Greetings again my Brethren. Our social relationship with God has so many benefits we cannot comprehend them, Paul in 1 Corinthians tells us, “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9) Now we think God is talking about in the sweet by and by or sometime in the future, but that is not what Paul is talking about, oh no Paul is talking about in this present time today in July 2012 God has prepared those things that “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” I wonder why we think God is talking about sometime in future? In the future our eternal home Heaven has been prepared for us, but these things that “eyes hath not seen, not ears heard” are for the here and now. And as a social benefit to man God does things with man to draw man to His side. In the Book of Leviticus we read God talking to man, “And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. 12And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. 13I am the LORD your God, which brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bands of your yoke, and made you go upright.” (Leviticus 26:11-12) Here God walks with man and tells him He will be their God and they shall be His people. Not only did God tell the Children of Israel he was going to be their God and they His people, but God broke the bands of their yoke and made them go upright. How wonderful of a relationship is that?
So too this promise is unto us if we meet the condition we read in verses 14 and 15, “But if ye will not hearken unto me, and will not do all these commandments; 15And if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your soul abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant:” (Leviticus 26:14-15) God always has a condition, nothing is given by God dead-ended. In Isaiah we read the kind of people God desires to walk and dwell with, “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15) God dwells “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit.” Now we know some what of what it means to be humble, but the word contrite is strange to our thoughts and even more foreign to our spirit. The word “contrite” means crushed and ground to powder not too many Christians want to be crushed and ground to powder maybe that is why not many Christians dwell with God. We sing songs that talk about being poured out on the altar of sacrifice, but in reality we have never tasted of that death to our soul and self-life, God knows our words are cheap and we know not the truth. Have you ever been crushed before? If you have been crushed and ground to powder by God or this life then you know exactly what I am talking about and you also know God is with you as He promised. It is good to know in our social relationship with God He is just not only with us, but has a reason and purpose for His actions. God is with those who have been crushed and ground to powder “to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” God’s focus in our relationship (especially those who have been crushed and ground to powder) is to revive our spirit. Life has its way with our spirit and when you mix in the way people treat each other, well . . . it is no wonder our spirit can get cast down at times.
I promise you if you walk with the LORD long enough your spirit will be cast down, but we know our strength comes from the LORD. David knew that. In 1 Samuel we read, “And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” (1 Samuel 30:6) If we are His God is always there to “revive” us and encourage our spirit. Next month we continue to look at God’s social relationship as we look at how God dwells in His people, how God meets man, and how God communes with man.
