One
of my Facebook pages is devoted to
prayer. Each year I choose a theme, and this year, the theme is God’s Direct
Words. As last year drew to a close, I felt a strong desire to hear God speak
to me as He spoke to His people in the Old Testament, and through thought He
impressed on me to study His directs words. Not when it is repeated by Moses or
another but when HE first says it directly to Moses or another.
I
feel a holy awe come over me each time I read God’s direct words, as if I am
there. I tremble when the people trembled. I pause when His presence stands
still in a cloud. Each time I highlight
those sacred words with my yellow highlighter in my Bible or copy and paste
from the online NIV Bible, I feel His presence.
God promises in Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you and
tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ (NIV) . I
sincerely believe this, and each time I call, I glean a fresh truth, a hidden insight
from His words.
I chose
the post from July 28 to highlight in this blog, “Anoint Aaron and his sons and
consecrate them so they may serve me as priests. 31 Say to the Israelites, ‘This is
to be my sacred anointing oil for the generations to come. 32 Do not pour it
on anyone else’s body and do not make any other oil using the same formula. It
is sacred, and you are to consider it sacred.33 Whoever
makes perfume like it and puts it on anyone other than a priest must be cut
off from their people.” Exodus
30:30-33 (NIV)
The
thought the Lord dropped into my heart is that just as Aaron and his sons (and
generations) had exclusivity to the anointing oil and holy garments, so too, it
is with the intellectual property He has entrusted to us as writers, artists,
singers, musicians, publishers. In the natural, copyrights, patents, and
trademarks guard exclusivity, and there are fines and punishments associated
with their theft, abuse and misuse.
The
Lord our Creator, the Lord of Hosts has consecrated our giftings, and He looks
over them jealously. I believe that whoever desecrates or copy our work
unauthorized will face a punishment similar to the “cutting off from the
people.”
We can personalize the
verse so that God speaks to us directly.
“Anoint (insert your name or names) and
consecrate (me, us) so (I, we) may serve You as (insert writer, singer
etc).
Considering
how effortless stealing intellectual property can be in today’s digital world,
this assurance keep my heart at peace. I hope it will settle your heart, too.
SUSAN HARRIS is an author and speaker.
This year she is focused on reading God’s direct words in the Old Testament on
her 1-Minute Prayer page and is finding it transformational. Any is welcome to
join.
https://www.facebook.com/1-Minute-Prayer-368981386624849/
2 comments:
Thank you, Susan, for presenting your personal application of the anointing of the Holy Spirit and "sacred copyright." This is truly an interesting way of viewing our call and appointment as Christ-following writers, composers or exponents of other forms creative expression. An awesome thought, indeed. ~~+~~
Interesting approach, Susan. Although I don't exactly liken my work to anything the Holy Spirit does! And I suppose that if one goes to jail for abusing intellectual copyright then they are 'cut off from the people'. I'd be good with an apology and a lesson learned! I've been professionally writing for 30 years and am only aware of someone using my work without permission, once. A church. (Yes, seriously) I contacted them and they corrected things and gave me the credit. But I think I get what you are saying and from a moral/spiritual standpoint, it certainly is wrong. Great food for thought!
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