Preservative

What was preserved from the old?

What should have been old and yet was new?

What is it you possess that should have worn out, yet remains new?

For when you walked through the wilderness, the dry place, the land without growth, the place of lack, what was it that remained new?

The shoes…

For I have preserved your comings and your goings.

At first the sandals removed for this is holy ground.

Exodus 3:4-5 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses! And he said, Here am I. God said, Do not come near; put your shoes off your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground.

For despite the heat and the fire your feet were not burnt. The means of mobility preserved.

Then in the wilderness, in the place of lack, much was preserved, much was evident of my preservation. Food for your stomach, shoes for your feet, clothes for your comfort and protection.

Nehemiah 9:20-21 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, and withheld not Your manna from them, and gave water for their thirst. Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out, and their feet did not swell.

Then in the possession of the promise, the sole of your shoe, placed by your foot, the path preserved, the place reserved.

Joshua 5:12 – 6:2 And the manna ceased on the day after they ate of the produce of the land; and the Israelites had manna no more, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year. When Joshua was by Jericho, he looked up, and behold, a Man stood near him with His drawn sword in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, Are you for us or for our adversaries? And He said, No neither, but as Prince of the Lord’s host have I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, What says my Lord to His servant? And the Prince of the Lord’s host said to Joshua,Loose your shoes from off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy. And Joshua did so. Joshua 6 NOW JERICHO a fenced town with high walls was tightly closed because of the Israelites; no one went out or came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, See, I have given Jericho, its king and mighty men of valor, into your hands.

No need for self preservation as this is my joy and delight.

You look to preserve yourself, to hold on to your essence, to maintain your lot.

Yet am I not your preservative? Am I not the one who preserves you. Am I not the one who prepares you? Am I not the one who releases you.

For you need no wall of protection, you need no barrier between you and those who stand against you.

Be like fortified wine. For I have fortified you, I am your protection, I am the one who preserves.

Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled or concentrated spirit has been added.

For there is something about you, something within you that will always be preserved.

Have you not seen, have you not observed, in any circumstance I am the one who preserves.

Is this not the ultimate gift, is this not a symbol and a sign of my intent. If you can survive in the place of absence, surely you can thrive in the place of presence.

You are seeking the missing ingredient, the missing piece and yet you are the piece.