Who do you think I am? Pastor Rajiv's Mid-Week Message

 

Let Him in: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who brought them up out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord their God (Exodus 29:46).

God living among men. What a fantastic thought! What security, what peace!

And yet...

The sin of man is so loathsome to God that When God appeared even to his servant Moses, he said, “Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet”; and when he manifested himself upon Mount Sinai, to his own chosen and separated people, one of the first commands was, “Thou shalt set bounds about the mount.”

Both in the sacred worship of the tabernacle and the temple, the thought of distance was always prominent. The mass of the people did not even enter the outer court. Into the inner court none but the priests might dare to intrude; while into the innermost place, or the holy of holies, the high priest entered but once in the year. It was as if the Lord in those early ages would teach man that sin was so utterly loathsome to him, that he must treat men as lepers put without the camp.

How and why did God dwell among men? The fact is God always wanted to dwell with us but could not accept our sinfulness.

His plan was great, as per the quoted verse, but the problem was we didn't want to be His people. Our tendency to disobey Him and over lay His will with ours made sure He was always at a distance.

How did those commands of separatism change to invitations to come and unite with God?

That change happened because of Jesus Christ.

Remember, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest,”

Jesus Christ is the bridge, cleaning and transforming us before we cross that chasm, so that we are presentable to God the Father. He transforms us for God the father.

This transformation does not happen overnight. We have to relentlessly pursue it, again and again, till it happens.

When we accept Christ, He will transform our minds, transform our desires, transforms our relationships, and finally transforms our purpose. 

For this to happen we have to open the door. He will not barge in; He will wait patiently till we decide to open the door and Let Him in.

Break out of the box: Pastor Rajiv's Daily Reflections

God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people".

There is a very old song which goes -

"He walks with me and He talks with me and He tells me I am His own..."

Both these quoted verses, one from God outlaying His plan for us and the other by Merle Haggard actually make me very sad. Sad because an invitation from our creator, dedicating His time for us, is hardly taken seriously.

Why? Because We reserve time for Him, time that He has given us, for 2 hours on a Sunday, or an hour for our daily devotions or another few minutes at night, while He waits for us throughout the day.

This does not mean we pray all day and not work or enjoy our time. What it means is that we don't involve Him in ourselves, except when we are in trouble. 

It's time we broke out of reserved timings for God and involve Him and talk to him throughout the day, involving Him in our daily lives, our joys and our sorrows. Talk to Him as we walk with Him.