Christianity Uncensored: Destination Uncensored Series

And so you’re getting a pool, and while the pool’s being done you think, “Man, new appliances would be great,” and as you’re doing those you think, “We could really use some new flooring.” How smart would that be? I mean, that’s ridiculous. It’s a temporary residence, you’re only living there for three months. But when you look at our life, our spirit, our soul, who we really are, we are just living in temporary housing. James says it’s like a mist, is all. And it’s gone but God is making a permanent residence for us, for those who follow Jesus.

Jesus said in John 14, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions, or many rooms; if it were not so, would I have told you that I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, take you for yourself, that where I am you may be also.” And then one of the apostles who heard him speaking said, “But Lord, how will we know the way, how will we know how to get to that house?” And Jesus answered him. He said, “I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light. No man comes to the father except by me.”

So doesn’t it just make sense that we live our life in the presence of God now on a daily basis? Paul writes in II Corinthians, “Now we know if the earthly tent that we live in is destroyed we have a building from God. An eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling.” And then he goes on to say, “Now it is God who has created us for this very purpose.”

Now I love the wording that Paul uses here, he says we groan. We long for this dwelling. In fact, he says we were created for this very purpose. We were created to live each day of our life with God. That’s what he’s saying. He’s saying it is by nature our heart’s desire. And I sometimes think the longer we live and walk with God the more we long. The more we groan. The more we look forward to it. I think sometimes the longer we live in a fallen world where sin abounds, where there’s pain and there’s heartache and there’s sickness; the more we long, the more we groan to be with him, to live with him.

One of my favorite authors, Dallas Willard, tells the story of a young boy - true story- six-year-old boy whose mother had passed away. And this boy was having a really hard time finding peace in his life and it really showed up for him especially at night when he was trying to go to sleep. And so for a while his father allowed him to sleep with him in his bed and that helped quite a bit. But even then when the lights were turned out and it was dark in the room the boy would ask his father, he’d say, “Dad, is your face turned towards me?” And the father said that when he answered and he said that, “Yes, my face is turned towards you,” that it was enough and it allowed his son to have enough peace to get some sleep.

And I think we should live our life with that same kind of passion to be saying to our father, “Father is your face turned towards me? Turn your face towards me. Be with me in this day, be with me in the decisions that I make, be with me as I treat other people, be with me in every part, every moment of my day.” That should be our passion. And, in fact, Paul says that’s what we were created for.