This Is Home

“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.” -- John 14:23

I like home. Suzanne and I have gone to great lengths to make home the place to be...and we enjoy it so much that we rarely take vacations! Home can be a refuge from the world or it can be a place to entertain. It can be incredibly quiet or filled with laughter. But whatever the conditions, home is always ours. That's a good thing.

Jesus tells us in that verse from John that if we love Him then we seek to obey His teachings and that God will come and take up residence with us. So what does that mean? What if it means that, no matter what is going on inside of us whether it's joy or sadness or excitement or conflict, God is literally bound with us and going through all of it right alongside of us? How would that change the way we approach our lives?

So you are going through a period of true financial stress...and God is there guiding you to tithe and to be disciplined, and the stress will pass.

Maybe you are dealing with some health issues...and God is there with you as you listen to the doctors. He hears you when you pray for healing and even if it isn't His will to heal you, that just means He has bigger plans for you to do His work through the sickness. It never for a second means you are in trouble or that God has simply left you.

Maybe you are riding high right now and things couldn't be going any better...and God is there with you, smiling at your joy and contentment.

To think about God's Spirit actually residing inside of you ought to change your thinking a little bit. Addictions and bad habits that seem impossible to overcome are easier when you remember that He is there with you, urging you on.

Like a stereo amplifier, God's presence should amplify things for us. When we revert to old habits and sin manages to sneak in, which it will, we're going to feel worse about it with God's presence than we will without it. Likewise, when we encourage or give or serve we're going to experience an emotional high unlike anything we can get anywhere else because God is there cheering us on and telling us "Well done!"