Sometimes God uses particular Scriptures to help a believer redefine his/her walk with Him. That has certainly been true for me recently! Two particular passages stand out. The first is from Hebrews 6. Some people take the first part of this chapter to mean that one can be saved and then lose his/her salvation. Not so, when you look at verses 10 and following. The writer indicates that we must not drift away from the true Word of God. He points out that God has given both his promises (like the ones to Abraham) and then has sworn by Himself in an oath to keep those promises. Those promises and God's oath by Himself (He couldn't swear by anyone greater!) verse 19 tells us that "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." In other words, "On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand." Talk about security! The second passages come from Exodus 25-40, in which God gave Moses the instructions for the Tabernacle to give to the Children of Israel. Following a huge rebellion recorded in Exodus 32 on the part of the Children of Israel that included even Aaron, Moses' older brother. I think it's very interesting that Moses had begged God to send someone else to lead the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and that God allowed Aaron to be his spokesperson. However, the only thing that you hear coming out of Aaron's mouth is excuses for allowing the worship of a golden calf, which, incidentally, he fashioned. God was letting the people know that it was He, not Moses and certainly not Aaron that had delivered them! Although 3000 people died as a result, God extended amazing mercy and was willing to reestablish His covenant with those who repented and began anew to follow Him. He then went on to have them create a beautiful worship center. God was preparing to descend and in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, lead them to the promised land. When God saw the genuine repentance, he gave Moses the plans for the Tabernacle for the people to build. Then when the Tabernacle was complete and Moses had accepted it, God indeed did dwell among His people, giving them a visual evidence of His leadership. The important part of these chapters, however, is the strong knowledge that every single little most minute detail of the tabernacle was not only preparing for God to dwell with His people then, but was a type of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan for the salvation of those who turn from their sins and follow Him in obedience to His will. Perhaps the greatest example of that comes in the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was a wooden chest totally overlaid with gold. Inside that Ark, God told the people to put three things, each of which were strong reminders of how awfully rebellious they had been against Him. There were the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, which had been written with God's own hand. The second was Aaron's rod. Somewhere in their journeys through the desert to the Promised Land, the Children of Israel had risen up in opposition to Aaron's priesthood. God had told the elder of each of the tribes to place a rod in a particular place. The one whose rod blossomed was the true priest. It was Aaron's rod that bloomed, so his priesthood and that of the Levites was upheld. Then there was the jar of manna, about which the people had complained...by the way, . Atop that ark, however, was the Mercy Seat, the place from which God would dispense both judgement as He led the people on into the promised land. The symbolism here is that God was and is very willing to come and dwell with those who will receive His forgiveness and follow His leading. That was best seen in the once-for-sacrifice of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died, God tore the extremely thick curtain leading into the Holy of Holies. Here, then, the barriers between God and man were demolished. God came to dwell with the Children of Israel and guided them to the Promised Land. Jesus came and dwelt among people like us and gave His Life as an atonement for our sins. Wow! The Tabernacle of God is with us. As the wonderful old hymn says, "You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart." That redefines my walk with Him, because it makes me want to follow Him in love, gratitude and holy living!