Greetings,
Today I am going to address another test in our journey to becoming a testimony of the Promised Land that God has for us in our lives. I believe that the true Promised Land of our lives is to internally know that God is our God, we are God’s son or daughter, and He lives together with us in all things. He gives us our identity, our testimony, and our destiny in life. These things happen because He gives us life, breath, and all things. The internal kingdom of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit desires to transform our hearts and minds in whatever place we find ourselves in our journey of life.
The children of Israel were tested in the wilderness to believe for the character and nature of God to be their portion, but they chose an image of creation instead. The golden calf was a testimony of their own treasures fashioned into an image of their own creation. God wanted them to be His people. His desire is that we become like Him in His character, nature, way, power, and authority. The Torah/Tabernacle realities of all that was given to Moses was really a shadow of being a human habitation upon the earth that would be filled with the life-transforming power of the manifest presence of God. It was a shadow of what we are all meant to become in Christ. God gives us all the possibility of failure in this process so we can know that it is our full dependency upon Him that brings about true change. God tests us in our love to demonstrate the power of His love working in our lives. God wants us to become the substance of the testimony of His love in all things.
After the incident of the golden calf, Moses returned to the presence of God upon the mountain and received the law upon stones again. The law was given to Moses for a second time (Ex. 33) and implemented with the creation of the Tabernacle and its culture (Ex. 34-40; Num. 1-10). The silver hammered trumpets in the ministry of a royal priesthood were a symbol of the testimony of Christ being formed in human lives. We can be born of His Spirit to be alive, but we must also be formed by His Spirit to become a testimony of that life that others can follow. Just as the sound of the trumpet was a signal to move, it is our willingness to follow God that changes us from glory to glory. God’s grace working in our lives can make us part of an army of worshippers that carry the presence of God wherever we go. Israel’s journey continued with a demonstration of God’s presence, power, and a testimony of change with a continued call for a willingness to set their direction by the will of God in their midst. In this process, the children of Israel came to a seventh test in their journey. This was the test of fire.
Numbers 10:12 And the children of Israel set out from the Wilderness of Sinai (thorny) on their journeys; then the cloud settled down in the Wilderness of Paran (caverns – caves).
The wilderness of Sinai represents our walk in this life that is filled with many opportunities to be poked by things that can offend us in life. Like the Wilderness of Sinai, life is filled with things that can poke our flesh. The way of life can be thorny and offensive to our own will. When we face offenses, it is easy to retreat to some stronghold, some cavern, or some cave where we believe we can find safety and retreat. This is the testimony of the Wilderness of Paran, a place of caverns and caves. The prickly things resist our moving forward, they resist our willingness to change and tempt us to settle for some cave or cavern of retreat.
We must leave the caves to move forward in the path of God. We must all be willing to change and not be offended. This involves never taking a posture of offense. We must embrace humility and be willing to move forward into the path of change. Even the instructions for the altar given to Moses were a testimony of humility. It was a testimony to the altar of our lives before God. It was to have no step. There is no place in our lives for pride or pretense before God. God wants us to present our lives to Him just as we are. He is willing to move into our world and He does not need for us to pretend to be something we are not. Humility is the path to His presence, not human pride. Like the earthen altar, there can be no tool or set method for fashioning our lives like the life of someone else. We must trust the process of God shaping our lives as He sees fit.
In the journey of the children of Israel, the need to move forward and follow the sound of the trumpet became another excuse for the children of Israel to complain. When God demands change in our lives, we can be tempted to complain. It is the test of fire that will purify our hearts and minds to be willing to follow God in all of His ways.
Numbers 11:1 Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord; for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. 3 So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.
We must be willing to leave the caves of our lives and follow God in all of His ways. We cannot allow the offenses of our past to cause us to seek a place of isolation or security that preserves our own will. We must allow the fire of God to change our hearts and minds, we must leave our caves and we must move forward as carriers of God’s covenant and presence. This is part of our path in the identity, testimony, and purpose of God in our lives.
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Thank you so much to those of you who have been able to give your support to House of Bread Ministry at this time. There is only a few more days to help us finish 2018 strong. We still have a number of expenses to pay before the end of the year. We have been able to go to many peoples and many nations with a message and impartation of New Covenant Life and Grace. Your assistance in prayers and resources helps us accomplish our assignment.
We are expecting another great year of reaching the nations and generations in 2019 and your financial support can help us accomplish the task.
We need your continued prayer support and any financial contribution you are able to give. We are reaching the nations with New Covenant life and Grace for the generations of tomorrow.
Donations can be made at the above right link or mail your donation to House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, Wa. 98225
