Sundays are days we need to soak in His Word, let it resonate in our souls and settle deep into a Sabbath rest of the heart. May the reminder of His promises be a balm to you as we seek Him first in each of our journeys. Join me each Sunday for a reminder to take a soul stop in the power of His Word and be rejuvenated for the week ahead.

 

dwell in the secret place

One thing have I asked of the Lord, that which I seek,  inquire for, and  [insistently] require; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple. For in the day of trouble he will hide me in His shelter, in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock. -Psalm 27:4-5

These verses in the 27th Psalm are underlined in my Bible, marked and circled so that I remember that they spoke to a place inside my heart, that secret place that He is meant to take residence. And this word, resident, is a telling word… a naming word that identifies its occupation. Residence shows ownership. To have my heart as the dwelling place of the Most High is humbling, because my heart is sometimes not the most beautiful of places. I am so grateful for grace.

I had the chance to discuss this concept with my son recently.  His 16-year-old mind  trying to process a question he couldn’t fully understand, nor put into words. Yet, he felt safe enough to inquire… to seek answers…to require time with me to postulate his thinking. We talked about heart things and the way the Word reveals that our hearts are consistently wicked, that we can’t even know the depths of our hearts.

But God does.

He knows us. He sees us. He understands us.

In all our finite frailty, we lack the understanding of Him and His Word sometimes.  This fault in our humanity allows our feeble hearts to misconstrue so much in this life, but with God there is no shadow of turning, He doesn’t change like we can and do. His heart never wavers. His understanding is infinite.

And because He is good, because of grace, because He is holy… He loves us with a passion that is immeasurable, a consistency that is dependable, and a depth that expands the ocean of grace.

That this God, who is too big to inhabit the heavenlies, makes his home in our heart, is mind blowing. And that  He makes a way for us to come in and know Him, to be changed by Him, is unexplainable .  But To have our hearts recreated by His entrance… by his residing within, it is worth beholding, it is the purpose for which we gaze upon Him in His beauty and seek and require Him with all we have.

These truths should wreck us for the ordinary.

When we choose to believe …when we make a conscious effort to receive the gift of salvation… we are  granted entrance into the dwelling place of God.

We need to make seeking our position. We need to make beholding our passion. We need to make requiring our pastime.

We get to take that step of pursing His peace and His presence as we petition the Holy and partake of grace.  His residence within our hearts allows us entrance into the peace of God that passes all understanding.

The things we seek, when we are changed by Him, become less about us and more about him… and that makes all the difference.  That change forces us to long more for the things of God rather that the things of this world. The result is  changed hearts, altered so that we no longer see that which was, but instead long for that which could be.

We seek to know His presence more,  to dwell within the majesty of who He is.

We look longingly, beholding glory,  as we see His beauty, the essence of Him radiating around us.

We consider the expanse of His sovereignty as we meditate on His holy habitation.

And we are never disappointed by the way He shows up, right on time, every time to meet us and shelter and protect us through every phase of our journey.

Praying for you to find time today to meditate and consider the dwelling He occupies in fullness, to behold and to gaze upon His beauty in the delightful loveliness that defines His presence, and to seek him more and more, to dwell close to the heart of the Father, and to be shielded in secret shelter of His grace over you.

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Bible Study Starting in April: Studying and Praying through Psalm 119.

  • Sign up to receive my emails for a free Psalm 119 Bible Study Journal to use as we go through the 119th Chapter of the book of Psalms together.
  • Visit A Table of Grace Community to discuss the daily lessons and share your thoughts.

I look forward to having your join me on this journey!

 

Linking up with friends for the journey:

Unite, #RaRaLink Up, #TellHisStory, Three Word Wednesday, Coffee For Your Heart, Thought Provoking Thursdays, Missional Women,Grace and Truth Link up, Dance with Jesus, Weekend Whispers, Give Me Grace