At Home!

But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. John 15:7 MSG

There is a big difference between the people who know the Bible and those who know the God of the Bible. We also seem to make a distinction between  the words that we read and the person who personifies those words Himself. We read the Bible and enjoy its stories, forgetting that nothing makes sense if read outside the inspiration, direction and inspiration of the One called the Word of God.

Today's extract contains a peculiar statement: 'make yourself at home with me and my words are at home in you'. You can never make a distinction between the Word of God and the words of God. You cannot accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and reject his words. Making myself at home with God's word means that i am comfortable with it, even when its words correct and rebuke me. I do not resist its promptings and warnings, because I have accepted it as complete package. Being at  home with Jesus and his Word means that whatever he commands, I do, even when I do not understand.

Note that it is a two-way street. God's Word remains in you and you also remain in God's Word. You can't have it in one direction. You can't abide in God's Word and not have God living in you. You cannot truly know God unless and until you invest time, resources and effort in studying Him through the words he has provided, which is about Himself.

When I know God personally, my prayers and requests line up with his will. When I know God personally, I seek his purpose, not man's applause. When I know God personally, I crave his presence, his assurance, his comfort and his counsel, and all these are accessible through His Word. When I know God personally, I understand that he always answers prayers. I have matured in my thinking, and I do not assume that God must give a YES to all my prayers. Even when he says NO or NOT YET, I do not fret, because I know beyond all doubt that God is at work in my life, and he will bring all to a good end.

God delights in a personal relationship with you. He is the God who moves the ends of the earth for the sake of his own children and he wants to show himself strong in our lives. Will we let him have his way? Will we allow him work in and through us, as he establishes his purpose on earth? His time of favour is here.