"Seeking The Ark - part 2"

"Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood." Psalm 132:6 

In the devotion a few days ago we said that the ark represents the presence of God, and the Israelites were searching for it because it was not where it was supposed to be. They did finally find it-- "in the fields of the wood". The commentaries say that this was a place- the "city of woods". 

 

Wood symbolizes humanity, flesh. When we "lose the presence of God" it is because we are giving into the flesh. When I say we "lose the presence of God", the presence of God is with us always-- He never leaves us nor forsakes us-- I am talking more specifically about the presence that we sense and know is actively involved in our lives. 

 

Giving into the flesh means letting your flesh do what it wants to do and have its own way. It means overindulging in worldly activities, spending too much time on things that your flesh enjoys, and less time on the things that provide a place for God-- Bible study, prayer, fasting, praise, worship. It also means spending your time worrying, gossiping, giving in to unforgiveness and bitterness, etc. 

 

If we are walking after the flesh, instead of the spirit, then we are not yielding to the presence of God. We are not giving Him place; we are not making room for Him. You can't serve two masters. You can't yield to flesh and spirit at the same time. You can't walk in both simultaneously. 

Does the presence of God seem far away in your life? Do you lack the peace and joy that comes from His presence? Does it seem like He is in the distant or the back of your life? Then pay attention to what you are doing each day. Are you giving place and time to Him? Are you living after your own desires? Are you more involved with fleshly or spiritual activity? God doesn't live in flesh. The Israelites brought the ark back to its rightful place of belonging. The rightful place of belonging in our lives is in the spirit and not in the flesh.

 

Have a great day. If the presence of God seems distant in your life, it may be because you have placed Him among the "woods"- the place of flesh.

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6:24

Galatians 5

"Seeking The Ark"

"Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood." Psalm 132:6 

The "it" in the verse was the ark of the covenant. The ark represented God's presence. The ark was not where it was supposed to be, so the Israelites were searching for it. They heard it was in one place but discovered that it was not there. After continually searching, they finally found it, but not where it should have been.

 

There are a few things I see in this. 

1) We must "search" out the presence of God. While His presence is everywhere- He is Omnipresent- there are times when His presence is near to us in a special way. "Search it out" means to keep pressing in through prayer or praise, or both, until we have "touched His hem" and He fills us with His presence. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. If we seek Him, we will find Him. 

 

2) God's presence isn't always where we think it should be. We think His presence is only found in the good times, happy times, prosperity times and blessing times. When bad things happen, we think He has left and isn't with us. His presence is in the difficult times, the hard times and the trying times as well. You will find Him in the furnace, in the lion's den, in the pit, in the valley of the shadow of death, in the wilderness. He doesn't leave us in the bad times. 

 

3) Make sure God's presence in our lives is always where it should be-- first, front and center. We need to make sure that our lives evolve around Him always-- not just at church time, not just in hard times when we need His help, not just when it is time to perform some religious duty, not just when it is convenient for us. He has to have first place in our lives. He has to be Lord of our lives... all the time. 

 

Where is the "ark" in your life? Do you seek His touch/presence daily? Do you feel that He has forsaken you in the bad times? Have you "lost" that intimacy with the Lord? Do you give Him some place other than first place in your life? Where is He in your life?

 

Have a great day. Is the Lord where He should be in your life? 

 

For further reading:

James 4:8

Matthew 6:33

Psalm 105:4

Acts 17:27

"Trouble And Sorrows"

"The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow." Psalm 116:3 

When I read this verse, I thought it was interesting that the Psalmist said, "I found trouble and sorrow." I have discovered that you don't have to go looking for trouble and sorrow, it finds you. Trouble and sorrow are always "seeking" us. Ecclesiastes 2:23 says that all a man's days are full of sorrow. Are you facing a time of trouble? Are you facing sorrow? 

 

The Bible tells us that life is full of trouble and sorrow and that it will come to all of us, but that is not what I want to focus on. I want to focus on what it says about it when it does come. Namely, Jesus' role in sorrow. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." (Isaiah 53:3)

 

The Bible doesn't say we won't have times of sorrow or trouble, but it does tell us that Jesus has carried our sorrows. Jesus knows what it is like. He knows what you are going through. He has felt your pain; He is acquainted with it. He knows about the emotions that you battle during those times. He is touched by the feelings of your weaknesses. He is called "a man of sorrows". Not a "man of sorrow", but a man of "sorrows". There is no sorrow, no pain, no weakness, no trouble that you go through that Jesus hasn't gone through already Himself. He understands what you are going through. People may not always understand, but He does.

 

Reach out to Him today with your trouble. Reach out to Him today with your pain. Reach out to Him in your weakness. Reach out to Him through your sorrow. I assure you that He will not turn you away. He will not turn His back on you. He will not turn a deaf ear to your cry. He will not ignore you. He will listen, He will comfort, He will restore, and He will guide you through it because He has been there.

 

Have a great day. Trouble and sorrow comes to all of us, even Jesus faced it. Therefore, He understands what you are going through. Turn to Him.

 

For further reading:

Isaiah 53

 

"He's Always There"

"... lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." Matthew 28:20

 When you read the Bible, you will discover that it is full of stories of ordinary people just like you and me who met with daily difficulties, as well as extraordinary situations. As you look at their lives you will see that in each problem they encountered, they didn't go through it by themselves. The Lord was always there. He never left them, ran out on them or neglected them.

 

He was there when the disciples were in the boat facing the storm. He was there when Daniel was in the lion's den. He was there when the three Hebrews were thrown into the fiery furnace. He was there with David when he stood before the giant. He was there when Gideon went to war. He was there with Noah in the ark. He was there with Abraham during his greatest trial on the mountain. He was there with the children of Israel at the Red Sea. 

 

The Lord is always with His children. He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He doesn't leave us when the "going gets rough". He doesn't change. He has always been there, so why would you think that He would be any different today than He has always been? Why would you think He would abandon you when He never once abandoned any of His children throughout history?

He hasn't abandoned you. He hasn't left you. He is right there with you. And He will stay with you through the difficulty that you are going through just like He always had.

 

Have a great day. God has always walked through difficulties with His people. Why would He change now and not walk with you through your time of difficulty?

 

For further reading:

Hebrews 13:5

Isaiah 49:15

"Into The Unknown"

"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:" Genesis 12:1 

The Lord spoke to Abram to leave his family, father, and country and go to a place where He would show him as he went. Not knowing ahead of time where he was going meant that he had to trust God as he never had before. It is one thing for the Lord to tell you where to go, it is another for Him to just say go and then tell you after you have started on your journey. 

 

The Lord has done this to me. He told me once to go and did not tell me where to go. I had to trust and seek Him continually. After I obeyed, He gave me the instructions as to where I was going. Maybe He has done this to you? Maybe not? While He may not have sent you into the "unknown" physically, with each new day we face the "unknown". When we wake up in the morning, we don't know what lies ahead of us. Oh, we may have plans to do this or that today, but plans can be changed, direction can be interrupted, unforeseen events can happen. We just don't know what we will face or where we might wind up each day. So, each day holds "unknown" situations, circumstances and challenges for us. 

 

Abram's "unknown" was physical, ours is spiritual and emotional mostly. But just as Abram had to trust God with his "unknown", so do we each day when it begins. We have to be prepared for the "unknown" that is waiting ahead of us. Abram was able to face the "unknown" because of his faith in God-- he knew that if God was going to show him where to go, that meant God was going to be with him in the journey. For the same reason we too can face the "unknown". We can face it with faith, courage and peace because as God was with Abram, He will be with us also. "Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Proverbs 27:1b), but God does and He will be with you guiding you every step of the way. 

 

Have a great day. We don't know what lies ahead but God does, and He will be with us.

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6:25; 28:20

Genesis 26:3

Isaiah 43:2