"The Meeting Place"

"For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled." (Psalms 90:7)
Some mornings I seem a little off; but it is usually those kind of mornings when I get blindsided by something I did not expect. I heard something the other day that has really made me think about the spiritual battle that takes place around us; you know, the one that happens in the unseen world. The message was about the time Jesus got in the boat with His disciples, and He said, "Let's go over to the other side," and then He went to sleep. While He was sleeping, a fierce storm overtook them, fierce enough to make experienced fishermen fear that they were going to perish. The Sea of Galilee is really more like a big lake, which is only 13 miles long and 8 miles wide; but that does not mean it can't produce some pretty good size storms. This particular storm could have had some assistance from some pretty dark forces; as it turned out, there was some major spiritual cleansing waiting to happen on the other side of the lake, and someone may have been a little upset that was going to happen. If there is one thing that I have learned over the last 35 plus years, it's that we don't let "I don't feel like going" get in our way; because it is more than likely the enemy of your soul trying to stop you from a special meeting with the Creator of your soul! As they arrived at the other side, there appeared a man who just so happened to be naked and lived in the tombs. According to Luke, the man came up to Jesus, falling down before Him, crying out, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not." It just so happened that this particular man had a 'Legion' of demons inside of him, who were more than happy to get out and be cast into some pigs; anything to escape being thrown into the Abyss. Let me get to the point of what I believe God is trying to say. The children of Israel that perished in the wilderness, did not perish because they had sinned, they perished because they did not have faith that God could save them; in other words, they did not believe God was strong enough and big enough, even after all the miracles they had already witnessed. It might not totally make sense sometimes, but God is never surprised by our foolishness; He is however, very disappointed in our lack of faith. I think He would just appreciate it if we at least were to meet Him halfway; you know, let Him show up, and then throw yourself at His feet...
"Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still "today," so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. Remember what it says: "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled." And who was it that rebelled against God, even though they heard his voice? Wasn't it the people that Moses led out of Egypt? And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn't it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? And to whom was God speaking when he took an oath that they would never enter his rest? Wasn't it the people who disobeyed him? So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter his rest."
 (Hebrews 3:12-19) NLT