Where Do You Live?
A dwelling is the place we inhabit. In a spiritual sense, the Lord should be our dwelling place. The Holy Spirit indwells us as believers. But we must also live in Him. The Bible calls it, “abiding.” Do we remain IN HIM daily? Do we abide in the Vine? As we draw near to the Lord, He draws near to us. It’s kind of like a dual citizenship. I live in Him; He lives in me.
This week we’ll start a series of lessons on cultivating a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Intimacy is a key to victorious Kingdom living. It infers closeness in a most familiar relationship. Let’s look at some verses to help us cultivate a closer relationship with the Lord.
Read Numbers 14:1-4
1. Where did Israel want to “dwell” instead of taking possession of the land of promise?
Read Isaiah 31:1
2. What was the warning to Israel? Name the things on which they were relying and what God desired from them. What do you think “Egypt” represents to us today?
Read Deuteronomy 17:16B
3. What was Israel not to do?
4. Why do you think they wanted to go back to the land of slavery and oppression? Have you ever felt like giving up and going back to your old way of living?
Read Ephesians 2:12-13
5. Before knowing Christ, where did we formerly live? Describe what the blood of Jesus has done for us.
A note in my Bible says that in their ingratitude, Israel preferred death. It was just too hard to get to the promised land, so they wanted to go back to slavery. Even though they suffered in bondage, they wanted to go back to the familiar. God didn’t want them to look to Egypt for help. He wanted to be their Source. Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Where’s your trust today? Take some time to consider “where you live.” In a state of unbelief or in the presence of the Almighty? It’s our choice. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.
The children of Israel wanted to go back to Egypt and dwell there – they were murmuring against Moses – Aaron and the whole bunch of people – they were forgetting that GOD was leading them to a land of promise and who would not want to dwell in the land of promise – things happen to each one of us when we forget to pray and dwell close to the LORD – we must want to be in his presence all the time and be very very close to HIM. Woe to them that return to Egypt for help – trust in chariots – in horsemen – they forgot to seek after the Holy One or they did not seek the LORD to guide them in what they were going to do – That is a big mistake when we take things in our own hands and do not seek after GOD in our lives. Egypt to me means picking up the old things in our lives and not depending on GOD alone for things. Israel was not to go back to the old things in their lives. I do not understand why they wanted to go back to their old ways – I never have wanted to do that in my life – GOD always has much better things before each one of us. Things were not going just like Israel wanted them to go and they did not consult with GOD. We were living in sin and the blood of Jesus covered us when we gave our lives to HIM – OH HOW WONDERFUL – the blood covers all things that were wrong with and in our lives – wonderful. I want to be dwelling at the feet of JESUS each day of my life and I want HIM to have full control of my life. Will dwell on this for a while – wonderful lesson – Karen – Thank you so much.
I think Egypt represents today anything that we cling to as “safety” because its “what we know” instead of having faith in God to give us something better. It can be so hard to leave even a life of hardship simply because ts familiar….we’ve learned he to navigate it. Stepping out in faith can be very scary, even when (or especially when) we know its God calling us to do it. I have absolutely wanted to go back at times in my life. Sometimes the right thing feels too hard or just uncomfortable. For whatever reason, familiarity often brings false security. That’s when I really lean on my mentors to keep me steered in the right direction. When I find myself looking for my source of strength in the wrong places, it doesn’t take too long before I find myself anxious and having lots of failures to remember where my true source of all strength comes from. And once again, He is my God of Do-Overs. :)