Saviour

Before the Lord destroyed Sodom & Gomorrah He rescued Lot & his family from the city. Unaware of the urgency of the situation, Lot dragged his feet before leaving the city. "But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city." (Genesis 19:16 ESV)

We are not always aware of the severity of certain situations & often times we linger in places where we should not be lingering. Sometimes God has to take us by the hand & literally drag us out of those situations. He does not remove us because He is mean or condescending- He removes us to show us His mercy.

Thank you, Jesus for Grace!

Unity

In Matthew 12:25, Jesus said that a house divided against itself cannot stand. It's so simple to think about, yet the truth holds immense wisdom and depth. If my husband and I viewed each other as opponents rather than two people who are working toward a common goal, then our marriage would not last, and it certainly would not reflect the love of Jesus Christ and the unity of the trinity. Now looking at it on a much broader scale, how about the church? I do not mean my individual church or your individual church, but the collective bride of Christ spread out over the earth. Are we in unity? Are we working together toward a common goal? Or do we compete amongst ourselves? We spend a lot of our time bickering over doctrinal differences instead of sharing the truth of Jesus Christ. Our purpose on this earth is to bring glory to God and spread the Gospel of His grace to all people. When we are not in unity the message we send does not reflect the unity displayed by the Divine Trinity- The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as One. Imagine what would happen in our communities, in our countries, and in the world if Christians focused on our similarities rather than our differences- it would change the world!

The Ark of the Covenant was placed in the most holy place within the tabernacle and the temple. The Ark represents the presence of God on earth. The top of the Ark was one solid piece of gold with two cherubim hammered out of the gold, it was called the mercy seat and it represents the throne of God on earth. The mercy seat is represented with the elements of praise, humility, and unity. Therefore, the process we have to go through to enthrone the King of kings and the Lord of lords is one of praise, humility, and unity. I want to see these three elements return to the global church. I want us to build a throne that is worthy of the Most High God!

"Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar of his robes! It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133

Unity is like anointing oil. In this Psalm we see that when the oil was poured out onto Aaron's head it soaked his beard and flowed right down onto the ground around him bringing life forevermore. When we come together in unity it will affect our communities, our country, and our world. It will restore blessing and life!

Let us focus on the beautiful, pure Gospel of Jesus Christ and show the world how much He loves humanity. Let us allow the Lord to showcase His grace through our lives. Let us set aside our differences and enthrone our Lord in praise, humility, and unity.

The Glory of the Lord

“everyone who is called by My Name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made.”  Isaiah 43:7

When David was king over Israel, he desired to build a temple for the Lord—“a house of rest for the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD and for the footstool of our God.” (1 Chronicles 28:2) He even mentions that he made preparations for the building of the temple, but because he had been a man of war and had shed blood, the Lord told David that he may not build the temple. Instead the Lord instructed David that his son Solomon would be the one to build the temple of the Lord, so David gave Solomon all of the plans for building the temple. Soon Solomon set skilled people in charge of all of the structures and elements of the temple. Once it is complete Solomon offers a prayer of dedication for the temple.

“As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, ‘For He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever’.” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3

The glory of the Lord fell as fire from heaven. That’s amazing! If there was any doubt in the minds of Israel’s enemies that the One True God was on their side I am sure it was completely erased when they saw that fire. Imagine if we saw a building with fire resting upon it, but the fire was not consuming the building. To say we would be shocked is an understatement. We also see this happen earlier in the Bible when Moses erected the tabernacle of the Lord.

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” Exodus 40:34-38

Both the tabernacle and the temple of the Lord are purposed to house the Lord among His people. Throughout scripture we see a common desire in the heart of God—to dwell among His people.

“I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Ezekiel 37:26-27

The Lord’s desire was to dwell with His people, but He did not desire to dwell in man-made houses. Solomon even laments on this truth: “But who is able to build Him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain Him? Who am I to build a house for Him, except as a place to make offerings before Him?” (2 Chronicles 2:6) In fact, the Ark of the Covenant which represents the presence of God on earth, had golden rings with golden poles that went through them so it could be carried around with the Israelite nation, this represents that the Lord does not have a resting place on earth.

In the New Testament after Jesus ascends into heaven His followers were awaiting the Helper whom Jesus promised He would send. The day that the Holy Spirit fell on the earth is what we call the day of Pentecost—which means fifty, so it was fifty days after the ascension of Jesus into heaven.

“When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2:1-4

If you remember, after Jesus died on the cross the curtain of the temple that separated the holy place from the most holy place was torn in two. We understand this now to represent that our bodies are now temples of the Lord (1 Corinthians 6:19).  The Lord’s desire was not to dwell in man-made houses, but God-made houses! The Lord dwells in each of us—we carry the presence of the Lord, just like the priests who used to carry the Ark of the Covenant around with the Israelite nation.

It says in this passage in Acts that divided tongues as of fire rested on each one of them. Just like the fire that fell from heaven and rested upon the tabernacle, just like the fire that fell from heaven and rested upon the temple, the fire of the Lord fell from heaven and rested on each person because we are now the vessels of the Lord’s glory. Isaiah 43:7 says that we were created for His glory—my purpose is to bring glory to the Lord through the gifts He has given to me.

Imagine the change that would occur in the world if all Christians understood that our purpose is to carry the presence and the glory of the Lord! The needs of people would be met, physical ailments and emotional scars would be healed, and people would experience the freedom that only the Spirit of the Lord can bring. I want to see the Kingdom of God manifested on this earth. I want to see the culture of man submit to the culture of heaven! I want to see the love of Jesus Christ expressed to each and every individual person.

And I want to see the glory of the Lord rest like fire upon His temples again.