But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the
jail and brought them out. "Go, stand in the temple courts," He said,
"and tell the people all about this new life." (Acts 5:19, 20 NIV)
There are places where we walk that we know are God-ordained. For me,
whenever I see a rainbow I know God is highlighting my path, and I am
walking in the right direction. You might call this "the gold seam."
Though life takes us on many journeys and along many different roads-
there should be one commonality for the life of the Christian: the gold
seam. Divine appointments, favor, whatever you want to call it, we need
to be able to wake up and invite Gods purposes into our day. We need to
ask Him, "God, where do you want me to go today?" or "God, who could I
encourage today?" This simple act brings so much purpose into our lives.
We don't find the gold seam just by living our lives or by choosing
Christ and then becoming dormant - we intentionally choose to be open to
it every single day.
Are you looking for God's gold seam in your life today?
"In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out - until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the LORD was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel during all their travels." Exodus 40:36-38
Have you ever heard the phrase 'go with the flow?' Well, surprisingly, this is a kingdom principle.
When the Israelites were learning obedience in the desert, God taught them something very important: "Go with the cloud." God put a cloud over them by day; a pillar of fire by night to guide them. This cloud was always over the tabernacle. If it moved, it meant it was time for the Israelites to move. If it stayed, this meant it was time for them to be still and wait.
Our lives are no different now. In our personal and corporate lives in the body of Christ, we learn, day by day, how to follow Him and do the things we see our Father doing. But, we need to stay under the "covering" He has placed over our lives to ensure His protection is over us, always. If we move outside the cloud, we move outside the blessing and shelter God has put over us to protect us from harm. Often this "covering" is worked out in several ways.
Parents. Mentors. Churches. Businesses. Pastors. Governments. Movements. Tribes. All of these groups of people represent a type of covering. For instance, when we obey laws, we are abiding by our "civil" covering. Some of these coverings we choose, others we do not. Thankfully, with God, He is our perfect covering, and we can choose to live under "the shadow of His wing".
But, we have to move with His covering in order to stay under His protection. We need to be careful of the covering we submit to - using discernment to make sure that is it of God. When we move outside His cloud we are headed for trouble. We stay under his protection by heeding sound advice and Biblical counsel, listening to Godly leadership, and by doing the things we feel the Holy Spirit saying to us.
Are you going with the cloud?
