is but a vapor and we are renewed day by day as we look not at the seen, which is temporary, but at the unseen, which are eternal. (II Cor 4:16-18)

The deaf-mute, Will.
It was a Sunday service and duties related to my staff position caused me to come in after the service had started. I was seated higher up in the congregation. The mega-church met in a basketball arena, with the court covered temporarily with carpet. Seating was spread around half the oval, with the pulpit and worship team down on the floor.

Sitting a few rows above the floor and way below me was a deaf-mute man whose name was Will. Some weeks earlier the pastor had asked me to try to communicate with Will - I guess he thought because I have a handicapped son I could somehow communicate with this deaf-mute man.

The pastor wanted me to communicate to Will that he did not need to come down front at every altar call. Every service had an altar call, and every altar call Will came down front for prayer. If there was a call for women wanting prayer to get pregnant - Will was there. If there was a call for women's health issues - Will was there. If the call was for people struggling with addictions - Will was there. He was a deaf-mute so didn't know anything but that he loved the Lord and wanted to be where the action was. That meant every altar call Will came down front to be in the prayer line.

I completely failed in that request from the pastor.
Will's huge smile and blindingly white teeth against his dark skin, perfectly set his big innocent eyes which reflected a pure love and zeal for the Lord. He wasn't retarded intellectually that I knew of, he just couldn't hear or talk.

During the worship service I noticed that Will was seated a few rows off the floor of the arena, and his hands were raised straight up, his head tilted back, just loving and worshipping the Father. As I wondered how worship was done for a middle aged deaf-mute, my eyes were opened to the Father's realm.

There was a shaft of light coming from way up in the arena's roof area, straight to Will, encompassing his head and shoulders. I heard the Father talking to him as I also saw the Father's Words in sentences being poured from the top of the shaft down into Will's spirit and soul as if the light of God was a pipe or conduit through which the Word of the Father flowed into him. The sentences and the Father's voice seemed to be absorbed into him, and I wondered what he sensed.

Will was twisting left and right at the hips, hands raised, head back, in pure joy
I wondered if he heard the Father or just sensed His love for him. “My son, you have a throne and authority in my kingdom. I have provided great things for you and you shall walk in them, for you have been faithful in your love for me.”

As I witnessed this I blurted out in my mind, “Father, why him?” Just as quickly the Father responded:“Because of the simplicity of his love for me. His love for me is unencumbered with ulterior motives and he asks nothing for himself. The purity of his love for me is uncomplicated by issues others are distracted with. It is because of the simplicity and purity of his love that I bless him this way. In the ages to come he will share the wisdom which flows from this simplicity and purity of love.”

I asked, “You’ve given him a throne and authority?” Again He responded, “He has been given authority because he has done more with the little he has been given in this life than nearly everyone here [in the service] you would consider “whole.” Therefore they will come and sit at his feet to learn of him, and he will be their teacher.”

I asked, “Why don’t you just heal him?”
The Father replied very quickly and with a matter of fact tone, “I enjoy his worship.” “But Father,” I reasoned, “He’s missing so much of life he could have if he was healed—family, jobs, cars, and so on.” He replied, “I make sure he has everything he needs. He finds his fulfillment in his love and fellowship with me.” “But what a wonderful testimony and example of love he could be to everyone if you healed him, and he could tell us here in this life about loving you with purity and simplicity.”

He continued teaching me, “They [the congregation] have the scripture that tells them what pure religion and love is, yet this man is not even given a thought or noticed by them. Therefore I have set him in their midst as an example and
testimony to them, that by him they might know humility and simplicity of love for me."

"Learn wisdom in this son:Most just see a deaf mute, but I see a man who loves me in simplicity and purity, therefore he will be their teacher. Look at people as I see them, for man looks at the outward appearance, but I see the heart and weigh all things in the balance. Know people according to their heart."

All these things have contributed to having a big picture look at life. They have helped me not get focused on things that are in the big picture, very minor. In terms of doctrine, I am zealous for the truth and will call error, error, when I see it. But I will also get emails from people asking how I could visit with such and such a person because they don't believe the same, I remember I will know this person for eternity. In 200, 500, 10,000 years will a difference in what we believe now be a factor in our lives then? It makes me patient with people while seeing their flaws (and my own too), and gives me grace to allow the Lord to work within them to do His will - if they allow.

Live while always keeping the 'big picture' in your heart when dealing with one another. The words of Micah 6:8 are true:
"He has shown you oh man what the Lord requires of you:To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly with your God."

New subject next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
http://www.cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]

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Things the Father, Lord, or angels have told me, 3 of 4

7/5/2025

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Hi all,

Why does the Father use the unsaved to bless the saved?
When Barb and I were first married, and from time to time in years following, her parents would bless us with money gifts, and later a car. At that point they didn't know the Lord, and it was during one of these times I asked my angel after he had brought a message to me:"Why does the Father use the unsaved to bless the saved?"

His answer was simple and direct, with a look of 'how is it you don't know this already?' on his face:"That they not come empty handed before the King!" Barb's parents did believe on the Lord before they died, and we've realized all those good things they did for us and others, went ahead to be credited to their account - such is the Father's goodness that He does that often.

The idea of not coming empty handed before a king, THE King, is not new. Even in today's cultures one visiting another often brings a gift for the host or hostess. In Romans 12:1 we are told to "present your bodies a living sacrifice, which is your reasonable worship." In the OT times love offerings were considered gifts for God. Jesus referred to this in Matthew 5:23-24 when He said if you aren't reconciled to a person, 'leave your gift at the altar and go and be reconciled...' Even today heads of State will give gifts to one another, or in modern times gifts from one government to the other.

"That they not come empty handed before the King." We are not to simply add Jesus to our busy lives and schedule, we are to present ourselves to Him as a gift in thanks for His Ultimate Sacrifice for our salvation. The trials and tribulations of our lives are, as we overcome them and become more Christ-like, are somehow transformed into heavenly material that we not come empty handed before the King.

Our lives and our growth in Christ are recorded in heaven
David wrote in Psalm 56:8 that his tears were kept in God's bottle and were written in His book. Malachi 3:16 mentions the 'book of remembrance', and in Judaism it is understood each person's life is written in such a book. Additionally, there is the book of the living that has the names of believers written therein.

Peter says in I Peter 2:5 we are living stones, and in The Revelation 21:14 the founding stones on the heavenly city have the names of the apostles written on them. The Lord somehow turns our lives in Him into heavenly material. In I Corinthians 3:11-12 Paul says the only foundation is Jesus Christ, but we each build our lives on that foundation, either gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble.

He then tells the carnal and envy filled Corinthians to stop dividing into little groups in strife with one another, calling envy, strife, and divisions as wood, hay, and stubble that will be burned away when they stand before the Lord - but they'll still be saved he said in v15.

We should endeavor to overcome and grow up from petty strifes, divisions and other works of the flesh, for when we do so, our victory turns those works of the flesh into love, joy, peace and things which are in heaven, gold, silver, and precious stones. Let us not come empty handed before the King.

Why angels listen to us?
Many times I've been ministering in an auditorium church or conference, I see an angel present for every single person present. It happens in house church regularly, even among 6 or 10 or 20 people. The first time it happened I was ministering in a church with about 60 people present, and there were about 60 angels standing in the aisles, at the back, filling every space someone could stand - while the congregation was seated in pews.

I asked my angel why they do that and he said:"We learn! We learn from your perspective!" It reminded me of one of the first times the Lord 'introduced me' to my angel, and I asked him how he felt about me being in charge of him in the age to come (I Corinthians 6:2-3). The look on his face was immediately horror that I should ask such a thing:"It is right! It is proper! (then softening) "Remember, we know Him as Creator, but you know Him as Savior."

Angel prevents an accident
I had officiated at a funeral that day and was driving home. The road was a 2 lane country road in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. It was winding, up and down and around, and I happened to get behind a huge RV (motor home) that was struggling up the steep road.

I pulled out for a peek to see if any cars were coming from the other direction then back in, then out again, and seeing the road clear I started to floor it, when suddenly my angel swooped in from my left, but in the air with both arms extended and palms toward me:"STOP! DO NOT PASS RIGHT NOW!". I immediately pulled back behind the slow RV.

But I had to know why, so I pulled out just enough for me to see around the motor home, and saw a man in a car pulling out of a driveway, and he only looked to his left for traffic coming from the direction he was turning - he never looked to his right to see if someone might be passing slower traffic, which would have been me and we would have met in a head-on collision.

I was SO relieved and said "Thank you Father for that protection", and began wondering as we poked along, how many accidents happen that we will never know this side of heaven, because people disobeyed an urging from the Lord or their angel, not to do this or that. And I wondered how many lives He has saved because people though perhaps not seeing their angel, felt that heaviness not to do x thing, or they sensed going in this direction didn't feel right inside, or they couldn't get a peace about this or that trip?

Sense of humor
Angels do find us amusing, though their loyalty is to the Father and they would take us out in a second if He so commanded. They have no emotional attachment to us, or I should say their emotional attachment is submitted to the Father's will. I was changing planes in Dallas, Texas, and as the plane slowly rolled to the gate, I suddenly saw my angel in the aisle of the plane. "Watch your head on the way out" is what he said.

I thought that was odd, but when you are in the Spirit it just all seems so normal, I thought 'okay' and quickly shifted my attention to the plane rolling to a stop, standing and getting my carry on luggage from the overhead compartment, and stood in line waiting for the doors to open.

As I made my way to the front of the plane the flight attendant and pilot stood by the cabin thanking passengers for flying with them as we turned left to leave the plane. As they said 'thank you' to me, I turn my head to them and said 'Thank you, have a nice night", as I turned left to walk out - and promptly slammed my head against the door frame of the airplane, knocking me backwards and to the ground.

The muscles on the back of my neck were scrunched up like a cramp, and as I knelt on the ground trying to recover myself, I slapped my right hand on the back of my neck and said out loud:"In the name of Jesus be healed!" And then struggled to my feet. The pilot and flight attendant were insistent that I stay down and let them call for medical help, but I told them I was okay and said "Thank you though" as I walked onto the jetbridge.

There in that wide place where the jetbridge turns right to connect to the terminal building, was my angel, doubled over in laughter, shaking his head as he laughed at my misfortune, saying through his laughter:"I told you to watch your head!"

There have been many times Barb and I have heard or sensed or somehow knew, the Lord and/or our angel(s) laughed at us for doing or saying things they thought funny. I'm sure many readers have too, but perhaps not heard of anyone else so until now have just thought maybe it was their imagination thinking the Lord or an angel was laughing at them or with them.

More next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected] or [email protected]

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