Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bend my knees before the Father, from whom [every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.”
This last Sunday, Pastor Herk of the Little Church in the Pines asked: How do we make our hearts a place where Jesus can be at home? It is so important for us to have a “right” heart and a place that is a dwelling where Jesus can live. He states that it is important to understand the text of Holy Scripture and apply it into our spirit and truth worship. Do you ever think about why we pray? Have you ever stopped and thought about what you are prayer for and why those things? It is Father God who predestines us, redeems us to become part of His family, guaranteeing that we shall inherit all the spiritual blessings that He has for us. God hears our prayers.
The Apostle Paul says, “For this reason I bend my knees before the Father”, which is a picture of submission to plus reverence and awe of God in spirit and truth worship. It is a picture of Subject coming before a King to make a request. Just like when we come to the Sunday Worship Service at church, when we come before God in prayer, we need to come with a “right” heart, in spirit and in truth. The Apostle uses the phrase: the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. This is a reference to Creation of the heavens and the earth. Created beings owe their existence to the Creator Father God. We all have the same Father in Heaven and we are one Race; it makes no difference if we are Jew or Gentile, male or female, rich or poor, the place of our birth or the pigment color of our skin. All were created equal and God does not play favorites. God loves all His creation and creatures equally. God loves all of His children.
John 14:23-24 Jesus answered, “If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him. Anyone who does not [really] love Me does not observe and obey My teaching. And the teaching which you hear and heed is not Mine, but [comes] from the Father Who sent Me.”
Ephesians 3:16-17 “That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith”. The Greek word for “dwell” is “katoikeō” means Jesus is said to settle down and inhabit in the soul, to pervade, prompt, govern it. To abide as a permanent resident; to have a habitation for some time or permanence. To dwell imports a residence of some continuance. Dwell signifies a residence for life. When we purchase a house, we modify the interior and exterior to our liking because we plan on abiding there and living in that house as your permanent residence. You invest a lot of time and resources so that you could settle down and be at home. The Apostle wants us to do the same thing spiritually with our hearts, making it a place where Christ can take up permanent residence and be at home.
Jesus comes into our hearts the moment that we commit our lives to Him. But, when Jesus first comes into our hearts, there is still quite a bit of modifying to do, deep cleaning, throwing out of some old junk and new furnishings to do. There is still work that needs to be done by the process of sanctification. Here is some practical principles to make sure that our heart is where God’s home is. First, rely on God’s riches. The great thing about preparing our hearts for Christ to take up permanent residence is that we are not dependent upon our own resources. God gives us all we need by having access to the glorious riches of God. The born-again Believer has been redeemed from sin by Jesus’ death and resurrection, chosen and adopted into God’s family. And the Holy Spirit continues to live in us s a guarantee of both present and future spiritual riches. We’ve been joined together here as a church body in with other Believers for the purpose of revealing God’s wisdom here on earth and in Heaven. The Lord equips us with everything we need to remodel our heart and make it ready for Him.
Let's continue Pastor Herk's message on "preparing our hearts for Jesus to dwell" in the next Post. In Christ, Brian
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