Dwell On The Promise
How is you joy today, friend? I hope that you are dwelling in great gladness! Perhaps for some of you, joyfulness is easily obtained. Maybe for others, purposeful and fulfilling happiness is fought for. Whatever route got you to joy, I hope that you have conquered the endeavor in this moment.
Sometimes it’s easy to get swept up in the past. Old insecurities, dead issues, forgotten failures and the like. All of the things that my Savior delivered me from creep into my mind, spill into my emotional heart and bring my spirit to a burdened and downcast state. That state can affect everyone around me as I tend to wear my feelings on my sleeve (in bright neon colors...). I have to let those old sufferings go.
Clearly, I can be quite hard on myself. That is one of my battles that the friendship of Jesus Christ tackles for me daily. But what a kind Lord in that He continues to pursue me and set me up around the best community I could have ever asked Him to bring! This is where I remember not only did God deliver me from sin, oh that awful place of suffering, and into a dwelling place with Himself! Thank you, my King!
One of my recent Bible studies prompted these thoughts. Exodus is one of my favorite books in the scripture. There is so much power displayed by the Almighty! While there is much to consider and study in this book, the main take away I'll mention for today is that God delivered Israel from the persecution of the Egyptian Pharaoh after many years of torment. The Lord had heard the cries of His people and at the perfect time, raised up Moses to carry out His mission. After warnings, plagues and tragedy, Pharaoh released the Israelites. God conquered all who tried to follow and capture His people and ensured Israel's victory through great miracles. Among the most famous miracles of this scripture was when God, through Moses, parted the Red Sea to carry His people into the wilderness where their quest for the promised land would begin.
It's easy to stop there isn't it? I mean, I get it! That is heavy stuff to ponder and a marvelous miracle for God to display for His beloved Israel. Although we are never to forget what the Lord did to bring us out of our bondage and sin, we even take great care to remember the Passover season, that is not where He meant for us to dwell!
Let's look ahead to the book of Joshua. Joshua was Moses' successor who would lead Israel into the promised land after many years of wandering. Remember God parting the Red Sea in Exodus 14? Well, check this out:
"And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap. So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan." Joshua 3:13-17
(Thanks for sticking with me..) Really though, how cool is it that the same miracle that delivered Israel FROM our suffering was performed to also deliver them INTO the promised land? Is this not the same phenomenon of the cross? The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ certainly delivered us from our bondage to sin but it powerfully brought us INTO a new dwelling with the Lord. Y’all, THAT IS AWESOME! This is a Christianity 101 kind of point, you may think, but how much time do we spend dwelling on what God saved us from instead of dwelling on the promises we live in now? It is the far better thing to live as a victor and to be excited of the fulfillment of more promises ahead such as the glories of Heaven!!
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:17
Friend, you are a new creation. You belong to God and you are welcomed and wanted in His magnificent presence! Cling to His promises and meditate on them. Bind them to your heart and let us dwell in the celebration that Jesus has conquered death, and stands in victory with His pierced hands around us!