Two Lefts Don’t Make A Right

How dangerously often do we think we know what we are doing? How often do we 'supersede' God in our plans for ourselves? We fool ourselves into thinking we are doing God a favor by doing things this way or that. We are helping God out by the way we use our better, more wise ideas because God must not have it all figured out. We of course carry out our immature plans only to find ourselves in the dust, hurt and desperate to reverse our actions. God however, in his infinite sovereignty is able to show mercy and guide us back into the path he has set for us. A prime example of this fleshly action is seen in the life of King Saul, in the midst of his beginning to operate in his new calling, he makes a mistake that strikes a fatal blow
to his future.

I In 1 Samuel we see the progression of Saul's rise to kingship. We see how once he was anointed with oil, which seems to often signify the beginning of a waiting period. He then began to walk in this anointing and allowed the Holy Spirit to work in and through him (1 Sam 10:9, 11:6) as his calling began to come to fruition. Where we once saw him hiding in the baggage unwilling and afraid to step up to the call placed on his life, he now was flowing in the Spirit and appeared to thrive in this calling. As the Spirit worked in him, God was able to shine through some of his attributes in order to show the people of Israel his mercy.

After a dispute arose from a group of men in the new Kings army, the rest of the Israelites were calling for the 70 unruly rebels to be murdered. But with the Spirit at work within Saul we see merciful acts coming through, he declares no one will be killed that day because the Lord won a great victory (1 Sam 11:13). This show of mercy is confirmed as the Lord speaks through Samuel to the people a warning and encouragement.

"Now if you will fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord's commands, and if you and your king follow the Lord your god then all will be well…Don't be afraid, Samuel reassured them. You have certainly done wrong but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart and that you don't turn your back on him in any way. Don't go back to worshipping worthless idols…The Lord will not abandon his chosen people, for that would dishonor his name. He made you a special nation for himself." -1 Samuel 12:14,16,20-22

The contrast seen between God's mercy shining through Saul to the point of his fatal strike is painfully familiar to all who have followed in his footsteps to take things into their own hands. After this foreboding chastisement by Samuel, we find Saul waiting for Samuel to make a sacrifice in chapter 13. Oh how often have we let impatience steal our blessing? When will we learn to lean on the arm of delayed gratification? As Saul waited for Samuel to come to make this sacrifice we can only imagine the thoughts swirling in his mind, they are ones we hear all to often. Why isn't God moving yet? Why hasn't he provided this need yet? When will he reveal this aspect of his plan!? Oh if I was in charge of this situation, I would have it under control by now! Here is where we reach the breaking point, here we
see Saul throwing away the blessings found in living under the calling of God in our lives. Much to impatient for Samuel Saul makes the sacrifice to pacify the people and to pacify his own impatience.

In an act of indulging the flesh Saul in one foul swoop stepped outside of God's timing and outside God's calling for his life.

Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel's timing-how often we get to impatient; we take matters into our own hands.

Saul was called to be a king, not a priest, not make the sacred sacrifices. If you are called to serve as a bathroom cleaner-do not be jealous of the preacher. Do not live your life on a whim; God has so much more for you then a mundane, apathetic life!

Oh the sorrowful familiarity we should feel seeping from every breath of Saul's excuse! He claims that he felt obligated to do this, it was the right thing. Sure, the actions looked right, they looked like something a God fearing person would do, but OH the danger of willingly and knowingly stepping beyond the borders of the path God has set before you. Be wary of the proceedings that pacify the religious quota of actions but cost you your heart. Samuel gives a terse chastisement to Saul before all the people that have simple warning that we should heed even today.

"How foolish! Samuel exclaimed. You have disobeyed the command of the Lord your God. Had you obeyed the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever…for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already chosen him to be kind over his people, for you have not obeyed the Lords command." – 1 Samuel 13:13-14

Will you heed the prophets warning? Won't you keep a strict watch over your heart's motives? Will you open your heart to hear and wait upon the Lord and his direction? We must stop taking things into our own hands and forfeiting our calling? Saul's two wrong actions did not amount to the blessing and peace he had hoped would come. It lead to a restless, frustrated and painful rest of his life where he watched his throne be taken from him as the Lord's anointed rose to power. While God's mercy was there, and I believe that a calling can't ever be revoked, but when our hearts aren't right or willing, God will find a willing vessel to carry out his plans.

Father God, open our eye and minds to see and understand all that you have to tell us in this moment. God help us to be content in waiting for you. Help us to be content as we lean on the truth that you are working all things to our good and have perfect timing for all that you have planned. God may we put to death the flesh as it stirs up jealousy in us. May we see that the place you have positioned us is the place we are supposed to be and serve. God open our eyes to the truths found in your word and may we LIVE it and not just LEARN it Lord! May we choose to follow your path and not the one of our own making!

The Ebbing Lovesick Pain

"My lover tried to unlatch the door, and my heart thrilled within me. I jumped up to open it…as I pulled back the bolt. I opened to my lover, but he was gone. I yearned for even his voice! I searched for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere. I called to him but there was no reply." –Song of Songs 5:4-6

Oh the quiet pain found within.

Pain seems to ebb and flow.

The source-my life and purpose,

My purpose the heart of the One Most Holy.

This Holy Being whose heart I must reach, Oh the distance seems to far to bear!

But Lover of My Consumed heart, will you not come close?

Must I wait in silence?

Must my pain seep from my heart to every fiber of my being?

Oh Lofty One, how I am I to comprehend the plans you have fashioned?

This wall I've run straight against.

This pain is so poignant; my tears are the overflow of the wounds unseen.

This cruel separation crumbles the last shards of a lovesick heart.

Oh Ever Present One! Why now?

Why My Defender, must this winter be so hard in coming?

I do not see, I do not feel, and I do not hear you.

But I choose to know, I choose to cling and I choose to hope.

Oh Creator, I know you are good.

This goodness I keep in the front of my crowded mind,

Abandoned love seems a faint whisper.

But the Mockers, Oh King, they do not have our story!

Oh Comforter, they weren't there as you wrapped me in your arms.

Oh Provider! They know not the storehouses you built.

Oh Lover! They know not the song sang over my slumber!

These roots grown in Spring, when your rain was so tangible,

These tangible roots go deeper than the sting of winter can reach.

The pierced heart I tear out and lay on the altar, Oh Healer! You see the scars of yesteryears.

Hold me tight for the fear of man therein. Keep me from feeling the hope deffered.
These men with fallen nature have wounded my weak heart.

The vast heights and depths of this abandoned love!

Am I now descending to these depths impenetrable?

Oh pained heart of mine! Be watchful! Do not ignore the revelation found here!

Oh heart, rejoice at the invitation of the Silent One who has gone before us in this place.

I travelled the mountains with you oh painful, wounding love

How am I to ignore your escort to the valley?

HOPE

I cling to you.

FAITH

I ask for sustenance.

OH TRUTH

Steady my fading steps.

LOVE

Oh cruel, infatuated, rewarding, love.

Love, my heart beat, my song, my spirit, OH LOVE be ever present in this sovereign suffering!

Oh Love I search, Oh Silent Lamb I follow

I follow to this place of night as mine eyes lift to rays of distant light.

For I have entrusted my life to He Who Lead me this way.

His face is the light, the fullness I seek

Oh! Wounded heart, bear up with endurance under this extended night and know

With the flow of this ocean of encounter I choose to be grounded.

I choose to follow the blood stained footprints of my Redeemer in this Garden

Oh pain found within.

Be a wound that drives me to my purpose

Oh Holy Being! Reaching for you my consumed heart's cry is lifted!

Oh consumed heart, oh hope, constant companion

FORWARD

WE PRESS!

"I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him…O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. " –Psalm 62:5,8

Break Through in a Dry Place

"During that time, all Israel mourned because it seemed that the Lord had abandoned them." – 1 Samuel 7:2

In the Word we see time and time again a person, or groups of people in who find themselves in a dry place, or a wilderness. Yet, alongside these wilderness times, we very frequently see the persons having a life changing encounter with God Almighty. We see this with the Hebrew nation of Israel, it was in the wilderness at the mountain that they had an encounter with the I AM, even though they chose to draw away rather than drawing into the mysteries of this GOD-He still met with them there. (This subject along merits its own blog…article...more like book! =D ) We also see the abused and mistreated Hagar in the wilderness as she receives a promise from JEHOVAH. "The angel of the Lord found Hagar beside a desert spring..." –Genesis 16:7 .Another example is Jacob at Bethel, he was struggling with running from what God had for him when GOD appeared to him and gave him revelation. So without further explanation, its easy to see how our God is one who can break through our dry times, the quiet times when we can't feel him near and when we don't see him moving.

As we I continued my reading through 1 Samuel, this is where I found the Israelite people after Eli had died and the Ark was captured. How often can we identify with that feeling of being in the wilderness? It says the people mourned because they thought the Lord had abandoned them. Perhaps they had realized that they didn't guard the presence as vigilantly as they could have. And now, with this realization, it seemed as though they couldn't return to a place of intimacy with their God.

This is the state where we find the people as Samuel approaches them with a word of conviction and encouragement.

"Then Samuel said to all the people of Israel, 'If you are really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods and your images of Ashtoreth. Determine to obey only the Lord: then he will rescue you from the Philistines. So the Israelites destroyed their images of Baal and Ashtoreth and worshiped only the Lord…They also went without food all day and confessed that they had sinned against the Lord" – 1 Samuel 7:3-4

    So we see, through Samuel's guidance, the people in the midst of their wilderness season enter into a time of repentance (destroying idols and worshipping only the Lord) and fasting (they went without food all day). This pattern is also seen time and time again in the WORD. These people understood their need for a breakthrough. They were desperate for the Lords presence to return and they took the steps necessary to cleanse their hearts and lives. We have to be rid of all things that we let take the place of our God. Any idols that are getting in the way of worshiping the one we were created for. When you wake up in the morning what do you think of? What is it that occupies your mind as it rambles through the bunny trails in your mind? Where does it settle and dwell? Is that place God? Is it a place filled with love and mercy and grace and goodness? If it isn't, you are linked arm and arm with the people of Israel who had allowed idols to replace JEHOVAH. Sometimes in these situations we can't just pray a simple prayer and our minds and hearts are renewed automatically. No, sometimes we have to take drastic measures and starve the ugly flesh that clings to our spirit. Sometimes we have to sacrifice our earthly pleasures in order to refocus on the one whose presence we can't live without. We have to recognize that our hearts are far from the path of righteousness and deprive the flesh of any nourishment as we destroy the idols that we built up with our own hands. A sacrifice is always required of us, a sacrifice must be done in order to atone for the sin of the people.

    "So Samuel took a young lamb and offered (sacrificed) it to the Lord as a whole burnt offering. He pleaded (interceded on behalf of the people) with the Lord to help Israel, and the Lord answered." -1 Samuel 7:9

    AND THE LORD ANSWERED. The people of Israel were in the wilderness. They had lost the Ark, it hadn't departed, they had misused it-not treasured it- and allowed it to be taken from them. They let something come in-between them and the most precious treasure a human can know. They allowed the PRESENCE to be taken and found themselves desperately mourning its absence. So here we see the steps of moving out of a place of wilderness.

1. Heed you leader's counsel (vs 3)
   
2. Purify your life of the things you've place before GOD (vs 4)
   
3. Starve the flesh (Fast) and confess your sins before GOD (vs 6)
   
4. Understand there must be sacrifice (this could be sacrificing a comfort in fasting, or this could be understanding that you must live your life as a living sacrifice unto the Lord/ vs 9)
   
5. Cry out to God with a sincere and passionate heart (vs 9)
   

Do you see!? Do you hear the beloved father calling you to a place just beyond the wilderness?! The people of Israel are the ones who allowed the presence of the Lord to depart. Even at our own hands, when we stray from the Lord, we can still find a place back in his arms. But it is not without sacrifice! Even when we have willingly and knowingly let the enemy take the place of GOD in our lives, there is mercy, but not with out sacrifice. So I ask you beloved, will you heed the heart of the FATHER? Will you take the steps needed to obtain a break through in this wilderness?

    The Father is calling you, come out of the wilderness. Hear my promises in this place he whispers. See my love, see my plan taking form before you as Jacob at Bethel. Listen to the identity I have for you as Hagar in the desert! Meet me in a new way as the people of Israel at the Mount. Come, dear ones, come daughter into my love, come son into my family once more. This wilderness season comes to a close, but you must step out of it. Do you see that just around that bend lies a river of overflowing water and promise? Come, I have called you mine, and I now call you to come. Draw near to me.

"...AND THE LORD ANSWERED" -1 Samuel 7:9

Vigilantly Guarding HIS Presence

"Eli was waiting beside the road for the news of the battle, for his heart trembled for the safety of the ark of God." -1 Samuel 4:13

    In 1 Samuel 4 the Philistines had stolen the Ark of the Lord from the Israelites. This soon did not bode well for the Philistines and they soon realized they had to get rid of it. In the midst of this we see Eli, young Samuel's mentor, as he awaits the results of the Israelites taking the Ark to battle. Eli was a man of God. He was a priest in the Temple, so by vocation and nature of heart, he was consumed with the presence of God. In these days of the Old Covenant, the priest was still the mediator for the people and God, he knew how precious it was to be in the presence of I AM. We even read at the beginning of chapter 3…

"Now in those days messages from the Lord were very rare, and visions were uncommon." -1 Sam 3:1

    This is just another testament to the passion with which Eli must have upheld his position. I have heard it said that you should guard the presence of the Lord in your life above all else. Do not let anything come between you and your relationship with God. We need to not put our image, our job, even or passions above God. He is at work in all of those, yes-but spending time with him must be FIRST and all else is overflow. Here, the priest Eli had his heart trembling for the safety of the Ark. Not the safety of his friends in the battle...but the Ark that was Holy and contained the Presence. Eli trembled for it…when was the last time you trembled at the loss of one hour you could've spent in the PRESENCE?

"…And the Ark of God has been captured. When the messenger mentioned what happened to the Ark, Eli fell backward from his seat…He broke his neck and died…" – 1 Sam 4:17b-18

    The PRESENCE of God was such a defining aspect of Eli's life that when that element of who he was, he died. His life revolved around this mystery known as the PRESENCE, and he anxiously awaited its return, but when he heard of the disastrous turn of the Battle, his life simply had no reason to continue on. Just as Moses did, so did Eli's heart cry go up to the Lord of Lords "if you aren't with me, than I don't want to go on from here!?" This is the heart cry our souls should wrench from our bones-GOD WE NEED YOUR PRESENCE TO live! Don't you see our very purpose stems from interacting with the God of the universe in his presence? Not only did Eli tremble at the lack of the PRESENCE but he died once he realized it was would no longer be in his life. His PRESNCE is life.

    We take the free access we have to God's PRESENCE for granted. When was the last time you ached over not having God's presence in your life? How many weeks have you let pass since you had a heart connect with the One Who Holds Your Heart? Do you even know what he went through to allow you to enter freely into his PRESENCE? The church today is a sickly bride; she is happy for the name change but doesn't want to spend the needed time to get to know their new husband. They use his money and stay a room away from him. We need to let our bodies ache with hunger for our God's presence. We need to tremble at the mere possibility of something getting in the way of our time with the I AM. We need to tremble to be near him.

    As the Philistines began to realize they needed 'rid' of the Ark we see an interesting dynamic. Those who welcomed the PRESENCE for what is was were blessed; it was a life giving source. But in juxtaposition the presence of god is too Holy and glorious for any sin to surviving the midst. In one town 70 men peered into the Ark out of curiosity. This brash treatment of holiness of God got them killed. God is a holy God and he cannot tolerate being treated as nothing more but a door mat.

Today the veil has been torn yes, we can enter freely yes. But today we stand in front of the torn veil and bow our heads pretending to enter in, today too often we perform every ritual possible trying to be worthy of passing through. Today we treat the PRESENCE with disdain. Today we find it inconvenient to take time to dwell in the most holy PRESENCE and to wait on our God. It is time for the complacent, Bride to fight for the PRESENCE, to defend the PRESNECE and to vigilantly, jealously and rigoursly guard the PRESENCE in its life.

Oh that the people of today's church, of today's culture would raise the soul wrenching cry as the people of Israel did!!! The cry that raised that pierced the heart of El SHADI-

    "Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord, this holy God?' They cried.."-1 Sam 6:20

Do you hunger? Do you ache? Will you guard his PRESENCE in your life as if it WAS YOURE LIFE?