That Where I Am

John 14
"Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you: for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself: that where I am, (there) you may be also. And you know the way where I am going. ... I am the way and the truth and the life: no one comes to the Father but through Me....And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever: (that is) the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold him or know Him, (but) you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. .... I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you...After a little while the world will behold Me no more; but you (will) behold Me; because I live, you shall live also.... If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our abode (dwelling place!) with him. In that day you shall know that I am in My Father and you in Me, and I in you. 


It wasn't until a few years ago that I really began to look at this passage. When Jesus said, "I go to prepare a place for you," I assumed He meant He would die, go to heaven, get everything ready, and then we would either die and go to heaven and live in one of those dwelling places, or that He would come back and whisk us away to join Him to live there (I preferred the latter). I remember being blown away by the thought that Jesus wasn't just talking about going to heaven to prepare this ginormous place with a ton of rooms (dwelling places) in it. He was also talking about preparing a relationship for me with Himself.

Jesus, in John 14 is in the Upper Room, having the Passover Meal with His friends. He knew in a few short hours, He would be betrayed, judged, and crucified. But He also knew that only through His crucifixion, burial, resurrection and ascension could I come into relationship with Abba Father. The dwelling place that He was preparing for me was in my own heart, a dwelling place for Father, Son, Holy Spirit to dwell in relationship with me. The many dwelling places were the hearts of many people who would also put their faith in Christ's death, burial, resurrection and ascension, resulting in relationship with Abba Father.

The other day I was thinking on these few verses again, and the Holy Spirit revealed something else to me as I meditated on the verse:

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself: that where I am, (there) you may be also. 

Jesus wants me to be with Him. Like, right now, this moment.  In John 17:3 He prays,

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, in order that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me. For You did love Me before the foundation of the world. 

It is true that heaven is the dwelling place that Jesus' death, burial, resurrection and ascension bought: (Revelation 21)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,

but it is also true that the place of Jesus' dwelling, His abiding, is in me, my own heart.  He desires relationship with me. But, He desires this relationship in an ongoing manner. (John 15) He doesn't desire this so that He can now be my "co-pilot" and come with me where ever I go. He desires me to be where He is so that I can see His glory, see what He is doing, see Him. 

In this relationship with God, I now have an ability to know the heart of the Father through the Spirit (1 Cor 2:9-13) to go with Him where He goes, to love with Him whom He loves, to follow Him into the hard places, the dark places, because He desires everyone to know Him. 

God has not rescued me so that I can now live out my own agenda with power. He has rescued me because He loves me. And this love is so incredible, so unbelievable, so fulfilling and joyful and life-giving, that out of the overflow of it, He empowers me to love others whom He is drawing to Himself. Loving others can look like serving, encouraging, praying, or sharing the truth of who He is. It can look like mourning with those who mourn, and rejoicing with those who rejoice. It can look like forgiving others, hating what is evil and clinging to what is good, providing for others needs, and even leaning into the sanctification process so that others will see Jesus more clearly through me. But at the end of the day, my life is no longer my own. 

It is not that I am saved to have God's blessing to do what I want with my life. It's that I am rescued to play a part in the rescue of others. And I can't even do that apart from His Spirit at work in me. 

The question is not, "God will You bless my work today?" The question is, "God, where are You at work today and how may I join You in it, through the love and power of Yourself dwelling in me?"