Skip to main content

Right WHERE I wanna be!

Did you ever wonder what life WITHOUT God’s Presence would be like?  I mean, really truly WITHOUT HIS PRESENCE?  In my reading this week (Ezekiel) the exiles are coming home.  They are moving back to their “homeland” and to top it off, God’s Presence has returned. 

Wait – what do I mean by God’s Presence returning?  Isn’t He everywhere?   Where did He go if He wasn’t there with them?  That’s a good question !  I have been thinking about that this week and the importance of “God’s Presence” in my life and in OUR lives as Christians.

In the Old Testament, God dwelt (on earth) in the tabernacle first and then in His Most Holy Place in the temple that King Solomon built for Him in Jerusalem.  By “dwelling”, I mean He was there to worship and confess to.  He spoke to (and through) prophets.  He accepted sacrifices and worked in tremendous ways for His people.    Jerusalem was captured and the Jews went into exile.   He left them to their own devices.  And you know what?  They really didn’t care about it that much and for the most part, just lived for themselves.

God, IN HIS SOVEREIGNTY, however, knew He had to do this so they would “come back”.  Unfortunately, I know EXACTLY why this happens.  I, in my stubbornness, try to handle things my own way . . .  I think life should be the way I want it to be and I don’t care about anything else (or any one)  . . .  I have lived where it didn’t matter if it was a sin or not, its what I wanted . . . NOT in God’s Presence.

Did you ever feel like you were in muck and you just kept slipping?  Or that everything around you was so “dark” and you just couldn’t “fix” it?  NOT a great place!

The beginning of Psalm 84 says:

How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD Almighty!   My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

And then at the end:

Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

So one day WITH God is better than 1000 elsewhere?  One day?

One day, living in SONshine instead of darkness

One day in TRUTH instead of lies

One day LOVED, FORGIVEN, ACCEPTED, ADOPTED and FREE!


I think that even though they “thought” they didn’t want God – they found out what life was without Him (tents of the wicked, so to speak).  God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel and told him how to rebuild the temple, etc. so that His Presence would be among them again, the last verse being:

And the name of the city from that time on will be:

THE LORD IS THERE


Don’t you love that?  Just simply, THE LORD IS THERE. 

Sin confessed – forgiveness – repentance – the Lord is there!

YEP, that’s RIGHT where I want to be !  

May our hearts see . . . .  Your dwelling place is RIGHT where we wanna be!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Joyces of My Life

Have you ever had someone in your life who truly showed joy, no matter the circumstance?  How about someone who has made a profound influence?  I can honestly say that I have had two, and they both have the name "Joyce" - hence, the title of this post - The Joyces of My Life. First of all, Joyce ( my stepmom) came into my life when she married my dad.  My life was pretty unstable with my mother, but we all made the best of it.  Once I graduated from high school, I moved in with Dad and Joyce. Life happened, I got married, had some kids, you know the drill.   When I think back, there's nothing specific I remember, except  her constant-ability.  She was always there for me.  Period.  When you meet someone who lets you into their heart, bears her own heart and soul, while introducing you to Jesus, your life changes.  At least mine did.  Her love for Jesus and scripture was evident and contagious.  I wanted in - all...

The unthinkable

What's your "totally awful, most unthinkable thing"?  You know, the one thing that would be THE most awfulest thing in the whole world to happen.  Everyone has one, don't they?  I mean, I do.  Whether its relational or spiritual or physical - makes no difference - its the one "happening" in your life that would be the worst ever.  E-V-E-R. Its the kind of thing you don't want to tell anybody because you don't want to say it out loud, let along think about it.  But you do . . . I do anyway.  And especially now, for some DARK reason, with all that is happening around us, my mind goes there.  I don't want it to but it does. I think Peter's totally awful unthinkable was his denial of Christ - and his happened THREE times.  It must have just slayed him.  I wonder sometimes how could he have even gone on after that.  One word:  redemption. Where our unthinkable is, God's redemption is.  Our only hope - ...