In 1544 there occurred what became know as “The great debasement.” Ushered in by an impoverished Henry V111 in order to increase his revenue, he simply put less gold in a coin but maintained its face value. Gold was reduced from 23 karat to 20 karat and the amount of silver in a coin was reduced from 92.5% to just 25%. There was somewhat of an out cry but for six years this policy prevailed, thus debasing the value of the whole currency, it was ye old inflation.
Part of Solomon’s treasure was three hundred shields of gold. (2 Chron 9:16) It was only a small part of his treasure but it was worth a vast fortune in today’s money. When that treasure was foolishly handled and displayed in pride and arrogance under Rehoboam, Shishak, King of Egypt came and took them all. The divided Kingdom could not stand against the might of Egypt. Rehoboam’s solution was to make 300 shields of brass. As the rising sun glistened on the brass shields, from a distance no one could tell that it was not gold, but it was not gold, it was a poor substitute.
Today’s brass is dimmed lights, smoke machines, stadium seating, concert style worship, flashing lights and laser shows. Add to that salesmen pitches and the power of positive thinking and “sermons,” by men who could easily be self help gurus or motivational speakers and the brass is complete. When the real treasure is gone, the presence of the Lord, then the replacement is brass and if that replacement is brass then the heavens above them is brass.
The riches of our dwelling place is in the Lord. The beauty of dwelling with Him produces the finest gold of unconditional love. The walls of our dwelling place are encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy. The windows of our dwelling places are draped with meekness and humility. Trophies of grace hang on every wall. They are framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness.He is our exceeding great reward and His presence is pure gold that can never be devalued by men. It is the riches that will last throughout eternity. We have no brass heavens above us, rather we have an open heaven. And from that open heaven it rains and the skies are rent and down flows the treasure of Heaven, God Himself!
1Co 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love , I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
In the previous sentence Paul tells us that we have to earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet, even above and beyond the best gifts, which we have indeed to earnestly desire, we must pursue love. It is not one or the other, God forbid. That’s a lie. Not only must the man or woman display the manifestation of the Spirit, above and beyond even that, He must walk in the greatest gift of all, love. Not human love, supernatural love. The kind of love that can only belong to the born again man or woman. The kind of love that shatters the gates of hell. The kind of love that inspired God to create us in the first place. The love that sent His only Son to die for the whole world. The kind of love that pursues us even when we are yet in our sin. The love that confounds hell itself. Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do. What kind of love motivated Jesus to cry this out in the midst of the greatest agony ever suffered? What kind of love would motivate Stephen to cry out the same thing even as those cruel merciless stones rained down upon his mortal body? Supernatural love. If one is truly endued with power from on high, that power will be first and foremost manifested in love in his or her life, the greatest manifestation of the Holy Spirit.
Paul begins with what love does not do or what it isn’t. It does not envy. It is not boastful. It is not full of pride. It does not behave in a deliberately offensive manner. It is not selfish. It is not easily provoked. It does not think the worse of people. It does not rejoice when others fall. Love, instead, revels in the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures all things. Love, indeed, never fails. It never fails. For this love is the manifestation of God Himself, in His own and through His own. It can never fail because God never fails. It is eternal for God is eternal. When the end comes, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back and the Kingdom of God rules and reigns for all eternity then of course we wont have to hope any more, for all hope is fulfilled. We will no longer have to trust in the God that we cannot see, for now we shall see Him face to face.
Knowledge will vanish because we shall know as we are known. When all things are fulfilled in this manner, then love still stands forever. We are yet in this world, but the world to come is coming soon. Now we are like children, then we shall be complete in Him. Now we see in a mirror dimly, then face to face. Imagine it saints!!! There is now and there is then, we still exist in the now. And now we have the manifestation of the Spirit, then, all things are complete, perfect. And when that perfect has come, then all these other things, besides love, shall fall away. Do not let anyone fool you, do not be ignorant about these things brothers and sisters. For certain men have a form of Godliness, nevertheless they deny the power of God and say that it has ceased. From such men turn away.
To be known by you sets my troubled heart at ease
It lifts me high above the waves, above the stormy seas
To be known by you fills me with such great desire
It overflows my flooded heart and puts out every fire
To be known by you means that I have been redeemed
Delivered from the guilt and shame and every voice that screamed
To be known by you puts a sword into my hand
To be lifted up from the battle-field that I once more might stand
To be known by you sets all my enemies to flight
And with the Word of God helps me navigate the night
To be known by you it is manna to my soul
For that which once was broken, you have now made whole
To be known by you will hold me in that hour
When all the world is crumbling, I'll be standing in your power
This I know in the depths of my heart to be true
That I am overwhelmed that I am known by you.
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near:
There is a time that is called “while He may be found.” It is a mysterious thing, perhaps, “while it is yet day.” No matter, there is no doubt there is a time to seek the Lord while He may yet be found. In the broadest sense and for the most part it is life itself. Almost always while there is yet breath in our lungs, He may be found. Yet in the the very next sentence we are told “let the wicked forsake his way (note the singular nature of the word, it does not say his ways) The wicked are on a wrong path altogether and in order to turn to God they must reverse their course and go in the exact opposite direction. Yet it’s not just his way that has to change, it’s his thoughts too. It is not so much what we are saved out of, for the Lord can deliver us from the gates of hell, it is what we are saved into. The thoughts of a man make up the core of who he is. The true measure of the new man in the new birth is that his very mind has been transformed. And from the depths of who he is, God changes him from the inside out. And now we shall see, glory to God, that out of the abundance of a mans heart the mouth speaks. And it speaks of Jesus.
Now it is certainly true that God will not always strive with a man. A mans heart can be so hardened and his conscience so seared that his time has come and gone, this is a truly terrifying position. If you find yourself coming close to that place, turn and run to God with everything that is in you. He shall still be found. For He will have mercy upon that man and He will abundantly pardon. We as saints may be tempted to think we are living in a world that is beyond redemption, I have thought that thought many times. Yet here is the humility, God says, My thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.(Isa 55:8-9) And so just as the rain and the snow falls from the heavens and waters the earth and it brings forth seed for the sower and therefore bread for the hungry, so also does the Word of the God fall down upon the earth. It comes forth from His heart and it always accomplishes what He desires. To the thirsty, behold, water. To the hungry, behold, bread.
And so to those who are watered by the Lord, those who have sought Him out, their thirst is quenched to overflowing. And to those who have been fed by the Lord, they are filled to abundance. They shall stretch out the curtains of their spiritual dwellings for it shall be enlarged. They shall go forth with joy and be led out by peace and the mountains and the hills shall burst into singing before them. And the trees of the field shall clap their hands in delight to see such things. It can clearly be seen that goodness and mercy are following them all the days of their lives. And the thorns and the cares of life are replaced by fruitful trees and evergreens. And they shall always bring forth His fruit in season and they shall never wither for they are as the ones planted by the river, the river of God, the river of life and this river runs with them wherever they go.
Isa 33:5 The LORD is exalted; for He dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness.
The Lord our God dwells on high. He is high above the fray. He is high and lifted up above mere mortal men and their affairs. Nothing touches His glory, nothing defiles the beauty of His holiness. He is not righteous, He is righteousness. His judgments flow from justice. He is justice. He fills His children with righteousness and judgment. In a day where everything is spinning out of control, the wisdom of God in us, and the knowledge of God in us, this is our stability (And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times Isa 33:6) Salvation is our strength and the fear of the Lord is our treasure. This is our solid ground upon which we shall not be moved.
This which is to come has not overtaken us like a thief in the night. The Lord speaks to the hearts of His sons and daughters. They “see,” what is soon coming in the midst of a world overtaken by madness and blindness. The strength of our “knowing,’ God is the strength that will see us through. When all around us is spinning out of control and they come against us like men possessed, then they shall truly see the glory of our God. They will see indeed that He is exalted and magnified and they will see it in a people who know. What do we know? We know God in the intimate sense of that word. Tis not in the head but in the depths of the heart. And because His Spirit speaks to us we know that “now I will rise, says the the Lord, now I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up.” (Is 33:10)
Christ is at the door. Let us lift up the eyes of our Spirit and see His appearing. Magnify Him from the depths of your heart to a broken and dying world which has plunged into darkness. The Lord promises us saints, that in that day there shall be a tabernacle that shall never be taken down. Not one of its stakes removed nor will any of its cords be broken. There the majestic Lord will be for us a a place of broad rivers and streams. Can you see it brothers and sisters? Can you see what the Lord will do when He comes back to judge the earth and raises up His children? Can you catch a glimpse of His glory? Magnify Him in your hearts today, exalt Him today and let your spirit go to where the glory is for He dwells on high and we dwell with Him.
Psa 27:13 I would have lost heart unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Can I go a wee bit further brothers and sisters. I would have died unless I had seen the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I have seen His goodness. I have laid down in that goodness the way a child lays down in the arms of his mother. He has been so good to me. I am not hoping in some goodness in some future time, I am alive because of the goodness of God. He was good to me in the depths of the fire. When everything around me was falling to pieces, when I was hard pressed on every side, He was good to me. When I was lying wounded on the battle field of life, His goodness came charging in on a white Horse and picked me up. When I could see no way ahead and despair began rising like mighty floodwaters all around me, His goodness lifted me up to higher ground.
The Lord is my strength and my shield and my heart rejoices in Him. ‘When my mother and my father forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.” Many saints have been rejected by their loved ones for a myriad of reasons and the Lord is with them through it all. His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives. In the great dark dungeons of our lives, Gods goodness light up the way out. When we are faced with challenges that we simply cannot face, His goodness brings strength to our inner man. “In the time of my trouble, He shall hide me in His pavilion.” Oh brothers and sisters, I know this pavilion, I have hidden there many many times. In the secret place of His tabernacle He hid me and set me high upon a rock.
The greatest desire of my life has been to dwell in the house of the Lord. His pavilion, His tabernacle. I want to dwell there all the days of my life to behold the beauty and the holiness of my God. Yes indeed, I would have died if I had not seen these places, not hidden in these places, not run into that High Tower. The Lord is my light and my salvation and my goodness and He is the strength of my life. My own strength has failed me so many times, and I am glad, for in my weakness, I experienced the goodness of God. In my weaknesses I boast. I can do no other. And in that boast the power of Christ rests upon me. For surely, when I am weak, He is strong in me. When I am dying, His goodness is displayed in me. When I come to the end of myself the Lord Jesus is there for all the world to see. Lord Jesus, be glorified in your servants
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.
William Cowper, in his famous hymn “God moves in a mysterious way,” writes “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face.” Even when God is angry with His people, His plan is moving forward. We can trust Him in all things. His ways are higher than our ways, He sees it all, we see a snapshot. And in that snapshot we often only see the dire circumstances that surround us, but of course there is an unfolding plan that will not change. “His purposes will ripen fast,unfolding every hour.The bud may have a bitter taste,but sweet will be the flow’r.” There is a bitter taste in the world today brothers and sisters, no doubt, but the sweet smelling aroma of His presence is with us still, in the hearts of His saints. No matter how bitter the hour, how pleasant is our Lord and God who holds us and sustains us in the midst of it all.
Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.(Rom 5:1-2) We rejoice in the hope and the glory of God. God is our salvation, God alone is our strength. His strength and power and and glory are without beginning and they have no end. They are inexhaustible. Therefore, brothers and sisters, because of this great truth we shall draw near to Him with great Joy and draw waters from these inexhaustible wells, the glorious wells of our salvation. As the land is ravaged by drought, we who are found in Him shall never thirst as we draw near to Him. “Deep in unfathomable mines of never failing skill He treasures up His bright designs and works His sov’reign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.” Thank you for the rain Lord, thank you for your refreshing waters that water the very depths of our souls.
Every now and then, in a glorious symphony of realization, my heart is overwhelmed by the music of my Saviour’s love for me. I am swept up in its majesty! It carries me with the substantial fullness of a raging river and yet with the gentle sound of a thousand doves wings flapping in the wind. I am undone by it all. Every doubt and all the rocks of my flesh are removed and suddenly the river is in full unabated flow and all I want is to be taken. Time loses its meaning as I am swept towards the vastness of my Jesus. An ocean so vast that I am swallowed whole. Everything returns to its simplicity. All the barriers are broken down and I glimpse and am engulfed, once again, by the glory of it all.
The reason that we do not have more repentance is that we repent for what we do instead of what we are. Remember, repentance for what you do goes down deep, but repentance for what you are goes deeper ( Tozer) The presence of God, the manifest presence of God is a two-edged sword. In the incalculable light of God our Father, that reflects from the face of Christ our Lord, we see first ourselves and then we see God. We understand just how far removed from the perfection of our creator we are in the light of His glory and grace. We understand all the more the nature of our humanity and it stays with us. David’s eyes were opened by the prophet of God and he is horrified. He understands the depths and the nature of his crimes, yet his heart cry before God is the realization of where those crimes originated from. He knows well, in the light of God, that God requires truth in the inward parts, where the sin originates.
This is why Tozer is saying that repentance for what you are goes deeper than repentance for what you did. Both are required, one is seldom sought. The Catholic goes to confession ever week and confesses the same sin over and over again yet the heart remains the same. Many evangelicals do the same, just in a different format and typically alone. The real work in the heart of a man and a woman lies in the depths of their hearts. Only by coming into the presence of God, before the throne, a way made for us by Jesus Himself, can we ever truly be changed to the depths of our hearts. David acknowledges his transgressions and then says that his sin (singular, meaning the sin nature) is ever before him. If we would diminish the power of the sin nature, we would use the gift of reconciliation, given to us by Jesus and come before the throne in true and deep repentance. We can never leave that place unchanged. He waits for you.
2Co 4:9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
It’s sometimes hard to sleep when our thoughts have been taken captive by anything other than Jesus. Paul said that he was troubled on ever side but not distressed. Perplexed but not despairing. Persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed. He had “learned,” to be content in every situation. No magic wand, but trust. He had walked through enough fires to have learned there was another in there he could see. He had been through enough waters to know the One who was holding back the sea. Taking our thoughts captive by lifting our eyes to Jesus. Anxiety is swept away and we are flooded with a peace that surpasses all understanding.
There can be no doubt that faith is forged in the fire and the tempering of our spirits happens when we are plunged into the waters. When the wind and the waves have done their work, and only that which was anchored remains, then we begin to see the saint come forth. Come forth from the fire, come forth from the storm, come forth from the grave clothes. Jesus stands and beckons us to “come forth.” When nothing should survive then we come forth and thrive by the power and the will and the good pleasure of the righteous hand of God. If you are in the fire today, do not cry out to God to quench the flames, rather pray that God Himself will sustain you in their midst. If the storm threatens to engulf you, do not pray to be rescued from it but rather to be sustained in its depths. If there is a mountain that stands in your way, do not pray for its removal but rather pray for the strength to scale its heights. In this way the mountain is removed and God is glorified and the saint lies down and sleeps in peace.
As I was walking and praying today, the Holy Spirit dropped this phrase into my spirit, “Debilitating Doldrums.” Now, that word “doldrums,” is an old sailors term for a geographical spot slightly north and slightly south of the equator in the Atlantic sea between Brazil and Africa. It is a corridor, if you like, that in days of old, if sailors found themselves there, they could be stranded for weeks because there is no wind there. The effects of the Doldrums are caused by solar radiation from the sun, as sunlight beams down directly on the area around the equator. This heating causes the air to warm and rise straight up rather than blow horizontally. The result is little or no wind, sometimes for weeks on end. Many sailors ran out of food and water and died there.
How does this relate to the saints? Oftentimes yesterdays failures causes in us a period of reflection and regret and remorse. None of that is wrong in and of itself and in fact is a vital part of who we are as God’s children. Yet, if we get stuck there, if this inner reflection goes beyond a point that is healthy, it takes the wind out of our sails. We shall find ourselves in the doldrums. The wind of the Spirit does not blow. Our spiritual resources begin to dry up. We become morose. The only solution for the sailors of old and for those of us who find ourselves there, is for the wind to blow. We must pray that the wind will blow again as we take our eyes of ourselves and look to skies.
If the wind begins to blow, no matter how small the breeze, remember this. You have to raise the sails to catch the wind. That is our part. An unhealthy inner refection with our eyes upon ourselves brought us into this place, and raising the sails once the wind blows will take us out. Remember the four Rs. 1.Reflection 2.Regret. 3.Remorse.4. Repentance. All of these make up the corridor of the doldrums. They all come because of the direct gaze of God upon our lives and our actions. And when they have found their proper place then the winds of forgiveness begin to blow. We have to accept that we are forgiven by God then we have to forgive ourselves. We must let His forgiveness carry us from that place so that we can continue the journey. Do not die in the doldrums, rather catch the wind and live.
There is the presence of God to be found in glorious worship, the kind of worship that lifts your spirit. It can lift up the head and invigorate the heart and fill you full of joy and you leave strengthened. This is good worship. Yet there is another kind of presence of God in worship, the kind of presence that there seems to be a famine of throughout the land. The first kind of presence we spoke of lifts your heart, the second kind of presence invades every part of who you are. It falls from heaven like a heavy dew, heads are lowered and hands are raised. All becomes quiet. One barely breathes as the Spirit of God slowly descends down through our heads into our hearts and down to the very soles of our feet, and the ground upon which we stand becomes Holy ground.
The first kind of presence uplifts us, the second changes us fundamentally. As living waters pour into us then it rises up like a great river that is so full that it overflows its banks. The banks themselves begin to crumble and fall into this river of pure life as it swells up and floods every part of who we are. The landscape is being changed by this flood, the very topography of our lives is being flattened by its power and everything that is not securely rooted to its foundations is simply swept away. Changed forever. And when the flood recedes we are left with a glorious afterglow. As the deer pants for the waterbrooks, I wonder, do our hearts pant after this kind of encounter.
The Lord Himself does not need professional worship teams. He does not need people to encourage us to stand up, jump up and down and raise our hands. In the Welsh revival two young women singing either acapella or simply backed by a piano typically sang “Here is love, vast as the ocean.” And there was love, in the very midst of them, vast as the ocean, flooding the hearts and minds of all who attended. Brothers and sisters, in all our modernity, what have we lost? In the program of churches and the professional class of worship leaders and pastors we have lost the simplicity of it all. And in the losing of it we now have to entertain the people. Spirit led worship is exactly that, it is Spirit led.
In work we have a routine. In life we have a routine. Prisoners in prison have a routine. Oftentimes we are slaves to the routine, it is what gets us through life. Yet, there is nothing routine about the Holy Spirit of the Living God. He is dynamic and you can never know what way the wind will blow next. Have we sold our souls for a routine? Routine in the home, routine at work, routine at church. Routine people do not change the world. Routine people do not do wage war on the battle-fields of life. The Spirit of God is dynamic and those filled with His “dynamis,” change the environment around them because the environment inside them has been filled to capacity and is overflowing its banks. Lord fill us again to overflowing with the kind of presence that invades every part of who we are.
When all the leaves have faded
And fallen to the ground
I pray the trees still standing
Right there on Holy ground.
When everything is stripped away
And we stand before the throne
And we have no earthly covering
but the Blood of Christ alone
We'll see what only God can see
And where it had begun
On the wretched bloody battle-field
Of Calvary there, was won.
The Blood He shed for you and me
It covers everything
And though we stand there naked
There stands our Christ the King
And there we'll know as we are known
White garments dressed before the throne
There'll never be another fall
For the Blood of Christ it covers all.
Psa 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with their whole heart.
This is the beginning of Psalm 119 and is a continuing themes throughout. Seeking the Lord with our whole hearts. With our whole hearts. It is the key to an abundant life in Christ. Can I suggest that to seek the Lord with anything other than our whole hearts is an exercise in futility. If we do anything in this world half heartedly we know we shall not succeed. Secular folks know this all too well. How is it that we could ever imagine that we could seek the Lord with anything less than all that we have?
In verse 32 the psalmist says that “I will run the course of Your commandments for you shall enlarge my heart.” This is a beautiful way of saying that I will run after my Lord, I will run after His ways, I will be diligent and delight myself in His ways. When I do this, then my very heart in enlarged. My capacity to love the Lord and the world will increase. My ability to forgive and to show mercy will be full to overflowing in this heart of mine that is now significantly deeper. Running after the Lord with everything that we have is like excavating the depths of our hearts. Into that excavated heart flows the river of life from the throne of God.
In verse 111 the psalmist tells us ” Your testimonies I have taken as a heritage forever, I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes, forever, to the very end.” Oh, the magnificence of a fully committed heart that is resolved to believe and to follow the Word of God and the promises of God until the very end. There is a huge difference between being on a boat in a shallow river than being on a ship in the deepest ocean. In the deepest ocean one senses and can feel the power of its depths. It is moved by the wind and heaves forward in massive powerful waves. This too is the power that resides within the heart of the saint who has sought and found the Lord with His whole heart. Come away from the shallow rivers saint, and come into the depth of the deepest of all oceans, the Fathers heart.
Psalm 71:14-15 But I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness, and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits.
You can see the undulations of Davids heart as he goes back and forth. He makes much mention of his enemies and the things that ail him. It takes up a considerable amount of his thinking. His mind vacillates between complaints about his enemies and the glory of God. Yet in verse 14 we see the turn. The mind and the heart that was fixed between these two points is now firmly fixed upon God alone. And in this we find our own proper response to our trials and tribulations and infirmities. Let us not give the enemy nor the situation any ground. Let us hope in Him continually. That is a declaration. “I will praise you, (despite my circumstances) yet more and more,” that’s another declaration.
And now that the mind is focused on God, here we hear the results. “My mouth shall tell of your righteousness, and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits.” All day long, night and day David’s heart and mind is now firmly fixed on God. And as his eyes settle upon the glory his wonder increases dramatically. He begins to see that there is no end to the righteousness of God. He is captivated by it. He is equally captivated by the salvation of His God, he realizes it has no beginning nor does it have an end. Glory to God. He then is encouraged in his own heart “I will go on in the strength of the Lord God.’ You see what happens when our focus is totally upon God? We see His strength, we see His power, it begins to grip every part of us.
And out of that flows praise. It’s now not because of his enemies that he does not want God to forsake him, he now does not want God to forsake him until “I declare your strength to this generation and Your power to everyone who is to come.” Glory to God. He says “Your righteousness Oh God is very high, You who have done great things Oh God,who is like You.” When we, in the midst of our storm, cast our eyes upon Jesus, forgetting what surrounds us, He elevates us above the tumult. He does this in our hearts and our minds and in our souls. We are not praying for deliverance, we are praying for the strength to continue to praise Him.
And just like Paul and Silas in the dungeon, who were not praying for deliverance rather they were singing the praises of their God, then down will come the power of God in our lives to the astonishment and marvel of all who see it. Glory to God, let us praise Him this day. This is our deliverance. This is our open door to heaven. This is how we see the glory of God and join in with that heavenly throng. “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty.”
Psa 60:2 Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it
In every situation in our lives, we are somewhere between victory and defeat. All of us have known both. All of us would do well to remember victory while in the midst of defeat. and defeat while in the midst of victory. This is the balance of the saints, knowing and understanding that the Lord is God over every part of our lives. Might I suggest that Christendom is broken and the earth trembles under the darkness of the end of the ages. Yet even now we must cry out that God would heal the barren land of Christendom so that this dark world may have as much light as it can as the end of the ages comes quickly.
Let us praise God that He always gives us a banner of truth over those who fear Him. In the battle-field of life, the remnant saints of God shine out. And not only to a dark world but to a lost people who call themselves after the name of Jesus. Truth flies high over the battle-field for all to see. Who will run to its banner? Who will cry out to God when their heart is overwhelmed? The banner shall lead them to the Rock that is higher than all of us. This banner shall be a shelter and a strong tower in the last days of gross darkness. We shall abide in the tabernacle of Truth. We shall take a hold of the heritage of those who fear the living God. For remember saints the help of man is useless. Rich men and poor men alike are like vapors.
Trust in God at all times. Let your soul wait silently upon Him in the heat of the day. Cry out to God in the heart of the battle. He alone is your Rock and your salvation. He alone is your defense and those who abide in it shall not be moved. He alone is your salvation and your glory. Even from the ends of the earth when you cry out to Him, He will attend to your prayer. Learn to remember the days of your defeat in the days of your victory, and never forget the days of your victory when in the midst of defeat. For the one unchangeable God rules over them all and is at work in them.
Psa 27:4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek ; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
This is the answer to life and to our walk right here in this verse from the 27th Psalm. One thing I have desired. One thing brothers and sisters. This is what my life will be. That I would seek the Lord and that I would dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. Its not that I would “get,” to heaven. It has nothing to do with getting anything in that sense, it is all about dwelling. Oh to God that men would seek to dwell rather than seek to get. Get into heaven, get out of hell. Sordid self seeking its own. It is the Lord I shall seek.
I will seek Him to behold His beauty. I will seek Him early in the morning and in the noon day. I will seek Him in the evening and before I retire to bed. I will seek Him as I lay my head upon my pillow. He is my all in all. When we have this singular mind then, and only then, in the time of trouble shall He hide me in His pavilion, in the secret place of His tabernacle. He shall set me high upon a rock.
As I dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life, then I know of His grace. I know of His mercy. I have been delivered by His righteous right hand. He has hid me from my enemies. Even when all have forsaken me, even as it suggests in the Psalm, forsaken by father and mother, then the Lord has been a Father to me. These things I have known in my walk with the Lord. I would have lost my heart if I had not seen the goodness of the Lord in the here and the now. My Father is not watching from some far away distant heaven. My Savior did not simply come and then leave. They are here, right here, right now by the power of the Holy Spirit. What is your one desire? If it is the Lord then you will have an open door to heaven which no man can shut.
The great high point of my life, was my death. When I was born again I stood like Peter , James and John on the mount of transfiguration. And just like them, I mistakenly thought it was time to build something. Little did I know that quite the opposite would be true. It was time to dismantle everything. Or to say it more accurately, for everything to be dismantled. And this would take place in the depths of the valley floor, not on the top of a mountain. Chambers writes “Before sanctification we know nothing, we are simply put in the place of knowing, that is, we are led up to the cross. In sanctification, we are led through the cross.”
Can you say that you life is one of being “led through the cross?” Has it been a process of being crushed and broken in the darkness of the valley floor? Have you spent much of your life trying to scramble up unattainable mountains? Supernatural joy and likeness to our Lord comes not in the building of structures in high and beautiful places. It comes in the midst of surrender to the dismantling process in the depths of the valley of the shadow of death. And the purpose for it all is to transform us into useful servants of the most High God. We too often think of the cross as a place of deliverance, rather than a place of transformation. The transformation is indeed the fruit of our deliverance.
The cross is not the beginning of the life of Jesus, it is the culmination of it. Our transformation begins the moment that we take up our cross. Being brought to the cross is one thing, being nailed to it is quite another. Staying there is one thing when you have no power, staying there when you have the power to come down is quite another. Between the two positions lies a great gulf, on one side is life and on the other side is death. To live in Christ we must die. The mountaintop will come in good time, when He lifts us from the valley floor and takes us home. In the meantime, our business is the business of dying, its the business of the cross. Our calling is to die daily.
How long will you hide your face from me? Have you ever asked this question of the Lord? If not, might I suggest you have not experienced the hottest parts of the furnace as of yet. In the middle of a prolonged trial we can often have the same thought as king David did.. David’s trials were not fleeting or even seasonal, but often lasted for years. David has taken refuge and shelter in caves and embraced the darkness of having found a reprieve from his trials. We can do the same. We can run into dark caves and shut our minds away from the troubles that we find ourselves in. That dark cave can look like many differnt things. It could be mindless television. It might even be alcohol or pills. Distractions of any sort can form the basis of a cave. And yet, just like David, the cave that promised safety and a place of refuge, always turns into a place of bondage.
David, in the midst of this, cries out “Consider and hear me oh Lord my God, enlighten my eyes lest I sleep the sleep of death.” This sleep, this cave, this place that we can find ourselves in, in the midst of troubles and trials, can very easily turn into the “sleep of death.” And the first step to awaken us from this place is to cry out to God with everything that is in us. To fall down on our faces and rend our hearts and seek His face. To remember the faithfulness of our Lord and how He has always delivered us and how He alone is trustworthy. His mercy prevails in the midst of trials. As we remind ourselves of these things we begin to rejoice in the God of our salvation. Sing to the Lord brothers and sisters, sing today of His goodness and His mercy. Sing praises unto our God. Awaken the dawn with your shouts as you step out of the darkness, into His marvelous light.
Eze 47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
There is a river that flows from heaven itself. It flows through our hearts and beckons us to come deeper. This river is spoken of in many places in Scriptures. It is the presence of God and it brings us deeper into the heart of the Almighty. There are trees on either side of this river and their roots are directly connected to the river and they are perpetually green, evergreen trees for the healing of the people and the nations. The river itself brings healing everywhere it goes. To be walking in the Spirit is to be swimming in the river of life.
As we see in Ezekiel 47, the Lord brings us to through the waters. Always the Lord, compelling His children to come deeper into Him. Not ankle deep, not knee deep or even waist deep but fully immersed in a river so vast that it cannot be crossed, it can only be swum in. We must give ourselves to the river, let go and give way to the current of the Holy Spirit. Whether you are ankle deep, knee deep or even waist deep, you are still standing on your own two feet. In many respects you are still in charge. Yet to give ourselves completely to the river then we are no longer standing.
When we are fully given to our Lord. When we are yielded to the depths and the power of this vast river, the power of the Holy Spirit, only then can we truly be led. All resistance is gone in its depths. It is carrying you towards the sea, the vastness of God Himself. Ever closer, ever deeper into the Father’s heart. And the Lord says to to you “come, I will bring you through the waters into the deep.” “Seek me with your whole heart and I shall be found and you shall be rewarded for your diligence, I am your exceeding great reward.”
A Call To The Remnant 