Refuge part 1
This Rant series kind of picks up a little bit where the previous one left off. Talking about our life being hid in God with Christ. Deuteronomy chapter 35 speaks at length about cities of refuge. Places where a person could go to be safe after comitting a crime. Because our tendency, when we mess up, seems to be... run! Get away! Even way back in the garden of Eden we see that, "...they heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden" (Genesis 3:8). And here's the deal: They thought, "I disobeyed God, He's going to punish me." When, in fact and in truth, God isn't in the punishing game. God told Adam not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, not because He wanted to kill Adam, but because He knew the natural consequences of eating of that tree of death could only BE death! He was trying, as always, to protect us. "Kicking" Adam and Eve out of the garden wasn't a punishment either. Look at Genesis 3:22-23, "And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from when he was taken." God didn't want man to live forever in that "fallen" state of being the walking dead. "In the day you eat of that tree you shall surely die." That was a Spiritual death. So God sent mankind forth. In order to be able to reedem him at the cross. Through the cross. This is the truth we need to learn. Psalm 46:1, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." We need to learn that we can--and should--run TO Him instead of running FROM Him. He is our refuge. Our safe place. He stands with open arms (like on the cross) welcoming us home. The story of the Prodigal Son, right? And just so we're sure we're talking about what we think we are, "refuge" in Psalm 46:1 is number 4268 in Strong's Hebrew Concordance and it means, "a shelter (literally or figuratively): - hope, (place of refuge), shelter, trust." I like that. I like that a lot. Think about it--if God is our refuge, our safe place, our shelter, and God is love... that means LOVE is our safe place. Our refuge. Our shelter. Love is where we find ourselves, because our life is hid in God (in LOVE) with Christ. Love is where we're safe. Love is a very present help in trouble. People say Jesus is the solution, right? The answer to every problem? Well... who is Jesus? God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in OUR flesh. Love in OUR body. So LOVE is the solution. Love is what every situation needs. If you walk in love--LIVE in love--all will be well. You can stand on that Rock, that foundation, and not be shaken. You can... I don't want to say "hide" because when love is present the light of the world shines. But you can certainly have confidence that everything will be ok. No matter what it looks like on the outside. Because there is love on the inside. And when that love comes out... that's what makes all the difference. The difference--literally--between life and death is love. No love, no life. KNOW love... KNOW life! God, love, is our safe place. Our home. Our refuge!