The Tabernacle

—You have no idea the battle I have fought to maintain intimacy and to fight distraction.— Intimacy–this is the battlefield. This is what the enemy desires to steal more than anything! If he can steal our intimacy with the Lord, he gets everything. Intimacy is the most important factor in our Christian experience, and when you understand the importance of something, you are willing to fight for it. The enemy will attempt to pull us from the posture that is the most critical to our life in God–the posture of abiding; the posture of intimacy. — Heidi Baker

As I read this the other day in the midst of nappies, emails from our travel agent, & phone calls, my spirit cried out for the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle, is simply the most beautiful space on earth. Beautiful for one reason & one reason alone. It is where the God of Israel is & he is beautiful. How can we know his beauty if we have not seen it? My spirit & mind agreed with Heidi’s words. It is a battle to maintain intimacy with the Lord. We must make space for it. This is the point. Something’s have to go. Space is not space if something is in it!

Just before finishing my career as a teacher in the Australian Education System, I began to be disturbed by the growing amount of programs & activities that were being stuffed into the life of my students. I felt for them & their parents as they seem to endlessly run around, driving from that pre-school or post school activity. There was no time to just sit & play for my students. No space. I begun to wonder why are we so afraid of space, of emptiness? This is even true in the physical. Try leaving a room empty! Yet space is critical to intimacy. Can’t have a relationship with anyone unless there is space.

It struck me that day & often since that to not be conformed to the pattern of this busy world, is going to be more & more costly. —Beware of the barrenness of a busy life—, said our Principal at Bible College. What we behold, we become. I want to behold intimacy with my Lord. I want to behold his beauty. Why? Because what happens in the presence of the Lord is the most important thing in our lives.

A week ago I received a link for a novel that is a free download of the internet. So you don’t want to go to church anymore, the Jake Colson story. I loved reading the book and I believe God showed me why some things could have happened to us as they did. As I read the book I kept thinking, “This is great it is just the stuff I have been wanting to say.” I do recommend the book to everyone who is chasing after God and just seeking intimacy with Him. Like unfortunatly some of the new wine things do, it carries a bit of negativity and hurt to the church. This is sad as the church (the people) is Gods bride. But that aside it does show very well some of the systems that are in place in churches that have no place being there.

Then just now I have read an article, again an online .PDF. It is similar, just better, more wisdom, and much shorter! It is  an interview  of a guy George Warnock, who was apart of the “Later Rain” first outpourings of the Holy Spirit in 1948 in Canada. How arrogant we have been, talking about the ‘NEW Thing’ that God is doing. New to us yes, but not new. What this guy has  said so well describes what we feel God is inviting us into. Please have a read, of both if you have the time and be blessed as you see it really IS ALL ABOUT HIM.

Mark

Spiritual breakthroughs.

As Christians we can tend to try to measure our effectiveness or worth by some very earthly standards. As Helen & I have been reflecting on our time here in Germany, it has become clear to us that what God asked us to come here and to be a part of doing had far more to do with the spiritual world than what it did with the physical world. We have noticed since God said, “Job’s done here”, that all of a sudden little Tabernacles are poping up everywhere. We are hearing of people setting them up all over Munich, Germany and beyond. We have just come from spending an afternoon with a lady where we noticed a new CD player sitting on the floor which plays worship music 24/7, and God’s presence is welcomed, invited and celebrated in the whole house. Last night we shared a meal with some Mission leaders in the city who have set apart a room for God,  a Tabernacle. Then  we heard  from  friends 50km’s  out  of Munich  who have also done this, and of course Prince Michael and Princessin Phillipa who had a dream from God the night we were staying in their castle, that they should set aside an area, ‘a Tabernacle just for Him’.

It has dawned on me that this cascade of Tabernacles is because something has changed in the spiritual relm over Munich and Germany. ‘The needle has broken the porcelain.’ The word was given to us in the last part of 2004 here in Germany that “the needle would break the Porcelain”. I believe that this has happened. God has broken through and things are now releasing and being seen in the physical because of the changes in the spiritual.

How cool is that! Have your way God! Have your way!