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Are We That Far From the Truth?
Exodus 34:24
I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your territory, and no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the LORD your God.
The Lord's promises to you are yes and Amen! In this scripture He promises to drive out nations before you and to enlarge your territory! What nations are they? Are they like the legion of spirits Jesus cast out of the young man. Those spirits found themselves driving pigs crazy and they drowned themselves in the water! Are those the nations? Are they those things that do not resemble His character, those things that resemble our human nature which is filled with pride, self-righteousness, and judgmental spirits towards people, places, and things?
Well if you are like me, you are probably dealing with some of that! I like enlarge territory, don't you? But there is work associated with that enlargement. For me the work is submitting myself to God, leaning on Him and not my understanding. For me it means less of my self-worth and more of His being put into me. Well the work is not in the doing. At most, it is about letting Him do for you and for me. By His grace we will be set free and by His grace we will resist the devil and who will flee from us!
You might be saying "Been there, done that." Yeah, me too! However the more I seek Jesus in all His ways the more I realize He has for me to change. The scripture goes on to say that no one will covet your land when you go up three times each year to appear before the Lord your God! Whoopee. That means no one can steal from you and I the things the Lord has given us.
So what is the catch? What does the "if" clause mean for you? What does going up three times a year to appear before the Lord mean for you? For me it is important to set some time apart from the activity of life so I can be face to face with the lover of my soul.
Exodus 34:25
Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast, and do not let any of the sacrifice from the Passover Festival remain until morning.
Verse 25 goes on to say not to offer your life as a sacrifice with pride involved. "Yeast" is sin and so is pride. Can you replace "yeast" with another word that fits for you?
I pray that for the rest of our lives we serve the Lord. 65 may be the age of worldly retirement, but there is no retirement from God's purposes in your life or mine. The sacrifice of the Passover feast does not remain until morning. The sacrifice of our "lives" will continue to serve until we take our last breath.
Practice silence by separating yourself from others. It will bring you to an audience of ONE with the Lord. I have tried it during part of the retreat I was recently on. It is true. He awaits your audience! And I know He is beckoning for me to come to Him again!
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