If you missed part 1 of Haleigh’s post “Make Your Heart into a Home,” you can read it here.
Thanks so much for joining me again. I want to start off like we did yesterday. Take a moment and imagine with me.
Put yourself at the front door of your home. You haven’t been home in so long, you open the door, and as you walk through the threshold, you just feel the weight being lifted off your shoulders, and you exhale a sigh of relief. And you think to yourself, “I’m home, at last.” Hold onto that feeling for a second. What if that feeling, that sigh of relief, was accessible to you all the time. No matter where you are, no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, what if you could have that moment of peace and relief at any moment? How great of a blessing that would be!
But what if I told you that Paul is inviting us into that? That no matter our location or circumstances, we are at home with the Holy Spirit constantly. We are in a perpetual state of home with the Holy Spirit. What if we filled ourselves with the love and the fullness of Christ so often, that it overflowed from us, and that no matter what we faced in the day, we could close our eyes, take a breath, and be overwhelmed with the feeling of home that radiates from our inner being.
But it wouldn’t have to stop there. What if home was so innate inside of us and we were so comfortable in our hearts with Christ dwelling in them, that other people felt at home when they were around us as well?
What if home was so innate inside of us that other people felt at home when they were around us as well?
What if we made love and the fullness of God our home?
See, home by the world’s standards is often a place connected to memories or traditions or feelings. And there is definitely space for that.
However, as Christians, Paul is calling us to this deeper sense of home.
As Paul is writing this epistle to the Ephesians, he is in prison. Talk about home, right? He was probably in the farthest physical conditions possible from home, but he still had this radical sense of peace and belonging in him wherever he went. Whether he was in prison, or being beaten for his faith, or travelling in unfamiliar places spreading the name of Jesus, Paul always found himself at home. Why? Because he filled himself with the love and fullness of God, and maintained the Holy Spirit’s home in his heart.
1 John 4:8 tells us that God is love. So it only makes sense that if our hearts are going to be home to the Holy Spirit, that we fill ourselves with love.
I encourage you to read our passage again, Ephesians 3:14-21, and this time I want you to listen for Paul’s heart. Hear through his words how passionate he is about making his heart a home.
For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named. I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Paul was masterful at fabricating letters that touched the needs of the depths of the human soul. Paul understood the human desire of feeling at home, and that was probably a deep need of his own, especially considering how often he found himself in prison or persecuted for the faith.
I want to encourage you with this: No matter where you find yourself in life, whether you’re thriving or just barely surviving, know that if you fill your heart with love and the fullness of God, home will be with you wherever you go. You are always at home with the Holy Spirit, and he won’t abandon the home you’ve invited him to dwell in. Rest in the truth that regardless of the world around you, you are home.
I invite you to imagine with me one last time.
Imagine Christ standing in front of you.
What are the features of his face?
What is he wearing?
What does his hair look like?
What is the emotion he is conveying in his eyes?
Embrace Him. Fall into His arms. You are home.
Author Spotlight:
Hello, friends! My name is Haleigh! I am studying Pastoral Ministry at Bethel University. One of the most prominent passions in my life is women’s ministry. I have such a heart for women and helping them see how God created us with such for such an intentional purpose. Read more of my writing here.
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