Treasures for the Soul

David wrote Psalm 59. Verse 10 tells us that God in His steadfast love will meet me. David knew about God’s affection very well. He asked the Lord for just one thing - to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty for his entire life. We truly need to see the help of God’s countenance. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is the mighty one who will save. What’s even more precious is that He will exult over you with loud singing. God’s joy over us is so great that He desires to hear our voice. We will also hear His voice.

One of God’s purposes for creating fathers on earth is to help us understand the heavenly Father’s affection. However, the fathers who have bad examples on earth can cause us to have wrong concepts about God. We ought to know the Father’s true image by His words, and how He treats us. For example, it’s written in the Gospel of John that the Father is seeking true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth. The parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15 clearly shows the Father’s heart. His welcome and acceptance towards his lost son is beyond forgiveness. He throws a party to celebrate his son’s return. The celebration is full of joy, singing and music. In the Lord’s prayer written in John 17, the Lord said He has made known the Father’s name, and He prayed that the love with which the Father has loved Him may be in us.

A lot of scripture talks about the preciousness and importance of drawing near to God. For instance, David only sought after one thing, which was to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord; Enoch walked with God for 300 years; Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. This is the good portion, and it’s absolutely necessary. Many Bible passages also tell us that the Lord desires us to draw near to Him. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5 says that we are living with the Lord whether we are awake or asleep. The Song of Solomon tells us that the Lord desires to see our face and hear our voice. One of the blessings of the new covenant is for everyone, from the young to the old, to know God. Drawing near to God is the infinite and endless peak. It’s the one thing that we cannot miss out on in our lives.

Hebrews is a very important book. It tells us that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. For us, He became a man forever and He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews also tells us about His ministry. The purpose of these truths is to help us to come before God. Hebrews 12:22-24 is the climax of this book. This passage mentions New Jerusalem and what is in there. These truths help us to understand what God wants, and our precious identity as the firstborn. It also helps us to mind the things from above and know how to draw close to God, which in turn makes it easier for us to overcome challenges. Knowing these truths will affect our lives and how we spend our time.

A few hymns were sung in the meeting. The lyrics of these hymns are from the Bible verses that talk about the risen Lord wiping away our tears and swallowing up death. He rose from the dead and lives forever. Nothing can ever separate us from Him anymore!

It’s so precious that we’re following the risen Lord. He lives in our hearts forever. Isaiah 25:6-8 gives an account of the Millennium, where God will prepare an abundant feast and wipe away tears from all faces. It’s so precious that the Lord will swallow up death forever. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 also makes reference to this passage. It tells us that when the Lord returns, we will have a resurrected body and inherit the kingdom of God. Death will be swallowed up in victory!

What happened on the night before the Lord’s crucifixion was very precious. He desired to have the feast of the Passover with the disciples. He also established this life-long love feast with us. That night He talked about the secrets in God’s heart, such as our union with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Lord expressed His love desire to Abba, and that we would be with Him where He was going. The cross was not the Lord’s final destination, but instead it affected eternity. Let us understand and enjoy Him and His love. Let’s respond to Him and have love interflow with Him.

We continue to meditate on who we are through many truths. First of all, the Song of Solomon describes the love of God as the flame of Jehovah. Second, the Lord keeps the scar of love on His body forever for us. Third, the Lord has established the feast of love for us for our entire lives. He has established a new covenant with His blood. Fourth, the Lord is preparing the most beautiful new home for us, which is New Jerusalem. Fifth, the Lord lives in our heart forever. We have a union of life and love. But we need to be settled down and to feel all these truths, so that we may enter into worship; and enjoy Him and His love peacefully.

Song 6:10 and 8:5 refer to the darling by asking , “who is this?” Let us realize who we are by referring to the Song of Solomon. Firstly, Song of Solomon is indeed a great book. It is the greatest and most precious book. . Secondly, from this book we know we belong to the Lord, and His desire is for us. Thirdly, the Lord treasures that we belong to Him. Out of this love, He did not remain as God only, but became a man forever . He even died on the cross, and was chastened and forsaken by the Father. From all these facts, we ought to know who we really are.

There are many mentions of priests eating the offerings in Leviticus. This tells us that we need to draw near to God, experience Him, worship and praise God every day because the Lord is the bread of life. When we live out the life of a priest, we also need to come before God. As written in Exodus, God desired to meet with the people of Israel at the altar of burnt offerings, the altar of incense, and the Holy of Holies. He desires to have deep fellowship with man. The life of a priest is also a life of blessing others. The Lord Jesus was taken into heaven while He blessed the disciples. May we live out the life of a priest and be a blessing to many.