Heart, Mind, Body and Soul
Year Delivered or Published: 1996
Author: Shayne Tracy
Author's Faith: Christianity
Date Submitted to Inspiration and Issues: November 25, 2006
Topic: Spirituality
Citation: 1 Samuel 15:22-30
His Tabernacle
22 But Samuel replied:
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
26 But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel!"
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. 29 He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind."
30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God."
Our tithes and offerings are for naught; don’t mean a thing, if first we aren’t obedient to our Lord. We oughtn’t to be surprised if He our Lord takes from us, our wants and our desires. Do not be surprised if our God takes away our positions at work, possessions at home, if we aren’t 150% obedient to Him. If my wants, desires, and possession is NOT, my Father in heaven, my God; why should I be so bold as to expect that I have a right to be with Him through eternity?
Tabernacle is a subject that ought to be taught often, not only for newcomers, yet also as a refresher to us of short, short memory. We people who have a short attention span. Lest I forget that Tabernacle is not a place that was, IT IS and from now through eternity shall be our hearts. The tabernacle is the place that I’m building now, where my God and Father reigns supreme within me. Within my heart!
Judgment Day is a mortifying reality to me. What if on that day, I’ve missed the mark, sinned? I shudder to think; what if on that day I find that through my works, not the works of God, I find myself there? On that day God will say to me these sad, mournful words, “Sorry I never knew you”! Hence, I’ll spend eternity without Him. Yes folks there is a hell and it is very much reality.
Someone once told a story of a woman who time and again, day after day; when she was in church would pray, “Lord, take down this tangled web that is weaved”. After many sessions of this prayer a man stood up pleading and yelled,” Woman, kill the spider”!
We have a house in our hearts that we maybe have not made home for our God and Father. This house is overrun with dust, cobwebs, spiders, and rodents run wild; it even has weeds growing through its floor. A veil thick with mold, moths and decay hangs in the threshold. It could be that we are finding our hearts and minds in total disrepair. In our complacency, we have in essence turned our backs on God. This God who we dare to say we worship.
Dearest God and Father we are willing and you are able. Come take up the place that is rightfully yours within our hearts. Tear down, burn up, the veil that stands between our hearts and yours; so that without refrain, forbearance, holding back, we will have total access to you and we will be with you now. In the most Holy name of your son, Jesus we pray. Amen
Oh but this awful tragic thing happened to me when I was young. Oh but I have this terrible illness, God will understand. Me, me, me and whine, whine, whine. What is sad is that He does understand. God understands that you and I are making a choice, an excuse.
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20
We are without excuse.
I might add; we might tend to think that our pastors and leaders are full of themselves; that they are talking out of their heads. If a leader of a church is speaking and God’s word is flowing out of his mouth, chances are they’ve experienced this truth. Not that they have risen above or are better than you and I, they know that no matter what, they and we are without excuse.
A mother ended up with the fun and wonderful task of raising not one, but two boys. The boys started getting into trouble terrorizing her, her house and the neighborhood.
Counseling, medications, and everything that this world could afford just did not work with getting these boys under control. One day she decided, “I’ll go down to the local parish and have the priest there talk with these boys”. So she took them down and met with the priest.
The priest being young fresh out of Seminary became quite nervous, for he had no clue how to work with these boys. He said timidly, “O.K., I’ll take the boys one at a time.” The priest had the first boy come in and sit down. After the door was closed the priest walked behind his desk, pacing back and forth not knowing what to say. Then the words divinely came to him; he leaned forward placing his hands on the desk and asked quietly, “Where is God?” The boy gave him a startled look, again the priest asked louder this time, “Where is God?” The boy was now shaking. The priest now thundered, slamming down his fist on the desk, “Where is God?” The boy terrified ran out of the room to his brother, with tears streaming down his face cried, “God is missing and they think we took him!” There
We may find ourselves laughing and the question remains; where is God in our lives? Do we know Him, does He know us? Are we making every effort possible to make room in our hearts for He who created us? Have we any room for Jesus? Are we allowing our Father’s Holy Spirit to work in our lives? Where is God?
"Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
When we tithe, are we tithing for show? Are we tithing to make points in heaven? Better and best, are we tithing because it is in our spiritual nature because we are being obedient to our God?
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.
If you or I give in to our peers, our family, or any whim, wish, or will, we will, that is not of our Lord; like Saul lose our place. Saul lost his kingdom and we will lose Heaven. We will lose our closeness with God.
There is heaven and there is hell. This is not a gambling game, where we roll some dice and see if we win. The later, hell, is a place where I’m pretty sure that we do not want to be. People have stated,”I’d rather go to hell, where all my friends are going to be.”
Let me illustrate hell for you; Mega times hotter than any hot you will imagine. Prison cells, many times smaller that any we may have seen. Oh yes, there will be music; weeping, moaning, chains rattling, gnashing of teeth, forever, that doesn’t sound peaceful to me. Oh yes friends we may have there, but we’ll never see them. Every soul there in hell, will be caught up in their own misery, guilt, and wanton for something they’ll never have; eternity with God.
One more thing, this Devil dude that is so cool now, that people seem to want to be with, he’ll be in a special hell of his very own! So they, who are there, won’t be hanging with him, much less anyone else.
As said in the times of old, we must repent and turn away from our sin; we must turn our eyes on God. We must fall onto our knees and pray; create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me.
