Thursday, March 14, 2013

Change of Address: Welcome Home!

Abide.
One word. One powerful, life giving, life altering word.

a·bide  

/əˈbīd/



Verb
  1. Accept or act in accordance with (a rule, decision, or recommendation):
  2.  "I would abide by their decision".
  3. Be unable to tolerate (someone or something): "I cannot abide a lack of discipline".

Synonyms   stay - stand - endure - reside - dwell - remain - bear




 WHERE DO YOU LIVE??




A call is going out to all who call themselves "Believers in Christ".

For too long we have neglected the truth and full meaning/invitation given by our Father.
It came in the form of  the cross, and our RSVP was to be returned after the opening of the tomb. When the veil was torn in two in the temple, God opened up His front door to us!
And many have responded, but few have understood the invitation.
WE WERE NEVER MEANT TO BE VISITORS ! We were invited to abide IN Him, not just with Him. Oh how many miss the truth and the magnitude of what has been accomplished on the cross!!!  Heaven was shut before us until Jesus extended His arms and welcomed us in. At the time the sword was thrust into Jesus' body,   the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.
Exod 26:31-34 "You shall make a veil woven of blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine woven linen. It shall be woven with an artistic design of cherubim. You shall hang it upon the four pillars of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Their hooks shall be of gold, upon four sockets of silver. And you shall hang the veil from the clasps. Then you shall bring the ark of the Testimony in there, behind the veil. The veil shall be a divider for you between the holy place and the Most Holy. You shall put the mercy seat upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy."

That veil was 15 feet high, and 18 feet long. As to the weight of it, the Bible does not say.

Tradition says that two horses hooked to it would not have 

been able to pull it  in two, it was so thick, but the Bible 

never says that.


The veil being torn in two speaks of the body of Jesus Christ being broken on our behalf to make access to Him possible. 

The presence of God was uncovered and all are now

 invited to enter through the way Christ opened.


 Abide. 
An active word, not a passive word. To  abide requires a decision- a weighing of priorities.
Look again at the definition above. It includes endure-that is active-you cannot be passive as you are enduring, it necessitates a constant state of decisiveness. As you endure, you must repeatedly revisit that initial decision to "stay, stand, remain, bear".  If that decision is upheld, then you are dwelling, choosing your residence


    We were invited IN, to stay, to remain in HIs presence.

Never were we invited to visit. 

Yet, sadly that is what has been accepted as the norm. We awake, we might say a quick prayer, or better, spend a time in "devotions", yet we still leave!  We don't realize what was given to us!  His very presence- the door to the Holy of Holies was opened to us. Constant communion (fellowship, not bread and juice), wisdom, counsel, and friendship with the One who was, Is ,and Is to come is there waiting for us, not for a moment, not for a dedicated hour of "quiet time", and not for our gatherings that take place weekly. But 24/7, 365, FOREVER!!!!  Forever began that day the sword entered, the veil was torn and the Front Door to God's Living Room was opened to us!

   We MUST change our mindset regarding this. It is a paradigm shift in the way we think, approach and steward our lives. Those "saints" who seem to know the Lord in a deeper way, in a way that we might secretly desire, long for but have regrettably assigned  that wonder to " a select few" are the ones who not only heard the gospel, believed it and responded, but they accepted the invitation to stay. They have learned how to abide in His presence.

They daily, CONTINUALLY practice His presence. They have developed the awareness of Him at all times. They know that He speaks softly but mightily, sense His gentle but sudden staff of guidance in even the smallest of movements. God is not confined to specific rooms in their hearts. They understand that He is too large to "come into their lives". Which is why HE extended the invitation to them/ us...


   God is not someone they visit;


 They moved in!!

  They do not set aside a "time" or place for 

                Him. He is too grand, to limitless to fit into

their schedule, their lifestyle.   They live IN Him.  

  So, what about YOU?  


 Are you ready to make   that Change  of Address?  



HOW? you may ask? 
   

* First ask the Lord to reveal this truth to you- to breath 

upon it  and make it rhema-and not just written (logos).


* Practice being aware of His presence 

throughout the day.

* Rid yourself of preconceived notions of  how God will relate


to you.  Like any Father, He relates individually , personally and uniquely with each child.

* Understand that Bible Study, prayer time are vital, but don't relegate Him to those times alone.   
 This involves a shift in  our expectancy.  
As "Brother Lawrence" stated in his book Practicing the Presence of God: 
"That in order to form a habit of conversing with GOD continually, and referring all we do to Him; we must at first apply to Him with some diligence: but that after a little care we should find His love inwardly excite us to it without any difficulty."
 Begin to restructure attitudes and thought processes that once divided your time with the Lord 

and your daily activities. IF you are living IN Him, you are with Him  in the car, the store, the  

laundry room, board room, bathroom and kitchen!














What's Goat got to do with it?

    Prayer,  talking, communication between God and man is covered with goatskin. What am I talking about?  Read Numbers chapter 4. God gives specific instructions regarding the tabernacle items and how they are to be cared for:
11 “Next they must spread a blue cloth over the gold incense altar and cover this cloth with fine goatskin leather. Then they must attach the carrying poles to the altar. 12 They must take all the remaining furnishings of the sanctuary and wrap them in a blue cloth, cover them with fine goatskin leather, and place them on the carrying frame.
The altar of incense  ( = prayer) is to be covered with in blue (= heavenlies) and then goatskin. Why goatskin? The goat was a sacrificial animal. This drab color tells us of Jesus in His humility and poverty. Goatskins were worn by the poor and throughout the Bible represented extreme poverty.

When we come before the Lord of Heaven, we must be mindful of the poverty that covered our life before HE became our covering. His sacrifice lies between us and heaven. WE can only approach the Father through Him. 
   A goat was used on the Day of Atonement. After the high priest completed the blood sprinkling in the Holy of Holies he would go into the court of the tabernacle and lay his hands on the head of the " scapegoat" ; confessing over it all the sins of the people. The goat was then led away, by a man standing ready, into the wilderness, and there let free, to signify the carrying away of Israel's sins which God had forgiven. 
   The vessels/instruments that represented prayer in the tabernacle are object lessons to us, reminding us of that truth.  Our lack, need, sin, nakedness is covered by Jesus' sacrifice. 
    Goatskin is a simple, humble reminder of our own simple nature, and the manner of which to approach the King of Heaven;  humility and gratitude.  

We are measured not by our own talents or worth, but by His completed work on the cross.