Weekly Devotion

I was contemplating which series to start next and the Lord placed King David on my heart. If we look at the genealogy of Jesus, two figures stood out and was very important to the Jews, namely Abraham and King David. Abraham was important to the Jews as he is known as the father of the Jews and they knew that the Messiah would be a Jew. And King David was important, as God promised that there will always be a ruler from the house of David and Jesus was the final and permanent Ruler from his house.

We have done a whole series on the life of Abraham and we learned many lessons and now I would like us to do the same with David. I am sure the Lord wants to implant many truths to us through the life of this wonderful man and I for one am excited to learn more.

Now as I've mentioned, Abraham and David were considered essential to the line of the Messiah. Abraham, a righteous man in God's eyes and David, a man after God's own heart. And today because of Jesus we are also part of their lineage.

Let us start with Abraham. Many promises were made to Abraham by God. But the one where God promises that He will be the heir of the world encompasses them all (Romans 4:13). And then God clearly states that we are his descendants:

"Therefore it is of faith, that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." Romans 4:16

Now what does it mean to be heir of the world? Practically for us today? According to thesaurus synonyms for heir is successor, inheritor, beneficiary etc. So heir is someone who is the beneficiary, the one to inherit something. And here God says the world. Wow. Shouldn't that change our whole outlook on life? Shouldn't that make us look differently at worldly success? Just look at a prince being born. He never needs to stress about money, about his protection, about where he wants to live etc. As he is born knowing that everything is his, he will inherit the throne one day. And until then he can enjoy the growing up process, knowing who he is in this world.

We are also called royalty by God. That is why I say we are descendants of David as well. God calls us kings and priests:

"He has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever." Revelation 1:6

So we are kings, royalty who will inherit the whole earth, in other words, everything. And as we have learned in our Kingdom series, we can enjoy those privileges now already. We are part of His Kingdom now already. And we need to walk tall knowing who we are in Him, knowing the privileges that we have and laying claim on them. That is not pride. Pride is thinking that we are better than all the others and that we don't need anyone in our lives. We are not prideful if we walk as God's children, royalty, with all the promises in Heaven given unto us. That is walking in the grace that has been bestowed upon us. I know many people feel that they need to be humble and think of themselves as being lowly and not worth much. But God called Moses the most humble person on earth and once he led the Israelites out he knew who he was in God and he stood up for that. All he did was to glorify God by declaring his dependence on Him.

Today God wants us to know that all He has is ours. He wants us to stop stressing about this world and to start walking this pathway with Him. He wants us to lay claim on what is ours and to trust Him on our pathway with Him. David did just that. So for the next couple of months we will learn valuable life lessons from him, inspired by the Holy Spirit. I hope you will enjoy the journey with me.

Father we are so excited to hear once again that we are heirs of this world; we are royalty, part of Your glorious Kingdom. This gives us so much hope for this world. Glory on High! Teach us Your wisdom through this series; we look forward to hearing from You. We love You. Amen

I am the God of Grace. Do you truly realize what that means? If you did, you will stop trying so hard and give over to Me. Grace flows when you stop trying. Grace is what I give to you, without you deserving it, it is My unmerited favour. None of you deserve by your own merit to enter into the Kingdom of God, but through grace I made it possible for you. Your sinful nature made it impossible for you to enter into My glorious Presence, but I made it all possible for you, through the death of My Son, Jesus Christ. That is why He is the only way, the truth and the life, without Him there is no access. Your sinful nature cannot make it on its own, but Jesus came and took the punishment for your sins, so that you can live in the newness of life that comes from Him and Him alone. And in that new life, there is plenty of grace and you can enter into My Presence without spot or blemish.

I have always been full of grace towards mankind. I could have wiped out the whole human race from the face of the earth with the flood, but in My grace I saved eight people and would have saved more if the others repented in the years that I gave them before the flood. By My grace I saved Lot and his family from the fire raining down on Sodom and Gomorrah, and I would have saved more if they had listened to Lot's plea. By My grace I didn't destroy the whole Jewish nation when they rebelled against Me in the wilderness, I continued to love them and care for them. By My grace I allowed a remnant to return to Jerusalem after their exile into captivity, I helped them to rebuild the Temple and I helped them to settle in their city once again. And My biggest act of grace was when I opened up the doors to heaven for all to enter in, through the death of My Son.

Grace is what I am blessing you with. I am giving you in abundance what you do not deserve, but I give it to you because I love you. Hold on to My grace. Stop trying to earn your way into heaven. Stop trying to do good deeds simply to get into 'My good books'. Stop thinking that I am punishing you for your sins, stop feeling guilty of sins you have done in the past. When you feel this way you do not understand how grace works. Grace loves all and forgives all. Grace flows in abundance and is there to overwhelm you. Grace is free and without prescribed actions. I am filled with grace.

Grace was My master plan for the human race filled with the tendency to sin. Without grace you would have been lost forever, doomed to die. Without grace there would have been no hope. Your sinful nature could never keep My Law, you couldn't even come close. My Law showed you how desperate your situation truly is. My Law showed how far away you have ventured from My perfect nature. No human being could ever keep My Law, inside and out. However, in My grace I provided a way for the Israelites, My people, to atone for their sins through sacrifices at the altar. I provided a way for them to be forgiven. I showed them the sacrifice of My Son; I showed them the way out of this sinful world. But even that provision My people threw back in My face. They became religious and never truly repented. My perfect Law therefore signed their death sentence, as no judge can let anyone free due to their trespasses of My Law. But the Judge of all judges came and He came to sign off on the Law and to free all who believe in Him. He came to rescue all trapped in sin and He gave them a new nature, a spirit connected with Mine, free from this world, belonging to Me.

Therefore live in this grace. Get up in the mornings and praise Me that I freed you from sin's death door. No matter what is going on in your life, be full of song and praise that you are free. You are free to live in grace, free to be part of a new world, where love and grace abides.

Stop trying, and get to the end of yourself. Because when you get to the end of yourself, you can finally let go and allow Me to take over. That is the point where true life starts. That is the point where you become who you truly are. That is the point where My Spirit takes over and leads you into everlasting life. Then you start transforming your mind, from being carnal to being Spiritual. And when you start living your life being controlled by the Spirit, you will find that you please Me in every way. You will find righteousness as your robe and My works in you become complete. Surrender My child and give Me your all. I want the fullness of who I am to flow through you and to touch a world, hungry for Me.

Last week we finished with the series of the Temple. I hope you learned as much as I did. I am so humbled by all the symbolism that has been revealed to me by His Spirit. I am really grateful and I will never read the passages on the Temple in the same way again. It has really opened up many things to me and I see a lot of factors in my life in a totally different light now and it really encouraged me. And I sincerely hope that it has done the same for you too.

Today I want us to have just one last look at the Temple. We have learned that God wants us to let the world in the outer court go. He wants us to cleanse ourselves and to put on the robe of righteousness provided by Christ. Then He wants us to enter in with the New Covenant and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit on a whole new level, and He wants us to fellowship with Jesus as our bread of life. Then He wants our prayers rising up to Him, giving us entrance into the Most Holy Place, where true life resides, into His Throne room where He wants us to live and be.

Now as we've seen earlier in the series we are also the Temple now. We are the representation of the Temple to the world. We are the ones that need to tell people what the Temple is all about. We are the ones that need to explain to others the concept of drawing closer to God. This is such an amazing illustration of all that He has planned for us, of His whole dream for us all.

Are you ready to explain it to others? Are you ready to draw them closer to God? At the end of the day that is our life's purpose. We do not have any others. Our purpose is to draw close to Him and to help other people to do the same. The manner in which we will do this will differ, but our end goal is the same. A truly successful life is one who succeeded in his life's purpose. A successful life according to worldly standards can be a dismal failure in the Kingdom. And also the other way around. An unsuccessful life by worldly standards can be a resounding success in the Kingdom.

God wants us to be successful by His standards. And yes, that can also mean worldly success. But when we are truly focused on being successful by His standards, then worldly success will not mean nearly as much to us as it would have if our focus was only on our own achievements. I had to learn this lesson the hard way. In my life I knew what it was like to be successful and then the Lord took me on a journey to learn that true success is found only in Him and not in this world. It was very difficult for me as I was used to being successful. I rebelled against the path He was taking me on, I cried and I really tried everything in my power to still remain successful in the eyes of the world despite the journey He wanted me to walk on. It was only when He truly brought me to a standstill that He taught me the true value of success. It was only when I opened my eyes and allowed Him to show me that I was amazed. I was truly entering into the Most Holy Place. There is no way to see what is going on in the world when one is there, but it was okay. It was liberating. I marveled at the gems He was showing me, I felt at ease and full of life, I felt physically alive and well. I stopped trying to find a window to see what others were doing, as I was so consumed by what He was working in me. I was so grateful, I felt so rich, I felt so successful, I felt so privileged. And today I can honestly say: 'His will be done'. I know now the richness of His glory for me. I know now that I have an inheritance that surpasses all understanding. I am part of something so much bigger, so much more valuable than earthly acclaim. I am surrounded by a host of witnesses cheering me on. I am part of the royal family with no worries. I am one with the Maker of it all. What more can I ever want?

Leave this world behind and come and enter in. He is waiting with open arms for you. Come.

Father, we love You so much! Thank you for Your amazing plans for our lives. We want to stay close to You. We want to live inside the Most Holy Place, alongside You. There we are safe, loved and cared for. We glorify Your Name! Amen

Today I want us to look at the summary of all three parts of the Temple, as well as the meaning of the entrance and then I want us to come to a conclusion when we understand all of it.

Firstly let's have a look at the outer court. The outer court as we saw last week symbolizes that God wants us to sacrifice all that we are. In fact we shouldn't be living anymore, but His Son should be living through us. We should wash ourselves clean from this world, and then put on the robe of righteousness given to us by Christ as a gift. The whole outer court wants us to realize that this world shouldn't be that important to us anymore. Christ is all that matters, His Kingdom and His glory. While in the outer court we should realize that all He wants us to do is to enter into the Temple, into His presence.

Secondly we saw that the entrance revealed that God is saying that we need to walk with Him in agreement in the New Covenant that He has established for us. Alone we are completely deficient, but together with Him we can walk in full dominion. He will look after us and will give us access into His Promised Land where there is prosperity and a wonderful life to be enjoyed.

Thirdly we come to the Holy Place. Here we learned that we are in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can fellowship with God, taking Jesus in as our bread of Life. We can be intimate with God and stand tall in the victory that He has bought for us. We can pray with boldness, with power and victory, knowing that we can enter into the Holy Place because of what Jesus did for us.

Fourthly we enter into the Most Holy Place. We saw that the Most Holy Place represents the New Covenant; it represents our right standing with God because of the blood of Jesus. In the Most Holy Place we are safe. In His presence no evil can befall us. There is true life and life in abundance.

Therefore we can conclude that the whole Temple is telling us the following. We should sacrifice all that we are and wash ourselves clean from this world. We should put on the robe of righteousness given freely to us by Christ and enter into the Temple. As we enter in we are reminded of the New Covenant entered into with us. On our own we cannot accomplish much, but with Him by our side we can walk in full dominion. Inside the Temple we are surrounded by the presence of the Holy Spirit, we can be intimate with God and experience Jesus as our bread of life. We can pray with boldness, with power and victory as we enter into the Most Holy Place. There we are safe, totally stripped of this world and completely surrounded by Him and all that He is. There is life and life more abundantly.

Jesus came to give us life in abundance, it is there for the taking, and we simply need to enter in, to push forward and take what is rightfully ours. He wants to bless us with so much; we simply need to reach out.

So make a conscious decision today to stop living in the outer court, and to move in deeper to claim the life that God wants to bless you with. The time to flirt with this worldly system has come to an end. The time to fly higher has come. God has infinitely more for you. Are you ready?

Father we glorify Your Name! We praise You on high! You are such an amazing God and King! Thank you for all the good plans that You have for us. We are sorry that the worldly system became so important to us; we rather want to live a life close to You! Thank you for showing us the way of life. We love You. Amen

Last week we finished off with the Most Holy Place. We learned that we can leave all our worries and cares there, because God cares for us with an affectionate love that cannot be fathomed. He has all our problems safely within His hands. We must just leave it there and trust Him inexplicitly with it.

Today I want us to draw everything together. I want us to start by having a look at what the outer court as a whole meant.

We saw that the altar meant that we must sacrifice our idols.

The Sea symbolized that we must wash ourselves clean from this world. The perfect Trinity wants His children to be formed into His likeness so that they can go into all directions and spread His Kingdom and Word, everywhere, all encompassing. He wants us to be strong. He wants us to resist the urge and the temptations of this world. He wants us to choose Him no matter what the circumstances are. He wants us loyal to Him. He wants us to stand up for Him even though it might not be the popular thing to do. And in this whole process He doesn't want us to worry.

The ten water basins showed us that we are the righteousness (blamelessness) of God IN Christ, not out of our own strength, but through HIM shining and living through us. Out of our own strength we will get tired and drained, but through Him anything is possible! He wants us to stay close to Him, clothed with His righteousness, standing in His victory. There in His presence we are surrounded by mighty power and the ultimate Ruler ship, equipping us for the road ahead. We realize that this is all grace and then (and only then) can we step out and be strong groundbreakers for Him, standing up for what is right, all the way praising His glorious Name and flourishing where we are!

In summary God wants us to sacrifice all that we are. In fact we shouldn't be living anymore, but His Son should live through us. We should wash ourselves clean from this world, and then put on the robe of righteousness given to us by Christ as a gift. The whole outer court wants us to realize that this world shouldn't be that important to us anymore. Christ is all that matters, His Kingdom and His glory. While in the outer court we should realize that all He wants us to do is to enter into the Temple, into His presence. There everything will make sense. There is all wisdom and all the answers to life.

Unfortunately the way of the world is very focused on the outward. The world looks at status, money, fame, fortune, looks and abilities. It doesn't look at the heart. The true fruit of the Spirit is not rewarded and in many regards seen as weakness. But as God says, what the world deems to be weak and futile, is strong in the Spirit. God wants us freed from this worldly system. He wants us to walk on water, all the while looking up at Him. He wants us close to Him, living for a Kingdom so much greater than our own. And when we truly make His Kingdom our primary concern, then all things will be added unto us. God wants us to excel in this world, He wants us to obtain positions where we can influence a lot of people for His sake, but He wants us to do it His way. And His way certainly looks different from this world's way. But His way leads to true and everlasting success. Are you ready?

Spend time this week and honestly look at your life. Are there certain areas you still need to let go, to sacrifice for His Name? Do it this week and walk liberated from this world. Walk freed from the oppression and depression that it brings. True joy can only be found when you truthfully follow Him and His ways. Hallelujah! God is good, always. Stay close to Him.

Father, we want to let go of this world and all its tentacles that it has in our lives. Show us clearly the areas that we haven't fully surrendered to You. We want to follow You and You alone, always and without restraint, or anything holding us back. Thank You that You are faithful and will show us the way. We love You with an everlasting love. Amen

Last week we finished off with the Most Holy Place. We came to the conclusion that the mercy seat represents our good standing with God. It represents our close relationship with Him. We are sitting at the right hand of God, because Jesus is sitting there and we are one with Him. Therefore we have victory from the Throne room. Nothing can faze us there; nothing can come against us there.

We also had a look at the Ark and its contents and we concluded that God wants us to come to Him under the new Covenant, always and without restraint. His 'door' is always open to us. And with Him is all the provision we will ever need. We never need to worry, in His presence we will find all that we ever need, never lacking in any good thing.

So all in all the Most Holy Place represents the New Covenant, it represents our right standing with God because of the blood of Jesus. In the Most Holy Place we are safe. In His presence no evil can befall us. There is true life and life in abundance. We are at His right hand, who can come against us? If God is for us, who can be against us? God is so gracious and kind, so loving. We just need to stay by His side.

What is worrying you are the moment? Is it your finances? Is it the future of this beautiful land of ours? Is it the future of your children? It is a worrying symptom in your body? What is it?

Today I want you to know that God's got this. He really does. He has it in His hands. The only real problems come when we snatch it out of His hands and try and fix it ourselves. The real worries surface when we run out of the Most Holy Place and try and sort everything out with other humans in the outer court. That is when all the troubles start. Earthly problems cannot be solved with earthly solutions. They cannot. Earthly problems are only solved from the Most Holy Place, alongside God, using His solutions. Yes, some of His solutions might involve using earthly connections or earthly tools, but when it comes from His Throne room, it has spiritual power and authority, resulting in true answers. Only in Him is all answers found, true lasting solutions to our problems.

Sit back this week and write down everything that you are worried about and take it to His Throne room. Go and sit with Him and ask Him what His solutions are and really expect Him to answer you. He will. Then leave the cares and the worries of these problems with Him. Trust Him with it. Do not snatch it out of His hand. Then go out and do what He has placed on your heart, without the worries and cares associated with it. True liberty is found by doing just that. He is so loving, He WANTS to help you and care for you. He doesn't want you stressed out. Allow Him to; you won't be sorry that you did.

Dear Father, thank you so much for being there for us. Thank you for Your tender loving care. Father we are worried about so many things. But thank you so much that we can leave it with You. Thank you that You have the answers. Please speak clearly to us, we are listening. Amen

Last week we looked at the meaning of the Ark and its contents and we concluded that God wants us to come to Him under the new Covenant, always and without restraint. His 'door' is always open to us. And with Him is all the provision we will ever need. We never need to worry, in His presence we will find all that we ever need, never lacking in any good thing.

Today we will have a look at the mercy seat and the two cherubim protecting it. This piece was made of solid gold, with no wood beneath it.

"You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat." Exodus 25:17-20

The whole design is just wonderful for me. It was as if the cherubim were guarding the mercy seat, ensuring that what was sprinkled on the mercy seat was truly a worthy sacrifice. The High Priest on the Day of Atonement brought in the sacrificial blood and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. It was to atone for the sins of the people. And God would then forgive their sins for that year. Fortunately for us Jesus came and sprinkled His blood on the mercy seat on our behalf. He was our perfect High Priest, offering Himself.

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Hebrews 9:11, 12

He took His perfect blood into the Most Holy Place in Heaven:

"Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us." Hebrews 9:23, 24

Jesus is now in the presence of God the Father for us. And we have now been sanctified through His offering once and for all (Hebrews 10:10). He sat down at the right hand of God in power and might (Hebrews 10:12). By one offering He perfected us forever (Hebrews 10:14).

I don't think we can always truly comprehend what He has done for us. He came to free us from this world, to give us access to the Father with a righteous sacrifice. And now He has perfected us forever and we are one with Him (1 Corinthians 6:17). And where is He sitting? At the right hand of God. And where are we sitting if we are one in Spirit with Him? At His right hand too. And should we be stressed if we are sitting at His right hand? Should we be worried and frantically scramble to make ends meet? Should we complain about our lives and our situations? Should we look with jealousy and contempt at others?

I think the answers go without saying. At His right hand we have more than enough, we are blessed and favored. We are truly and deeply loved. We are content and full of hope for the future. We are filled with His grace and mercy. We simply need to believe that this is true of us; we need to stay alongside Him and not rebel. We should love Him. That is all. Love trumps all.

Dearest Father, love love love. That is all. You are love and when we live alongside You, it will consume us and flow out to all around us. What a wonderful proposition. Thank you dear Father that we are so blessed, that Jesus opened the way for us. We are deeply grateful and we love You for all eternity. Amen

Last time we finished with the Holy Place. It was so amazing to see how the Holy Spirit was presented there in all His glory and how Jesus was depicted as the Bread of Life. And how our prayers are like sweet incense to the Lord. When prayed from a position filled with the Holy Spirit and Jesus, there is so much power and ultimate victory.

And through our prayers prayed in Jesus' Name, we can enter into the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, the place where God resides. Inside the Most Holy Place was the Ark of the Covenant as well as the two cherubim. Today I want us to have a look at the meaning of the Ark.

"And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners." Exodus 25:10-12

The ark was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.  And inside the Ark was the following:

"….and behind the second veil, the part of the Tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the Covenant." Hebrews 9:3, 4

The tablets of the Covenant were the agreement of the Covenant between God and man. These were the stone tablets that God wrote on with His own hand and gave to Moses. These tablets represented God's agreement with Israel that He will always be there for them. God would never ever break this Covenant, unfortunately Israel did. They didn't follow God as they promised they would. They didn't serve Him as they promised and they never truly loved Him. The tablets represent for me God's eternal promises. It shows me that He will never waver and never forsake us. It is a promise for me of His eternal steadfastness. He will remain faithful forever. And under the new Covenant, Jesus did our part; all we need to do is to come to Him. He will be there, faithfully waiting for us.

Aaron's rod symbolizes God's chosen leaders. During their wilderness escapade some Israelites rebelled against Aaron and Moses and said that they should be the leaders of Israel. God then ordained that each leader bring their rods and place them before the Tabernacle. The next day it was clear who God chose. Aaron's rod began to bud and blossom, whilst the others' remained the same. At the end of the day not one of the rebels survived and Aaron remained the High Priest. And as we know the High Priest could enter into the Holy of Holies once a year and only on the Day of Atonement to atone for the sins of the people. But when Jesus opened up the way for us by dying for our sins, we obtained entry into the Holy of Holiest every day, whenever we want to. So for me today Aaron's staff symbolizes the amazing fact that we are allowed to enter in, always, every day. We don't have to be the High Priest to enter in and even if we were, we can enter in whenever we want to. God is so amazing. He wants us to remember the privilege that we have and that we are all super special in His eyes.

And lastly the manna was kept in the Ark as a reminder that God always provided for them. He always cared and always looked out for them. They never went hungry and never lacked. They always had more than enough. He made sure of that.

God is therefore saying to us today through the ark and its contents - The new covenant has made way for us to enter into His Presence, whenever we want to. And in His presence is all the provision that we need, everything. In His presence we will have more than enough, never lacking. Isn't it just wonderful? All we need to do is to enter in and to rest in His Presence. He knows best, He is faithful and will forever look after us.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Thank you dearest Father that You are the God of more than enough and that we never need to fear. We are so grateful, eternally grateful and we love You very much. Thank you for Your provision and care, Your amazing Grace! In Jesus' Name. Amen

Last week we finished with the last item in the Holy Place. So today I want us to have a look at all the symbolism in each of these and see to what conclusion we can come regarding the Holy Place.

First of all we had a look at the engravings inside. We came to the conclusion that we should stay close to God, knowing that He loves us dearly. We should give honor to Him and praise Him. He wants us to talk to Him and to be honest and open to Him. And then flowing from that intimacy, He wants us to walk in the victory Jesus brought for us. He wants us to be defenders of all that is good and do all to the glory of His Name and to lure others in as well.

Secondly we looked at the ten menorahs inside. We realized that the lampstands symbolizes the presence of the Spirit of God in the perfection of Divine order. He welcomes us in to worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

Thirdly we looked at the table of showbread. This showbread showed us that God wants to fellowship with us. Jesus became our bread of life.

Fourthly we had a look at the altar of incense. This altar represents that there are power and victory over all the nations of the earth, in all directions through our prayers. Our prayers strengthen our spiritual relationship with God and give us access into the Most Holy Place through Jesus Christ.

So to what conclusion can we come regarding the Holy Place? We are in the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can fellowship with God, taking Jesus in as our bread of Life. We can be intimate with God and stand tall in the victory that He has bought for us. We can pray with boldness, with power and victory, knowing that we can enter into the Holy Place because of what Jesus did for us.

Isn't it amazing? Inside the Holy Place we are in the presence of the Holy Spirit, Jesus gives us life and life in abundance and our prayers are powerful and bring about victory for His Kingdom! Wow. I am amazed as I write this. Truly amazed. God is so faithful. All He wants is to have us close. He loves us dearly.

I know we are all looking for magic formulas, ten steps of growing closer to God, eight miraculous ways of hearing God's Voice, and all the while God is saying all you need to do is to spend T-I-M-E with Him! That is the magic ingredient T-I-M-E.

Let us all make the time to dwell in the Holy Place. Let us all go and sit in this room and experience the all-encompassing grace of our wonderful God. I cannot imagine anything better than dwelling in the presence of His Spirit, Jesus fellowshipping with us and our conversation (our prayers) going up as incense, pleasing to the Father. Don't you think it is worth your time? I don't know about you, but I am quite excited now, ready to enter into something deeper, something more meaningful. Hallelujah! All glory to Him that I am allowed in. It is all grace!

Father, I just want to glorify You. I just want to praise Your Name forever and ever!! Thank you for giving me access into Your throne room of grace. Thank you for Your unfailing undying love!! Amen

Last week we learned that the altar of incense represented the prayers of the people of God. It was in front of the entrance of the Most Holy Place. And this represents that our prayers bring us into the Most Holy Place. And with Jesus' death the curtain was torn. Thus through Him we can gain access into the Throne room!

Now what is interesting to note is that the altar had four horns on the corners of the altar. The Bible has some interesting things to say about horns. So let us have a look at it.

We see that horns were blown in the Israeli victory over Jericho:

"And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets." Joshua 6:4

Thus it is safe to say that the blowing of a horn represents victory.  A horn also represents power:

"His glory is like a firstborn bull, and his horns like the horns of the wild ox; together with them He shall push the peoples to the ends of the earth." Deuteronomy 33:17

This power display is also presented in Revelation 13 where the beast coming out of the sea had ten horns. These ten horns represent the world powers dominant at that stage of world history. Also in Zechariah 1:18,19 horns represent nations who had power to destroy:

"Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, "What are these?" So he answered me, "These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel and Jerusalem."

Thus horns represent power and kingdoms and God's victory being proclaimed. There were four. There are a number of things in creation that is four, namely the seasons, the regions of the earth (north, west, south and east), the earthly elements (earth, air, fire and water) and so forth. And according to the book "Hearing God: Numbers Dictionary" the number four is also used in prophetic visions and can therefore also refer to the spiritual relationship that we have with God.

All in all I think the horns along with the incense burning means that there are power and victory over all the nations of the earth, in all directions through our prayers. Our prayers also strengthen our spiritual relationship with God.

Now if this is true (and it is), why is prayer the one thing that we neglect the most? Why do we rush when we pray before eating and simply say a rhyme we learned years ago? Why do we fall asleep while praying before we go to bed at night? Why do we battle to make time for prayer? But there is always time for social, sport and television. If this tool is so powerful and will provide victory to us, why do we disregard the importance of it?

It is because the devil knows how powerful we will become. It is because he wants to distract us in any way possible, with even good things, that we won't have time for what is truly important. He is sly and will make you think that you are praying against the ceiling of your house and that your prayers amount to nothing. We need to shun him and shut him out of our lives. We need to close the door in his face and open the door to God's Spirit. We need to make time for what is truly important. I read in a book once that it would be an insult to God if He were to answer our half-hearted prayers. And this really hit me as I thought of how I prayed about certain things. If I didn't see the manifestation immediately I stopped praying and thought that His answer might be no. But I never really continued and put my heart and soul into it. Since I started to really truthfully and sincerely pray about things, I have seen a massive difference. It truly is worth the fight.

Make a dedicated decision today to really start praying with your heart and soul and to search for God in all things. Power and victory won't be left behind.

Father, we are sorry that we neglect praying and spending time with You. We are sorry that other things become too important. You are so wonderful and we declare that we want to stop rushing around and that we want to place You first in all things. We love You dearly! Amen