Come Sit Beside Me

The recent floods in Texas, fires in the West and horrific political unrest world wide, has caused me to wonder if in fact, is there any hope for mankind?  We would all like to think that our time here on this earth has made some kind of difference in the midst of obvious chaos.  Our hope is that we have left a footprint, no matter how small, in our home, our community and our world.  A difference can be good or bad..one would hope that the difference we leave behind would be good and lasting.

Surfing through Facebook, we see all kinds of emotionally healthy, positive sayings and ideas for how to reframe our thinking when bad things happen to us. The main theme that runs through the Facebook headlines is to consecrate our thinking. As we read in Philippians 4:8..think on the good things..anything of virtue. But with all the evil in this world, is this even possible?

I ran across a devotional sometime back that was talking about Sampson. The article raised a question that I had wondered myself. It was saying that if Sampson was a Nazarate and had taken a vow of separation from certain things considered evil..supposedly to bring him closer to God..why was Dililah allowed to take over his mind in such a unhealthy way?

Reading further on in the devotional discussion, it gave the following explanation. As a Nasaritte, Sampson lived a life of separation from certain things. However there was never any indication that he was walking close to God. Even though  God had given him a special gift, Sampson attempted to walk in holiness in his own strength.

It seems that although he was following his Nasaritte teachings, he was not living, that is, breathing in the presence of the Lord on a daily basis. Because of this he walked in his own strength...what he thought was right. The wonderful words of inspiration prick our heart. But unless we are living or communing with the heart of the Lord on a daily basis, they are just that, beautiful words. Words on a page are just that, words. Only as we have daily relationship with the Lord Jesus will those words become the heartbeat of the lord. They will become our breath....

This is what I see as I surf through the wonderful, inspirational sayings on Facebook. Everyone one is touched by the words on the screen as they scroll through. They hope  the words will bring them strength...and they do...temporarily.  But what the Christian world needs now is that all consuming mercy, strength and power of our almighty God.

Joshua 3:5 said for the people to sanctify themselves for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders. Living in in this day of uncertainty, we are no different than the people of the Old Testament. Qadash is a Hebrew relationship term that means separate or set yourself apart unto God. His heart for us is not...clean yourself up so then I can restore you..

Instead he says come sit on this bench right here beside me. I don't care what you look like right now. I just want to be with you. Come close and breath my presence...let it wash over you and make you clean..listen to my heartbeat. Let me tell you the great plans I have for you. Come close and let me love on you.

Sampson had only his own strength to fight with...Until he was blinded and all he could do was feel the love of the Lord for him,  In like manner, unless we are drawn to sit next to the Lord and breath in his presence, we will only be able to view the temporary inspiration as it scrolls across our iPad or cell.
I challenge you today to sit close enough to Jesus so that you can hear his heartbeat and let him lead you to walk in lasting footprints ....the lasting foot prints he has walked before you.