The Secret Place

On Wednesday evening, i was praying and asking God to "fire me up".. you know.. to hit me with His presence or something so that i'll "feel" Him... and then He was showing me that so many people have that kind of mentality.. You know.. that kind of "feel good" Christianity... they go to church, spend time in the presence of God.. and that's it. God was showing me that not many people are willing to spend time in the secret place. It's a place of intimacy where we get changed by Him... not just "fired up"

In Singapore and today's context in particular, we live in the instant noodle world where we're always rushing to get something done and accomplished instead of just resting in His presence. We value economy and productivity and many times it translates into our spiritual walk. We're experiencing a call from God to return to that secret place of intimacy.

Could it be that the problems sent in our lives are meant to drive us inward into the secret place? Amidst the noise of society, we have forgotten who we are. Could it be that God is calling us to the secret place to break us, teach us, build us up, imbue us with His life and an impartation of the very essence of who He is that entirely changes our constitution? Psalm 139 say that our frame was not hidden from Him when we were made in the secret place. Could it be that God is calling us to return there to remember the purpose for our existence, to remember why we were made? It goes on to say that the days ordained for us have already been written in His book before any one of them came to be. Could it be that for such a time as this God is calling us into the secret place to know our destiny, and return to the path that pursues it? The secret place is the Potter's Kiln.. that's where God brings us into for an extended period of time that when we come out we are no longer the same. Cos He doesn't just want worship, He wants worshippers. Cos the angels worship Him. All of creation worships Him. But here, at the threshold of a new worship meovement, He is looking for worshippers made in the secret place, imbued with his presence, substance and fvery constitution- liight and love and fire, glory full of grace an truth. This is a far cry from today's "feel good" generation who are little more interested than jumping up and down during worship events. God is calling to Himself worshippers. We have to learn how to become a Person of Worship. I didn't say we have to learn how to worship but we have to become the Person of Worship.

So who are we? Yesterday during Gatekeepers, the Lord was just reminding us that we are living stones. We are not dead stones but living stones. He is positioning His living stones for such a time as this to fulfill His purposes and to fulfill what they were made for- to spread the life flowing inside of them to the world out there. The thing is, many of us have forgotten we are living stones. When stress comes, exams start to loom ahead, we are still living stones. Should trials and temptations come and we get knocked down and battered, we are still living stones. Should we begin to experience shakings and hardship in our relationships, in our family, in school, at work and should the circumtances around us begin to come in close bombarding our senses, we are still living stones. Yes, God has permitted a shaking so that what cannot be shaken will remain. Could it be that the reason why we experience all this stress, frustration and dire sitution is to remind us to return to the secret place to know who we are? Could it be that the shaking is to remind us that earthly things are temporal and that heavenly things are eternal? Could it be that the purpose of the shaking is to take our trust away from worldly things and to put our trust on Him who is our portion? God wants to get us out of our comfort zone and turn us to Him so that we can remember who we are and our very purpose of existence.

Who are we? We are living stones. If there's anything that should not be shaken when the shaking comes, it should be us. We are a heavenly people imbued with a heavenly purpose. Our very constitution is what makes up the holy temple of God's dwelling upon the earth- and more than that, we are the New Jerusalem, prepared as the Bride for the Master. We've seen enough stones on earth to think that the image of a living stone is made up of ordinary graphite or limestone. But living stones are not made of that. We are precious stones, just as the Holy Temple and the Heavenly City are made of a material that carries the most value upon the earth. We are more than that, we are made of something far more valuable; the very substance of God, the essence and Person of Jesus Christ. We are precious living stones made into a holy dwelling fit for the King of Kings. We are eternal beings. And the way we carry ourselves upon the earth, especially in the midst of trying times should reflect that. We are not the first to flee adversity for we are made to withstand it and more than that, to live His life in the midst of it that all may see Him in us and us in Him.

God bless! :)