John 14:23 "Jesus replied, "if anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."
This evening on the way home from work, I was talking with the Lord and asking if there was something special He had for me to write tonight. There is always something He has for me, He just gives it to me at different times. Sometimes I have it in the morning, sometimes later in the day, and sometimes I sit at my computer and wait on Him in the evenings. I never know when He will tell me what to write, I just trust Him and He always gives it to me in His timing. Tonight, though, as I was driving, and asking if He had something for me, all I heard was "home". I just thought it was because I was on my way home and was anxious to get home and relax, rest in the sanctuary the Lord has made for me.
And now, I know it is still "home" that He was telling me. The blessing of "home", there is really no place like home. I believe that everyone at one time or another complains about their home. There may not be enough room, you get tired of the struggle to keep it up, or the bills that come in concerning the home, and you just air it out.....that you are tired of "home". Or the family might be having relationship struggles.....I know this can make you want to run away from home. I can remember a time or four that these thoughts crossed my mind. Such thoughts can drive us so far from the teachings of the Lord.
When we make our Lord God a priority in our homes, when He is the first thought in securing the home, the first thought in moving into the home, and the first thought each day in the home, then "home" becomes a place of refuge, a place of precious love. The peace that the Name of Jesus brings into a home is unlike anything known to man. Picture yourself on the bank of a river, feet dangling in the water, the sweet sounds of birds in the trees, quietly singing, and the gentle sounds of the water moving through some rocks.....peace, peace, peace. You say your home is not like this. I can imagine it is not, mine wasn't before either. It took a lot of effort on my part to see the beauty, the opportunity that a home could be, adding to the peace in my life.
What changed, you ask? The first thing that changed was my attitude. Attitude has a lot to do with how we see things in our daily life. Whereas before I tried to do things in my own power, and when they did not work, my attitude was not great. It has nothing to do with the way I love the Lord, I told myself. Try that one and see if the Lord lets you rest that night. Usually when my attitude would not be what the Lord expected from me, we talked about it at night.....sometimes all night. The Holy Spirit would begin His work about the time I went to bed and usually by the time I got up, the work was complete in that area. I spent a lot of nights with the Holy Spirit dealing with attitude.
But the thing is, once I saw what was happening, how I was trying to do things my way, in my power, in my manner, once I let go and let God, things began to change. My home became my sanctuary. My home became a place of refuge that the Lord had provided me. It doesn't matter if you have a big house, a small house, a one room apartment....if it is where you live, it is your home. When you let the Lord preside over your place of residence, it becomes a real home. A real home where you can be the kind of person that the Lord made you to be; a wife, mother, father, husband, or if you are single, widowed as I am, or if you have roommates, this house will be a home because you have learned the most important fact in establishing a home......God first, God ruling in your home.
Where the Lord is, when He is the Lord of your heart, that is where home is. You can spend a couple nights at a friends, in a motel, or in a pitched tent, if the Lord is there in residence with you, if He is given authority over you, then you are home. Loving the Lord, giving yourself to the Lord, this will establish the real home. The Lord will establish Himself in you, His Holy Spirit will make His home with you and you will be at home no matter where you are.
Thank You, Lord, for making Your home with me. Let me always be mindful of the blessings You have given me, for the home you have established for me....my sanctuary with You, my refuge in You. Never let me forget, my precious Lord, that wherever I am, and loving You as I do, I know You will be there also, and that makes it a home. And there is no place.....like "home".
03-13-12
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