Heartbeat of Heaven

How long, O Lord ‘til you come to Jerusalem?  This is the heartbeat of heaven! This is the cry of the nations! We hear the Spirit and we are the Bride saying, "Come, Lord Jesus!

I heard these lyrics today as I listened to Jaye Thomas leading worship at IHOP.  They followed this song:

Oh, Come, Oh, Come Emmanuel

Oh, come, oh, come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

Oh, come, our Dayspring from on high,
And cheer us by your drawing nigh,
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death's dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to you, O Israel!

I was touched that Jaye Thomas had this as the culmination of progression of songs in a worship set for One Thing.  It struck me that this is the revelation and the call to all of us as believers.  We all need to have an understanding that it all began and it all ends in Jerusalem.  What if, every time we worshipped, we had this in the back of our minds; a larger picture than just connecting with God for an intimate experience for ourselves? Yes, it is important to fall in love with Jesus and have that love ever growing, but for what purpose?  He has something on His heart as the Jewish Prince of Heaven.  He has a part of the story yet to fulfill and we are each intimately connected with it thru our faith in Him.  
 
What is the purpose of faith?  Is it a commodity we have just to use for the things we want and need here and now, or is it made richer and fuller when we connect to the original and eternal purpose and keep it always in the forefront of everything we do?  The fuller things of the Kingdom seem to be accessible only through self sacrifice.  We trade our own interests for those of His heart and we are taken on a journey that is far greater than we could have believed for on our own. 
The God who sits on the throne chose to step down off that place and take on the garments of humility.  People didn’t recognize him then, and they don’t recognize us when we choose a similar path where another’s desire is our first love.  We are invisible because it is the cause that drives us, not the need to be validated.  

There is an accepted but myopic way of worship that is, if I am honest, deceptively mostly about me.  It may feel like it is about Him, but it is about having a close encounter so that I feel connected and God can speak to me.   What if we looked at Jerusalem as the hinge on which the door of eternity swings?  Would we then incorporate an urgency into our worship to see Jerusalem come into all she is destined to be?  When will you return to Jerusalem, Lord?  We want you to come home.

We want Him to come and sit on the throne of His father David and we want Him to make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, so she will cry out, “Come home, Jesus!”  Just as we have made a place for Him in our hearts, and He has come to be at home there, so Jerusalem will be made a place where He will come to rest.  

Is this the cry of the nations?  Is it the cry of Jerusalem?  Does the church hear the cry of His heart and do we catch the heartbeat of Heaven?  How powerful that sound will be when the church takes up the lament and enables Jerusalem and the Jewish people to release the cry that will invite Him to come home.  Are the nations groaning yet?  Are we groaning yet, “When will you return?”  Is there a cry in us saying, “When will you come back and take up the throne of David your father and rule and reign from Jerusalem?”  

We all know what it means to be homesick.  We all know what it means to miss someone we love who is living far away.  Jesus, because He lives within us, is able to share His feelings about Jerusalem with us.  Can we put aside our own selfish need to connect to have an experience with Him, and turn our worship times into times when we actually ask Him what is on His heart?  

I know there are many issues “on the heart of God”.  We are only able to carry them when we are connected with Him in an intimate way so that He shares them with us.  There are so many needs that seem better accepted and understood than the issue of Jerusalem, and yet it is of primary importance in scripture and the final piece to be put in place that will ultimately bring Him back to earth. 

It is time to ask for understanding of how praying for the Peace of Jerusalem, the City of the Living God, is not just a command, but also part of our inheritance.  It is time to ask for revelation of how we are to impact the heart of God, and join the cry of the nations for Jerusalem to be made a praise in the earth.  We are crucial to God’s plan being fulfilled and tremendously privileged to be trusted with the longings of His heart for an End Time fulfillment of His word to Abraham and the Jewish people. 

Can we make a place for Him in our worship where He can tabernacle with us and share His feelings, His longings and the ultimate intentions of His heart?  What if our hearts embraced a house of prayer model similar to Isaiah 56:6, “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant-- these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  

This is a house of prayer inclusive of all selfless peoples who join themselves to the heart of God to love what He loves.  We are the foreigners who are joining with Him and finding the joy of knowing our sacrifices are acknowledged and accepted by Him even as He is bringing us to His holy mountain.