THE LIVING PRESENCE OF GOD VERSUS STYLE
Religious people often substitute rituals and ceremony for real relationship with the Lord Himself. People who are short on intimacy with the Lord seem to find security in the outward forms. An organization can do the same. It is interesting that God gave Israel a portable tabernacle long before He gave them a stone temple. In Israel’s journeys across the wilderness, they had to follow the cloud of God’s presence that rested above the tabernacle. When the cloud of His presence moved, they moved. When the cloud rested, they remained still. The cloud did not rise or rest according to any rigid schedule. The Israelites could not prepare for movement by “watching the clock,” the sun, or the date. They had to observe and follow the cloud (Exodus 40: 34-38). In the same way, Jesus Christ desires that the church would know Him intimately and be genuinely led by the Spirit in its development. God’s people, however, tend to become sidetracked and to fall back on religious routine and ...