Quietness

Quietness

1 Kings 6:7 “And the temple, when it was being built, was built with stone finished at the quarry, so that no hammer or chisel or any iron tool was heard in the temple while it was being built.”

When Solomon's temple was built is was built in quietness. The hewn stones were quarried out of the mountains, and every stone was fitted for it’s place in the temple, hewn, polished and tested before it was brought to Jerusalem.. When all was brought to the ground, the building went together without the sound of axe or hammer. It was built noiselessly. It was built in quietness.

God is calling me to be a temple built in quietness.

 Quietness.

Isa 46:10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God..”

It is when I am still that I can truly hear the quietness and truly know God.

The Hebrew word “quietness” in the verses below means to be quiet, be tranquil, be at peace, be quiet, rest, lie still, be undisturbed. The word is Shaqat and is pronounced shaw-kat. It is translated in the different verses below as quietness, rest and safely.

Isa 32:17 “The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

God is calling me to righteousness. It is here in His righteousness that I can experience the effects of it...they are His quietness and assurance in my life.

Isa 30:15

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.”

God tells me the strength He gives me is found in quietness and confidence in Him.

Josh 11:23

So Joshua took the whole land, according to all that the LORD said unto Moses; and Joshua gave it for an inheritance unto Israel according to their divisions by their tribes. And the land rested from war.

True quietness ( rest) can only come to me when I lay down my battles, stop warring and struggling and surrender to Him. To place everything small and great at the foot of the cross.

Jer 46:27

“But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed , O Israel: for, behold, I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return , and be in rest and at ease , and none shall make him afraid”

I love how God calls me to not fear...to be truly unafraid is found only in quietness ( rest) with Him. God is taking me out of captivity and bondage to self and darkness and into a place of quietness and freedom. He will also take my children to that place of quietness and freedom.

Ezekiel 38:11 ”You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’—”

The context of this verse refers to the enemies of God’s people seeing them dwelling peacefully and they desire to come up against them to attack and God promises deal with the situation.

Those who dwell in quietness ( safely)  are open, vulnerable and without walls...there are no bars to shut them in...no gates to hide behind. They are open and secure. Satan may see that and desire to attack us thinking it is a weakness but truly it is a strength for God promises deliverance and protection.

Isa 57:20 “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, When it cannot rest, Whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”

Without God’s righteousness in my life I will be like a troubled sea. All the mire and dirt of hurt and shame will be tumbling over and over in my mind. Only in His righteousness can I have true rest.

God is calling me to His righteousness. He calls me out of the life of troubled tumbling thoughts, of lies, of anger, of unforgiveness towards others, of shame, of guilt. He calls me from the mire that churns over and over in my mind. He calls me to be vulnerable, to be open, to not be shut down and hiding. He wants to take me out of bondage into freedom. He wants my children to be taken out of bondage too. He calls me to stop warring and battling and struggling. He wants me to surrender all the lies, all the unforgiveness, all the anger, all the shame, all the darkness, all the hurt and all the pain to Him. He wants me to hear quietness in my soul. To no longer hear the churning sea. To be still and hear His quietness and to know that He is God. My God. My sovereign King. The One whom my soul loves.

Isa 32:17 “The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.”

God says..."I Will"

God Says..."I Will"

1 Kings 6:12, 13 

Then the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying: “Concerning this temple which you are building, if you walk in My statutes, execute My judgments, keep all My commandments, and walk in them, then I will perform My word with you, which I spoke to your father David. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel.”

If...the little word if...when I read this I can see that there is a condition to the promise. God says "if".

God wants to perform His word in me. He wants to dwell with me. He can't do that until I cooperate. God is a God of love. Love is not coerced or forced. Love is a compelling power...it draws me ..it motivates me....His love opens my heart to Him. God asks for my obedience...as a response to His love....

John 14:15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

I am awed how it is all of God and none of me...even the desire to want to do His will and to be enabled to do His pleasure comes from God.

Phil 2:13 "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

When I allow God to work obedience in my heart through love then God can mightily perform His word in me and for me and through me. Then He can dwell in me...abide in me and I in Him.

Jer 1:12 "Then said the LORD unto me, You have well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it."

1 Thess 5:24 "Faithful is he that calls you, who also will do it." Another translation puts it this way.. "Faithful is he who has called you; it is he who shall perform it."

Rom 4:21" And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised , he was able also to perform"

God will hasten to perform His promises in me...He is the Faithful One and he shall perform them. It is not I but Christ. 

God wants to do more than perform His word in me. He wants to dwell in me.

Isa 57:15" For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones."

Rom 8:9 "But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you"

2 Cor 6:16 " And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people

When I allow God to work obedience in my heart through love and He performs His word in me and through me and He dwells with me then God can root and ground me in His love so that I will be able to comprehend His love more fully. To know the love of Christ will open me to be filled more with the fulness of God. God so wants to do for me far above what I can ask or even think. He is only waiting for me to enable His power to work in me more fully. 

Eph 3:17-20 "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

The Pattern

The Pattern

In 1 Kings 6 we see Solomon begin the vast building project of the sanctuary.

Vs 1,2 "....he began to build the house of the Lord. Now the house which King Solomon built for the Lord, its length was sixty cubits, its width twenty, and its height thirty cubits."

" A comparison of the specifications of the temple with those of the wilderness tabernacle show that the temple dimensions were proportionate to those of the wilderness tabernacle but with each dimension doubled." 

Ex 25:40 And see that you make them after their pattern, which was shown you on the mount.

Ex 25:9 According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.

Heb 8:5 Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Neither Moses nor Solomon built the sanctuaries according to their own design, measurements or ideas. They never called in a human architect. Each part of the sanctuary was very carefully built according to the pattern God had revealed to Moses and then duplicated in greater size by Solomon.

God is calling me to a pattern. He is calling me to be a sanctuary, a temple of the indwelling of His Spirit. 

1 Cor 3:16 Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Who or what is the pattern God calls me to? 

John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.

I can see the pattern, the example that God wants my sanctuary to be built upon..he wants the dimensions of my life to be based on the character of Christ.

1 John 4:8 God is love

If God equals love then I can place God instead of love into 1 Cor 13

God is patient and kind; God does not envy or boast; He is not arrogant or rude. He does not insist on His own way; He is not irritable or resentful; He does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. God never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. So now faith, hope, and God abide, these three; but the greatest of these is God. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, 13

God is calling me to live my life based on The Pattern....this Pattern is God and God is love. My life is to be a life of other centred love, giving and reflecting the love of God. 

Deut 6:5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

Matt 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Oh Lord I so want to know this love and to live this love and to give this love.I want my life to be a complete reflection of you and your glory to be a sanctuary patterned after the similitude of you.

A Sanctuary of Safety

A Sanctuary of Safety

In 1 Kings 5 We find Solomon, King of Israel and Hiram, King of Tyre in dialogue concerning plans to build the sanctuary. Solomon requires the beautiful timbers of Lebanon and together with Hiram they organise workers to produce a logging industry specifically for the sanctuary project.

I so love the progression of events seen in these verses. 

vs 3 "You know how my father David could not build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which were fought against him on every side, until the Lord put his foes under the soles of his feet."

vs 4 "But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side..."

vs 5" And behold, I propose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God,..."

My eyes were just so opened I could see a progression that God wants to do in my life.

1- To stop warring and allow the Lord to put all my "foes" under my feet
2- To accept the Lord's rest
3- To build a sanctuary

God wants me to lay down the battles and the struggles. He is calling me to a holy purpose and He wants to build a sanctuary in my heart ...He wants ME to be a sanctuary. First He asks me to choose to allow Him to not just take my battles but to win them for me. I choose to surrender the struggles and wars to him. I choose to let Him be the conqueror in my life. 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long;We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" Rom 8:35-39

God wants me to rest in Him to lay all my troubles and burdens at His feet and allow Him to be the King in my life. Battling with struggles is tiring. It's a huge burden..it is weary. He asks me to come to Him for rest from these battles.He wants me to have quietness and confidence. He doesn't want me to fret. He wants me to have hope....hope!!!!

"Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt 11:28

"For thus says the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.." Isa 30:15

" Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;Do not fret..." Ps 37:7

"Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him..." Ps 65:5

When I am in a place of surrender and rest from all my battles then and only then can God build in me a sanctuary to His glory.

"Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?" 1 Cor 3:16

" Don't you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own. " 1 Cor 6:19

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them." Ex 25:8

God I want to allow a sanctuary to be built in me that You through your Holy Spirit may dwell in me. 

"I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" Hos 2:18

Father, break the weapons of self preservation, break the lies that bind me and break the battles in my heart that I may lie in a safe place with you...a sanctuary of safety......yes a true sanctuary is a place of safety.

Let All Things be Done In Order

Let All Things Be Done In Order

I am reading 1 Kings 4:1-28. From the surface it appears to be mundane information. However, once you scratch deeper you see an amazing system of order required for the smooth running of Solomon's kingdom. Here Solomon lists high officers of the State who work closely with him, scribes who issue the King's edicts, those who take care of his correspondence, a scribe who chronicles events within the realm,officers, and stewards. He has a system in place for 12 officers to provide monthly, year round, for his court ,which contained between 10,000-15,000 people. The kingdom Solomon is ruling over is vast.

Vs 21"So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life."

The population is innumerable vs 20 " Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing." 

The nation is secure and at peace vs 25 "And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon."

My mind is turned towards heavenly things." I see how earthly Kingdoms in their greatness have order...things are done decently. I turn to heaven. Is God a God of order? How is His kingdom run? My mind goes back to Ezekiel and Daniel and Revelation. An array of verses that piece together the incredible order and system of an entire universe all under the leadership of God. 

I see a God of order...I see thrones and living creatures, angels by the thousands upon thousands, 24 elders, the busyness, order and action of the heavenly realm. I see a God of love. 

Ezekiel 1: 4,5, 14-16

And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.

Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

Daniel 7:9,10
"...the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him."

Rev 4:4-6
And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

God is great and holy and majestic. He is a God of order. He wants His kingdom to be established in my heart.

Luke 17:21 "...behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

How will His kingdom be reflected in my life and the way I live it? Does he ask of me order and things done decently? God wants routine and system in my life...He wants order and thoroughness.

I Cor 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

Bring Me A Sword

Bring Me A Sword

Today I am reading 1 Kings 3:16-28. Here we find two women and one live baby and one dead baby. They both claim the live baby is theirs and the dead baby is not. There is no DNA testing. The babies must have looked similar..... there is no witness to testify ...no photos...nothing to say whose baby belonged to who. They are only 3 days apart on age so they are very similar in their development. 

I remember when I gave birth to my eldest daughter and she was placed in the hospital nursery whilst I rested...I had a huge fear. I was fearful of not recognising my own baby. I remember walking to the nursery to retrieve her and seeing the dozen or so other babies in there but I never for a moment did I not know she was my baby. I had, from her birth, every little feature etched forever in my mind. I was so relieved :-)

My mind goes to the real Mother of the live baby. She is a prostitute...what sadness and pain and hurt and darkness must have been in her past to bring her to this place? Is this baby the only one in her life she has to love and be loved in return? She has given birth out of wedlock. Does she worry about the future? How will she raise a child in that society and culture of the time? Marriage was the key to security and protection back then. Would she ever escape prostitution? I think of waking up to the horror of your baby being stolen. The anguish. The deception. Being full of milk and unable to feed your own baby. Seeing your baby in someone else's arms. Did she feel vulnerable? Did she feel intimidated? Obviously the Mother who stole the other lady's baby was aggressive and unscrupulous. Did the real mother feel like a victim once again...subject to circumstances outside her control? Who did they go to for help in solving the problem? The neighbours? Friends? The local judge? Finally the end up before the King himself. In great wisdom he determined to find out who truly had a Mother's heart of yearning love for the baby.

I love how this story tells me that no matter my circumstances, no matter how distraught I may feel, how much utter anguish and hopelessness, not matter how "not good" and crimson stained my life is....I can come before My King with the burden of my heart. He will accept me into His presence. He will hear the pleadings of my soul. He will answer me. He will answer with the sword. 

"Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king." 1 Kings 3:24

Truly My King will speak into my soul in it's darkest times through the sword. The sword of the Spirit.

" For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Heb 4:12

Ps 119:105 "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."

Ps 107:20 "He sent his word, and healed them"

Abide in Me

Abide in Me

I am studying 1 Kings 3:5-15 where Solomon asks God for wisdom.

"Early in his reign he went with his counselors of state to Gibeon, where the tabernacle that had been built in the wilderness still was, and there he united with his chosen advisers, "the captains of thousands and of hundreds," "the judges," and "every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers," in offering sacrifices to God and in consecrating themselves fully to the Lord's service. 2 Chronicles 1:2. Comprehending something of the magnitude of the duties connected with the kingly office, Solomon knew that those bearing heavy burdens must
seek the Source of Wisdom for guidance, if they would fulfill their responsibilities acceptably. This led him to encourage his counselors to unite with him heartily in making sure of their acceptance with God. Above every earthly good, the king desired wisdom and understanding for the accomplishment of the work God had given him to do. He longed for quickness of mind, for largeness of heart, for tenderness of spirit. " P&K p 27

"The language used by Solomon while praying to God before the ancient altar at Gibeon reveals his humility and his strong desire to honor God. He realized that without divine aid he was as helpless as a little child to fulfill the responsibilities resting on him. He knew that he lacked discernment, and it was a sense of his great need that led him to seek God for wisdom. In his heart there was no selfish aspirations for a knowledge that would exalt him above others. He desired to discharge faithfully the duties devolving upon him, and he chose the gift that would be the means of causing his reign to bring glory to God. Solomon was never so rich or so wise or so truly great as when he confessed, "I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in." P&k p30

It is with these desires and these thoughts and these motives that Solomon falls asleep that night and God appears to him in a dream and offers to give Solomon whatever he desires. What a request!!! What would I say? What is most important to me? Do I get caught up in my problems? Do I get caught up in my children? Do I get caught up in financially surviving...material possessions? I could right here and now think that I would ask for a heart to love others like Jesus did. But would I really ask for that first?

God pours into Solomon the gift of wisdom at his request. I think about how glorious his early reign was....I think about those who sought his wisdom...about all the proverbs and songs he wrote. All those years of following after righteousness. Yet he slips...and loses God from his life. He tries to seek for happiness in all the wrong places. Even though Solomon, near the end of his life, makes right choices and returns to God. I think about this verse.

1 Cor 1:27
"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway."

Can I be like Solomon... sharing with others...living a life filled with the Spirit yet able to lose it all?

1 Cor 10:12
"Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

Oh Lord I am so dependent on you moment by moment and in each moment of my life. I am not safe outside of your goodness and mercy. How I need to stay connected to you at all times.

1 John 15:4,5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.