The Tabernacle

When we first came across this we were living in Germany where this was called ‘kindlicher Geist’ and it was a major and very powerful thing when Germans were able to be free and operate in a Childlike Spirit before God. This is not a childish Spirit, but childlike where there is great freedom and inhibition in God, it is wonderful to behold. Of course it is powerful for people of any nationality, when people abandon their preconceived ideas and themselves and don’t worry about how they look or how they might be perceived, but operate in faith wanting to experience God in new and powerful ways, it takes faith and it takes humility.

I heard this at a whole new level when I was listening to reports of what happened at the Azuza st revival in America. They were talking about the presence of God entering the meetings and kids would be running around and playing with the presence, this sounds so right to me and what I know of God. While this was happening healings would take place and we are talking about limbs growing back here, whole legs or feet would just grow back right before people’s eyes, the blind would see the deaf would hear. As I was listening to this wonderful report of people being so close to God, I believe God spoke to me about the approach that He loves people to have when they come to Him and when they want Him to come.

I’m sure we all agree that there is just awesome power and it is an absolutely wonderful thing to experience the presence of God. But why do people want to experience the presence of God. WIIFT What’s in it for them. Here is where I believe the Lord whispered to me that He is looking for pure hearts and childlikeness.

When we come to God it shouldn’t be because we want ‘good worship’ or because we want to be known as people who ‘dwell with God’. It shouldn’t even be because we want to see healingings, or even because we want to see people saved. Desiring God’s presence should be for the sake of His presence, to be with Him.(It’s OK to desire God’s presence, it just isn’t Ok to want His presence just for the ‘stuff’ you gotta want Him.) In other words we shouldn’t desire God for what He will do for us or our reputation, we should only desire the presence for the presence, think of it in terms of a human to human relationship, if you are just in a relationship for the benefits and what you can get from it then the other person is very quickly likely to pick up on your motives. It is the same with God, He of course knows what is in our hearts. I’m not talking about being perfect here but I know that in my relationship with God I want to be a lover and His bride, I want to love Him for Him.

I have just re read this and I feel I have missed something important here, there are many times when I have gone to God, desperate for His touch or a word or some encourgement, God loves it when His children come to Him and it is a huge truth that we can come to Him at any time. I just wanted this blog to be a reminder of the power of a childlike spirit, and how much I want to come to Him with no agenda from Him.

“Yet there shall be a space between you & it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” Joshua 3:4

This morning I awoke to these words, “There shall be a space between you & it.” These words rang like a gonging bell in my mind & spirit over & over. God had my attention.

Moses, the previous great leader of Israel was dead. Now Joshua had been released to lead them, after 40 years of assisting Moses & being in the Tabernacle. (Ex 33:11) Joshua was about to lead the people of Israel over into the land that God had chosen. What a great moment! But first they had to cross over the River Jordan. Joshua’s instruction to this massive group of people was simple… “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, & the priests, the Levities, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place & go after it.” (Jos 3:3)

The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord was the place on earth that God first chose to dwell & upon this, his name was proclaimed (1 Chron 13:6). Simply put, the ark was where the Lord was, & this ark was housed in the Tabernacle. So here is Joshua telling the people to look for the presence of the Lord. What is incredible is that God, the King of the Universe, chose to dwell here & have men carry him! These men called Priests & Levites, had been set apart from the people to be near the Lord (check out Numbers 16:9). This was a prophetic picture of what God purposed in his heart when the Holy Spirit of God came in Acts 2 & chose the temporary bodies of men to be the way in which He was carried. (By the way, the word Tabernacle is Hebrew for ‘tent’ – which is a temporary dwelling). Peter, the disciple of Jesus said, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a royal priesthood..” (1 Peter 2:5). We now have the honor & responsibility to carry the presence of the Lord.

The ark was on the move. Joshua wanted the people to know this & see this. But he also wanted them to know how to move with the moving ark. God is on the move, just as He was then, so he is now. And it is His heart for us to know how to move with Him. If we are a people of God, we had better get used to a mindset & lifestyle of being on the move! The Vatican in the 1960’s knew this when they defined the Church as “The people of God on a journey.”

Joshua’s instruction was clear in how the people were to move with a moving God, “There shall be a space between you & it, about two thousand cubits by measure.” In the Hebrew language, numbers also carry meanings. I pondered what was the big deal about two thousand cubits? What was God saying here about moving with Him? I found only two times in the Bible when the round figure of two thousand appeared. One is here; the other is in Numbers 35:5. In both cases, it related to the Levities. I find it interesting that since the year 2000(note the number), the message of God restoring the Tabernacle of David (Acts 15:16-17) erupted globally & with it the birth of Tabernacles & Houses of Prayer & Praise. For years a generation has assisted Moses type leaders, learning the disciplines of waiting on the Lord & being in his presence. They were being trained in what it meant to carry the presence of a God who is ever on the move! They are a Joshua generation but also a Levitical generation who love to worship God, especially with instruments & cymbals just like in the glorious, heady days of King David & the Tabernacle of David. ( 1 Chron 25:1)

The call of Joshua to the people of Israel was to give God space as he moved. Why? So that “you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.” (3:4) God wants us to know the way by which we must go. We must go. We are beckoned to move. Why? Because there is a way to be taken which we have no gone before. God is moving in new ways. He is summoning us to move. We are invited again to give Him space and as we do this will be know how to walk a way we have not gone before. It is an adventure into the unknowns with a supernatural God who is wanting to bring to fulfillment words that He has long prophesized over individuals, nations & moments in history. Are we prepared to give Him space? Are we prepared to be the royal priesthood who will carry the presence of the moving God into a land he has promised for us?

In Germany, a group of people affectionately called the ‘Tossies’ (Church in Tübingen who we walked with when we lived there), would set aside all of the month of January to give God space. They would do this by fasting food & gathering together to pray & wait on the Lord. In February, a community we are walking alongside of here in Australia, Christian City Church (called C3), have set aside the month of February to do the same. Interestingly, this past month of January & now February, the Lord has invited us to give him space through fasting. While we have fasted food & work on certain days in January, we sense now February’s fast may involve ‘screens’ (specifically not watching somethings on TV). The Hebrew word ‘space’ used here in Joshua 3:4 means “space in place & time”. The point is not the fast, but the giving to God the space & place that would otherwise be taken up by these things. The point is to give space to the ark, His presence, & go after it. As we do this we will know the way by which we must go. The Lord has shown his hand, & it is into a way we have not passed before! I invite you to join with us & to even tell us if God is also beckoning you to this in February.

The presence of the Lord is moving. Will we be a people of God who will move with Him, His way, into a place we have not gone before?

I thought this word was of note. There is good teaching on what the modern day apostolic actually is, and an encouraging word for Australia as a seed bed for the Nations.

I encourgae you to listen with your spirit.

Link

Mark

I heard a great message from Bill Johnson on Favor and then I had a look at The Word (the Bible) to see what it had to say on favor. Interestingly a common phrase in the Bible that came up as I was looking at Favor was “Make Your face to shine upon me Lord”

I found this very interesting as often people think of favor as being all about us. What I want and what I can get. Lord show me favor so I get something, favor in money or business. Looking at the scriptures changed my focus. Because when the Lord makes His face to shine upon us then we will be overcome with His Glory, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, ie everythuing will become about Him, our focus will no longer be on us and our situation.

One thing that The Lord has shown us over and over again as we have endeavored to push into Him is that the closer we get to God, the more we realize that we are nothing and that He is everything. The more we realize that we are so tainted with our own selves and muck, the unholy trinity of me, myself and I.

Lord make Your face shine upon me, but please don’t look too closely as I have become aware of how full of myself that I am.

No, we can pray confidently “Lord make your face shine upon me, as I know that Jesus has washed me clean and I can boldly come into your presence.” Lord also help me to have the courage to be able to face up to what and who I really am and that together we can go forward and clean up, Lord have your way and help me to trust you, no matter what I think or how it looks help me please Lord to trust you knowing that you are ALWAYS GOOD!

When you draw near to The Holy God, your unholyness will be revealed to you. But this is never so that you go away, but only ever so that you are given an opportunity to surrender it to God, and then once that ‘muck’ is dealt with we then gain the ability to come even closer.

Yesterday we were robbed. While we were out doing some shopping, someone broke into our house stealing money & all my gold jewellery, except that which I was wearing. As we cleaned up after the burglary last night, a scritpure (the living presence of the Lord) echoed thru my being.. “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.  This means that the things on earth will be shaken, so that only eternal things will be left.  Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.” (Heb 12:25-27)

There is an invitation from the Father’s heart to us all in these days of shaking. In a sense it is a challenge also. In the place of need, can we seek Him for Him, not only or for our need? In the six years now since He birthed the idea of Tabernacle within us, in every moment of desperate need & despair, He invited us again & again to minister to Him, to adore Him, to crown Him. Pursuing Him for Him, not for our needs. It is not that our needs are not important to Him, on the contrary what is important to us is important to Him. But the real worship that touches & ministers to His heart, is that which comes from a place of deep need with thankfulness & humility. Our wellbeing is HIS focus. His wellbeing is OURS! This is the invitation in the day of shaking.

But equally challenging is when the need is satisfied. Do we still long for Him, just for Him? To yearn for His face, not just what comes from His hands. God wants to give us glory (John 17:22), but what’s the glory for? To place on the Master. He is Worthy. He is King of Kings. He is Lord of Lords. He should have the crown. Both dissatisfaction and satisfaction can engross & dissuade us from loving Him for Him. I have been witness to both this past week.

Malachi prophesied, “The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple..  For He is like a refiner’s fire and like laundererer’s soap… He will purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer to the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (3:1-3) We are a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:5). The sons of Levi made up part of the Priesthood. They were called out to be near the Lord, to do the work of the Tabernacle & to then serve the congregation. (Num 16:9) But they also knew that purity & being purified was intensely part of this. This is our inheritance as believers in Yeshua, Jesus the Jew. I believe that the Lord is truly inviting us to understand what this really means in these days. When Peter said, we are a royal priesthood, as a Jew this is in his mind. It is also in the mind of God, who ordained this. We live for & love Him first. This is the first & greatest command said Jesus. This is what touched Jesus when the woman came & broke the alabaster jar pouring oil over Him. It did a “good thing TO HIM” (Mark 14:6). Loving him in righteousness. This is the terrain of the Kingdom that cannot be destroyed. This is the acceptable worship which remains in the day of shaking.

“Then the churches had rest throughout all Judea & Galilee & Samaria, & were edified; & walking in the fear of the Lord, & in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, multiplied.”
Acts 9:31

These words have been echoing in my spirit for some weeks now… “Walking in the fear of the Lord & in the comfort of the Holy Spirit”.

How differently we walk, when we do so knowing the fear of the Lord! I have observed in my own life & in the lives of others, that there is a very different way of walking after experiencing the terrifying, sobering reality we call the ‘fear of the Lord.’ Those who have encountered this aspect of the presence of the Lord are never the same again. For it is indeed a terrifying thing, the fire of God (Hebrews 12:28-29). From this moment on, there is a very deep knowing that comes when God will not tolerate our flesh anymore for it reeks of the world, & in His great love, shakes us & delivers us. This is the awesome raw power of our God. A terrifying thing. Only dead men, see God’s face. God warned Moses of this. “No one can see My face & live.” (Ex 33:20) People who are prepared to be ‘broken & contrite of heart’ (Psalm 51) when God shakes the heavens & the earth, see Him. It takes death to really see Him. They know & taste of His holiness, His sacredness. He restores our respect & awe of Him. This is a treasured thing. There are never any regrets the other side of experiencing the fear of God.

At some point in the journey, in the pursuit of the presence of God, we will encounter His holiness… & therefore, our unholiness. If we do not, it is not His presence!

Yet it is those who have encountered the fear of God, that also know the incredible undeserved comfort of the Holy Spirit. The sweet, amazingly gentle but honest comfort of the Holy Spirit. With the raw power & uncompromising holiness comes a tenderness, a comfort. Such apparent opposites existing together. When God comes, He messes with our heads & definitions of what is acceptable; what is understandable. Ask Mary! When the Holy Spirit came, she got pregnant. It got messy for Mary. How people talked & what a headache for Joseph! Who would believe that a young girl, engaged to be married was made pregnant by God!!! Yet in the midst of all the mess, was the comfort of the Holy Spirit. To both Mary & Joseph, this came through angels. Keep an eye out for feathers! Since May 2008, we have been experiencing feathers appearing in our house, our clothes, all kinds of places. In Bethel Church USA, feathers have been falling from the steel basketball stadium roof where the Church meets, for over 13 years now! God messes with what’s understandable. Opposites exist together. Fear & comfort.

The followers of Jesus walked in the fear of the Lord & the comfort of the Holy Spirit & they were edified & found rest. There is such amazing rest, walking in the fear of the Lord & the comfort of the Holy Spirit! How will you walk in 2009?