Living In His Shadow

When God directed Moses on how to divide the promised land among the tribes of Israel, one tribe was to get more than all the others. You would think that tribe would be the largest, but it wasn't the largest tribe. The tribe that received more than the others was the tribe of Levi. God told Moses that they were not to receive any land, He would be their portion. He wanted Levi to have Himself, and with that, they in essence received more than the other tribes combined. So many of us when we go to church go with the intention that we're going to get something from God. For some its a need of healing, or deliverance, or maybe a financial breakthrough. For some they hope to get some much needed encouragement or strength for something they are going through. Yet when we look at what happened during that time God instructed Moses on dividing up the land, we see what the church today so desperately needs. We have need of Him. Think for a moment Paul's request in the book of Philippians chapter three, verse ten, "That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death." When you consider the fact that Paul knew Christ in a way that many have only imagined to know Him, and seen things that most of us won't see until we get to Heaven, his request is amazing. He so much wanted only God. When you study his life you see that Paul didn't desire a new home, more money, better health, a larger ministry, or a host of other things, he wanted only God for himself. He wanted to live in His shadow. I'm challenged more than ever to desire Him more than even my needs. When we allow our needs, no matter how important they may be, to dictate our walk with Him, then we have missed it altogether. It's not to say that healing, or encouragement, or a host of other needs aren't important, they just aren't the things we should desire first, Christ is who we should desire first. If my seeking of Him is only for what I can get or what I need, then I'm not really seeking Him. There is a minister in Russia who has a church of 25000 members. He drives a car that's ten years old, rents a three bedroom apartment, and lives on a very modest salary. He could have more, could have anything he wanted actually, but he desires something more than the comforts offered by this world, he desires rather to live in His shadow. There's nothing wrong with new homes, nice cars, money in the bank, or even plastic surgery, yet how many of us can say we're living in His shadow? Perhaps the reason our shadow doesn't heal anybody as Peters did 2000 years ago is because we enjoy living in the shadow of the world and all its comforts rather than His shadow and the sacrifice that comes for such privilege! And that my friends is the reality of it!