Motivation Monday - Dwell with God
“One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” (Psalm 27:4 NIV)
Annie Dillard has said, “How you spend your days is how you spend your lives.” So how do you spend your days? More importantly, where do you place your focus when trying to interpret the swirl of all that is happening around you and outside of you?
You will never be able to face the world outside of you without anxiety or fear unless you first set the space inside of you right - and that can only be done by being in God’s presence. This means dwelling WITH God and making room for the Holy Spirit to dwell IN you.
Dwelling with God means a life-giving connection to Him. If there is no connection, there is no life, no abundance, no fruit, no peace, no comfort, no calming of my anxious fears.
Dwelling with God informs my fractured identity
and creates space for Him
to weave the broken threads of my unraveled self back together.
Dwelling with God means I am aware of Him constantly. I consider Him in all I do. I am concerned about the things that concern Him. I converse with Him throughout the day, “What do You think of that?” or “I want to talk to You more about this later.”
Dwelling with God means I need Him. I depend on the power and resources of the Holy Spirit. I cling to His promises. He steps in when I’m weak. He fights for me when I’m distracted. He knows the right words when I don’t know what to pray. I am humbled yet confident knowing not a minute goes by without Him.
Dwelling with God means to settle in. To save us is one thing, but to invite us into a relationship is quite another. God has not only rescued us, but invited us to live in His house, and come to live in ours, so we can have a long-term, eternal personal relationship.
Dwelling with God means to listen—He has something to say about what I eat, where I go, how I spend my money, how I use my time, and the attitudes in my heart. He has wisdom for the friend I want to help, and ideas for how to love my coworker. He brings vision for the dreams I have, and a strategy for how to move forward with courage.
Dwelling with God means He lives within me, even though He knows me as I truly am. He sees my clutter, the dirt in the corner of my heart, the thing stuffed under the couch, the distractions, and, yes, the good things too. I want to make Him feel at home, to enjoy spending time with me. Because He’s always with me, I’m home no matter where I am.
Perhaps you, like me, long to be ‘home’ to simply settle in a dwelling place with God, anytime, anywhere, no matter what is happening all around you. May you find a deep settling in your soul this week as you dwell with God and make room for Him to find His home in your heart. How you spend this day, and the next and the next can determine how you spend your life until you are with God forever. Spend it enjoying an unbroken indwelling of the presence of God.
I believe in you. God bless.
- Cathie