The Glory, Wisdom, and Power of God Revealed-Dwelling Place Series 1.3

"When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple (2 Chronicles 7:1)."

When I was 17, I remember visiting Washington DC for the first time. It is the capital city of the United States and the architecture there can be breathtaking. When I saw the Washington Monument, the Capitol Building, the Lincoln Memorial, I was amazed by their grandeur. However, as awesome as these buildings are, their physical beauty pales in comparison to that of our third dwelling place-the Temple of Solomon.

The Temple of Solomon was conceived by King David and built by King Solomon, about 1000 years before the time of Christ. During David’s reign, Israel had become the most powerful and prosperous nation on earth. David had wanted to build God a glorious house, but God told David that he should not build it; rather, his son Solomon should. So David spent the latter part of his life abundantly preparing for the temple. He collected vast quantities of gold, precious stone, cedar wood, and other properties to leave behind so Solomon could use them to build. Solomon followed his father’s example by also gathering precious resources for God.

In the fourth year of his reign Solomon started building the temple, and he finished it seven years later. When it was finished, the beauty of the temple made it the joy of the whole earth. Kings and dignitaries from the nations of the world would come to Jerusalem to see the glorious structure and would be awestruck. The temple was made of cedar wood, but completely overlaid with gold. Polished stones, prepared before they were brought to the construction site, adorned the temple. It was truly remarkable. What does all of this mean for us today?

The temple of Solomon is a picture of the glory, wisdom, and power that will be revealed in the last-day Church and the Millennium. In the last day revival, the Church will be the head and not the tail, a picture of wisdom that all in the world can see. Just as Solomon’s temple was filled with the glory and the fire of God, so the Church will be. There will be no lack for the Church, but the blessings of God will overflow.

There are also important lessons we can learn for our personal lives. As we said, the temple was made of cedar wood, overlaid with gold. Cedar wood speaks of our human nature, while gold speaks of the divine nature. If we are going to be a part of the last-day revival and then the millennium, we must let the nature of God dominate and cover our human nature. We must fully submit to his Lordship. Furthermore, the stones of the temple all had to be polished off-site; there was no drilling and shaping of the stones at the temple. We are called to be living stones, and God is showing us this; the time to be prepared is now. We cannot wait until the Millennium to allow God to shape us and make us conquerors; we must yield to His work in our lives today. Then we will be qualified for greater glory.

So let’s make our lives the glorious dwelling place in which God is looking to manifest in the last days. God wants to bring you to perfection, power, and glory; will you let Him? May we all answer “yes.”

Worship Within the Veil-Dwelling Place Series 1.2

After this I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins,And I will set it up (Acts 15:16).

Have you ever built a house out of cards? I used to try to do this, but was never any good at it. No matter how carefully or neatly I tried to stack the cards, I simply could not get them to stand without falling. After they fell I would try to rebuild, but was never very successful. Fortunately, for all of us, when God declares He will rebuild something, He is always successful.

The Tabernacle of David is the second dwelling place in our series. It was originally built by David on Mt. Zion, near the beginning of his reign over all Israel. David’s tabernacle was unique over all the other dwelling places in that it was only a tent, with the Ark of the Covenant inside. It was not an elaborate building like the Temple of Solomon, or a huge structure like the Tabernacle of Moses. Yet God declared that He would rebuild David’s tabernacle. It is the tabernacle that governs the New Testament age that we all live in. What made this tabernacle so special?

The answer is that the tabernacle of David had no veil separating people from the presence of God. In every other Old Testament dwelling place there was a veil, or curtain, that kept people away from the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark contained the power, glory, and manifest presence of God. Because Christ had not yet come to atone for sin, God had to place separation between Himself and man in the form of a thick curtain.

However, David had such a passion in His heart for God that God overlooked His own law and allowed David into His very presence. David’s hunger and desire for God brought him through every obstacle. God found him to be a man after His own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), and God is still looking for these men and women today. Passion will bring us through the veil and into the living presence of our Living Savior.

The great thing is that not only did David get to enjoy the blessing of his passion, those around him did also. During David’s time, every one with clean hands and a pure heart could enter into God’s unveiled presence. If you grab passionately grab hold of God, others will follow. Again, this tabernacle symbolizes the New Testament age we all live in. God no longer is hiding behind a curtain, but is waiting for us to come and commune with Him. So be inspired by the desire of David. God is looking for this kind to worship Him.

Entering through the Blood-Dwelling Place Series 1.1

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

For a moment, I want you to close your eyes. Okay, you better open now or you won’t be able to read the rest! But think now about your home, the place that you are from. There is no place in the world that you are so comfortable. I can still picture my bedroom when I was growing up. Our homes are a place of comfort, security, and rest. We all love to be at home!

God also has a home, or a dwelling place that He prefers above all others. The God of the universe wants to live inside of you and me. As we study the Scripture, we find at least seven distinct dwelling places of God. Through studying these dwelling places (which are mainly natural, historical buildings) we find keys to qualities we need in our lives in order for God to dwell among us. Over the next few weeks, we will consider each of these dwelling places.

The 7 Dwelling Places of God revealed in Scripture are the following:

1) The Tabernacle of Moses
2) The Tabernacle of David
3) The Temple of Solomon
4) The Restoration Temple
5) Herod’s Temple
6) The Church
7) The Temple of Ezekiel

We will start with the first dwelling place, the Tabernacle of Moses. This tabernacle was built in the wilderness, about two years after God had delivered the children of Israel from Egypt. God declared that the reason He brought the children of Israel out of slavery was so that He could dwell among them. And that is the same reason God delivers us from sin and the world! We are saved for fellowship with God.

The tabernacle of Moses contains countless lessons for us, many more than we can look at today. The main lesson of the tabernacle of Moses is that we enter the presence of God through the blood of Jesus. In short, the tabernacle was divided into three basic sections-the Outer Court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. The Ark of the Covenant and the manifest presence of God was in the Holy of Holies. All Israelites were allowed in the Outer Court with their sacrifice, only the priests could come into the Holy Place, and only the high priest was allowed in the Holy of Holies, and only once a year. Each time he came in, he had to bring the blood of the yearly sacrifice. What does this mean for us?

It shows us that the way into the presence of Jesus is through the blood. Of course, it’s no longer the blood of an animal, but rather through the blood of Jesus Christ. And since He died, one time for all of our sins, we can live in His presence. We no longer have to only come in once a year (like the high priest)-we can now come into His glory daily and be changed by Him.

But each step we take into God’s presence is not through our merit. We must always remember it is only through the blood, the sacrifice of Jesus, that we come to God. Make much of His blood. Ask Christ to cleanse you in His blood, to cover you in His blood, to strengthen you through His blood. Fellowship with God is all about Christ and the work He has done. We did not deserve it and we cannot earn it. All we can do is have faith in the work He has done! So ask God to take you into His holy of holies, into deep relationship with Him, through Christ’s work on the cross.

Great Time in the Philippines

I had a great week in the Philippines. I was there for 6 days, from Saturday, February 3rd to Thursday, February 8th. There were several highlights, but I will just share a few of them now.

I preached at Born in Zion Church on Sunday morning. The church is pastured by Rossanna Relucio (many of you know her). Before the service started, they had testimony time. Pastor Rossanna came forward and told the church how God had speaking to her all week about having a “glorious purpose.” And the amazing thing was that was the exact title of my message-“Glorious Purpose!” Rossanna even read from Colossians 1:10-17, and my text verse was Colossians 1:15-17. So God really confirmed the message. After the message we had a time of prayer. It was great to see the Holy Spirit move in that place.

During the week I spent most of my time at Zion Ministerial Institute in Antipolo. I taught for 4 days, 2 days on the 7 Dwelling Places of God and 2 days on the book of Colossians. I was able to complete all of the teaching in the allotted time, so that’s always good. There is a real anointing at the school and it is great to teach in that atmosphere. The worship there was awesome, as it always is. The peace and joy there is so strong it’s tangible. After worship Wednesday morning we prayed for all the students, and there was a real prophetic flow.

I also got to catch up with many old friends during my time there. Every day brought more opportunities for fellowship, whether at Faith Academy or with old friends from ZMI. It was really refreshing.

In short, my trip in the Philippines was a great time of being recharged by the Holy Spirit, as well of ministry. Of course, I missed Delia and Caleb the whole time, and am very happy to be back together with them now! But I look forward to many more times at ZMI Philippines in the future.

Until next time!

Cameron

Trip to the Philippines

Tonight I leave for the Philippines! I'm really looking forward to returning to my "second home."

I will be there until Thursday night. On Sunday morning I will be speaking at Great Harvest for Jesus Church, and will then be teaching at Zion Ministerial Institute, Philippines, from Monday-Thursday. I'll spend 2 days on the 7 Dwelling Places of God and then 2 days on Colossians. There also could be other ministry opportunities. Please keep me in prayer for the anointing and revelation as I teach. Also, please pray that the students and church will be blessed.
And finally, please pray for Delia and Caleb as a I leave them behind in the Philippines. Thanks a lot!

I will post on the trip when I get back. Until then...God bless you all!