Seeking God or Seeking Something Else in God's Name?

Samantha and I often have the privilege of visiting the Temple Mount and seeing what is left of the Second Temple.

Not much.

The Second Temple had become corrupted by greed, and the entire religious system had become an external expression with no internal leadership of God. Yeshua was clear about why the Temple would be destroyed. The house was left desolate because Israel could not discern the heart of God enough to recognize it in Yeshua. Specifically, in His: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and His self control. This is because they were serving God, but wanting something else. They wanted what God could give them, not wanting God to give them Himself.

The service of the temple carried on generation to generation, but the interior effect of the temple service stopped penetrating the heart of the people. What was a house of prayer became a den of selfishness... Thievery. Look at how God judges the house of prayer:

Matthew 21:12-14 NKJV — Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” Then the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

Do you see the progression? God didn't judge it to destroy it. He judged it to cleanse it, and healing .... A manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit, returned. His presence IS the gift. His presence is what everything else flows from. Seek first the kingdom, and all the rest is added.

The abomination that causes desolation is to enthrone something other than God as our desire while occupying the very same space that God should be worshiped.

In cleansing the temple, Jesus was quoting a prophecy from Jeremiah. God is very clear that to whom much is given, much is required. The success that prayer brings must be seen as a blessing and a danger. Anointing brings power and power brings a choice: use it for you or use it for God. Wolves live in dens. It's where they live and eat. The Temple was supposed to be where God lived and man met with Him. Wolves that look like sheep are false. The Lord has judged false worship in His name many times!

Jeremiah 7:1-14 NKJV — The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, “Stand in the gate of the LORD’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD!’ ” Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. “Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.’ “For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, “if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, “then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. “Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, “and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,” says the LORD. “But go now to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it because of the wickedness of My people Israel. “And now, because you have done all these works,” says the LORD, “and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, “therefore I will do to the house which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to this place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh.

God judges spiritual double mindedness. Doing one thing, but pining for another.

God + some other hope = spiritual adultery

For example, the worship leader sings to God, but wants the affirmation of praise, the affection of people or the power of fame. The preacher preaches for God, but wants to make a name for himself. The gatekeeper opens the door for God's people but is just working his way up for something more important... The human heart wants. We get to pick what we want and who we get it from. It's honestly all we get to pick.

It isn't bad people that are guilty of this. All people... Literally everyone in and out of ministry... Do this until they repent out of it. All hearts need the same Savior.

The judgment of the prayer movement right now isn't about finding fault, seeing who is telling the truth, or shutting it all down. No. Those making the most noise about the prayer movement are just as selfishly ambitious as those who've been judged in it. We are all being judged, we just can't see the judge! If we could, we would see He is watching all of the thoughts and intents of our hearts.

The judgment of the prayer movement should be a sobering moment for me to consider where I am forsaking God while thinking I am serving Him.

Jeremiah 2:12-13 NKJV — Be astonished, O heavens, at this,
And be horribly afraid;
Be very desolate,” says the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters,
And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.

I forsake Him when I don't let him rule my mind, will, and emotions as God. For example, he is "Jehovah Jireh," the Lord who provides. If I look to something else to provide for me, anxiously hoping I will have all I need... Even praying... But watching my investments hoping they will produce... Or hoping my books will sell, etc. Then I have forsaken my fountain of living waters and exchanged him for another well. He is Jireh. He WILL provide. It's who He is. Do I want Him, or the provision? Am I willing to drink from multiple wells and call them all Him as long as I get what I want? What does he want?

God wants Faith/Fidelity

Ask God, "what do I really want? What am I anxious for?"

Is it really just his presence or His presence + ? He really is the one thing everything flows from. Am I moving toward that simplicity or singularity, or simply using his name to march around the mountain of what I want plus Him. (Provision, relevance, impact, relationships/family that meet my expectations, health, etc.)

All of the temple structures... The buildings, the courts the arrangement of the preists and Levites... Right down to the forks used to move the meat... It was all the Holy Spirit's idea. It was all capable of bringing, and designed to bring, God into the heart of man. But they didn't have to let him in. They could use it for gain and self-led pursuit (wanting). This is what eventually corrupted Solomon. The Temple was a perfect idea, but Solomon chose whether or not it would perfect HIM... Conform him to God, or try to conform God's will to his own. One is faithful, the other ravenous.

We must make this same choice, whether in the prayer movement, or not. Do I seek God for me... To feel clean, like a better person, for opportunity, for a name, to be seen as good... Or do I serve God for God? Do I just want Him no matter what opportunity is lost or gained, no matter what it means for me financially, for the gaining or losing of friends and family, whether my reputation is falsely inflated or falsely trashed... Do I just want Him?

No one starts there. The humble end there.

1 Chronicles 28:9-19 NKJV — “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. “Consider now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.” Then David gave his son Solomon the plans for the vestibule, its houses, its treasuries, its upper chambers, its inner chambers, and the place of the mercy seat; and the plans for all that he had by the Spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, of all the chambers all around, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries for the dedicated things; also for the division of the priests and the Levites, for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the articles of service in the house of the LORD. He gave gold by weight for things of gold, for all articles used in every kind of service; also silver for all articles of silver by weight, for all articles used in every kind of service; the weight for the lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, by weight for each lampstand and its lamps; for the lampstands of silver by weight, for the lampstand and its lamps, according to the use of each lampstand. And by weight he gave gold for the tables of the showbread, for each table, and silver for the tables of silver; also pure gold for the forks, the basins, the pitchers of pure gold, and the golden bowls—he gave gold by weight for every bowl; and for the silver bowls, silver by weight for every bowl; and refined gold by weight for the altar of incense, and for the construction of the chariot, that is, the gold cherubim that spread their wings and overshadowed the ark of the covenant of the LORD. “All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.”

Yeshua IS rebuilding the Tabernacle. I can fault-find people for how that is going all day long but it won't help me, or anyone else go in and just want God. Whether God builds up or tears down, I can still find Him if I just want Him. God gives us the Tabernacle, not the other way around. God takes it away and believe me, no man can save it.

Make peace with God now, while there is time. David warned Solomon, "If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever."

Forever is a really long time.