“Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” Psalm 37:3
Dear Ones:
It is very significant that Abraham was “…called to go out into a PLACE which he should receive for an inheritance.” (Heb. 11:8) It is also significant, that when Moses brought the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, he did so with the purpose of bringing them into a land of promise, where the promises of God would be realized in a very manifest manner. It would be there that God would choose Jerusalem as the place where Solomon’s temple would be built. It would also be Jerusalem, where the Lord Jesus would be crucified for the sins of the world. A “place of certain good,” a land of promise, would also be a place of great trial, suffering, and sorrow. However, in that “land of promise” would be born the singular HOPE of the world, who would accomplish the perfect, and powerful, work of redemption, by which man can know God. If the place of Israel, and Jerusalem, are recognized as great “places” of blessing and promise, with eternal ramifications, what about where we live, where we DWELL?
It has been said that for the Christian, that which truly distinguishes one place from another, is the manifestation of the presence of God. Remember that this one fact, and reality, was that which would distinguish Israel from all the other nations on the earth. Moses would write: “For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that Thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Exodus 33:16) Moses would confirm the reality of the true blessing of God in the land of promise, when he wrote in Psalm 90:17, “…Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us.” The great point is this: In the place of God’s appointing for us to live and to dwell, there He has promised to reveal Himself to the heart and mind. It is as we live and dwell IN HIM, in Christ, abiding in His life, living according to His word, that He reveals Himself to the heart, and in the life.
When Joshua was about to take the people of Israel into the land of promise, into Canaan, the Lord gave him a specific promise: “Every PLACE that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you.” (1:3) In the place of God’s choosing, wherever that may take us on the face of this earth, or beyond, the promise is the same: God is present, and has chosen to meet us in such a way IN CHRIST that He will be truly known. When Paul spoke of knowing Christ, and the power of His resurrection, the truth of that statement was seen in a prison in Philippi, as well as in on the sea or on land, wherever he was led to “dwell,” and minister. Paul’s dwelling place essentially was Christ, in the physical place of God’s choosing.
Dear Father, teach us Thy ways, that way of faith by which we appropriate Christ in the place of Thy choosing, wherever that may be. Strengthen our hearts to believe Thee to lead us, keep us, and sustain us. Cause Thy face to shine upon us, and fulfill all Thy promises in us for Thy glory, and the blessing of others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad