Here you will find a story driven blog, that carry some ideas, reflections and hopefully the odd challenge.
Are so sitting comfortably...
One dog and his man
Eating and Drinking Jesus!?
June 26
(This is an adapted extract from the new book,' We Shall also Bear the Image of the Heavenly', free to downland in the MY Writing section of this website.)
The Lord has led me recently to break bread every morning as part of my personal devotions. I believe he has done this because he wants to impress on me that this is an important aspect of following him that I had missed, indeed, I think we all have! However, in doing this I have not gone all religious and liturgical, if there is such a thing?
He has simply caused me to reflect on a passage of scripture that is easily dismissed as it is tricky to understand, that is unless you merely take what the Lord says at face value.
Turn with me to John 6 and the Lord's teaching concerning himself as the bread of life. We are told that Jesus is speaking on the sabbath in the synagogue in Capernaum. Prior to this, He has fed the five thousand on the far side of the lake of Galilee before walking part way across the lake, literally, returning with His, no doubt, shaken disciples to the town where He has based His ministry. We can imagine them thinking to themselves, ‘did that really just happen or was it a dream?. Here, we find Him being challenged about the mass feeding event that had just happened across the water. Jesus immediately focuses their thoughts away from the physical to the spiritual reality of which the miraculous picnic had merely been a sign. He, Jesus, was and is all the spiritual sustenance anyone will ever need. As an event, the feeding of the five thousand captured in the imagination of the those present the gift of manna that had fed the children of Israel as they had made their arduous way towards their promised land across the Wilderness of Sin during the Exodus. And then Jesus used this to develop his teaching that he, in effect, is the true manna, the bread of life for all mankind. He says the following,
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. John 6:27
There is, therefore, a form of spiritual sustenance that comes from Jesus, who is the Son of man, that, if taken, will enable that person to endure to eternal life.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35
Jesus identifies Himself here as the new manna and as such He is the bread of life; the spiritual food that will, when taken, satisfy every spiritual hunger or thirst.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. John 6:53
Jesus states here that as the bread of life it is His own flesh and blood that is offered as this spiritual sustenance that will provide this spiritual life. This is obviously suggestive of the communion sacrament that will be part of the life of the body, however, might it be something more?
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:56
As in John 15 there is a dwelling aspect to this, Jesus seems to be offering here a constant life giving provision of spiritual sustenance, we are called to live in the flow of this, the bread of life. The clincher being that the Greek word translated ‘to dwell’ here is the same word that is translated ‘to abide’ in John 15.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:4,5
And Jesus goes on to say the following,
As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. John 6:57
I, Therefore, believe it is important to take these words of the Lord seriously, indeed why don't we.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed
He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. John 6:55,56
If Jesus' flesh IS meat (meaning sustaining food) INDEED and his blood IS drink (meaning sustaining fluid) INDEED then what is our response?
If Jesus says that anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has an improved capacity to dwell in Christ and to be indwelt by Jesus then why wouldn't we. Does the phrase 'no brainer' come to mind here? Or am I missing something here?
And therefore how do we eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood in a way that does not involve some form of weird canabalism? So this is why I now break bread as part of my daily deveotions. There is obviously a corporate aspect to the breaking of bread that is outlined by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11, but I believe this is different, why?
Jesus in John 6 is identifying himself with the manna and when was the manna to be taken? Interestingly, not on the sabbath as they had two portions on Friday. And what do we read in Acts 2:46? The first disciples broke bread from house to house once a month, once a week or does it say daily?
Let me know what you think?
Once upon a time series....
(stories within stories)
The old man and the osprey May 26
Once upon a time there was a forest school tutor who taught at a further education college for young people with learning diificulties. He lived and worked in a beautiful part of the country, close to many lakes and the sea. This was perfect for him because the one thing he loved to do was to show his students the wonder of God's creation and to help them experience this wonder for themselves. To this end he would take them to the woods, he would take them to the hills, he would take them to the lakes and he would take them to the sea. One day, this day, he was taking them to the sea.
Today, it would be a journey right around the Great Bay where they lived, to the far side where every year, every spring time, a very special bird would fly thousands of miles from south saharan Africa to find a mate, build a nest and bring one or two new birds into their world on the edge of the Great Bay. And then they would all fly back to Africa at the end of the summer, hopefully to return to us again the following year. This was clearly quite a special bird and we call it an osprey. There is only one osprey nest on the Great Bay and one day, this day, they would be visiting this very nest, that is from a safe distance.
So one day, this day, they drove in rickety old college minibus an hour around the bay and eventually they saw the sign for nature reserve, they had arrived. They made our way slowly down the bumpy track til they came to the carpark. There was a small wooden hut that was manned by someone wearing in an RSPB hat and he was very friendly and greeted them warmly. He handed over some maps and two sets of binoculars saying the we will need these as the osprey nest was a long way from the viewing platform. And he also apologised that it might be bit busy today. So off he trudged with five students in tow on a lovely morning in May.
The map led them along a twisty-twiny route across a boggy bit of wetland that fed in to the Great Bay, walking at times elevated above the Moss on a wooden walk way. They could soon see the raised platform and indeed it did look a bit rammed . As they got closer he could see that all the people were looking in the same direction, which must be the right direction. They were obviously very knowledgeable and experienced bird watchers with their camouflaged clothing and state of the art bins and cameras, the kind that have a really long thing on the front, like you see at football matches behind the goal. So when the tutor lead his motley crew up onto the crowded viewing platform he obviouslymoved toward the end where everybody else was straining to catch a glimpse of the ospreys and their nest, telling them to be quiet, it was like being in church or the library.
The tutor and his group was immediately approached by a big smiley man who told the tutor that they were leaving now and that there would now be room for the group. He was very confident and clearly knew what he was talking about. He took some time to show them where to look, he said in reverent hushed tones 'look over there about five hundred yards can you see two white dots in the tree line, if you look mid way between those dots can you see a tree with a flat top?, well that is where the nest is this year. And we think there are two chicks in the nest and we think we have seen at least one of the parent birds fly in with some food for them. So there you are , happy osprey watching. Then, they all joined in repeating like a mantra, halfway between the two white dots, the flat topped tree, two chicks, one parent flying in. Goodbye. Goodbye indeed.
The tutor was very thankful and relayed this information to his very bored students. He then attempted to show them how to use the binoculars they had been given. This took a while as binoculars do look easier to use than the they actually are. And the tutor could not be sure that Kirsty and James were actually able to see anything even though they said the did. The situation was easier with Christopher because he was looking through the wrong end. Just to make sure that there was somehting to see, the tutor took a pair himself and scanned the scene. Trying as best he could to get a clear focused image of this flat top tree that stood halfway between the two dots, whatever they were. No matter what he tried he couldn't make out a nest, let alone anything osprey shaped in the nest or even in the air. Was there really anything there at all, the tuor now had some doubts?
Finally he put the binoculars down and turned back to his students, 'stop picking your nose, Christopher.' He suddenly realised that they were now almost all alone on the viewing platform. Everyone else had gone. Almost everyone that is. In the corner was an old man who seemed to be either asleep or ... no don't be silly the tutor thought to himself, I think I can see him breathing, the tutor hadn't noticed him before in all the hub bub. Slowly thenold man opened his eyes, one by one, he had two, he then slowly turned his steely gaze toward the group and shaking his head, the old man said in a quiet but authoritative voice,
'They're not over there , you are all looking in the wrong direction. Come over here and let me show you the osprey nest.'
Do we follow the crowd, or do we listen to wisdom? Where are we looking for Jesus? Where is the world looking for answers? Are we looking in the same direction as the world? What voice are we listening to?
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3,4)
Whose voice are you listening to?
And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Have you found the Lord's voice in your life? I believe that he speaks uniquely to each of us, just as we are all unique expressions of his son in us as our relationship with Father is filtered through the filter that is you and me. A filter with all our imperfections and issues that will always mean that our walk will always unique to each of us. This is a journey. It is all about our direction of travel. For as the apostle honestly evaluates his faith journey in Philippians 3:12
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
We will never arrive at perfection, but our destiny in Christ is secure
However, like Paul we too have to follow after the Lord, however, I ask again do you know the Lord's voice in your life? Please don't follow the crowd, find his voice for you and find it for yourself and follow him. The scriptures below are all descriptive of how our Loving Father yearns to speak to us and to show us the way, the truth and the only life worth living.
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:6-9
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrew 12:1,2
Looking unto Jesus, indeed!
Jesus tell us in John 10 that his sheep here his voice, the voice of the shepherd. And with reference to the story above I believe that it will be really helpful if we turn there together, to John 10, and explore something wonderful that the Lord is trying to communicate to us. The passage in the KJV reads as follows,
But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. John 10:2-4
What we notice first of all is that the shepherd is on the outside of the sheepfold. And there is a distinction being made here between true and false shepherds or thieves and robbers as they are described here, an issue that must wait for another day.
- The true shepherd enters the sheepfold through the gate or door. It is interesting to note that later in the parable Jesus describes himself as the door, again another time.
- What is the true shepherd entering? The shepherd is entering the sheepfold.
- Why is he entering the sheepfold? He is entering the sheepfold to take his position as the shepherd and therefore the leader of the sheep.
- What is the sheepfold? The sheepfold is the safe, protected enclosure for the sheep.
- Who are the sheep? Do I need to ask? Perhaps I do, elsewhere Jesus does say that he came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel- another time.
The metaphorical understanding of this parable is easy for us to grasp in general terms, but there are elements that perhaps we might miss, for example who is the porter? How do we understand this element of the parable. Whoever it is, they play the role of the door or gate opener for the shepherd. I would say that this is best understood as a role of the Holy Spirit. He is our seal, the door is closed and sealed shut for us until eternity, but who also opens the door of our heart for Jesus at the other end of the story, our story? Indeed, who else is in a place to stand guard over the door of the sheepfold, don't forget the angels.
I would like us to try and consider this parable afresh and to develop a slightly more nuanced way of understanding what the Lord might be trying to help us with here. The parable tells us the shepherd has gathered his sheep into a sheepfold where he enters in to personally interact with his sheep even on a one to one basis. Can I ask this question, for us when does this happen? Clearly when we are gathered together as the body, otherwise known as the church, there are moments during a service, in the worship, listening to the sermon or during fellowship over the coffee and biscuits, when Jesus breaks through and we hear something from him that speaks to our hearts. However, what about the other place, the one to one place that Jesus describes as the closet, might he also be referring to this as well.
Either way, from this parable Jesus is telling us that he wants to speak to us directly, to call us by name and to be, with his Father and in the Spirit (our door keeper), the counsellor of our souls. He wants to say to each one of use in a voice we can recognise that this is the way follow me! Why? because he wants to lead us to the high ground of fruitfulness in Him.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. (Hebrews 12:11)
However, do we hear him and if we do, do we let him?
In church and in our gathering together how much opportunity is there for us to hear the voice of the Shepherd, from his word, from each other and in our heart. In our closets, if indeed we have such a thing, and the lives we live beyond this are we giving the Lord an opportunity to teach us his voice and to be able to obediently follow him? If we haven't learnt to recognise his voice how can we ever hear him enough to follow where he is trying to lead us. It is too easy to just follow the crowd and as in the story when they say look over there, over there is where we look, instead perhaps if we just honestly come before the Lord and say with the psalmist
When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Psalm 27:8
Then the porter will open the door of which ever aspect of the sheepfold (corporate and personal) and the King of Glory will come in and join us!
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20
Amen
Carrying the Presence
May 2026
(This article is a distillation of some of the ideas found in my Rebuilding the Tabernacle of David series of books freely available as Epub or PDF documents, feel free to download these books from the My Writing section of this website)
The Lord has been teaching me a valuable lesson over the last ten years or so. Following Jesus is a journey in which, if only we would realise it, he wants to teach us how to carry his presence. And this, on a daily basis. Notice I am not saying anointing here. This is relational. The anointing, when properly understood, will follow as we follow. My spiritual education over this time has been within the sanctuary of the prayer closet. Time here spent with Father God, in the Word and in the Spirit.
Moreover, and this will form the crux of what I believe would have me share with you today, there is a second sanctuary in our spiritual lives as we do the hard yards in his footsteps, walking with Father through the issues of our lives, the body of Christ. What he has shown me is how vital it is that we have a fresh revelation of our responsibility and our joy to actively carry the presence, his presence in us, into the heart of the gathering of his people, his body, in whatever form that might take. This is so that him in us is available to minister to our brothers and sisters, just as him in them can also minister to you and me.
And above all these things put on charity (love in action), which is the bond of perfectness.
And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:14-16
If truly understood and practised, this simple idea of the two sanctuaries and a presence that requires carrying with care, can potentially bear spiritual fruit in both the life of an individual, as it has so often with me, and in the life of the body as well. So how did I get here?
Over a decade ago I woke one morning with the phrase ‘the tabernacle of David’ in my head. With interest piqued, I knew I had heard the voice of the Lord here. And as I began to explore the scriptural background to this phrase I noticed right away some remarkable things about ‘the tabernacle of David’.
We have the initial physical shelter built by King David himself in the heart of his new capital at the beginning of his reign, more of this below. However, and moreover, in scripture as a phrase ‘the Tabernacle of David’ features three times . And significantly each of these describes it operating within three different spiritual ages.
Prophetically, the tabernacle of David is the structure from which the Lord will execute judgement in the millennial kingdom, this we find in Isaiah 16:5 where we read the following,
And in mercy shall the throne be established: and he shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging, and seeking judgment, and hasting righteousness.
In Amos 9:11,12 we find it described within an end times context,
In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
Most significantly for us today is the last citing of this particular phrase within scripture. In Acts 15 as the apostles have gathered together in Jerusalem to consider how to respond to the expansion of the embryonic church within the Gentile world of the first century through the ministry of the Holy Spirit within Paul and Barnabus, the apostle James stands and makes a telling intervention. He says with God given authority, I tell you what this is, this the fulfilment of the prophecy in Amos,
And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
Acts 15:16,17
I found this remarkable. The tabernacle of David is described here as also being prophetically fulfilled two thousand years ago. Fulfilled in the church spreading like wild fire through the Roman empire. The church that was finding expression within this first century Godless pagan culture. The church that was impacting the world beyond the people for whom the Lord came, his own people the Jews. This church is described here, by definition, as the tabernacle of David by the words of the Lord’s own brother.
And moreover, two thousand years on, what about us today. If we look again at the original prophecy in Amos, how does it begin? In the last days. That is us, isn’t it? Is there, therefore, a further fulfilment of this prophecy for our time?
My next step was to turn to the actual passage within which the tabernacle of David was instituted under the king and again I was amazed at what the Lord showed me. It is all about carrying the presence. Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 6: 1-19, and if you could read it in the KJV it would be helpful.
This passage, these nineteen verses, became for me a veritable wellspring of revelation and delight in the Lord. They tell of the newly anointed king moving the Ark of the Covenant from Gibeah where it had been in storage since its return from the Philistines under the previous wearer of the crown of Israel, king Saul. From the king in the flesh to the king in the Spirit.
At this point, we do need to understand that the Ark of the Covenant carried the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, a golden pot containing manna, and Aaron’s almond rod that budded, but for David and the children of Israel, it more importantly carried the very presence of the Lord God. Indeed, as it is described in this passage, ‘…the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.’ For David this was all about placing the presence of the Lord God physically at the heart of the nation, and to do this it needed to be in the heart of his new capital, Jerusalem.
For me, as I read this narrative I became aware that this also speaks directly to us today, and the Lord brought out for me revelation that eventually has filled four books. In brief, the first part of the passage, the journey, can be understood as our journey. Our journey of faith as we strike out on the road, as we move on from the cross of Jesus Christ and endeavour to follow in our Lord’s footsteps. There will be bumps along the way and at these times things will need to change. Father loves us too much to let us stay the same, He desires to form in each of us more of the nature he shares with his son and this within our hearts. So that the journey, our journey is a journey of heart transformation. And as such there will be things that do need to change and even die.
We all come to the Lord with often well entrenched drivers in our life, what I saw as I explored the Hebrew meaning of the names of the three ox cart drivers mentioned in the narrative, Abinadab, Ohio and the fated Uzzah drivers of a very different order. For what was expressed within their names were the three important psychological drivers that impact all our lives. In translation their names mean the following:
Abinadab>>’the father is willing’
Ohio>> ‘brotherly’
Uzzah>>’strength’
What I saw was that when distorted these drivers can represent in each of us religion, fear of man and self-sufficiency. To truly follow Jesus our drivers, drivers such as these, do need sorting and in Christ this is the way of the cross and it means that, like poor Uzzah, at times we have to die to ourselves in these profound areas of our heartfelt motivation.
…but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Romans 8:13b-14
Why? In order that we can carry the presence, His presence in the heart of our lives. To carry it not on any brand new shiny worldly cart, look at 1 Samuel 6, to see where the idea of the ox cart came from originally. No, the presence was always to be carried on the shoulders of his people specifically chosen for the task (see Numbers 4). This was the essential lesson that king David had to learn here (see 1 Chronicles 15) it is all about walking in obedience to the Lord and to his word. This is surely also the essential lesson for us as well, as we learn to carry his presence in our hearts through the issues of our own lives.
There is so much more that could be said here, such as how this passage also carries a prophetic message for the church in our own times with regards to the cult of worship in our day and the significance of where the presence was moved to following the breach, the HOUSEHOLD of Obededom. However, we do need to move on to focus on the second half of the passage and what it says to us about the tabernacle of David and how this also speaks to us today concerning what perhaps needs to change concerning what happens when we gather together in his name.
The reason we have taken some time to focus upon the first part of this passage of scripture is to establish and to understand the importance of the essential symbolism here of the carried presence. We are now the vessel within which the Lord God dwells. This through the salvation work of the cross of Jesus Christ that has been wrought in each of our hearts. We now carry HIM by his Spirit and through the Father. I believe that we so need to be more aware and spiritually alive to this wonderful reality. This applies to our 24/7daily reality, and what we are going on to see is that this certainly applies to our presence within the church reality as well.
And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it 2 Samuel 6: 17a
This speaks to us directly and it tells us that when we do gather together in Christ we need to understand that we are bringing the presence, where we go He goes! When I have taught on this I have stood at the door and handed out eggs to everyone as they come in and have then asked them to hold on to the egg throughout the session. I didn’t need to ask them what they had been very conscious in the session, and surprisingly it wasn’t my no doubt erudite and inspiring teaching. No, it was the egg. How much more…perhaps you can finish this thought. We carry something more precious, and at the same time far more fragile, in our hearts, how conscious are we of this, particularly when we enter church and meet with his people.
We also need to realise that within the gathering Jesus has a place, his place, just for the presence, his presence, in us, as he does for the presence that is in each of everyone who is gathered with us, if they are in Christ. This is because when we do gather together the king, our King Jesus, desires to hand out gifts to each one of us. The gifts are threefold, and in the KJV* it reads as follows,
And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine.
2 Samuel 6:19
We do need to understand that when we gather in the body in Christ that this is the Lord’s opportunity to do spiritual business with his people. This, the church, should be a scary yet amazingly exciting place to be. We need to discover perhaps a much higher faith filled expectation for the gathered body of Christ than perhaps we have at present. The enemy has done its best to discredit things of the Spirit over recent decades, but I believe the pendulum, if you will, is swinging back. This time however, it is not just about the charisma. The charisma will come when we are seeking the character, the character of Jesus in our hearts-which is his presence-given, formed and refined! This is the 24/7 journey, following Jesus, and learning how to carry the presence.
This is why we, moving forwards, when we meet together will need the three gifts.
- Cake of bread
The bread is the foodstuff common to all humanity, see Genesis 3:19, and as such it is the gift, the spiritual carb that is shared person to person. Shared in love out of a heart of love for our brothers and sisters. A gift that takes us to the list of gifts in 1 Corinthians 12. As we gather we might have needs that need to be met, we might be the vessel through which these needs can be met or we might be a bit of both. This speaks of an active expression of agape love one to another, each of us being fed or being the vessel through which the food is passed.
- A good piece of flesh
This reminds of the words of the writer to the Hebrews, where in chapter 5 he likens the taught word of righteousness to strong meat. Spiritual protein that feeds the gathering. This is the sent word, the word of the Lord that will achieve that for which he has sent it. We are not only talking about a programmed taught word, it can, and perhaps ought to be, a word that comes fresh out of the body. An essential truth, motivation or even a challenge that might be carried in prophecy, a tongue or vision, always backed solidly by scripture and come from the right place, an encouraging, edifying heart of love for our brethren.
How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
1 Corinthians 14:26
- A Flagon of wine
This speaks of a spiritual refill whenever we gather. As we have given out during the time since we have last met together, so we need time to be built up and refreshed in the Lord. Perhaps there does need to be time for everyone to be prayed for one to another. Our fellowship at these times also needs to be sweet and in the spirit,
…but be filled with the Spirit;
Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Ephesians 5:18b-21
So that, when we leave the gathering we might carry the presence with renewed vigour sustained by the three gifts we have received, until the next time.
There is so much more that could be said about the spiritual symbolism that I have found in this passage, such as with regards to the two types of sacrifice, peace and whole burnt offering, found here. Anyway, I hope this has been helpful and has given you an appetite for more, there is always more in Jesus. You can put the egg down now by the way, but please, please keep on carrying the presence. May he bless his word to you all.
- Other versions of the Bible translate the Hebrew here for ‘a flagon of wine’ differently, I have stayed with the translation found in the KJV.