The Cloud

Let this encourage those of you who belong to Christ: the storm may be tempestuous, but it is only temporary. The clouds that are temporarily rolling over your head will pass, and then you will have fair weather, an eternal sunshine of glory. Can you not watch with Christ for one hour? William Gurnall

I am now in "the Cloud".  My work computer was recently converted to "the Cloud".  Some days I think it should be that I was converted to walk under a Cloud but I digress.  Several weeks ago when I was converted, I sent out my devotional and some of the email addresses that I had in my distribution list came back with an error.

 

The error message went something like this.  (to protect the innocent or guilty as the case may be, I have changed the message slightly but I think you will still get my drift.)

in28.bjc.kx.trendmicro.com rejected your message to the following email address:

Access denied.  Your message wasn’t delivered due to a permission or security issue.  It may have been rejected by a moderator, (no idea what that is or why I would need one), the address may only accept email from certain senders (I sort of took this personally because some people are accepted and I’m not), or another restriction may be preventing delivery.  For more tips to resolve this issue see (Double 007 agent 5 Code 7 in Exchange in the Cloud and Get Smart)

I am not so sure being in “the Cloud” in this instance is all it’s cracked up to be.  Ever since I moved to “the Cloud” thunder storms have been raining on my parade. I have no way of contacting the people who were eliminated from my list by my computer being added to “the Cloud”. Then there is the whole syncing issue. There are things syncing to my phone that I have no idea where they came from.  Then I started receiving spam advertisements for sunglasses, over and over again.  I’m thinking there is a correlation there somewhere about being in the cloud and needing sunglasses but I can’t figure out what it is.

Technology can be helpful and harmful depending on how you look at it.  After trying all the remedies for fixing my Cloud I gave up and prayed.  I figure if anyone can fix “the Cloud”, God can.  If He wants my message to get somewhere it will and the earthly “Cloud” won’t have anything to do with it and He won’t send me spam for sunglasses while fixing it.

I find it interesting that there are many instances in the Bible where God led His people by a pillar of cloud.  God in all His glory and power could not be seen by His people so he used a cloud to show them that He was with them.  When the pillar of cloud moved His people followed.  Later when the Israelites were disobedient, God removed the cloud so they would know he was no longer with them.  God’s used a cloud to care over His people.  That is it kind of cloud I want, the "Almighty God Cloud".

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, technology is sometimes a challenge for me. I am so thankful that I don’t need some special gizmo or gadget to communicate with You.  Your line is always open and I don’t have to get in “the Cloud” to reach You.  Thank You for the amazing glory of Your presence in my life. 

       

Scripture: So they took their journey from Succoth and camped in Etham at the edge of the wilderness. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.  He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.  Exodus 13:20-22

The Cloud and the Glory

Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.  Exodus 40:34-38