My personal journey to understanding God’s command: “Dwell in my presence” Part 1

“Dwell in my presence”, this I heard God told me. Naturally I wondered what He meant by me dwelling in His presence. How am I to “dwell in His presence”?  What are the implications of this command to my personal life? Since I am a person who takes God’s commands very seriously, I decided to set out on this study of the phrase “dwell in my presence”. Scriptures and other tools like concordance, etc., will be my main references in this pursuit of understanding. Those of you who want to join me in this journey feel free to hop right in.

The first word I set out to understand is the verb “dwell”. The Hebrew word for it is : shakan ‘shaw-kan' According to Strong’s Concordance “shakan”  means to reside or permanently stay. To dwell in His presence is to permanently reside in his presence.

The term “permanent resident” strikes a very familiar cord to me who just newly migrated to the US. After Todd and I got married mid last year, one of the first things we needed to take care of was obtaining my “green card” otherwise called permanent residence card. Having a green card would mean not just being able to legally live and work in the US but most of all it meant I can depend to be protected by all the laws of the United States, the state of California and Monterey.  Similarly when God tells me to dwell in Him, He does so with my protection in mind.

There is another side to being a permanent resident of the US though. As a green card holder it is my responsibility to obey the same laws that promised me protection.  Disobedience of the law equals forfeiture of the benefits afforded by a green card.

The same is pretty much true with my relationship with God. As a citizen of His Kingdom, I have a responsibility to abide by God’s laws as expressed in His Word. Stepping out of the boundaries set by the word of God is stepping out of God’s protection.

When God tells me to dwell in his presence He is telling me…Elsie reside permanently in me, walk in my ways, be careful to obey my laws, then you can depend on the same divine laws to be a blessing to you. Indeed the promises of God often hinges on my obedient response to His commands.

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