KISLEV 7
The Secret Place
“You who LIVE IN the shelter of `Elyon …” (Ps 91:1 CJB, emphasis mine)
Some years ago, I was spending time with our youngest
daughter, and her daughter (our
granddaughter) at a public playground, just enjoying quality family time. Emma, our granddaughter, would amuse herself
on the swings and slides, occasionally running back to her mother to ‘check in’,
and then would be off again, as busy as a healthy (then) four-year-old could
be. It was while I sat watching Emma,
that Elohim dropped this revelation of truth into my spirit: Many of us treat our time with our Creator in
this same way, running back and forth, ‘checking in’, never stopping long
enough to listen to what He has to
say, or sense that He simply desires this same ‘quality family time’ with us, His children …
Here in the high desert of the United States, where my husband
and I live, we have what is known as “tumbleweed” – a brush which has no real
root system. When extreme conditions
arise, such as wind, heat, cold, drought, etc., the tumbleweed dies, and the
wind will carry it here, there, anywhere.
Unhappily, there are brothers and sisters in Messiah that could be
labeled ‘tumbleweed believers’, blown every which way when extreme conditions
arise. Most have never been taught how
to live in the presence of El Elyon, the most high God, how to put
down roots, or how to stay put. There
are also those who simply do not wish to, and continue to tumble …
Many translations of the Scriptures quote this verse as
saying the “secret place of the Most High”.
Where is this secret place? In the Old Testament, under the Original Covenant,
it was first found within the Ark of the Covenant, at the Mercy Seat, between
the Cherubim (Ex 25:22 NKJV). The Holy
of Holies was the place of Yahweh’s presence when the Hekal, the Temple was built and consecrated (1Kin 8:10-11) under
Solomon, David’s son. Now, because of
the renewed covenant purchased for us
by the blood of Messiah Yeshua, the veil separating us from the Holy of Holies
has been torn apart (see Mat 27:51), and we can “come boldly to the throne of
favour, in order to receive compassion, and find favour for timely help.” (Heb
4:16 ISR)
But herein is the key:
it is our choice to change our
place of residency; our Abba Father will not drag us in. However, He has certain requirements that we
need to adhere to, before we can put in that change of address. It goes without saying that the individual
who does not love our Elohim with
everything in them will not be found in this place; neither will the one who is
consistently, intentionally disobedient to our Elohim’s Word, His Torah. Our “tenant agreement” is found within the
words of the Sh’ma, written for us in
Deu 6:4-9:
"Sh'ma, Yisra'el! Yahweh Eloheinu, Yahweh echad
[Hear, Isra'el! Yahweh
our Elohim, Yahweh is one];
“And you shall love יהוה
your Elohim with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your
might. And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,
and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you
sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and
when you rise up, and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be
as frontlets between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of
your house and on your gates.” (ISR)
Will we be like Anna, whom the Bible says never left the
Temple grounds, but stayed in an attitude of worship, prayer and fasting,
desiring more of that secret place (Luke
2:36)? Or are the things of this world
still pulling on us, though we know we must ‘check in’ once in a while. How it grieves our Elohim’s heart when we
have no time for Him, the One who
created us for His good pleasure, the
One who longs to show Himself strong on our behalf.
©2018
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