Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. Romans 5:1-2.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Where are you? Pause and see what you would say.
When Moses went up Mt. Horeb leading his father-in-law’s flock of sheep he was taking a path that he took often and he would have said he was on an ordinary path in an ordinary place on an ordinary day, but when I revealed that I was there with him it became holy ground, an extraordinary place of grace where miracles, signs, and wonders began with the ordinary shepherd’s staff he had in hand. And I told him the sign that I was with him and bringing all these wonders of redemption about would be he would return to that place with all My people he brought out of slavery to the glorious freedom on My children and they would all worship together there on that same mountain. And I made My presence known to them all in that very same place.
And think of Isaac’s son Jacob. He was getting away from his brother Essau and seeking a bride as well and he stopped at Luz to spend the night on his journey to his uncle’s home and during the night he became aware of My presence with him in a dream and I gave him the promise of My abiding presence with him and showed him the ladder between Heaven and earth on which the angels were ascending and descending, which Jesus would later identify as pertaining to Him as the mediator that reconciled you to Me and opened Heaven to you. John 1:51 (“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”). And Jacob’s response? He knew he was on holy ground, an ordinary place became an extraordinary place by the presence of My grace in which in Christ you now stand.
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Genesis 28:16-17.
And he renamed the place “Beth-el,” which means “House of God.” And that same place became the place that David found as “the Place” I had designated to build My house, the temple that Solomon built for which David wrote the plans from Me.
So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. He called the name of that place Bethel; however, previously the name of the city had been Luz. Genesis 28:18-19.
Places of revelation, where I tell you things you could not know and share My thoughts with you become milestones in your life. Jacob later returned to that place prosperous and successful to thank Me that what I had promised him there came to pass. “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Genesis 28:15.
I would often call Abraham by his name to give him an instruction or ask him to do something or go somewhere, I would call his name, which is like asking, “Where are you?” and his reply was always a quick “Here I am, ready to do your direction.”
After Adam and Eve had sinned by rejecting and disobeying My Word, they did not run to draw near Me with confidence, when I came to walk in fellowship with them, instead they went and hid from Me. And what did I say to Adam?
Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9.
They did not take the path of repentance home to Me with confidence, they hardened their hearts in fear of punishment and Adam blamed Me for his sin. I was with him, I never leave you or forsake you, I am a very present help in time of trouble, but he was not with Me.
Where are you? It is time to evaluate.
Where are you? Would your answer be “I dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide in the shadow of the Almighty?” Would you say to Me, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!”?
But now I will tell you the answer that is the best place to be and is the ultimate place of grace, beauty, wonders, healing, protection, and love where you are in My perfect will for your life for time and eternity! And that answer to where you are is IN CHRIST. It is My doing, My greatest plan for you to make you just like Me and one with Me (which is what Adam and Eve were trying to get by sinning and separating from Me for what had the devil enticed them with? “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5) in Christ. That is the place of grace, great grace, where you now stand before Me blameless, holy and beyond reproach in Christ. He won it for you by the blood of His cross and through His substitutionary sacrificial death on your behalf whereby in Him I paid your judgment and satisfied you sentence so you are shielded in Him from the wrath to come. In Him you have redemption, the forgiveness of your sins. In Jesus you are standing on holy ground, Christ in you, your hope of glory. And once you are in Him you receive the gift of My indwelling Spirit and you become “a house of God and gate of Heaven” wherever you go, not just on Beth-el. Now the Place is in you. Abide in Me as I abide in you.
If you love Me and keep My Words, you abide with Me and I abide in you.
If when I asked you where you are and your answer was not “in Christ,” it is time you changed your location and clothed yourself in Christ. Then you take your holy habitation to any place, land or nation you go. Just like I told Joshua at the edge of the promised land:
“Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9.
And now I am not just with you, I am in you to direct you in the way you should go.
And do you know where you are in the spirit when you are in Christ?
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:4-7.
Yes, you are seated with Him at My right hand in the throne room of Heaven, the very Holy of Holies, the command center of the universe and of Heaven, which encompasses all.
You notice that I tell you to come with confidence to My throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace just when you need it, but I never tell you to leave. It is an open invitation to stay forever in My house with Me, firmly planted therein, renewing your youth and filling your days with the abundance of My house and the fruit of good works that I have prepared for you in advance.
The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, he will grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; they shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the LORD is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Psalm 92:12-15.
I love you. Live on in My love. Where are you? I hope you said, “In Christ,” with a big smile on your face and a song in your heart.