2009 – In the days of shaking…

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.