May we Inquire of God, Lord, what is in Your Heart concerning me? I am here for You!

When we replace God’s testimony with our need and when we trust in the systems ordained by God without enquiring of Him first, degradation comes in and problems arise; may we open to the Lord and inquire of God, asking Him to infuse us with a desire for His economy so that we may live for His purpose on earth today. Amen!

The center and content of the tabernacle in the Old Testament was the Ark; without the Ark, the tabernacle was an empty tent, but when the Ark was there, God’s presence was there.

However, in 1 and 2 Samuel we see the history of the Ark and the tabernacle, and this history typifies the history of the church; there were times when the Ark and the tabernacle were apart, and there was a process until the Ark was put back into the tabernacle in a proper way.

In the first stage of the history of the Ark and the tabernacle, the Ark was in the tabernacle; this signifies that the normal church is the expression of Christ and Christ is the content and center of the church.

We see this right at the beginning of the church life in the book of Acts; Christ was everything to the saints, and they just got together day by day to enjoy Christ and partake of Him corporately (Acts 2:42, 46).

However, when the Ark is separated from the tabernacle, the tabernacle is an Arkless tabernacle, an empty tent.

This signifies that, when the church loses the reality and presence of Christ, the church becomes degraded, and Christ is not there.

Throughout history we see how the church lost the reality of Christ and the presence of Christ; right now there are so many “churches” in name, but they don’t have the reality and presence of Christ.

Degradation comes in whenever we lose the reality and presence of Christ.

When we trust in the systems ordained by God more than we contact the Lord, when we replace God’s testimony with man’s need, degradation creeps in and problems arise.

It is possible to have a Christless church, just as there was the Arkless tabernacle; it is possible to come together as believers without the presence of Christ and not under His blessing. Oh, Lord. This is such a warning to us.

When the children of Israel brought out the Ark to fight for them as they were being defeated by the Philistines, they didn’t enquire of Jehovah; they simply usurped God by forcing the Ark to be there with them.

As believers in Christ, we usurp God whenever we pray for our prosperity and benefit without having a view of God’s need and His economy.

May the Lord save us from usurping God; may we be those who live, pray, and are persons according to God’s heart and for His economy in this age today, so that He may have a way to use us as His dispensational instrument to end this age and bring in the age of the kingdom with Christ, the King.

May we Repent, Return to God from Idols, and Seek His Counsel rather than Trust in the Systems ordained by God

In 1 Sam. 4 we see the history of the children of Israel as they were fighting against the Philistines; their story is a warning and a solemn lesson for us all to learn.

The elders of Israel, when they saw that they were being defeated by the Philistines, suggested that they should bring out the Ark so that they win the victory.

Israel was foolish in their degradation – they didn’t trust in God but rather, they trusted in the systems ordained by God.

Instead of inquiring of the Lord, returning to God, repenting and confessing before Him, and turning away from their idols, they exercised their superstition to trust in the Ark.

In the past, when the Ark moved, God moved, and when the Ark was present with them in the battle, they gained the victory (Num. 10:35; Josh. 6).

However, in their situation, the children of Israel were not right with God; they were degraded, they left the Lord, and they offended God to the uttermost, so God left them.

Yes, God’s presence was with the Ark, but because they tried to force God to be with them when they were not right with God, God left them, and instead of the ark saving Israel, the Ark itself was captured (1 Sam. 4:11).

When the wife of Phineas (one of Eli’s sons) who was pregnant and was about to deliver, learned that the Ark had been captured and that both her husband and father-in-law had died, she bowed down and gave birth to a son (vv. 19-20).

She named the child Ichabod (v. 21), which means, “no glory”; the glory had departed from Israel, for the Ark was captured.

When God departs from His people, when the Ark is not in the tabernacle and the presence of God is not there, there is Ichabod, no glory.

Instead of usurping God and trusting in the systems ordained by God, Israel should have repented, made a thorough confession, returned to God from their idols, and inquired of God as to what He wanted them to do.

But they didn’t do this; rather, they had no heart for God’s desire or for His eternal economy, so they exercised their superstition to trust in the Ark based on their past victories that they had experienced through the move of the Ark. Oh Lord!

Due to Israel’s degradation, the Ark was captured by the Philistines and was separated from the tabernacle, leaving the tabernacle an empty vessel with no reality, no proper content (1 Sam. 4:11 — 6:1).

This signifies that, in the second stage of its history, the church became degraded and lost the reality and presence of Christ (see Rev. 3:20).

In the seven epistles to the seven churches in Rev. 2-3, at one point the Lord is at the door of the church, knocking; this shows that He was not in the church, for the church was a Christless church that rejected Christ and trusted in the systems ordained by God rather than in His presence.

May we learn from the history of the children of Israel and from the church history to not trust in the systems ordained by God which worked in the past but rather, that we would repent, return to the Lord, depart from idols, and seek his counsel by inquiring of Him concerning our situation.

May we not have the Lord outside the church or outside the door of our heart; rather, may we let Him in, allow Him to make His home in our heart, and treasure His presence with us (Eph. 3:16-17).

The Lord might have used a particular life practice to revive us in the past, but our trust should not be in the system ordained by God but in Him, for we are His people who should inquire of Him and take His counsel personally and instantly.

May we not be part of the formal Christendom which only has the name of God but with no reality of Christ. May we open to the Lord and tell Him again and again,

Lord Jesus, we repent and return to You. We trust in You, dear Lord, and we inquire of You to have Your counsel, Your instant speaking. Our trust is not in the systems ordained by God but in God Himself, the One who is our life and our person. Amen, Lord, we come to You again and again; what is in Your heart concerning us? Do You want us to go to this place or say that thing? Do you want us to be here or move somewhere else for Your testimony? Lord, we just open to You and we inquire of You. We trust in You and in Your leading. Keep us checking with You concerning all the things in our daily life. Keep us in fellowship with You so that any degradation would be removed and we would have Your presence and Your leading.

Being those who Inquire of God, Lord, what is in Your Heart concerning me? I want to Live for Your Economy!

When Joshua was at Jericho, he checked with God concerning how to proceed, and God provided him with full instructions on His way to take the city of Jericho (Josh. 6:2-4).

However, when they arrived at Ai, they didn’t inquire of God, and they were defeated by a small city as Ai (9:14).

In the time of Samuel, the elders of Israel should have known this history and should have asked for the Lord’s counsel, but they trusted in the systems ordained by God rather than trusting in God. Oh, Lord!

It is so easy for us to rely on past victories and linger in the experiences of Christ that we had in the past, and it is so easy to say, God helped us in this way at that time, so we just have to do the same thing now, and He will help us.

God might have helped us and given us the victory in the past in a particular way, but we still need to inquire of God, Lord, what is in Your heart concerning me right now in this situation?

Other localities may experience the Lord’s blessing because they practice a particular thing or they preach the gospel in a particular way according to the God-ordained way.

We should not merely follow them blindly thinking that, since others have God’s blessing when they do this or that, we will also be blessed if we do it. In all things we do, say, and practice, we should contact the Lord.

We shouldn’t rely on the practice of morning revival for us to go on with the Lord; rather, we should come to the Lord every morning to contact Him and inquire of God, Lord, what is in Your heart concerning me?

As we open to the Lord and turn to Him, He infuses Himself into us, and His leading is with us.

If today we have a victory because we trusted in the Lord and He fought the battle for us, tomorrow we need to still continue to trust in the Lord and not rely on the victory He gave us the previous day.

Again and again, we need to learn not to trust in outward things or systems ordained by God but rather, inquire of God and contact Him to have His fresh, instant, present leading.

May the Lord have mercy on us and show us that we’re not here on earth for our health, our prosperity, our safety, or our peace; we’re not here merely for our rest and our profit.

Rather, as believers in Christ who have been shown mercy of the Lord to aspire to be His Nazarites today, those who are voluntarily consecrated ones for His purpose, we should inquire of God and contact Him concerning everything.

We are here on earth as His overcoming Nazarites to cooperate with Him for the fulfillment of His economy, and we need to inquire of God to find out what is in His heart concerning us.

We may encounter a health problem; our reaction shouldn’t be immediately that God would heal us but rather, we should inquire of God to find out what’s in His heart concerning us.

May we remain before Him in our fellowship with Him and throughout the day, and may we allow His mind to be infused into us to become our mind.

In 1 Sam. 2:35 the Lord said that He will raise up for Himself a faithful priest who will do according to what is in His heart and in His mind; as human beings, we can know what is in God’s heart and in God’s mind.

We simply need to inquire of God and open to Him; we have an aspiration to be His overcomers, His Nazarites, and we open to Him concerning all the things related to us, asking Him to reveal to us what is in His heart concerning us.

And all this is for the building of God; it is not for our own spirituality, for our being more advanced in Christ, or for our own spiritual pursuit, but for the building up of the church.

The Ark is in the tabernacle, and God’s leading and revelation is for us to be built up with the saints in the church to be His testimony, His corporate expression.

Instead of being a Christless church, may we be the church filled with Christ, the church with Christ as its center and content, so that we may be part of God’s testimony on earth.

May we open to the Lord and pray to Him from the depths of our spirit,

Lord Jesus, we are here on earth not for our health, our prosperity, our safety, our peace, our rest, or our profit; we’re here for You! We inquire of You: what is in Your heart concerning us? We want to be a true overcoming Nazarite cooperating with You for the fulfillment of Your economy. Grant us to know what is in Your heart and mind so that we may do all things according to You and in oneness with You. Amen, Lord, make us the faithful priests who do everything according to what is in Your heart and in Your mind. We open our whole being to You, dear Lord; we are here for You and we want to know Your counsel, Your desire. We want to be involved in the fulfilling of Your economy and the ending of this age for Your kingdom to come!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ricky Acosta, and portions from, Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1964, vol. 4, “The Vision of God’s Building,” ch. 10, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 4, entitled, The History of the Ark and the Tabernacle.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – Praying always in the spirit, / Never in the flesh or mind! / If this secret we will practise, / God’s full presence we will find. / Praying always in the spirit, / Never by our human thought! / Fellowship with God the Spirit / Only thus to us is brought. (Hymns #780)
  – In daily walk and in our meetings too, / Christ is the center, Christ is everything; / ’Tis not for form nor doctrine good and true, / But ‘tis for Christ alone we’re gathering. (Hymns #863)
  – I long for fellowship in spirit, / That opened shall my spirit be, / Long to be rescued from seclusion, / And with the saints to worship Thee. / I long for fellowship in spirit, / Long that my spirit forth may come, / Long to be saved from self-deception, / And every hindrance overcome. (Hymns #847)