3.035 The Lord...Dwelt with His People

In Matthew 5, Jesus calls us the salt of the earth and the light of the world, reminding us that our lives are meant to preserve, illuminate, and point others to Him. This season on Savory Salt, we'll walk through the Old Testament, one verse and one thought each day. Perhaps these moments will add greater savor and brighter light to our lives as we seek to truly live as Savory Salt.

Hello, my friends. It's a new day with new opportunities. Choose ye this day whom you will serve.

I'm sorry, did that just say giants? And before you turn this episode off, don't worry if you think that in Savory Salt we're going to dive into whether giants are fallen angels or Nephilim or anything down that rabbit hole. You are sorely mistaken.

We're going to focus on Enoch and the Lord and what's happening with them as they develop this incredible city of holiness as it is termed in Moses chapter 7. And our verse for today is going to come right after the giant verse. So if you missed the giants, it's in verse 15, and you get to go read and study that rabbit hole all day long.

You go have fun with that. But as for me and my house, we're going to look at verse 16, Moses 7, verse 16. And actually, 16, 17, 18, 19, these are verses that are, 18 especially, it was going to be one that I thought, 'Ah, that's for sure going to be quoted.' But I think that's one that you're going to get in your Sunday school classes.

Let's take a look at 16 and see what it can do for us. Verse 16 says, 'And from that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among them. But the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in righteousness.' Now, I don't know if I've ever made the connection.

I may be the only one here, but maybe you're along the same lines. I didn't make the connection that the Lord came and dwelt with the people of Enoch before the people of Enoch were translated and taken up unto the Lord. We get our little message that Enoch walked with the Lord, but we don't actually get clarity until verse 16 here that the Lord is dwelling among the people.

This has got to be an incredibly righteous city. We get a context here that Enoch's time is a time of war and bloodshed, and there are definitely forces fighting against God, as are the giants and others that are cursed, that are fighting against the Lord. So we have warring peoples.

We have a time where war and bloodshed is common here, and yet what's happening in the city of Enoch? The people are dwelling in righteousness. We see that they're blessed with the Lord.

The glory of the Lord comes upon them. They become the city of Zion, this city of holiness. My friends, it made me think of other situations, times in history where people have understood that it's not about our outside circumstances that determine the quality of our lives.

It's about what we're doing inside. And it got me thinking specifically about "Man's Search for Meaning" with Viktor Frankl. Inside of that, Viktor Frankl, here you have someone that experienced the Holocaust in its worst forms, right?

As a prisoner of war, tortured, starved, all the unbearable things that happened to him. And yet inside of that, he came to an understanding and said something as amazing as, 'Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose.' That comes directly from Viktor Frankl, who experienced all of the demeaning things of life and yet realized that the unbearable circumstances aren't what determines life qualities. It's only when we lose meaning and purpose.

So as I look at verse 16 here, I say, 'What was it that the Lord gave to the people here during this time of war and bloodshed?' Also mogadishag.com. Invite the Lord in your life. Seek to have the Holy Ghost as your companion at all times.

Invite Him when you pray. Invite Him in your actions. Invite Him in your words and see what happens to the world around you.

It may stay in chaos, in war, in bloodshed, in uncertainty. The Lord dwells with us, and we, together with Him, dwell in righteousness. That's all for today, my friends.

You and I have come here for such a time as this. Step forward in faith and let's be savory salt. We will be here tomorrow and we hope you are too.