Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Shekinah Glory

THE SHEKINAH GLORY
The Presence of the Lord would fill the holy of holies.

I decided to share with you the message God has been imparting to me by way of the Holy Spirit.  For the last 60 days or so each time I enter into my prayer closet and spend time in his presence the Lord seems to be much more intense and I feel a huge part of his presence.  It is Fierce, yet peaceful; Intense, yet welcoming.  As I pray my words are often in my prayer language because his presence is so powerful my physical body/mind cannot find the words to praise him.  I have wondered why this last few times in his presence have been so different, it has been in those times that the Holy Spirit has whispered it is his Shekinah Glory.  At first it caught me off guard and I kind of thought maybe that word just sounded neat so I decided to label God's presence with it, ( I of course know that i didn't make up the word, but I mean it is
catchy so maybe I just thought oh Shekinah sounds really profound so I'll label this intensity of God Shekinah Glory). I do want you all to know that I know I am not that brilliant or that special that God would give me something he hasn't already given all of us in his word.
But the second time the Holy Spirit said it again I knew I was witnessing some of God's most profound gifts.  I began to ask, "Why God, would you show this to me now."  He responded almost immediately, "Because my people who are called by my name are weak and becoming weary in their well doing.  Because this is part of the gift I want to bestow on my people." I don't know if this ever happens to you, but rarely does God just answer me right then.  Usually he lets me think it over and come back at least twice before he really shows me the insight I am looking for.
I asked him why then don't we see it more often or hear about it.  His response was so simple....... "Because my people are not willing to wait for it. They do not seek to find ME, they only seek to find my blessing."

God desires an intimate relationship, not the quick prayers we give him driving down road or before we rest our heads at night!  He wants to sit with us and share his heart, to mold us and form us into his image ( from a spiritual standpoint).  
This is not a made up ideology of who God is or what he wants to impart and his presence with us did not end when the Bible was completed.

It wasn't until I had thought over what he had shared several days later that I realized that this is something that makes God sad.  He really wants us to know how much he has for us and not because someone else enlightens us but because we spend time with him and he shows us!



To study more Review the story of Moses and the Temple. (See Exodus 40:35, "Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting, for the cloud rested [shakhan] upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle." See also e.g. Genesis 9:27, 14:13, Psalms 37:3, Jeremiah 33:16), as well as the weekly Shabbat blessing recited in the Temple in Jerusalem

Monday, May 7, 2012

One More Round.......

I was thinking of the song by Barlow Girl, "One More Round" and thinking what if you don't have the strength to go one more round.  Usually that song evokes a response of readiness and of willingness to not give up, but today I have to say that I don't think I have it in me to go one more round.  I need to rest.  I need to be able to find refuge under the wings of the almighty.  There are tough places in our lives where we sometimes cannot get up and be ready to fight again.

It is in the times of trouble that we need to remember that we do not war against flesh and blood but against principalities of darkness in high places.  Do we realize that....... sadly I would say to many of us do not.  It is fair to say that we all sometimes need a time out.  Just as a child needs a time out when being disciplined for bad behavior or for unwillingness to yield to authority, just as the boxer who is being pummeled needs a timeout to regain his composure/stance: we too need to realize that sometimes we need to take a time out.  I'm not talking about giving up.... I am talking about taking the steps to regain our stance so that we can endure the fight, so that we can come out victorious.  The bible says in 2nd Corinthians 4 that, "our light and momentary afflictions are creating for us an eternal glory that far outweighs the rest"  We can be sure that "the testing of our Faith does develop perseverance".  We need to be willing to stand our ground and continue to fight the good fight, and in the moments where we cannot fight, that we take refuge in the dwelling place of the most high God.  The bible also says that the battle belongs to the Lord, but we are in the Lord's army.  So what does that mean for us?  It means that while we do war, we are not in charge of the battle, or determining it's course.  We are not even given the responsibility of determining our stance.  We are called to Love!  We are called to Cast off, We are called to call on the name of the Lord.  We are called to live in peace one to another.  So when the battle rages and trust me it will.  Remember to put on the full Armour of God so that you will be able to withstand the Perils of the devil.