God’s Street Address
Suppose you are a detective hired for an undercover assignment to infiltrate a group of law-breakers. You will need to look like them, talk like them, and in many ways act like them, but you also need to remember that you are not really them. Because you are different at the core of your beliefs, no matter what they ask you to do, you will try your best to uphold the law. You will not unthinkingly or uncaringly violate the law just for fun as the criminals do. If you must violate the law to maintain your cover, you will work as quickly as possible to undo any harm created from that action. Again, above all, you must never forget that you are a law-keeper and not a law-breaker.
Now, suppose you are a child of Almighty God who is on the earth to bring a message from your Father to those who do not yet know Him. You look like unbelievers, in some ways you talk like them, and in some ways you act like them, but you are not truly an unbeliever. Because you are different at the core of your beliefs, no matter what they ask you to do, you will try your best to uphold God’s instruction. You will not unthinkingly or uncaringly violate God’s commands just for fun as unbelievers do. If you do fail, you will work as quickly as possible to repent and undo any harm created by your failure(s). Again, above all, you must never forget that you are a child of The King and not of this world.
Today’s Infinite Supply newsletter speaks of where we get the best rules to live by as children of God.
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November 27
The Heavens Do Rule
“God does not live in temples made by man.”
ACTS 17:24 ESV
We are not zealous for the establishment of any earthly nation, but for a heavenly nation of kings and priests (Revelation 5:10). We are not praying for the building of a physical temple, but a spiritual temple, a house of living stones, of which Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, Builder and Architect. We are not looking for the appearance of an earthly Messiah, but a Heavenly Messiah, Who is building His Ekklesia upon the earth; we are not of the earth. This is not our home, for we are from above. Though in the world, we are not of it. We will not eat its meat or drink its wine, and we will not bow down to its idols. Though we live in the shadow of Babylon, we are not afraid of its fiery furnace or its den of lions, for our God is able to deliver us.
The heavens do rule. We affirm it boldly and confidently, regardless of appearances to the contrary. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory belongs to God (Matthew 6:13) – not man, not the devil, not the nations of this world.
Source: The Irresistible Kingdom by Chip Brogden
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God’s address is not behind a manmade wooden pulpit, and He’s not dressed in a clerical collar. As the author points out from Scripture, He doesn’t inhabit manmade temples where we go to visit Him. His purpose in our salvation is to create holy dwellings for His Holy Spirit. Without being covered by His blood, adding His Spirit to us would be destructive rather than comforting as He intends. Once we are cleansed, the word (in 1 Corinthians 6:19–NKJV) says God’s address becomes the same as ours…
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
Fortunately, we’re not “undercover” here on earth, so we’re not required to hide our true identities. We should be shining His light from within us to attract the lost to a safe harbor in Christ. It’s in the best interests of both us and The Lord to remember that we are not of this world even though we must live within its borders. Oh yeah, and we may freely share God’s address because He has never requested it to be left unlisted. 🙂
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Lives Without Love
When I read more about Leah today, from Genesis 30:14 through Genesis 30:27, I feel heartbroken for her. She has had four children, she has had two in proxy through her servant girl, but she still feels unloved. When her son collects some mandrakes from the field (thought to be translated from Hebrew meaning “love plant”), Rachael asks Leah if she can have some to help with her infertility. Leah gets upset and accuses Rachael of trying to steal her son as she has done with her husband. So Rachael makes a deal with Leah to exchange some of the fruit for Leah to have her husband back in her bed with her.
After all is said and done, Leah conceives and bares three more children, two boys and girl. She gives Jacob Isaachar (hired/reward), Zebulun (dwelling) and Dinah. When she named Zebulun, she said, “Maybe now that I have given him six children, my husband will live with me.” Finally, after Leah had her three new babies, Rachael finally conceived and gave birth to Joseph meaning “may He add” and hoping this was the end of her infertility and disgrace.
Both of these women had so much pain. Leah was unloved and lonely, and Rachael was infertile and felt rejected by God. But they were sisters. They could have loved each other and been there for each other through everything they went through. Leah could have cared for her sister’s infertility and invited her to help raise her nephews and nieces, but she was so bitter about the fact that her husband really wanted to be with her sister (and had actually married her in ceremony) that she did not care for her sister’s pain. I wonder if she had drawn closer to her sister, would she have felt less lonely? And I wonder if Rachael had cared more for her sister’s inability to change how their husband felt about her, and her inability to change the looks she was born with, would Leah have tried to spend more time with her. It seems that bitterness and envy made both of them lonelier and restricted both of them to lives without love of one kind or other–be it without a husband in the dwelling or without a child to raise.
Hebrews 12:15 talks about the root of bitterness and the torment that comes with it. I think feeling like you are living a life without any love in it would certainly fall under the definition of torment. But since the chapter ends with Jacob finishing his work for Laban and asking to return to his homeland with all his wives and children, maybe there is hope that once they all live together, the sisters can find love for each other again.
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November 12, 2013 Posted by Crystal A Murray (aka CrystalWriter) | Bible Study, Nonfiction, Torah Commentary | Adonai, Almighty, Bible, Bible Gateway, Bible reading, Bible study, bitterness, childbirth, children, Complete Jewish Bible, Creator, crystalwriter, Dinah, dwelling, envy, Genesis, Genesis 30, God, Hebrews, Holy Bible, home, homeland, infertility, Isaachar, Jacob, Joseph, Laban, Leah, living, Lord, love, Old Covenant, Old Testament, Parashah, Portions, Rachael, root of bitterness, Scripture, The Complete Jewish Bible, Torah, Torah commentary, Torah Portions, Torah Reading, torment, unloved, Word, Word of God, Word of the Lord, www.biblegateway.com, Yaakov, Yahveh, Yahweh, Zebulun | Leave a comment