HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU?!

The title of this blog has been spoken by parents down through the years. The frustration is great when one has to tell and retell a child fifteen times to clean his/her room or pick up his/her clothes or to go to bed or….!! Getting distracted and ‘pretending’ not to hear parents’ ‘To Do List’ is one thing but to fail to hear something positive or good is an altogether different thing! But the enemy of our soul is creative and deceptive and we, unfortunately, are quick to listen to his voice.

One of the oft repeated truths in Scripture reveals is that God is pleased to dwell among His people. In fact, one of the monikers given the Messiah is ‘Emmanuel’ or ‘God with us.’ God has always sought to dwell among His people. Before the Fall, He walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden. He spoke with Moses as a friend (Ex. 33:11). And He is revealed to have assumed flesh and walked among us before He was assassinated and then resurrected. And in today’s reading we hear, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.” (Rev. 21:3) That reading was in the New Testament but we also read today in the Old Testament, “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people” (Ps. 149:4). God loves His people and loves to be among them…us!

What is your prevailing perspective of your Heavenly Father? What lies concerning God have you allowed the enemy to insert into your understanding of Who He is? Do you view Him as a God of vengeance, consistently angry and never smiling? When you enter His presence prayerfully, is your first thought that He has rejected you and is awaiting the opportunity to pronounce His guilty verdict?! God wants to walk with you in intimate fellowship. He wants you to know Him and He is eager to communicate His love for you in Christ. Now, how many time is He going to have to tell you?!?