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Dwelling Place Of The Lord!
Contributed by Bala Samson on Jan 4, 2014 (message contributor)
Summary: Getting your home ready for God at times may require you to remove unwanted stuff!
Dwelling place of the Lord!
Psalm 132:14-15”This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread.”
Roof garden, plush interior decorations, indoor plants, landscaping, indoor water fountains and what not adorn the modern homes today! But alas, without God such homes have lost their luster! Anybody listening? I know of a Christian gentleman who bought house after house, decorated it with the best of gardening and household furniture; in fact, he had around 100 varieties of plants in his garden. Most of their time were spent maintaining their home, drowned in the practicalities of life, they sadly failed to spend time with their daughters; at the age of 18 their daughter eloped with a man of other faith. This message comes with a caveat to set right your home!
Getting your home ready for God:
How about getting your home ready for the Lord? After getting saved in a prayer meeting, when Pat Robertson, Founder of Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) came home, he removed a huge vulgar picture in the living room that made him uncomfortable for the first time. He went on to drain the numerous, expensive liquor bottles from the fridge much to the astonishment of his family. Getting your home ready for God at times may require you to remove unwanted stuff! When Jesus walked joyfully into the home of Zacchaeus, he had to give half of his goods to the poor and restore fourfold to those he had defrauded. The gain and joy in the home of Zacchaeus was plentiful, though; the entire family were saved. Glory to God! Applying for housing loan is the first thing our young people do after they settle down in a job; saving on rent and having your own roof above your head seems to be the ‘mantra’ today; nevertheless, I have seen some drastic consequences because of careless and swift decisions regarding this. Hijacked by greed people have forgotten to follow God’s ways! I have no time to dwell on the subject since I want to concentrate about making our homes into God’s dwelling place.
Remove idols:
Another most important thing for God to dwell in our midst is to cleanse our homes from idols! Many are ignorant about this fact and they rent homes that have idols engraved in the doors or on walls; worst, some gleefully dwell in houses infested with idols. Disturbances would definitely be there! God says: “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” ( 2 Corinthians 6:16)
God’s desire:
I love the phrase in this chapter, where God says, “here will I dwell; for I have desired it! Amen. Let our goal be to please our Master and make Him not just pass by our home but stay in the midst of us. We got to meticulously follow His commandments so that He stays with us. Read: Levititus 26: 3 "If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them……then 12” I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people. “
Blessings pours when He dwells in our midst:
Why would a home not be blessed when the Creator of the Heaven and Universe dwells with us? The devil loves to throw sentences like, ‘would God stay with me?’ ‘would God fellowship with me?’ ‘am I worthy?’ Never listen to the lies of the enemy and do all it takes to keep God with you always. Look what the scripture says, ‘this is my rest for ever!’ The Bible says that the home of Obededom was immensely blessed when the Ark of the Lord rested in his home. 2 Samuel 6:11:” And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obededom, and all his household.”
Let’s fill our homes with worship, praises and prayers so that our Lord dwells among us!