Life is a Tabernacle! Isaiah 55:3

This series, the Isaiah 55 series of blog posts was written as an ongoing prayer for my church; but it's a prayer for all churches, for all people.

♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   ♱   

Isaiah 55:3

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live.  I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

David dancing before the Ark of the Covenant
Google image.

People say that the model used to establish our "Shore House of Prayer" is based on David’s tabernacle.  And I think that’s a very good thing!

But God didn’t love David because of the tabernacle, the tabernacle was a demonstration of David’s profound love for God.  And that love created a party; a 24/7/365 celebration of mutual affection.  

That’s something Shore Vineyard seems to be be very good at, living a life of mutual affection.  Loving God should be a party!

God is faithful!  His love, for me, for us, is everlasting!  It never runs out and it’s never withheld.

The culture of Shore Vineyard focuses on developing, fostering and practicing communication with our loving Father.

Lord, it seems as if everything should rest on this foundation of the understanding of mutual love and communication.  That’s my prayer prayer for Shore Vineyard; that they would continue to grow in loving you, understanding your insane love for us and how you communicate that to us.  You tell us, over and over, in so many ways, how you cherish us, approve of us, revel in us!  Help us to always hear you and respond well.

Thank you for being crazy about us!

He's That Close

Psalm 16:8

I have set the Lord always before me.  Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

It’s a choice.  The scripture says, “I will set the Lord always before me.”   It doesn’t say, “The Lord is always before me.” (Although He is!)

It’s my choice and my goal to always set Him before me, so that He is always the first thing I see.  My whole life needs to be informed by the fact that my Lord is always before me.  I have to look around Him to see what’s behind Him.  Sometimes I ignore Him or even wish He was invisible, but I don’t think I could ever wish He wasn’t there.  How can I turn my back on him when he’s always before me?

And what is the significance of Him being at my right hand?  

To be seated at someone’s right hand means to have the place of honor.  So, I guess it means that I choose to give the Lord the place of highest honor in my life.  

And being that close, less than an arms length away, my rescue from any circumstance is assured!

I Am Not Abandoned

Ps. 16:10  ...because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will let your Holy One see decay.

This is my strongest hope and belief.  I will not be abandoned to the grave.  Because Jesus did not see decay, and I have faith to believe it, I have an eternal home.  Life may be crappy sometimes, in the here and now, but when things get ugly and stressful I can picture heaven and see myself there.  My hubby calls it  a “mental vacation.”  Toil and striving will cease.  To be in God’s presence and worship him will be my eternal delight.  Like someone in church said once, “ To stand before the throne and sing out, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ for all eternity and never get bored!”

Thank you, Lord, for eternity with you.  

Thank you, also, for the deposit of you, Holy Spirit, the evidence of my inheritance!

All Things Work Together For Good...

Acts 21:3b-5a,10,11

We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.  Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them for seven days.  Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem, but when our time was up we left and continued on our way... (Now at Caesarea)  After we had been there a number of days a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the gentiles.’”

This is something that has puzzled me for a long time.

The Holy Spirit told Paul not to go to Jerusalem.  When he refused to obey He sent Agabus to make the warning stronger.  But still Paul decided that what he wanted to do was the correct thing and went to Jerusalem anyway.  He was not there four days when everything he had been warned about happened.

It is true that he was fearless.  But was he wise?  Did he sin?  Was he too proud in wanting to share with the fathers in Jerusalem all that he had accomplished?

Why didn’t he obey?  What could have been accomplished if he had made his way to Spain?  Might Spain have been the center of the Christian world instead of Rome? 

Romans 8:28 - For we know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.”

When Paul disregarded the Lord’s warnings he was not walking in the Lord’s will, yet he was soundly grounded in his purpose of making Christ known throughout the world.

Being arrested and taken to Rome certainly led to that achievement, yet maybe not in the way the Lord would have chosen.

This is one of the greatest “What ifs” in history!  What if Paul had stayed away?  What would our world look like now if he had been obedient?

God never stopped loving him.  He continued to help him.  God continued to work miracles through him.   He did not curse him or turn his back on him.

And, as it is said, “God is no respecter of persons.”  What he did for Paul he will do also for each of his beloved children.

We are all disobedient.  What seems like a small infraction to any of us may have major Spiritual implications.  But God never turns his back on us either.  He will turn our worst mistakes into what glorifies him.  He is our Father and he wants our best, always!

We have the confidence of Paul’s example; even when our egos get in the way and screw up the plans the Lord has for us,  he will still love us just as much!  He will never turn away from us!   He will see that all of our mistakes, somehow, lead to good!

Our Very Own Prophet

We have our very own prophet in our tiny church. When Anthony speaks most people pay attention. He will be 30 years old in a couple of weeks. It's not always easy to understand him, sometimes even listening really hard isn't enough.

Anthony was born with Down Syndrome. He lives in a Godly home with his mom and dad and attends church almost every week.

On any given Sunday you'll see him sitting up front and during our worship time he has a wonderful time! Almost every week there is a time of public speaking. Whether it'giving testemony about a healing, or reading from scripture and telling how that verse impacted their lives, people are free to give voice to how they feel God has blessed them. And most weeks, not all, Anthony hears God speak to him and he shares. Usually his words are in response to someone elses testemony. He will read a scripture verse that perfectly folds into what has been said. And sometimes he ever speaks openly the words that the Lord gives him personally. I likek to say he, " knocks my socks off!" the truer phrase is, "he blesses my bones!"

Life on Earth is Seldom Easy

Someone that I know and love is going through a very difficult break up. Engaged to be married since Christmas, his fiancee announced last week that she does not love him and is moving out of his apartment.

I sorrow for him. And I grieve his loss.

She does not have a relationship with God, in any way. At this time in his life, neither does he. He sees the relationship that exists between my husband and myself and thinks that he can have that for himself. And someday he may, if he once more chooses to walk with Christ.

Unfortunately, he has walked his own path for many years now. I have always thought that he feared asking Christ to be his Lord becasue he wants to live his life his way and thinks that God won't let him. So he lives in the world and he looks to the world to provide him with a life mate.

I know that he was raised in the knowledge of the law of natural consequences. ie: if you behave in a certain way, you can expect a certain outcome. But love, as they say, is blind, and he did not see this consequence coming.

I cannot tell him this. He will not hear it. But I continue to pray that he may, someday soon, come to the realization that he cannot run his own life successfully and that he can trust the Lord to see him safely through all trials and tribulations.

Life in Christ is a joy. That's not to say that it's often easy. Life on earth is seldom easy. But the desire for God's will in my life takes a great portion of the sting out of lifes disappoitments and sorrows.

I hope he comes around soon.