January 18, 2024 PLEASANT PLACES
Psalm 16:5-8 “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely i have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
The Old Covenant is primarily about God dealing with His people in the natural; what God did in the natural under the Old Covenant is a picture of the spiritual in the New Covenant. The application of the first verse above is that our life in Christ is indeed a ’pleasant place,’ and our ‘boundary lines’ refers to the fact that He encompasses all of our lives. All we do should be within His realm and under His lordship. ‘Being in Christ’ is not just semantics or a discussion reserved for theologians; being in Christ and Christ being in us is the cornerstone of the New Testament. As believers, we have been joined to Christ; He is our life; we have died to our life. (It is possible for believers to revert back to living according to their flesh; to walk according to the flesh instead of walking according to the Spirit.) The mystery is that when we die to our lives and experience Christ as our life, we truly live to the fullest and our deepest longings are fulfilled. The psalmist states that he has a ‘delightful inheritance.’ Being in Christ does not mean that we will be exempt from difficulties in this life; it does mean that He will strengthen us and comfort us in the trials. We tend to focus on the here and now-and that is understandable; however, the inheritance that is ours should capture our hearts. What Christ has reserved for us is beyond our imagination. This is a crude illustration: but if one is homeless and without any resources, gets notification that in 30 days he will be receiving an inheritance for a million dollars, sleeping under the bridge will be no problem whatsoever. We live in the here and now, but let us not lose focus on what God has for each of His children. As you read the New Testament, it is evident that the believers were looking forward to the inheritance that was theirs in the Lord-even when they were experiencing great trials. God is with us; He counsels us; He instructs us; and we will not be shaken. Because we are in pleasant places in Christ, we have a glad heart and we rejoice. He will never abandon us. He makes known to us the path of life; and in His presence we are filled with joy! So, no matter our circumstances, let us turn pour hearts and minds to all that God has in store for those who know Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold; all things have become new.”
Blessings, Buddy
Psalm 16:5-8 “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely i have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”
The Old Covenant is primarily about God dealing with His people in the natural; what God did in the natural under the Old Covenant is a picture of the spiritual in the New Covenant. The application of the first verse above is that our life in Christ is indeed a ’pleasant place,’ and our ‘boundary lines’ refers to the fact that He encompasses all of our lives. All we do should be within His realm and under His lordship. ‘Being in Christ’ is not just semantics or a discussion reserved for theologians; being in Christ and Christ being in us is the cornerstone of the New Testament. As believers, we have been joined to Christ; He is our life; we have died to our life. (It is possible for believers to revert back to living according to their flesh; to walk according to the flesh instead of walking according to the Spirit.) The mystery is that when we die to our lives and experience Christ as our life, we truly live to the fullest and our deepest longings are fulfilled. The psalmist states that he has a ‘delightful inheritance.’ Being in Christ does not mean that we will be exempt from difficulties in this life; it does mean that He will strengthen us and comfort us in the trials. We tend to focus on the here and now-and that is understandable; however, the inheritance that is ours should capture our hearts. What Christ has reserved for us is beyond our imagination. This is a crude illustration: but if one is homeless and without any resources, gets notification that in 30 days he will be receiving an inheritance for a million dollars, sleeping under the bridge will be no problem whatsoever. We live in the here and now, but let us not lose focus on what God has for each of His children. As you read the New Testament, it is evident that the believers were looking forward to the inheritance that was theirs in the Lord-even when they were experiencing great trials. God is with us; He counsels us; He instructs us; and we will not be shaken. Because we are in pleasant places in Christ, we have a glad heart and we rejoice. He will never abandon us. He makes known to us the path of life; and in His presence we are filled with joy! So, no matter our circumstances, let us turn pour hearts and minds to all that God has in store for those who know Him.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold; all things have become new.”
Blessings, Buddy
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