We dwell in houses, apartments, mobile homes, RV’s, tents. That is our physical reality. We dwell with God when He is whom we seek to be with every day, regardless of where we lay our head.
I don’t choose to participate in New Year’s resolutions, mostly because I am weak and forgetful. I will occasionally, however, choose a word to focus on for the year. This year, God brought “dwell” to my mind. Probably because my daily thoughts and actions have not included Him like they should, as a professed Christian. Of course, like He always does God has brought the word “dwell” across my path almost daily. Praise God. I want my focus to be on Him. To dwell in His presence as I pray, read, study, journal and am alone with my thoughts.
In my Exodus study, as God is instructing Moses on building the tabernacle, He will “dwell” with them. I came across the words transcendence and immanence. Of course, I had to look those words up. As I researched, I found these definitions that made sense to me. The immanence of God: the creator of the universe has made Himself knowable to humanity. He is knowable, perceivable, graspable.* The immanence of God means “God’s dwelling place would be with the Israelites. He would dwell or tabernacle with them. ” (John MacArthur) Exodus 29:45 “I will live among the people of Israel and be their God,” The transcendence of God: He is the creator and sustainer of the universe. The originator of life and every good gift. He is bigger and greater than anything they will ever have the ability to comprehend.* The transcendence of God, “whose dwelling place was in the heaven of heavens.” (John MacArthur). Isaiah 55:8-9 ““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God redeemed Israel from bondage in Egypt so He could dwell with them. Exodus 29:46 “…I am the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt so that I could live among them. I am the Lord their God.”
Great. Good thoughts. But what does that mean for us today? As a Christian, the Holy Spirit took up residence inside you the moment you believed. Your body is the temple. The Holy Spirit is dwelling within you. As such, we are to honor God with our bodies, our lips, our thoughts, our words, our actions. I pray you take time daily to “dwell” in the presence of God, allowing Him to fill you with His words, His ways; less of you, decluttering your thoughts, purging your selfish ways.
1 Corinthians 6:19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.”
1 Peter 1:18-19 “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
*(https://www.gcu.edu/blog/theology-ministry/theology-thursday.)