Two pictures to warm your soul (to be remembered in the days ahead)

It is often when we are just drifting off to sleep or just waking up that we are especially open to Holy Spirit’s messages for us.  Last night as I lay under the covers, He gave me these comforting images, especially delightful to me in the midst of America’s evilly-engendered turmoil:

The Father tucks us (His believing, beloved children) into bed, pulling the covers up to our chins. We turn to the side, snuggling in. He brushes His hand tenderly over our hair, full of love for us, and tells us to sleep well. We hear noises outside the window, but He says not to be afraid...it is just the wind. There is a scratching at the front door, but He tells us again not to be fearful because He is our Protector and Guard, and His arm is strong. “Rest well, My precious ones. ABBA is near.”

We are surrounded by a circle of vicious enemies who are agitated and threatening us in various ways, but the Father is just chuckling. He even has His back to them as He goes about preparing a magnificent table for us, with an array of luscious-looking foods. The wine stands ready at each end, and the bread is fresh from the oven. “Eat! Enjoy!” He says. “Don’t be concerned about them. They cannot touch you.” As I pull the 🥖 apart, steam rises from it, and I lather yellow Irish butter across the end. A soft light is shining on our table, creating a lovely ambience for our celebratory feast...the Feast He has personally and lavishly laid for us, under His Tabernacle Tent.

Tabernacling

 As I continue this year’s journey through Exodus, I have to force myself to slow down and picture what I’m reading...to visualize and imagine. In past readings, I confess to having buzzed through the detailed instructions for the Tabernacle.  Since I’m In 2020 (what, really?) I can search online for pictures, where others have done the work of drawing, painting, modeling the Ark of the Covenant, the acacia wood altar, and each aspect of the Tabernacle in the wilderness.  Some have even added their interpretations of the meaning behind the minute instructions and squeezed them into their pictures. Amazing! Thanks, guys!

Meanwhile, I need to stop, picture, imagine, question, and listen for myself. “What new insights do You want to share with me about these Old Testament events, Lord? What do you want me to learn or do in response to this concept of Tabernacling in the wilderness? Sometimes I try to draw an element like the lampstand for myself, even though skilled artists have already done so. It’s been interesting that the slow, manual process of drawing has created a settling of my mind and spirit to better listen for what He has to say.

 

Come Tabernacle with Me....come Tabernacle with Me in this dry wilderness of 2020. Amidst the chaos and lawlessness and lies and dearth of Truth, you will find my oasis, My Tent of Meeting. There is flowing, bubbling, peaceful, life-giving water here. “Draw near with faith”and without fear. You no longer have to be afraid...fearful to perform everything perfectly.. Be reverent, but not afraid. Honor Me with holy awe but love Me as your ABBA. Never forget the gift you have been given by My Son...that you may come to Me in this way.  Stop awhile in the Old Testament to fully appreciate the New. Understand how fear and trepidation have been replaced by My Shalom....that which I have desired for you since I created my son 

Adam and daughter Eve and placed them in the Garden with that very Shalom of provision, wholeness, intimacy, and blessing. Redemption, Reconciliation,  Restoration are now available to all who are willing to receive them.

Never take My gifts for granted. Never receive them flippantly or lightly, but reverently, with deep appreciation and awareness.  Hold them, as you would a fragile bird or delicate flower in your hand. Note every vivid detail, every facet...and be filled with awe. Fall on your knees in gratefulness. Better yet, fall into My arms. This was My desire all along.

Rabbit Ears

I love to have my prayer time on the porch and listen to all the birds, living in the trees surrounding us. I’ve wondered from which bird each call, song, or cry emanated. So I downloaded an app called BirdNet. I record the birds and then ask the app to analyze and identify the source, if it’s able. So far it’s identified about a dozen birds.  

The challenge in recording is to capture the quieter bird songs between the raucous calls of the crow and the scrub jay. This caused me to ponder what it is like for our Heavenly Father, with billions of voices calling out...some directly to Him and many just plaintively calling.  They don’t realize He hears their every whisper and every inaudible cry.

The Lord knows every one of our voices, as well as the number of hairs on our head.* He longs to have a two-way conversation with us. He hears the human equivalent of the soft coo of a dove at the exact same time as the unlovely cry of the raven. One does not drown out the other. In fact, He recognizes every individual dove, jay, towhee, swallow, starling, and robin as distinct from one another. You are not just part of a species and genus to Him, but rather a creature like no other. He hears every personality-filled call.

But do we hear His? Do we recognize the voice of the Shepherd amidst the cacophony of world events, social media posts, movies, television broadcasts, and conversations with friends and strangers? Do we listen intently amidst the fears, anxieties, dread, rationalizations, and even happy diversions of our minds?

When I was young, my mother called me rabbit ears. She and my father could be whispering 2 rooms away, and I would ask them questions about their conversation. “How do you DO that?” they would ask me. The Lord reminded me of this recently. 

I want you to have rabbit ears again, He said. 

What, Lord?, I replied with consternation.

Rabbit ears...remember? I want you to to listen so intently for me that you can hear me through all the noise and chaos of the world around you, especially when I seem far away..  Even through the fears and anxieties of your soul. It is vital now that you do, and even more so in the future. It will help if you turn off the secular external audio input. However, there’s no OFF switch for the internal voices, except through the power of My Holy Spirit. Tune those rabbit ears to My frequency and fine tune your reception. I AM above the circumstances in which you live, and you can be, too. But you must stay finely tuned.

Spend more time feeding yourself with the good food of My Word, by discerning teaching, and most of all by praying in My Spirit. Your rabbit ear growth comes from these...from My very Presence.  Live higher.  You will hear My whisper in your ear.

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My sheep listen to mu voice; I know them and they follow me.  --John 10:27

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.    --Matthew 10:29-31

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You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain. ...

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

--Psalm 139: 1-6; 17-18

Ministering to the Lord

In my January 30th post, we were exploring Chronicles, and I broached the subject of what it might mean to minister to the Lord as New Testament believers. So I’ve been exploring and asking the Lord what that really means. In some ways, it is akin to my search for what pleases God. [posts 11/8-11/13].

Personally, I am in what my friend Joan W. refers to as a time of  'betwixt and between.'*  In a new geographic location, having moved away from my previous ministry as worship leader (and occasional teacher) at a wonderful little 'manger' of a church, I am unsure how and where and what the Lord wants me doing, now that I'm retired from full-time work.

However, as I read repeated references to 'ministering to the Lord,' I heard the Lord say, "Why don't you focus on ministering to Me?  I enjoy your ministry.  I figured I must have made that up in my head, because why would the God Who created the solar system and universe upon universe need or want 'ministry' from little me...or from anyone?

The truth is, according to His Word, He is blessed by our loving on Him.  All of us.  Want to 'lead worship,' encouraging intimacy with the Lord by the music you choose?  Sing to Him, all by yourself.   Want an outlet for what you're learning from Him?  Tell Him how excited you are about what you're learning.  Want to create beautiful paintings of His creation?  Draw pictures of you and Him together.

I am a consummate stick figure artist.  Yet, God has been guiding me in expressing the love I have for Him (and He for me) through little sketches no one but He sees. We laugh together over them, but He isn't ridiculing my attempts. He tells me He enjoys my art.  He'll do the same for you.  (I found a really good eraser..not those awful ones on the end of pencils.)  He'll say, "Try it this way."

He's opened my eyes to what is around me so that individual elements in His creation almost vibrate before me as He calls my attention to them.  I tell Him, "Wow, Lord, that flower is such an amazing work of art!  Look at the detailing!  I want to draw that.  My efforts may be woefully inadequate, but my heart sincerely desires to express how lovely I find this world in which He lovingly placed us.

We take walks together.  Sometimes I forget He's with me, as my mind wanders around.  I tell Him I'm sorry I forgot He was there by my side.  I don't want to forget...ever.  Sometimes he directs me down certain streets so I discover hidden spots of quiet beauty.  He'll do it for you.

Sometimes we dance. He will dance with you as if there's no one else in the world.

Just let Him know you want to 'love on Him' in ways that please and minister Him.  He enjoys us.  He enjoys interacting with us, as true friends do.  Not everything is of cosmic import to Him.  He likes being with us, laughing with us, playing jokes on us, and drawing out the unique personalities, gifts, and eccentricities He created in us.  He likes to have fun with us.

Ministering to the Lord is, yes, praise.  It's telling Him how much You appreciate Him, not only for what He's done, but for Who He is. It's sincere and devoted worship. It's affectionate reverence.  It's pushing aside other demands to spend 'devotional' time with Him.  It's hungering after what He has to say to us, in both His written and spoken Word. It's loving on others in His Name.  But, most of all, I believe, it is getting to know Him more and more intimately, so that our lives are filled with ongoing interaction, spoken and unspoken, in joyful abandon to Who He is.

You might say, "I could never do those things you do.  It's just not me.  Well, just be you!  Ask the Lord to show you what He considers ministry to Him from you.  He only created one of you, and your experience with Him will be unique.  He doesn't want you to be anyone but you with Him.  But you might discover, when you stop predetermining what you can and can't do with Him, that He'll surprise you with a new form of Yetser.  [Translated in the Scriptures as all of these:  imagination, meditation, frame, and conception.]  Are you open to new conceptions as you minister to the Lord?
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*Betwixt and Between, by Joan Weller
** Here are some Scriptures referring to 'ministering to the Lord.'  I can't put them all here, or you'd never get through them all. 

Psalm 17:15  15 As for me, I will continue beholding Your face in righteousness (rightness, justice, and right standing with You); I shall be fully satisfied, when I awake [to find myself] beholding Your form [and having sweet communion with You].
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Psalm 16: 1 Keep and protect me, O God, for in You I have found refuge, and in You do I put my trust and hide myself.

2 I say to the Lord, You are my Lord; I have no good beside or beyond You.

5 The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot.

6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.

7 I will bless the Lord, Who has given me counsel; yes, my heart instructs me in the night seasons.

8 I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my inner self] rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety,

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2 Chronicles 5:13-14 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

13 And when the trumpeters and singers were joined in unison, making one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and other instruments for song and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever, then the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud,

14 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

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2 Chronicles 6:41  41 So now arise, O Lord God, and come into Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength and power. Let Your priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Your saints (Your zealous ones) rejoice in good and in Your goodness.
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2 Chronicles 30:
21 And the Israelites who were in Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great joy. The Levites and priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with instruments of much volume to the Lord.
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27 Then the priests and Levites arose and blessed the people; and their voice was heard and their prayer came up to [God’s] holy habitation in heaven
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2 Chronicles 31:2 2 And Hezekiah appointed the priests and the Levites after their divisions, each man according to his service, the priests and Levites for burnt offerings and for peace offerings, to minister, to give thanks, and to praise in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
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2 Chronicles 29:27-28      "...the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets and with the instruments ordained by King David of Israel.

28 And all the congregation worshiped, the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.

30 Also King Hezekiah and the princes ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness and bowed themselves and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, Now you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord; come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings into the house of the Lord.

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1 Chronicles 6:32   

32 They ministered before the tabernacle of the Tent of Meeting with singing until Solomon had built the Lord’s house in Jerusalem, performing their service in due order.

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Exodus 40:34-35 Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)

34 Then the cloud [the Shekinah, God’s visible presence] covered the Tent of Meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle!

35 And Moses was not able to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud remained upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

Continuing to learn from Chronicles....

As I continue on my journey through Chronicles, verses are popping out at me in a fresh way. This morning I read about God (through  David) setting up the duties of the priests from Aaron’s line,  and the Levites from the line of Moses.

The priests were set apart to sanctify him as most holy and to consecrate the most holy things, that he and his sons might burn incense before the Lord, minister to Him, and bless in His Name forever. [1 Chronicles 23:13] At first I was confused by the two hims in this passage. However I realized that the first was Aaron, the human High Priest, and the second Him was God. 

As New Testament believers, after everything changed with Yeshua (see yesterday’s post), we form a royal priesthood.  [1 Peter 2:9]. It is our assigned and glorious purpose to minister to Him and bless in His name.  Yeshua is our great High Priest, and He has called us all to fulfill the role of Aaron’s sons.

He has also called us to be Levite’s, whose duty was to oversee the work of the Lord’s house [1 Chronicles 23:4]...and to stand every morning to thank and praise the Lord, and likewise in the evening; and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord.

Where David set aside the sons Asaph and of Heman the ‘king’s seer’ to prophesy with harps, with stringed instruments, and with symbols, now we are all called to praise and prophesy, as inspired by the Holy Spirit given us at Pentecost.  No longer do only certain people receive a word from the Lord. All of us who are open to the Holy Spirit’s work within us are given the privilege. How awesome that even the least in the Kingdom of God* is honored and called to praise, prophesy, 
serve, minister to God, and bless others in His Name. 

As we ponder these thoughts in the context of our daily lives, let’s ask the Father how we can better fulfill these roles to which He’s called us, as believers in His Name. Furthermore, let’s reorder the list above and place minister to Him as our first priestly priority.

What does it mean to minister to the Lord?  Stay tuned...
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*Matthew 11:11

Everything changes...

I have not read Kings and Chronicles anywhere as often as I have read the New Testament, or even other books in the Old, such as the prophets. But recently, my sweet daughter-in-law referred me to a passage in 2 Kings involving Elisha, in which he directed people to dig troughs in the ground to make a place to receive what God had for them. [2 Kings 3:16-20]

This set me on a path to read all of Kings and then the two Chronicles, which are so totally entwined. Once we make it through all the genealogy, we discover much treasure buried there. I had forgotten just how much.

The last few days, I have been reading about David. Today I came to the point where he took a military census, against the advice of Joab, the commander of his armies.  This upset God greatly. Why?  Because David was then relying on human strength for success. It was God who, despite situations of greatly inferior numbers, had brought the victories David had experienced.

Even after he repented, David was afraid to go before the Lord in the Tabernacle. He followed God’s direction to build a ‘local’ altar, but he did not have confidence to travel and come before the altar in the holy Tabernacle tent, itself. [1 Chronicles 20:30]

I was immediately reminded that everything changes with Jesus.  Even David, beloved mighty man of God with such a heart to serve Him, was unsure of his welcome after his sin.  Remember, even the man who touched the Ark of the Covenant to steady it, lost his life in the process.  [2 Samuel 6:1-8]

We, however, never have to be afraid or uncertain whether we’re welcome at God’s altar or at His feet. It’s all because of Yeshua. We may well be coming before Him with a great sin (or a long series
of ‘smaller’ ones) on our hearts. We may be thinking our sin is too great or we’ve repeated a sin once too often for Him to tolerate our presence. Yet Yeshua paved the way, now and forever, for us not only to survive coming before our Most Holy God, but to be encouraged and welcomed in His Fatherly arms. We no longer need fear death, or even condemnation, before the Throne. We’re welcomed as precious children, naughty though we may have been.

Yes, as a child of a Father Whom we love and desire to please; Whom we hate to disappoint; Who we want to be proud of us; we are grieved at grieving His Holy Spirit.  But we should never fear running directly to Him in our sorrow, never be uncertain of our welcome. Everything changes from Old to New....all because of Yeshua.

You, even if you feel least in the kingdom of heaven, are greater than David, greater than Moses, Elijah, Elisha, and even John the Baptist, whom Jesus called the greatest man who had ever lived up to that time. [Matthew 11:11]

Yeshua cancels every curse, from the Garden forward. He makes us righteous and worthy to stand before His Holy Father and receive His great and tender love. He stands in the gap as the Great High Priest and Intercessor for all who trust in Him. He sets us free from captivities of body, soul, and spirit. Everything changes with Him....how incomprehensibly wonderful is His gift to us.  Be sure to tell Him so this very moment.  And while you’re there, stay awhile.....

Sanctuary light

If you grew up in (or still worship in) a sacramental church, you may remember the sanctuary light, a candle lit to represent God’s Presence in the church. This morning I was reading from my Tozer devotional a reminder that we are God’s sanctuary,  and as such our hearts should be a pure and holy place for Him to dwell:   Build that invisible altar from within. Let the spirit of God produce the living, cleansing flame that marks your devotion to Christ, our Lord.

A wisp of a prayer from the recesses of my memory surfaced from the evening service called Vespers,  a sunset service of evening prayer. In fact, long ago bells in towns used to ring six times per day to call people to pray throughout the day. (You can read more about the Book of Hours or Prayers of the Hours, if you’re interested.  Or you might enjoy Davis Bunn’s fiction book, The Book of Hours, which includes some of this history.) Perhaps we might all benefit from reminders throughout the day to stop for a few moments and connect with our Heavenly Father. To put our current activities, responsibilities, and concerns into perspective. To stop, look up from our work, give Him a smile and let Him know how grateful we are. To affirm that our hearts are still devoted to Him.

Vespers is still practiced by many throughout the world. O Gracious Light is an ancient prayer from that service: O Gracious Light, pure brightness of the everliving Father in Heaven, O Jesus Christ, holy and blessed! Now, as we come to the setting of the sun, and our eyes behold the vesper light, we sing Your praises, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are worthy at all times to be praised by happy voices, O Son of God, O Giver of Life, and to be glorified through all the worlds.


Remember the phrase, she’s carrying a torch for him (or vice versa)? The image evoked a flame in one’s heart which has continued to burn, despite the circumstances which might have easily snuffed it out. ADONAI’s flame of love for us never goes out, and neither should ours for Him. Is our heart cleansed so that His Presence can burn a sanctuary light within us? Do we carry His torch, which burns faithfully and ceaselessly throughout our days on this earth?

Some of us are in our sunset years. Do we carry the Vesper light? Or have we allowed it to dim through the challenges, disappointments, or weariness of life?  Have we become weary of fighting the good fight of the faith? If so, we need to devote more time to the One Who first lit that flame and can cause it to burn brightly. It should emit such a deep glow from within that it warms the cold hearts of others around us.  They should be drawn to its warmth and light. And we, ourselves, should be acolytes dedicated to its tending.