The Heart of God
If we spend a lifetime reading and studying the Bible and attending various religious activities, and fail to come to know the real heart of God, then we will have missed the greatest treasure offered by our Father. His Word reveals His heart from beginning to end. He is passionate about His people coming to know Him. The key to meaningful understanding of the Bible is to find the revelation of a mighty and loving God. It's a hidden treasure found only by those who seek Him.
THE BEGINNING... Genesis 3 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you? Where are you, Adam? This question continues to be the heart cry of a God searching for fellowship with His friend. Adam and Eve had walked and talked with God as a personal friend, but now hiding from Him, they are sought for by a God whose heart is in pain. I hope you can feel the longing in His heart as He asks, "where are you?". When God called Moses from the burning bush and began to speak with him about bringing the people of Israel out of Egypt, it began a unique and special relationship between God and Moses. They conversed together as personal friends. God clearly revealed His heart to Moses. In Exodus 6:6,7 God tells Moses that He will bring His people out of bondage in Egypt and states, "...I will take you to Me for a people, and I will be to you a God...". After their deliverance from Egypt, recorded in Ex. 19:4, God says, "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles; wings and brought you to Myself." It is clear that God has a very special interest in having a people of His own...a people who acknowledge Him as their God. (Note: Scripture quotations are from the Amplified Bible) In Exodus 25:8 God is beginning to give Moses instructions concerning the building of the tabernacle. He says, "Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them." Not only does He want a people, He wants to live among them! As He begins the detailed instructions, He begins with the details for building the ark which will be placed in the tabernacle. And as those details are completed, He then says: 22 There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites. to be continued.... |