Home In Him
When I think of Home I think of a place where I can totally be at rest. Home is a place where we can really be ourselves without any judgment. I don’t know about you but when I come home everything changes. It’s like extreme make-UNDER. Hair goes in a bun, makeup comes off, and the PJs come on.
God designed us to be a home for Him and for Him to be our home. A place where He can fully be Himself and we can fully be ourselves. 1 Corinthians 3:16 (AMP) says, “Do you not discern and understand that you are God's temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?” The word “sanctuary” actually means the inmost recess or holiest part of a church. If we are God’s temple, according to 1 Corinthians 3:16, then we are, essentially, God’s inmost recess. We are his holiest place. WOW!
One of the most important lessons that we must learn in order to make our Him our home, and the first one we are addressing today, is to discover our identity in Him and in nothing else. 1 Corinthians 8:6 says, “Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, who is the source of all things, and we exist for Him.” God created us for Himself. Our purpose is to know Him and to be known by Him. Everything else we do with our lives is actually a by-product of this. 1 Peter 2:9 says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession.” I read in a commentary that the word “royal” used in this scripture does not seem intended to imply that every Christian is a king, or of royal birth but describes his or her belonging to the King. In the same commentary the consecrated nation is literally, a people for a special reservation. This scripture describes who we are by describing whose we are. We belong to the King. We are for a special reservation. There’s so much freedom in knowing that our purpose, our very design, was to know Him and be known by Him. It takes all the unnecessary pressure off of our lives to pursue anything but that.
When we receive the revelation that God created us for Himself and that He didn’t create us just to do things for Him then everything else in our lives comes into balance and alignment. Our perspective, pursuits, identity, and dreams come into alignment with this one purpose, to love Him no matter what situation we are in. Nothing else really matters as much as knowing Him and pleasing Him in whatever season of life we are in. I remember when God spoke to me and said, “ You could do nothing else for the rest of your life and my love for you would never change.” Of course, I want to do a lot with my life but the fact that God is utterly pleased with me right now, as I am, is life changing.
Revelation 19:7 refers to us as the bride of Christ. Our lives, for eternity, will be spent betrothed to God. We will be married to our Maker for the rest of our lives. It’s what we were made for. We were designed for intimacy with God and nothing else will satisfy us. There is no amount of money, success, titles or relationship status that will fulfill us. He created us for Himself. Our purpose is to know Him and to be known by Him.
The second lesson we must learn in order to make Him our home is to choose to trust the His voice in spite of our circumstances. We must learn to trust the voice of God even when our circumstances don’t line up with what He said. His voice has to be the loudest voice. It has to be louder than our circumstances and louder than our doubts and fears. Jeremiah 17:7-8 (VOICE) says.” But blessed is the one who trusts in Me alone. The Eternal will be his confidence. He is like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots beside the stream. It does not fear the heat or even drought. Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces.” We can thrive in any and all circumstances if our trust is firmly rooted in God.
There are countless stories in the bible where God promises something to someone and their life ends up looking quite the opposite of the promise. Two biblical characters, Joseph and David, are examples of that. Joseph was promised, in a dream, as a young man, to become a great ruler but he actually was the opposite for many years. He was sold into slavery by his family and became a prisoner for a crime he didn’t commit before he ever became a great ruler. Likewise, at a young age, David, was anointed the next King of Israel. He was promised an entire Kingdom yet for many years after that promise the only domain he ruled was a field full of sheep. In addition to that, and before he was ever king, he was hunted by the present King, Saul. By all accounts, he was more likely to be murdered by Saul before ever becoming a King. Joseph and David’s circumstances told them God was a liar. Their circumstances told them that what God said about them would never happen. There was no way in the natural that Joseph could go from being a slave, then a prisoner, to being the second in command over Egypt. Likewise, with David, he wasn’t the obvious choice. He was actually out in a field, tending sheep, when the Prophet, Samuel, came to anoint him as the next King of Israel. His circumstances did not accurately portray his promise and destiny. We cannot allow our circumstances to define us. God is the only one who defines us and as we cling to his word about us and we trust Him, He will lead us into our destiny.
The last lesson in making Him our home is recognizing that God created you very unique and there is simply no one like you. There is no one like you that has ever been created or ever will be created. You are a perfectly unique expression of God that no one could replicate. You have something to release on the earth that no one else can release and creation itself needs you. Romans 8:19 (AMP) says, “For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.” Because your life is so unique and has such a specific purpose it is of the utmost importance that you find your home in God. We cannot possibly release all that God has designed us to release on the earth unless we know who we are and knowing who we are comes from knowing whose we are. Referring back to John 15:5-8 (MSG) “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. “ I truly believe the last line of this scripture. That if we make ourselves at home with Him then anything we ask will be listened to and acted upon. He becomes our home when we discover our identity in Him. He becomes our home when we trust Him despite our circumstances. He becomes our home when we realize how unique and specific God created us to be. Your destiny is found at home with your Father. Your identity and dreams are unlocked in the revelation that you belong to Him.
