Overlooked Furniture

There were different pieces of furniture in the Tent of the Tabernacle of Moses.  We are familiar with most: The Ark of the Covenant is the one most people know, The Table of Shewbread, mostly known because of David, The Golden Candlestick, speaking to us that God is our supplier in all, however we tend to overlook one: The Golden Altar of Incense.

For time purposes I wont belabor the fact the Golden Altar of Incense was made

Looking at this piece of furniture in relation to the others located inside the tent, we see it was the highest piece in the actual tent.  This points us towards Christ’s ministry of Intercession as His highest ministry now in behalf of the Church in the 2000 years of the Church Age or Dispensation of the Spirit.   We know from reading the Scriptures the Golden Altar of Incense had four horns upon the four corners which spoke to the power, authority and kingship of God. 

But I want to focus on the burning of incense upon the Golden Altar.  This represents the prayers of the Saints ascending up to God, through our Savior Jesus, who offers them as a sweet savor unto our LORD.

However that is often where we leave it.  If we fast forward to Luke 1:1-23 for we know the Old Testament is only a foreshadowing of Christ in reality or our New Testament, we see Zacharias ministering at the Golden Altar of Incense.  Why is this important?  Zacharias received the revelation of the forerunner of the Messiah while he ministered here.  In the same way, the Church will be made ready for the Messiah’s second coming as it enters into full ministry at this piece of furniture, the Golden Altar of Incense or Prayer.  We need to recognize just how important this piece of furniture is in God’s mind.

Jesus said, “My house shall be called a house of Prayer” (Matthew 21:13) and the Bible teaches us we are to pray in the Spirit (Jude 20) and to pray by the Spirit (Romans 8:26).  The true incense will arise from the heart of the believer, ascending into the Heavenly Sanctuary.  What makes it a sweet savor unto God is Christ our intercessor whom our prayers pass through.

When we send up Incense to the LORD, our entire nature and being must be involved.  We must be saturated with the fragrance of a Prayer Life, and the fire of the Spirit will cause our Incense to ascend.  God does place a high premium on prayer.  Have you been to The Altar of Incense lately?

Insight to Our Shepherd

The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  Psalm 23:1

We are all familiar with this scripture and some even quote it most often when we are faced with an impending situation for which we are not sure the direction we should go.  In this we are, at the very least, verbally acknowledging we need Christ to lead and guide us.

While studying the Old Testament Shepherd, I discovered many remarkable things about this very common, but often lonely and despised craft.  The Shepard was usually alone, and was left with the sole responsibility of protecting the entire flock from wolves, bears, lions, and a host of pitfalls, traps and situations, all while many different sheep would often stray, as if they knew better the way to go than the Shepherd.

What was the Shepherd’s recourse?  How did he maintain His flock and teach them to stay close to Him?  We know about the rod and the staff the Shepherd carried.  One was used to ward of predators, and the other was used to pull back a sheep from and impending dangerous cliff or pitfall, or simply to bring the sheep closer to the Shepherd when the sheep strayed too far.

Every so often, the Shepherd would have a sheep, which despite repeated warnings and continued being reined in, the Shepherd would take the sheep and break its leg.  Sound harsh?  No doubt it was painful for the sheep.  But then the Shepherd did something amazing.  He would place the sheep over His shoulder and carry the sheep.  The sheep, which no doubt felt every step and jolt the Shepherd made as He walked the rugged hillside, would learn to sync up with the Shepherd, to minimize his pain.  He would even become so in sync with the Shepherd; his heartbeat would beat in rhythmic cadence with the Shepard.  Once the sheep healed, he was let down to romp and play again, but he never strayed to far from the Shepherd, who demonstrated He how much He truly loved the sheep.

Does this reflect events in your life?  Have you strayed a few times?  Has our Shepherd broken your leg and placed you over His shoulder, placing His heart next to yours? 

The sooner you sync up with His will, the sooner you will be whole and well.

Christ Inside of Me

Recently I completed reading the Bible from cover to cover, and as I pondered what to study next, I could hear the LORD directing me to the Tabernacles.  I started with the Tabernacle of Moses and really began to pick apart all the intricacies and particulars and how they pointed to The New Testament Christ.  What I didn’t expect to see also was how much it pointed towards me.

What do I mean, Am I comparing myself to CHRIST?  Absolutely not.  However you cannot discover His heights, and not come to recognize you lowliness.  You cannot not experience His Glory and not feel your wretchedness.  You cannot be moved by His Love for you, and not be overwhelmed by your lack of a giving spirit, and desire to be so stubborn.  No studying Christ and His relationship to the Old Testament Tabernacles will clearly give you a better understanding of why we so desperately need Him.

So what am I to do with these new discoveries in my Spirit?  How do I combat the emptiness I feel inside?  Where do I find peace when my best just wasn’t good enough?  I believe the song-writer hit it “dead on the nail” when he penned the words to an old Hymn of the Church when he wrote, “At the Cross, At the Cross, Where I first saw the Light, and the burdens of my heart rolled away.  It was there by faith I received my sight and now I am happy all the day!”

Those words have never rung truer.  No words have resonated so deep in my soul.  Nothing has come close to reverberating in such a pulsating way as to create a rhythmic beat in my Spirit.  What is it you ask?  The Heartbeat of Jesus!

I challenge you today, to catch the beat.  Hear the sound of His rhythm.  Feel His heartbeat next to yours.  And you will see Him like you have never seen Him before.  Every sound will become a melody, every quiet moment a whisper of love in your ear.  Every situation, a chance for Him to show His strength, and every blessing an opportunity to reinforce the love He has for you.  Can you hear that?  Quiet yourself.  Listen.  Be still.  That which you feel, inside of you, the lub dub, lub dub, lub dub.  That’s Him, inside your heart, saying LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU, LOVE YOU!

(Side note:  After writing this I broke out into spontaneous praise!)

The Baby had to die so the KING could Survive

Scripture Reference 2 Samuel 11- 2 Samuel 12:1-19

As I came to the close of 2012, I, as many others do, spent time reflecting back over the events of the past year.  Like many others, I would come to a particular situation or series of events and would say to God, “Why did this happen, and why did it have to happen the way it did?”  Has anyone else done this?

Having no one else to go to, I turned to God, for that is all He wanted me to do anyway.  He then began to reveal to me other events which took place.  Events I did not see or recognize for I was overly focused on what was happening to me.  In other words, I was missing out on the bigger picture.  Then, He spoke a Word in my Spirit. 

For two years I have been repeatedly drawn back to studying David, for his early childhood, throughout His Kingship.  As you know David, was a great man, and did many great things, however he still had some issues.  One, referred to in our scripture reference, tells us the story of David and Bathsheba.  Now most of you know the story so I wont bore you with the details, but please note, David did all he could to save the baby.  He fasted, prayed, wore sackcloth, sat in ashes, and more.  He did all the “right” things, however the baby still died.  You see God judged the sin he had committed, with the death of the baby.  David had to learn to fully depend upon God.  In doing so, the King, survived and went on to be Israel’s mightiest earthly King.

What am I saying to you?  Sometimes you have to go through some things and they still have to die.  But in their death, if you learn to trust in God fully, the King in you will survive.  Who knows what you are destined to do next!