Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Monday, September 9, 2019

This is devotional thought number 5 in our devotional series, “Removing the Veil: Sanctuary Living in the 21st Century.” Our subject is: Preparing to Tabernacle With God

Here’s the question for consideration: What steps does God take to prepare us for sanctuary living?

“And Moses went up unto God, and the Lord called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel; Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.” (Exodus 19:3–6).

God always has a plan. If we learn to trust Him and follow His plan, we will be saved.

Now we have a birdseye view of God’s plan of salvation. Paul said that the children of Israel were given to us as examples for our learning. What I notice immediately from our theme text is how God prepared the people for holiness. Think about it. The children of Israel were in captivity for many years. They only knew the Egyptian master’s scourge. They were subjugated by a power, that, in past generations elevated one of their brothers to provide help to the entire world during seven years of famine. Their master saw them as a threat, disrespected their God, owned their children, controlled their food, attempted to obliterate their religion, and forced free labor to elevate themselves. Does this sound familiar? So if God was ever to keep His promise to Abraham, that his offspring would be plentiful upon the face of the earth, and inherit the land now inhabited by innumerable enemies, He would need to lead them on a success path that would change their hearts, build their trust, increase their faith, vanquish their enemies, and glorify their God. Step one: deliverance.

If God is preparing us for sanctuary living (i.e. holy living), He first needs to give us a downpayment on that holiness. He miraculously delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian slavery first, and then promised them power, prestige, and holiness if they would just obey Him. Notice that, with God, deliverance comes first. If God were to tell a sin addict to keep His law without delivering that addict from slavery to sin, it would be a recipe for failure. Paul said the carnal mind cannot please God. It cannot be subject to the law of God. Why? That mind has another master—sin/the devil. When you have an opportunity, please read Romans 6-8 and you’ll see what I mean. God breaks the spell unfettered sin has upon us when, through His strength, we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. In a simultaneous transaction, the Holy Spirit begins to empower us to actually live according to our calling. When we receive Him into our lives, we become His children; that is our calling (John 1:11-12; Romans 8:29). And having become His children by faith, we learn to live like children of God. God’s miraculous deliverance begets the power to live holy lives in God’s presence.

If you are yearning to experience the fullness of sanctuary living, accept God’s plan of deliverance, learn to follow His plan, and when you’re feeling faint under trials, don’t give up! Take courage in the following passage: “Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, And my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, That the everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; And to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:27–31).—L. David Harris (http://bit.ly/BQuotable)

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