The Perfect GPS Really Exists
- Avi Tekle
- Jul 27, 2023
- 4 min read
Tents of Mercy Congregation
Kiryat Yam, Israel
Have you ever been in a situation where you’re trying to do something and you really mess up, but there happens to be a person next to you who knows exactly what needs to happen; and he comes in and shows you just what to do. It’s such a relief!
At some point, each one of us finds ourselves utterly lost – in a crisis or a situation that we don’t know how to respond to; and we don’t know what the next step is. David says in Psalm 16, “Father God, show me the path of life.” This verse is great because it shows the truth of our reality. Sometimes we get to a place where we simply don’t know how to live. The second half of Philippians 4:5, “The Lord is near,” assures us that God is present and near to guide us back to the path of Life.
Like a Divine GPS, God Shows Us the Way
There is a similar theme in Leviticus 26:12-13. In these verses the Almighty God promises,“I will walk among you, and I will be your God and you will be my people. I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, from being their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and caused you to walk upright.” God always wants us to be aware of His presence in our lives. Our problem is that we often fail to access the “GPS.”
When Yeshua walked this earth, He fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah (57:15) that God would dwell among us as Emmanuel – God with us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
But the exalted God of Heaven did not make do with being NEAR or dwelling among us. The Bible tells us also “Greater is He who is IN you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He’s not just around us or in the city or in our neighborhood or even “just” in our home. He is inside of us.
Statistically, in the Western world a person’s average lifespan is 80 years. Of those years, the equivalent of 25 years will cumulatively be spent sleeping and seven years trying to fall asleep. Thirteen years of that lifetime will be spent building a career, and one of those years will be spent working overtime. Whether we are sleeping or whether we're working or even trying to fall asleep, God is with us and dwells in us. It’s like His word says “He who keeps Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps” (Psalm 121:4). The battery life of the divine “GPS” is infinite.
Guidance for Joshua
An interesting Biblical comparison highlighting this subject is the book of Joshua and the book of Acts. Both begin with the “departure” of a great leader. The book of Joshua opens with Moses going up a mountain and not returning. God allows the people to pray for 40 days, and after 40 days, God comes to Joshua and He says “Moses has died and gone… now you will lead the people into their inheritance.” Then in Joshua 1:5, God promises that “Just as I was with Moses so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” God could have shared wisdom and strategies on how to inherit the land, yet He only says this one thing: “No one will be able to stand before you because I will be with you.”
Guidance for Yeshua's Disciples
In the book of Acts, just before ascending to the sky, Yeshua also instructed His disciples in a similar way. He said, “Do not leave Jerusalem until you receive power…” What does this power imply? It’s not just some power that clothes them; this is the indwelling of God Himself in their lives. Acts 2 was not just God dwelling among us, but God’s Holy Spirit dwelling in us – working in our lives, in our souls, in our hearts, in our minds and in our emotions.
When God dwells within us, we have an intimate walk with Him, and we are aware that He is leading us. Not only do we receive guidance regarding what to do and how, He also changes us from the inside out. This is His main purpose in our lives – to make us more like Him.
When you spend time with a person, your relationship deepens and their personhood and behavior impact you. Likewise when we walk with the knowledge that He dwells in us and He leads us, our life and our character are altered and we become like Him.
Your character is the content of your soul, who you really are from within – not something that you show off on the outside, but what your heart is made of. This is God’s desire – to transform the character of our lives, to make us into His likeness, to be His light. He encourages us as He leads and speaks to us, but when He dwells in us, His primary purpose is to change and transform us into His likeness.
If God with us is like a divine GPS, then God in us is like one of those futuristic tech gadgets that is inserted into the ear – like a hidden enhancement to the brain.
In Colossians 1:27, Paul encouraged the believers who understood the grace of the Messiah and preached the gospel with courage and truth, that he saw in their lives the good workings of God –the glorious mystery regarding the gentiles which is “Messiah in you, the hope of Glory.” Meaning all the glory of God is found in the person of the Messiah Yeshua – and the Messiah Yeshua dwells in you!
(*Editor's note: Translated from a teaching given at Tents of Mercy: In a summer decluttering frenzy encompassing all of our spaces including the computer, I came across the transcript of a message from the days of Corona live streaming. As I read a few lines, it was an interesting exercise in corporate self-introspection. Life moves on. Things change, or don’t change, but one thing remains the same – our need for the GRACE of God!)
