Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The Shekinah glory or the manifestation of Christ within us, the road to solitary confinement.
Friday, February 8, 2008
In the Old Testament, they saw a Theophany, and an inanimate Theophany, the cloud said He was there, the pillar of fire said He was there.
Today, people cannot see the humanity of Christ in you, but they can see the glory of God being revealed through you.
It is our privilege and responsibility to rest in Him where He is, because that is where we are positioned in Him.
At the same time He abides in us here below, by means of the Spirit.
The world was already created by TLJC, GEN 1:1, COL 1:15-17.
COL 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things have been created by Him and for Him.
COL 1:17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
It is not until Jacob is left alone with the Lord that his name is changed to Israel, a prince with God.
GAL 6:5 For each one shall bear his own load.
In 2CH 32:31, God left Hezekiah “alone to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
In JOH 8:9, it was not until the woman caught in adultery was left alone with the Lord that she was set free.
JOH 16:32 “Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me.”
To be left alone with God is the only true way of arriving at an accurate knowledge of ourselves and our ways.
The real question is what does God think about us?
PSA 26:2 Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart.
JER 12:3 But Thou knowest me, O Lord; Thou seest me; And Thou dost examine my heart’s attitude toward Thee.
2CO 13:5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!
He must be stripped from his own strength, lamed and made to limp.
He has Uncle Laban in back of him who took total advantage of him, and he has his brother Esau ahead of him who he thinks is going to kill him. He is caught now between a rock and a hard place, and he does not know which way to turn.
1. Jacob needed to have his “human-strength” beaten out of him. JOH 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
2. Jacob has been relying on human strength, human power, human viewpoint, human gimmicks, to try to get blessings in life as well as to solve his problems.
3. Jacob needed to be made conscious of his standing with God so that he would stop conniving, plotting, scheming, and using human solutions to try to solve his problems.
4. God initiates this wrestling match which ends in the defeat of the old Jacob.
It is God who breaks the stubborn, willful, self-reliant Jacob and brings him to his senses.
Yahweh, Jehovah, the God of Israel, is dealing directly and personally with Jacob to change his life and to give him a new name. God wills his highest and best for every believer, but every believer does not receive this highest and best.
These are times when you are going through affliction, adversity, and when the soul feeds on Christ [the Shekinah Glory or the manifestation of TLJC], not on teachings about Him