Guarding the Presence
During this season of seeing the signs of the times manifest in the earth, my spirit has been so stirred by the Ruach haKodesh, and I praise Him for the shaking of foundations in my life. He told us that everything that can be shaken will be shaken. It is so necessary. He is calling me to let go of the things of this world as much as is possible while still in an earthly body. I feel such a call to worship our Elohim in Spirit and Truth. This call to worship Him intensely, in holiness, is greater than I can remember since I first came to Him.
It has been a great blessing to gather with a few believers who are also hearing this call to seek Him. This has been a time of ministry to the Lord Himself. There is a time for personal ministry and coming alongside each other. But this is different from that. Ministering to God requires a total focus on Him and not on ourselves and our wants, needs, and petitions.
Understanding the Word through the roots of our faith has so enriched the revelation of our calling as believers. We are called to be His priesthood. In fact, we are called to be His Kingdom. The profound truth is that as the priesthood we are called to guard the Presence of the Lord in worship. He is so holy and so worthy of our passionate, poured-out selves, in total abandon to Him.
It’s not a thing that you do so much as it is the motivation of your heart. I praise Him for these days of smaller group gatherings where the desire to be with Him is so earnest and the realization that He is our Life is resonating inside us. It is part of this Last Day understanding that our destiny is all about God receiving what He desires and not about us getting our needs satisfied.
The honor of this calling to the priesthood is so humbling. When studying the Scriptures about the priesthood, it becomes very clear that anyone else besides the priesthood who approached the Presence, the sanctuary of God, would be put to death. I don’t think we understand fully what Yeshua has done for us by making us His sanctified people. We don’t understand the level of holiness that He has bestowed on us.
I am overwhelmed at this whole subject of being a Kingdom and priests to our God (Rev. 1:6; Rev. 5:10). The parallels of our calling as new covenant priests with God’s calling to the Mosaic priesthood shake me to my inmost being. When we see the depth of what He has required of us and what He has enabled us to do, we realize that it’s impossible without being covered in the blood of Yeshua, the Lamb.
In the original covenant, guarding His Presence and everything holy in the sanctuary meant that your life was not your own, and it still means that. This is the point, friends. He is calling us so much higher than we have ever been, into a dimension that exists for the people of God because of His Spirit dwelling in us. This is the dignity and the honor of being ministers to Him.
In practical ways, in today’s world, I believe guarding His Presence means that worship cannot be rote, mechanical or without passion. It is time for all of that to end (Isa. 43:18-19). To be plainspoken about it, worship gatherings of sold-out believers are definitely not times for socializing during the assembly, or, heaven forbid, sitting out in the gathering drinking coffee and talking amongst ourselves during the service. There are other times and places for this. A worship gathering is definitely not for our entertainment, lest we risk being struck down. This is a holy calling.
I am even thinking that we need to take urgent action as part of guarding His Presence and that we should vacate any assembly that functions like a social gathering, while calling itself a worship assembly. The reverse is true, too – don’t attend a gathering set apart for holy purposes if your heart is not set and fixed on Him. Don’t bring judgment on yourself. Be in honor and awe and reverence for God. Get your heart right first. Don’t offend His Presence. This is a serious and holy calling to be a priest of God.
I am seeing that true worship means that we fix our eyes and our hearts on Yeshua, on our Elohim, on the God of Israel. Let us understand that we are to worship with all our beings. Let us understand that we are not to tolerate anything less in our gatherings together. The seriousness of this lack of awe of our King results in death. As priests, this is what we are called to do – to guard and to protect the worship of our God.
The conviction of the Word is so on my heart. It is our responsibility to do this –
“You are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary, and you and your sons alone are to bear the responsibility for offenses against the priesthood.” (Numbers 18:1-4)
Yeshua is calling us to live holy lives. It’s not about trying to work up some deep level of holiness through human pretense or works. Only He can anoint us for this with His own Spirit, cleansed in His precious blood. It’s a matter of humbling our hearts and committing ourselves to seeking Him and following Him. I so desire this level of love and passion for God to consume my soul. I know I am not totally there yet but I so desire to worship Him in this way. The Bible says He is looking for those who will worship Him like this.
I am praising Him for His great mercy for all of us as He leads us both deeper and higher into the worship and knowledge of Him. He promises that He will ultimately bring us to Mount Zion, to the church of the firstborn, to God, where we gather with others, with the spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to Yeshua Himself, the Mediator of the new covenant.(Heb. 12:22-24)
He is holy. Guard His Presence.
