NOTES FROM MOM

Jesus Is Lord in 2008!

We have been on a journey through the Tabernacle that God told Moses to build while the Israelites were going through the wilderness. We have learned that the Tabernacle was a picture of Jesus Christ and our walk with Him throughout our Christian life here on earth.

This month we are at the final piece of furniture in the Holy Place. It is called the Golden Altar of Incense. The specific instructions Moses was given are found in Exodus 30: 1-10. This altar was made of wood and overlaid with gold. It was only 3 feet high. It was placed just before entering behind the veil into the Holy of Holies where the presence of God resided.

God instructed Moses to make it with horns on it and to burn incense on it day and night. It was never to be allowed to stop burning. The incense that was burned on it was to be pure and a specific kind that was very fragrant. There was to be no strange incense burned on it. The fragrant smoke was to go up continually before the Lord. As the Candle Stick represented our mind, and the Table of Showbread represented our will, the Golden Altar of Incense represents our emotions. For the Holy Place represents our soulish realm or the mind, will and emotions of mankind.

The Golden Altar of Incense represents the place in our life where we come before God with Praise, Worship and Prayer. The only incense that could be used was pure and was pleasing to God. Prayer is pleasing to God. It is where you talk with Him and He talks with you. It is the place we are all to come to in order to find out God’s will for our lives and to bring others before Him in intercession.

We are to pray without ceasing, (I Thessalonians 5:17) which simply means talking to God just as if He was right there in front of us all the time. In fact, He is always with us. His eyes are toward us and His ears are open to the prayers of His born again children all the time. (Psalm 34:15)

Praise is part of prayer. Acknowledging who He is and thanking Him for what He has done for us is offering praise to Him. Psalms 22:3 even tells us He inhabits the praises of His people. Inhabit means to reside in, to dwell in, to be present in. Isaiah 61:3 tells us we have been given the mantle of praise for the spirit of heaviness. When we are depressed, as we give God praise, He inhabits our praises and the depression lifts. As we focus on Him, we are set free.

Prayer and praise is the sweet-smelling aroma that filters into the very throne room of God. There is a picture of that in Revelation 8:3-4. As the priest put the incense on the Golden Altar of Incense, a white sweet-smelling smoke would rise. This was representative of a totally submitted soul and human spirit praising God for who He is.

We are to praise God no matter what the circumstances. We can sing praises, speak praises and love God with all our heart through praise.

Praise is a weapon of warfare too. No devil can stand or bring things against our minds when we are singing and praying praises to God. He has to flee when we praise.

That is why music is so important. Music played and sung to God will defeat the enemy in our lives. As we continue to praise and pray the word of God over our circumstances, we are actually resisting the devil. James 4:7 tells us to submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee. So, when we praise or pray God’s word we are submitting to God and resisting the devil at the same time.

When we pray the word of God and praise Him, we open the door for God to work in our lives and in the lives of those we are praying for. One of my favorite scriptures that I use almost daily is found in Psalm 103:20. “Bless the Lord, you His angels, Mighty in strength, who perform His word, Obeying the voice of His word!” As we pray the word and sing the word of God, the angels go about seeing that it comes to pass in our lives. They only obey the voice of His word. They won’t obey the voice of our problems, complaining or sorrows. They perform His word as we speak it from our mouths.

That is fighting the good fight of faith. (II Timothy 4:7) It also builds our faith in God and His word to us. As we hear ourselves praise and speak His words, they come alive to us and faith is built stronger and stronger.

Praise can also include dancing before Him. Probably the best example of that kind of praise is found in II Samuel 6:14. David had found the Ark of the Covenant (which we will study next month) and was bringing it back to Jerusalem into the Temple. It had been stolen by the Philistines years before. David was so overcome with praise and worship before the Lord at this event that he took off all his clothes except a linen ephod and was leaping and dancing before the Ark and before the Lord with all his might.

We are to praise our God with all that is within us just for who He is. Psalm 149:3, Psalm 150:4 and other scriptures tell us to praise Him with the dance. I don’t suggest we have to take off most of our clothes in order to dance before Him, but there is nothing wrong with dancing in church or where ever we are before Him as we hear songs of praise being sung to Him; or as we sing them ourselves.

We see in Exodus 30:10 that there were horns on the Golden Altar of Incense. Once a year on the day of Atonement when the high priest went behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, blood from the sacrificial lamb was brought from the Brazen Altar and put on the horns of the Altar of Incense. True praise and worship comes from the awareness of the blood that Jesus shed for us. The blood of our sacrificial Lamb is to be remembered as we pray and praise God.

It is only through the righteousness of the shed blood of Jesus that we can be saved and come into the presence of God. Gratitude for what Jesus did for us always brings us into the place of praise and worship. As we apply the blood of Jesus to our lives and to those whom we are praying for, we are recognizing that God gave His Son so that we could have life here on earth and eternally with Him. Praise is required to enter the Holy of Holies. That requires our mind, will and emotions fully submitted to Him…putting aside all self and laying our life at His feet. He died so we could live; and He did that for us because of His great love for us. Expressing that love back to Him through praise and worship will draw us behind the veil into the Holy of Holies…into His presence.

That is where we will go next time. We will reach our final destination next time…the Holy of Holies, which lies behind the veil.

See you next month at the veil!

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