The Tabernacle

Yom Kippur or ‘the day of atonement’ has become a special day in my calendar.
Over the years God has spoken some wonderful truths to me and set me free with different words, truths and promises that He has spoken to me on this day. I vividly remember what He said to me Yom Kippur 2006 in Croatia. It has changed my life ever since that point.

Traditionally Yom Kippur has been seen as an irrelevant Jewish feast, but the Bible actually calls these feasts and days “These are the Lord’s appointed annual festivals.” Lev 23:37a As I am trying to get in line with God’s calendar, that the Jewish people are still following, I have clearly seen God doing things according to His calendar, why wouldn’t He? I believe it is important to at least be aware of what season we are in in God’s calendar, I have found it often throws light on what He is up to now.

For instance did you know that right now is the 10 high holy days? The 10 days before Yom Kippur? Are you finding things hard or frustrating right now? If so this may be a part of the reason, God wants us to be contemplating Him and reflecting in these 10 days, digging up and finding the ‘stuff’ that He wants to then dispense with on Saturday, Yom Kippur. He wants to help. I want to get rid of any and all ‘stuff’ that is there and if Saturday is the day then I say “Bring it on.” I want to line up with His calendar.

Lev 23:26-32 tells us “26 Then the Lord said to Moses, 27 “Remember that the Day of Atonement is to be celebrated on the ninth day after the Festival of Trumpets. On that day you must humble yourselves, gather for a sacred assembly, and present offerings to the Lord by fire. 28 Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement will be made for you before the Lord your God, and payment will be made for your sins. 29 Anyone who does not spend that day in humility will be cut off from the community. 30 And I will destroy anyone among you who does any kind of work on that day. 31 You must do no work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed wherever you live. 32 This will be a Sabbath day of total rest for you, and on that day you must humble yourselves. This time of rest and fasting will begin the evening before the Day of Atonement and extend until evening of that day.”

I am Not under the law and I don’t want anyone to feel this is something that they MUST do or they will be punished by God, that is the old pre Jesus covenant. But I do think that there is value in things that you do for God costing you something. King David’s words in Samuel come to mind when he was offered at no cost a piece of land so he could give it to God. His response was “I will not give to The Lord that which has cost me nothing.” The story is in 2Samuel 24:18-25. Our desire/hunger is also important.

Fasting is another discipline that costs us something. On Yom Kippur the main thing God asks of us is to NOT work! Are we so addicted to work that we cannot stop? Does our modern Christianity have a place for things that ‘cost us’? Or are we only interested in easy or pleasurable or beneficial to me?
The day of Atonement is the day of At-one-ment, the annual day that God dealt with sin and made people at-one with Him. This in our New Testament condition was obviously fulfilled in Jesus and available every day, He is the ultimate one time sacrifice, but what a great opportunity to allow God to stir things up in us in these preceding 10 high Holy days and then allow Him to take it all and to deal with it all on Yom Kippur. I like the idea of getting in line with God’s calendar and in-sync with His seasons and times. Yes I think these are important to God.

Saturday is a day I am choosing to give to Him. I will not be working, I will choose to fast and I will be setting apart time to ‘hang out’ with Jesus and to be hearing His voice. Oh and you can be sure I’ll be asking Him to take away my remaining ‘stuff’ and putting everything at the foot of the cross.

So what are you doing on Saturday?

Last Sunday was Father’s Day in Australia. On this significant day, something else significant of the spirit of God was spoken.

The prophet Amos said, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.” (3:7)

White settlement in Australia was achieved predominately in an orphan mentality. Boat loads of ‘convicts’ were thrust upon the shores of Sydney & New South Wales, & left. While there was a basic skeleton of infrastructure set up, it was obviously centered around the law which managed these ‘convicts’, many of them who’s crime was no bigger than stealing a loaf of bread. In this nation, unlike America for instance, there is no language of ‘founding fathers’.

And so on Father’s Day in a nation where the orphan spirit screams “I am alone, I am not loved & cherished, I must fend for myself, I must protect myself, “Father God declared something.

  It is my opinion that Bill Johnson has one of the greatest ‘fathering anointing’s’ I have seen in this last decade, possibly in my lifetime.

On September 5, 2010 as he ‘chatted’ with his family, Bethel Church in California, he declared this,

“Australia is so ripe for a massive outpouring (of God) right now. I met with some folks this last week & we were talking about hot spots around the world where we see the Holy Spirit being poured out & several of us came to a real agreement that one of the hottest spots around the world right now is Australia.”

Preceding this moment, in New Zealand an earthquake rocked the south island. This is a most strange thing as earthquakes are really experienced ‘downunder’ way (1968 last one in NZ). But in the early hours of September 4, Christchurch was hit by a 7.0 earthquake. Christ church!

What an amazing act of love that Father God declared on Father’s Day through a man carrying a huge “Father’s anointing’ to a nation wrestling with an orphan spirit mentality, that The Father is coming & wanting to pour himself into them! 

Father God whose kingdom is ruled by only one thing, love, has shown His hand. He is wanting to pour himself out on the peoples & great southland of the Holy Spirit.

This declaration was preceded by an earthquake that turned the heads of many in the nations, to a city incredibly named Christchurch.

Many years ago when we were in Bible College, we enjoyed the reflections of a guest speaker had witnessed three moves of God (revivals) in the Pacific. One reflection stuck in our spirit. He noted that in EVERY move of God, the established church missed it.

Jesus Messiah, Son of God came & walked planet earth for 33 years, & the established church of his time missed it. John the Baptist, who fulfilled prophecy as the one to prepare the way for the Son of God, missed it, until Father God spoke from heaven after Jesus was baptized. (John 1:31)

There is potential for us to miss it. What will it look like for us in one of the hottest spots around the world, to witness a massive outpouring of God? What earthquake might this bring into our lives, our thinking, our destiny?

Father God has shown His hand. The Father of Love is coming!

Last night we were hanging out with some dear friends. Around 10pm I began to hear the sound of dinging as from a train crossing. I also heard mixed in with this the whistle of a train. It was clear & repeated. The sounds repeated consistently for about 15 mins & then stopped.

I recognized quickly that the sound I was hearing was in the realm of the spirit. Amazing how people can hear vividly in the physical what is being sounded in the spirit.

The sound was so clear, so consistent.

Last night was also Feast of Trumpets (also known as Rosh HaShanah – Jewish new year). While these feasts were given to Israel, they were known as “God’s appointed feasts” (Lev 23:1). The Hebrew word used here is “moed” meaning ‘divine appointment’.

Interestingly this same word is used for ‘marriage’. Over the years I have observed that at the time of the ‘feasts’ there is a marriage that often goes on as heaven’s agenda of love, connects on earth.

In this ‘divine appointment’ of Trumpets, the Priests blew the trumpets. The sound of trumpets communicated four things: calling the people together, moving camp, alarm of war coming & to signal Feast times & beginnings of months (Num 10).

In all occasions, movement was required upon hearing the sound.

There is a direct correlation between movement & divine appointments.

And last night the picture was full of movement & sound.

I sense that for some of you reading, you are experiencing a crossing or you are being asked to wait. Be encouraged for at train crossings, at least in Australia, there is plenty of sound to aid you & direct you. Sound is heard both from the crossing & the train coming.

There is a sound being released from heaven today. Your heart will know it. For those who are the ‘sons of God, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying “Abba! Father!” (Gal 4:6) Be encouraged though you might not understand the sound yet, you hear it.

Movement is coming. Sound is evidence of that!

The love of Heaven is sounding on earth.

Right now I am sitting in Kangaroo Ground, a suburb on the outer north east of Melbourne.
I own a house in Colorado in a suburb on the outer north east of Denver. In the natural I would love this Colorado house sold, so that we can move into our next step here in Australia. But I have just received an email that has astonished me. A month ago now I had heard the Lord whispering to me that He wasn’t yet finished with our house in Colorado.

We had gone to Colorado in what we believe was obedience to the Lord, we have established a Tabernacle in the front room facing east. This space was especially set apart for the Lord, we didn’t enter this space unless it was to meet with, worship, or chat/hang out with Jesus. Initially when we moved into the house I had also cleaned, sealed and dedicated the large Basement as a set apart space as well, just over a month ago as we were packing up a friend who is an intercessor, I believe appointed by God over Denver. (I do believe God appoints Prophets, Apostles and Intercessors over city’s, I have had the privilege of meeting several globally. They are normally hidden and unrecognised, but all the same placed I believe by God.) He was with me and together at the prompts of the Lord we cleaned and prepared this space, again setting it apart and dedicating it to the Lord.

Just now this astonishing email has came from another friend who has today just come from spending three hours in this ‘set apart Colorado Tabernacle space’, in it he mentions that the normal view to the west is currently blocked by smoke from a large fire visible from space that is burning and leaving a distinct line from the rocky mountains right out to where the Tabernacle is (right at the Airport/City Gate) and then also out at least as far again further East. www.cejournal.net

Several things astonished me, three things that the Lord has previously whispered to me, I will point out.

1/ Drawing a line east to west from the mountains out to the east, cutting off the flow from the north especially Boulder.
During our time in Colorado we found ourselves, very often driving from where we were in the east back west right across the north of town. The Lord whispered that He was drawing a line prophetically across the north of the city. This also included numerous trips into the mountains to the house of great friends, prophetically drawing and drawing and re-drawing this line from east to west, west to east, there was also this trip to the Kansas border.

2/ Uptown. God doesn’t need us to stay, to continue what He is doing. The story is here. The fire and cloud of smoke, both Biblical representations of God, here drawing the same line, west to east. Coincidence that I was sent this?

3/ He isn’t finished with the Colorado house yet.
This the Lord has whispered a few times now and this email is just a beautiful confirmation from the Lord. I have been finding the waiting hard, this helps immensely to release this and to leave the sale of the house and everything else confidently in His hands.

The Lord who has called us is Faithful, it is He that is doing this. 1Thessalonians 5:23

Jesus I love you and I am sorry for my unbelief and doubt. Once again I put my life fully and wholly into Your hands, Lord myself, my Family and this house in Colorado all I place once again into Your loving hands. Lord I especially let go of the timing of the sale of this house. It is yours and I release it all to you. So be it, do as you will.

I have found once again that I am having to change my theology, the way I think about God. To be honest most of the last 10yrs has been doing just that. There was a time when I felt pretty set about the way I viewed God, I had completed three years of Bible College and I was a pastor in a church! Surely that meant I had some handle on it? But I have found that once you start to ‘press in’ to God to really get to know Him and to recognise/hear His voice then He sets about straightening out the way we perceive Him.

One thing that I had believed was that God would reveal Himself as He desired, He was God I wasn’t and as He chose, probably predestined, He would reveal Himself to me. I don’t believe that anymore, I believe we can in fact pull/require things from God that He will happily give to us, that if we hadn’t pressed in we would not receive. I believe it’s got to do with hunger.

I was at the Leaders Advance at Bethel church in California in May, one person who was in the group we were with was in a bit of a bad way, they were very desperate for change. At the end of the conference there was a fire tunnel or prayer tunnel for people to go through to receive prayer and impartation. I was behind this person as they went through this fire tunnel and as they came to Bill Johnson, the senior pastor, the line paused and they received a longer prayer. Once passed Bill exclaimed “Wow that person Got it, they drained me, they really drained me.” This led me to ponder what that meant? I know about prayers of impartation and the importance of the laying on of hands. But what did this mean?

I believe the Lord took me to the story of the woman who had the issue of bleeding, when Jesus turned and said “who touched Me” as He had felt power drain from Him. Mark 5:21-40 It was her Faith or her desperation that ‘drew’ something from God. If she hadn’t reached out and touched/taken something from God she would still be sitting somewhere else NOT healed. Her desperation and her belief both played roles here. This story is right in the middle of the account of Jairus the desperate Dad, synagogue leader who pleaded with Jesus to come and heal his dying daughter. Both of these people pulled a very powerful response from Jesus.

Right before my eyes I had seen desperation answered, the person that received was the person that was desperate. It made me look at myself, am I desperate for more of God? Am I still hungry for more or have I somehow levelled off happy with what I have of God now? Do I even really truthfully see Him as the answer to my questions, to my needs? Do I think He cares? Do I think I have a role in pushing in?

We are now back in Australia and it is well known that one of the ruling hindrances here is apathy, this is the opposite of desperation. How far do I want to go with God? How desperate am I for His touch now? Do I even want it? Do I believe I need it, or that He would do me any good?

Jesus forgive me for my apathy and non response in my hunger for you. Lord I know that you are the answer to my every question. Lord I AM desperate for you, for you to show up.

I now Believe we can draw things down from Heaven onto Earth certainly not with works but with desperation & hunger. We can move the Heart of Heaven (God) from down here. What are you desiring from Heaven? What are you drawing from Heaven? What are your hearts desires and what are you doing with them?

“The functions of life now rule us. Everyone wants to know what we do rather than who we are. People define their life by geography, job title & performance. In this busy functional paradigm, we seldom have real time for people. We have surface relationships with people. We wear social masks of politeness that hide our fears, worries & inner thoughts. We do not reveal our true inner self because we are afraid of rejection. We want to be loved but the process of real love involves the true revelation of self, so our fear of rebuff does not allow us to go deep with people around us.” (Graham Cooke, A Divine Confrontation.)

For some months now, I have been profoundly struck by the dominance in the Western world of the ‘functional’ paradigm. I have been struck by its fruit – a lonely barrenness of life that is governed ruthlessly by business, function, systems, & task. Connecting with people seems to be reduced to the skeleton of a purpose driven existence.

Yet the more I linger with God, I am stunned & challenged by His relational paradigm.

As we returned to Australia a few weeks ago, I was talking with an old friend. During this brief conversation that was populated by the tasks & steps ahead of us, she said “Let’s catch up for coffee.”

I was abruptly halted as I realized how ‘functional’ I had been with one of the most relational people I know of on planet earth. I was embarrassed & horiffied.

You see in Australia amongst ‘mates’, when they say “Let’s do coffee” (& most especially for this precious friend) the literal translation is, “Let’s enjoy both a coffee together & be together… just being & hanging out, sharing & journeying life from the inside together for a moment.” Here function serves relationship.

This is true in the world of the East also. In Asia & the middle East, relationship comes before function & must be established for any task to exist.

But it is most true of the heart of God also.

“For God so LOVED the world that He sent His Son” (John 3:16). He LOVED. Love is relational. If it is not, we call that prostitution. God did not so serve that He sent His Son. He loved.

I would suggest that one of the ‘transitions’ God is wanting to bring amongst His people in the West, is a detox from the Spirit of the world that emphasizes function above relationship.

This is part of the journey of holiness – being set apart. God desires to set us apart from the spirit of the world & put His spirit in us. (Ezekiel 36:26-27) The spirit of heaven is relationship.

A relational paradigm is about “learning to trust, to be open & honest, to understand & be understood, to accept & approve & in turn find acceptance & approval. It is about connecting with another as we draw the road map of life in the spirit together. It is about connecting through our fears & concerns, dreams & aspirations, joys & delights, dislikes & annoyances.” (Graham Cooke)

One of the characteristics of the end times is “the love of many growing cold.” (Matt 24:12) I submit that when we tabernacle with God we are separated from the spirit of the world which debases us to mere function, & we can engage in the safety & sweetness of His presence & His relating with us.

I have observed that those who have spent time in His presence are those who do relationships & do them well & in health.

This is all part of growing up in Him.

Townsend & Cloud suggest that “The mindset of an infant & toddler is that another exists to meet their needs & feelings, every wish should be another’s command. To cherish someone’s existence apart from you & apart from what you get from that person is a neat aspect of love… the ability to see the other person as distinct & separate from you – a person in their own right, with value & wonderful things about them that have nothing to do with gratifying you in anyway other than pure appreciation. This is the joy of just knowing a person.” (Boundaries)

This relational paradigm that not only blesses us & others but most of all God. As we learn to cherish Him, love Him for Him not how He gratifies us, we are growing up & learning to be again.

In the end days there are two figures of relational intimacy pictured for us in the New Testament. One is the Great Prostitute (Rev 17-18), the other the Bride of Christ (Rev 22:17). The distinctive difference between these two levels of intimacy is relationship. One is purely functional. The other is based in relationship & the stuff of love.

Father God desires a bride for His Son, one who has rediscovered again relationship.

And the Bride desires to be cherished again.

The journey begins with & in us. Which paradigm will we live from?

Me? Well I’m off to have coffee with a dear friend!

I have just come from sitting with my wife listening & watching a session of worship from Bethel church in California then a sermon from Pastor Kris.

As I have been thinking during it and now after it I am renewed in my confidence that nothing is more important than getting back to where we started, I believe that our model of what our Christianity is supposed to be all about is Adam and Eve in the garden walking and talking with God in the cool of the evening. God’s original created order, Intimacy, not awkward, not loud and aggressive, but something so right, so oh this is so what I want to be doing right now and my heart is just singing and free. Actually my heart is aching right now as I think of this as due to our current living situation we currently don’t have yet a special space set aside ‘a Tabernacle’ where I can go and so quickly and easily just hang out with God where we can just ‘be’ together, to chat to have him stroke and calm my soul, to know peace. His Peace. This is only our second night here so I suppose I can give myself a break. :-}
Anyway like just then we can get so complicated, “but my circumstances”, “but I need this”, “first I need to do this”. No, as Jesus showed us in the story of the prodigal son, at any point we can RUN back to the OPEN arms of Father God. Luke 15:11-32 This is God’s desire that we would KNOW Him and therefore know that we can so Yes go to Him and Know Him and Know His peace… Hmm I am very aware here that words are just so not cutting it, human language can not convey what it is to experience God, to sit with Him, to hang with Him, to feel His pleasure, to know His peace, heck to know that He loves me and accepts me just as I am.

Nothing is more important than this, no thing that I can do no thing that I can say, no thing nothing is more important than this. As I ponder this I reflect on conversations that I have had where people have told me how they spend time with God so that they can do ministry, so they are empowered, so they know better what to do. Well this may contain truth, but intimacy to GET something to fill your own needs goes by another name. I’m talking about hanging with God for Gods sake, for the sake of the relationship. Just to hang out. When you can manage to drop the agenda, or the religious benefits and just want to hang out with Jesus as a friend and let happen what happens then I think we are getting close. Hmm maybe we could even let Him direct the conversation.