The Tabernacle

Tonight we lit our first candle for Hanukkah. This is a Jewish festival commemorating an event that happened in the time between the Old and New Testaments, a group of Jews forcefully reclaimed the Temple in Jerusalem and then purified it, welcoming back the presence of the Lord. I think this is a very special festival, not just because we know that Jesus celebrated it, but because it celebrates God seeing to it that His Temple is purified and Holy and in a place where people can get access to Him.

I am sure that this is also what He is doing now all around the world we are hearing of more and more prayer houses and Tabernacles. Just this week Helen was told of two more Tabernacles or ‘God spaces’ that people had felt to set aside and consecrate for Him, Jesus the King of the Jews, right here in Melbourne.

So as we lit the first candle tonight we remembered the reclaiming of the Temple in the time of the Maccabees, and also that God is very much now today wanting us to forcefully reclaim Temple space, purify it then welcome back the presence of the Lord, that is set apart for Him both in our own bodies and also some of ‘our’ space.

For more on Hanukkah click here

I have been reading through Proverbs again, reading a chapter a night with Helen. Tonight was chapter 3 and verse 9&10 were my highlights.

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.”

In this current economic climate it just struck me how easily everyday things like the nightly news can take our eyes of God. Here in Proverbs and in many other places the Bible tells us to ‘Honor the Lord with our wealth’ and then our ‘vats will overflow’. This is what God says, Honor Me with your wealth! And then I will take care of you. Do we believe this? As if we truly did then a lot of us would act pretty differently. Matthew ch6 gives us a very clear view of the promises of provision from God for His people. Why do we find this so hard to trust? God is Good! I know this from personal experience, I have even written some of the amazing stories down on this webpage, I know He is good yet it is still hard to totally let go and trust Him with finances, somehow we believe the stupid thought that we are more able to take care of our needs than He is. That is crazy, He is far more able and totally willing. So why do we doubt, why do we allow fear to creep up? I believe it is because we have an enemy working against us, constantly whispering lies, saying God is not good, you must look out for yourself as no one else will.

Well tonight I want to speak to that I want to say

“Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the best part of everything your land produces. Then he will fill your barns with grain, and your vats will overflow with the finest wine.”

I am up for some ‘finest wine’, thank you God that you are Good and thank you that I can rely on and trust You. I love you Jesus thank you.

God I know that You are Good and I do trust you, I am sorry for my unbelief and for listening to the enemy that wants to whisper lies to me that You are not good, and that You are unreliable and that You won’t care for me and meet my needs. I recognise these lies, I repent of them and I ask for Your forgiveness. Lord fill me with more Faith I pray. I honor You with myself and my wealth, I don’t hold them as gods over you, I want you to be Lord over them as well. I believe in You and what You have promised in Your Word, the Bible.

Can I challenge you? Once you have read this to consider praying this prayer for yourself or making up a prayer that suits your situation. Don’t hang on to ANYTHING that you are not willing to surrender to God. ‘For the Lord your God is a Jealous God and He tolerates NO rivals.’ (The second Commandment, Exodus 20)

Misty Edwards I will waste my life.

Very often I find myself talking to people about ‘hearing from God’. Let me be honest with you, it is very close to my favourite topic to discuss. I love talking about how God always operates and speaks within the fruit of His Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23(NKJV) we read, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law.” How awesome to ‘get it’ that this fruit of the spirit is describing to us what God is like, this is the FRUIT of HIS Spirit. I hate that this list has at times become a ‘heavy burden list’ for people to carry, where they are told they must produce this fruit. This is so far from the truth. This list is telling us what God is like. It also just happens to be true that as we become more like Him, our lives also start to look and smell sweet like this. It is a list of what God is like and as we surrender our lives to Him it becomes a list of what we are like too. Not because of our work, effort or goodness but because of His work, effort and goodness! All we get to do is surrender more and more of ourselves to Him and He does the rest. It really is a very good deal.

There are two more things I think are very tell tales signs that the voice you are hearing is from God:

1/ It will involve a Faith Element. God is into Faith. He really really is. He has set the world up in such a way that it is absolutely required in order to be in relationship with Him. Is God real? Is it possible that I of all people would be able to hear His voice? Faith is required and God loves it that way and from what I can tell this isn’t going to change anytime soon. Our Greek thinking and mindset hate the ‘faith factor’ or put in a Greek way ‘lack of proof or tangible elements’. God isn’t into what you can prove about Him or your studies of Him; or even your work for Him. God wants a romance with you, that is why you are described as His bride (John 3:29), that is why the book Song of Songs exists. To step into any relationship involves faith and risk, that is how God set the world up and that is how it is with Him too. From hindsight I can tell you how great and wonderful and absolutely reliable that He is, but to know that for yourself you are going to have to step out in Faith.

2/ It will involve your heart, and letting Him love it and heal it. I was talking with a pastor last weekend and again this came up. We can so easily impress ourselves with our great achievements for God and ministries we are involved in. But as I have learnt to hear the voice of God, it has become clear to me that God isn’t impressed with ministries, He always seems to be caring about and wanting to touch the individual hearts of people. It seems HE is focused on what He is on about, way over and above what we are on about. He is on about touching, loving and healing the hearts of men and women, boys and girls. This is a huge concern of His. How wonderful it was for me to first learn of God’s deep and loving and knowing care for my heart, not about what I had or had not done, it was never about that for Him just that I knew His love and He was so keen that I would invite him to come and to touch and to begin the process of loving my heart.

There are so many more things that I could put here, like that God wants us all to know that He is Good. That He truly is and lives out ALL of the fruit of the Spirit. Read through the list again and let it soak down into your soul. This is what our huge great God is like. He is loving, joyful, peace, longsuffering, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self controlled. He is beautiful and I love Him.

Just an end note. If you are hearing a voice and it is like the opposites of these fruit (go through the list and work out what the opposites are) then guess what? You are being suggested to by the accusing Prince of Lies. As soon as you recognise this you must stop listening to this voice, he wants to tear down accuse and destroy. Simply tell him to stop in Jesus name and then invite Jesus to speak to you, even ask Jesus what He thinks of you. You will know Him by His fruit.

I have just gotten off the phone from a friend in Munich. Amongst other things, we were talking about the recent powerful, prophetic event where a group of Israeli worshippers came under invitation, to the city on the 70th anniversary of Kristalnacht, which originally happened in Munich. (This is recognised as the time when Hitler started his Nazi persecution of the Jews.) The event bought praise and welcome to an anniversary where racism and murder had reigned.

This friend of ours is an intercessor and has spent many hours / years praying for and discerning things from God over the city. She is an important person in the spirit for Munich. On the Saturday she was in the city showing a high place to a visitor when she heard the Lord whisper to her, “The shame is gone”.
The next day she was stunned to hear from an Israeli pastor who was speaking, that “the shame had gone”. God was revealing a powerful truth that He had worked from the faithful actions of Germans and Jews present at the event. He has removed the shame, and coincidently mentioned it to both parties.

Having lived in Germany, we have seen and comprehended just a tiny part of the shame carried by all German’s over World War 2 and the holocaust. This breakthrough is absolutely wonderful. This is very, very powerful and very significant. Thank you Lord that this is now broken in the spirit.

Let’s own this declaration/truth from God. ‘The shame is gone’ and we declare freedom over Germany, Israel and every soul born in them. Lord may they deeply know your love, peace and freedom of heart.

Added about an hour later..
I have just been reminded of a moment back in 2004 when I was in Israel. We were speaking with a German lady and while we were talking she felt to tell us about a vision the Lord had given her.
It was of an event horse being very correctly and well ridden around a tight arena. This horse and rider were doing everything very rigidly and well, perfect even one might say. But then she said that while the horse was doing great and that it was very controlled, that that wasn’t what God had created horses for, God told her that He created horses to run free, out in open space to gallop and to be free with their manes flowing in the wind. She thought that this picture represented the German people, that they were stuck in the eventing arena perfecting their circles. The lady then went on to tell us that in this type of eventing that the only way for a horse and rider to leave the arena is when someone calls out ‘Door Free’. She then went on to say that she thought that it would have to be a non German to tell the Germans this, that maybe this was why Helen & I were returning to Germany at the time.
Very strongly in the Spirit and from here, Australia ‘the Great South land of the Holy Spirit,’ I sense to call out right now ‘TÜR FREI’