AT HOME

John 1:14 NLT So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.

I wonder if you’ve done any spring cleaning yet? Washed down those cupboards, Washed any windows? Wherever our home is, whether it’s one room or a mansion, it reflects us and is a gift from God.😊

Now we may live in a home full of people or we may live on our own, but when someone we love comes to stay we want them to be at home in our home. In this verse we read about Jesus, who is The Word, leaving the splendours of His heavenly home and all its glory, to come and make His home among us!

That is an astounding thought! Why would the Maker of all things, the One who reigns in majesty come and humble Himself to become like one of those He had created, to rub shoulders with the least, the lost, the downtrodden, as well as the so called high ups?

Scripture reminds us that God is love, He breathes, walks and talks love and He has directed it towards us, His creation. Everything He does comes from His heart of love and He has come to make His home among us! 

The thing is, have we made Him welcome in our home, does He feel at home in every room or do we keep Him out of some areas? 

When the Holy Spirit moves in to take up residence in our hearts He’s going to do some spring cleaning, maybe clean off some dusty attitudes and sweep out some prejudices. But what a privilege to have the King of Kings, the One who is full of unfailing love and faithfulness, come and make our home His home.😊 

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit feels at home in our homes, that His presence permeates every space so when people come to visit us they feel His presence, His peace and His love, that there’s something different about our home, and if He needs to do some spring cleaning and clear out some stuff, we allow Him to do it.😊 Amen.

DON’T GO THERE!

Philippians 4:8 NLT And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

So… what’s on your mind? What have you been thinking about? Sunny days and ice creams? Or sad days and worried dreams? So often we think about things, without even realising it!😊 Thoughts just come and run riot - unless we take control of them. We do have a choice and depending on our choice, depends the result - peace or turmoil!

Now we know we all want peace and nobody enjoys turmoil, so what do we do about it? When worry thoughts, disturbing, negative, hurtful, ‘what if’ thoughts try to sneak in, we have to make a stand and DON’T GO THERE!

It’s a bit like a terrier dog seeing a rabbit hole, it can’t resist it and it goes down the hole! But we’re a child of God, filled with His Spirit, and we have His help and authority to take control of our thoughts. We see the rabbit hole and hear God’s Spirit saying, “Don’t go there!” We either obey or we don’t! 

There’s fear down that hole, upset and sleepless nights, there’s stress and tension there, so why on earth do we want to go down the rabbit hole when we don’t have to? 

I put my hand up, I’ve gone down that rabbit hole so often so don’t get me wrong, this is not to condemn us in any shape or form, it’s to encourage us to recognise the rabbit hole when it first appears in our minds and slam the door shut on it and Don’t Go There! 

Ask the Holy Spirit for His help, read scripture, bind the spirit of fear, plead the blood of Jesus, remember we have the Lion of the Tribe of Judah on the inside and ROAR back at the enemy, resist him and tell him to go! Instead, fill it in with the uplifting thoughts Paul talks about in our verse; pure, lovely, honourable, God’s Word thoughts. 

God says we have been given a spirit of love, power and a ‘sound mind’ which also means a disciplined mind so we can use it, and remember when negative thoughts start we have a choice and just say out loud, ‘I am NOT going there!” over and over again if need be! Amen.😊

Photo: Brooke Lark on Unsplash