Fall 2000
The Lords Best
Jennifer Hyde

Within the heart of God is a desire which cannot be satisfied, apart from His having a personal relationship with His people. Therefore, He continually calls us to enter into an intimate love relationship with Himself.

This experience is beyond our being satisfied with His blessings, or even the awesomeness of the feelings of His presence. It goes much further than these experiences, because it relates to the Lord Himself as a person. He longs to come and dwell with us, in the midst of our present circumstances.

The purpose of the Tabernacle was to provide a means for the Lord to dwell amongst His people. Consider how intense this desire must have been, as the Almighty was willing to be confined to the limitations of the Holy of Holies. Only once each year, the high priest, in fear and trembling, would go within and offer a sacrifice of worship.

The Lord still seeks for a house in which He can live, in which He can reveal who He really is. This house cannot be made by a man, but it is being prepared by the Lord Himself within the hearts of those who love His presence, and who invite Him to come within.

At this present time, the Lord is preparing a body to receive His glory. He is imparting this desire within the hearts of those who are truly seeking Him. Here, He will no longer be limited by our ways and traditions.

The Lord is crying out to His people, saying, "All that I want is you!" In response, let a cry arise from within the depths of our being, "Lord, all we want is you! Come, Lord Jesus!"

The problem is that we have become so satisfied with the blessing of His presence, that we have failed to see the one who has done the blessing. His presence should not be our goal. Rather, it should be the Lord Himself.

We should tell the Lord, “We appreciate all the outward manifestations, but Lord, we desire to press beyond them, until we catch a glimpse of Your face.” The Lord will respond, "I desire you to just desire Me."

When Moses went up into the mountain to pray, and then delayed his time to come down, the people gathered together and built a golden calve. (Exodus 32:1). They began to worship idols and even called them by the name of the Lord saying, "These be your gods, O Israel, which brought us up out of the land of Egypt" (vs. 4).

The children of Israel had not maintained a personal relationship with the Lord. They were content to allow Moses to hear from God for them. Therefore, when he was "late" in returning, they turned away from God. They were not interested in the heart of God, only in what He could do for them.

"For the vision is yet for an appointed time; though
it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come,
it will not tarry." Habakkuk 2:3.

We will do as these Israelites did, if our vision is other than our seeking the Lord Himself, that His heart might be satisfied in us. We must hold out for the Lord's best. Though He may seem to delay His coming to us, our hearts must be fixed on the Lord, and on Him alone. Anything other than this could lead to idolatry.

It is possible for even the awesomeness of His presence to become an idol in our lives. We must allow the experience of feeling His presence, and the manifestations of the Spirit, to lead us into His manifest presence, rather than settling just with His blessing.

Ezekiel chapter 44 speaks of two different groups within the priesthood. There were the Levites who went astray and, like the Israelites, began to bring idols into the Lord's sanctuary.

Then there were the sons of Zadok, who kept the charge of the Lord. The Lord allowed the first group to minister before the people, but they could not come before Him. The sons of Zadok were after God's heart and were allowed to come into the presence of the Lord, to minister unto Him.

"Lord, never allow us to become satisfied with the
comfort, convenience, and blessing of just attending
Church. We must find You! Nothing else will ever
satisfy Your heart, nor ours."