hezekiah 31 (the dealio)

The prologue to chapter 31 was a good premise to the amazing truth God was revealing to me (especially specifically to my home church, FH). I have enjoyed the past few months of being able to freely worship and seek God, and grow in the freedom I believe He intends for His children. There have been so many truths that He has been revealing to me, that I can hardly pen them all! I believe we are entering an age where the church as we know it is going to be redefined in the world. This thought may scare some people, but I believe it will be necessary in the call of reestablishing truth. Just like Hezekiah's reforms restored Israel to a right relationship with God, I believe we are entering a season where God is calling the church back to Himself. There were three things that stood out specifically...
1. To destroy the idols of our past...(verse 1) - whatever is keeping us from truly worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Not only are there the idols the world has set up as a distraction, but there are the idols within the church that have been distracting the worship of God. They are often very cleverly hidden under the guise of things that have been established for good. For instance, traditions were initially instigated as guides to train and maintain our focus on God. Over the years they have become rituals in which we gauge the spirituality of those who may or may not follow the same traditions. They can become cesspools of false-security in the thought that a disciplined lifestyle can equate salvation. If I attend church twice on Sunday, go to Bible Study and not get involved in a immoral lifestyle...I will be saved. But if you do all those things and you do not know God, what will it profit you? Jesus is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, the ONLY life. NO ONE comes to the Father but thru Him. This is pretty intense. We can set up all the right skills and drills to be able to be amazing athletes, but if we don't know the coach, chances are we're not going to be playing.
It all comes down to attitude, and the motive behind our "practices" as Christians. I'm coming back to the heart of worship...and it's all about YOU...it's ALL ABOUT YOU JESUS...
We need to dust off the truth that has been sitting on the shelf for so long, clean out the "temple" of all the junk that's been building up and reestablish God as the focus of our worship. Worshipping Him should not be hinged on style, or whether we sing hymns or choruses...it's a reflection and response to who He is and the fact that He alone is worthy of our praise...
2.To release a spirit of giving within the church that will support the spiritual leaders God has placed amongst us.(verse 4)
In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites, so they could devote themselves fully to the Law of the Lord.
This means releasing those who are called to be spiritual pastors in our church to BE spiriutal pastors in our church and cities - and not have to worry about supporting and taking care of the needs of their families. This means supporting the business people in our church to be ministers and pastors within the workplace...or supporting the stay-at-home moms in our church to be ministers and pastors within their homes and circles God has placed them in...and so on. It means coming together as ONE body, and pooling together for the greater blessing of God's purposes.
The cool thing about this was that when the people commited themselves to giving, there was an abundance. There was more than enough. God blessed their giving and there was more than enough to spare that they had to build storehouses to hold all of the excess!
8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel!
9 “Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.
10 And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, "Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”
God isn't going to let his people "scrape by" when they are obedient in giving. The less we hold onto the idea that we need to take care of ourselves first, the more God can pour His riches through us and bless others.
3.Purifying ourselves.
The purification process of the leaders in the OT times was pretty intense. There were so many steps to the process that had to be followed in specific ways in order to make sure there was no room for error. It was quite a commitment for Levites to make to be leaders. They were "set apart" from the people in lifestyle and freedoms.
Although I think the regulations are a bit more relaxed in the freedom found in the blood of Christ, there is still a calling to continuously purify ourselves as leaders. How does the purification process work in the church today? I keep coming up with the verse "All things are permissable, but not all things are edifying."
What does this really mean? I cannot help but venture the thought that there are a lot of things that have no spiritual implications in our salvation that clutter our lives, our thoughts, our time. As leaders, although they are not "wrong", they just become stuff that keep us from drawing closer to God. I loved the section of the vision found in Red Moon Rising that talked about a generation that wouldn't be held by Hollywood, pressured by peers, bound by labels...it talked about a generation that no longer saw the glitter of the world, but was taken - body, soul, mind and spirit - with the beauty of God and who He is.
"Laying down their rights, and their precious little wrongs..."
It's not about God making rules about what we cannot do, but about us making the choice to pursue Him with our whole hearts and being intentional in whatEVER we do that He may become more.

Who could imagine a melody true enough to tell of Your mercy
Who could imagine a harmony sweet enough to tell of Your love
I see the heav- ens proclaiming You day after day
And I know in my heart that there must be a way
To sing a greater song, a greater song to You on the earth

Who could imagine a symphony grand enough to tell of Your glory
Our highest praise but a feeble breath, a whisper of Your thunderous worth
I see the heavens proclaiming You day after day
And I know in my heart that there must be a way
To sing a greater song, a greater song to You on the earth

...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace...

And the underlying blessing of all this is that success is inevitable. (verse 21) "In all that he did...Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result he was very successful."
It doesn't get any simpler than that folks! When we start tuning our hearts and seeking after God with complete focus, when we learn to partner with God and what He is doing, when we start listening and obeying His guidance, when we stop our analyzing and start taking action...success is what awaits. Spiritual, financial and physical success. This outcome doesn't make the process easier...but it gives it purpose! I'm sure there were lots of obstacles to overcome, but with the motive of his heart being rooted in seeking FIRST after God, he could not fail.
May that be our focus, our desire, our purpose...