MY HEART, CHRIST's HOME!
Part one
If you have been reading my devotions for any time now you know
there is a lady from Arizona - Mama Shirley who sends me some of her teachings
on occasion which my heart and conscience like: "Who is Jesus" and "Dancing with God."
I call her Mama because she has adopted my wife and me into her extended family.
The following is a three part teaching she has sent me that I will give to you
just the way she sent it except for the background, graphics and music. I hope
you enjoy this as much as I did and that it touches your heart and conscience
as much as it touched mine.
This teaching goes perfect with the three part series we did titled "Lord Are You Talking To Me?"
I know it is no coincidence she sent this when she did.
My Heart, Christ's Home
Taught on October 8, 2003 and November 20, 2005
Ephesians 3:16-17a 16That He would grant you, according to the riches of His Glory,
to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man; 17a That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith.[KJV]
17And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him.[Living Bible]
Without question, one of the most remarkable Christian doctrines is
that Jesus Christ himself, through the presence of the Holy Spirit will actually enter
a heart, settle down and be at home there. Christ will make the human heart His dwelling place.
Jesus speaking in John 14:23 If a man loves Me, he will keep My Words: and
My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.
 It was difficult for them to understand what He was saying.
How was it possible for Him to make His abode with them in this sense?
It is interesting that our Lord used the same word here that He gave them in John 14:2-3 … 2I go to prepare a place for you.
3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.
Our Lord was promising His disciples that, just as He was going to
Heaven to prepare a place for them and would welcome them one day, now it would be
possible for them to prepare a place for Him in their hearts and He would come and make His abode with them.
They could not understand this. How could it be?
Then came Pentecost.
The Spirit of God was given to the church
and they understood. God did not dwell in Herod's temple in Jerusalem!
God did not dwell in a temple made with hands; but now, through the miracle of the outpoured Spirit,
God would dwell in human hearts. The body of the believer would be the temple of the living
God and the human heart would be the home of Jesus Christ. There is no higher privilege than
to make my heart a home for Christ, to welcome, to serve, to please and to fellowship with Him there.
 We become 'Carriers' not of disease, but salvation, for the One who brings salvation, lives in us.
Carrier of Healing, for the Healer is in us, carrier of Hope, Joy, Love, for He who is Love, Joy, & Hope lives in us.
1 Cor. 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Cor. 6:19 What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
My Testimony:
One evening, on November 5, 1946, an evening I shall never forget, I invited Him into my heart.
What an entrance He made! It was a time of great emotion on my part, weeping great tears of
repentance, and He made His way into my heart a very real experience. It was the highest experience
of my entire life, though I was only 13, and am now 75; no other experience comes close to that night.
Was I so wicked that I needed to be saved? No, I was basically a good girl, but I had the sin of
Adam in my blood stream, and I needed a Savior. He came into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light.
He built a fire in the cold fireplace and banished the chill. He started music where there had been
stillness and He filled the emptiness with His own loving, wonderful fellowship. I have never regretted
opening the door to Christ and I never will-not into eternity!
 Back to the teaching:
This, of course, is the first step in making the heart Christ's home.
He said in Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice,
and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.
After Christ entered my heart and in the joy of that new-found relationship, I said to Him,
"Lord, I want this heart of mine to be Yours. I want You to live here and be perfectly at home.
Everything I have belongs to You. Would You like to look around and see all the rooms of my heart,
so that You may be more comfortable and that we may have fuller fellowship together?" He was very
glad to inspect my heart, but even more happy to have a place in my heart.
Part of this story is true facts from my life, but a good portion is imagination.
I will let you try to figure out what is fact and what is imagination.
First: The Library or Study
 The first room was the study-the library. Let us call it the study of the mind.
Now in my home this room of the mind is a small, very cozy room, with thick walls.
Sound proof almost. But it is an important room.I could take my tea or what I am drinking,
go in this room, do my reading or studying my homework, watching whatever shows I wanted
to on the TV, using the computer which was also in this room, and who cares or sees what sites I visit?
It is my room and isn't anyone's business what goes on in this room. In a sense, it is the control
room of the house.
He entered with me and looked around at the books in the bookcase,
the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the wall, and the things on the computer and the TV.
As I followed His gaze, I became ashamed. Strangely enough, I had not felt bad about this before,
but now that He was there looking at these things, I didn't want Him to see what was there.
There were some books there that His eyes were too pure to behold. There was a lot of trash and literature
on the table that a Christian had no business reading and as for the pictures on the
wall-the imaginations and thoughts of my mind-these were shameful.
I turned to Him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs a radical alteration.
Will You help me make it what it ought to be-to bring every thought into captivity to You?"
"Certainly!" He said. "Gladly, will I help you, that is one reason I am here.
First of all, take all the things that you are reading and seeing which are not helpful, pure,
good and true, and throw them out!" Philippians 4:8 tells us what to think about.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be
any praise, think on these things.
 "Now, on the empty shelves, put the books of the Bible. Fill the library with
scriptures and meditate on them day and night. As for the pictures on the wall, you will have
difficulty controlling these images, but here is some help." He gave me a full-sized portrait
of Himself. "Hang this centrally on the wall of the mind," He said.
I did and I have discovered through the years that when my
thoughts are centered upon Jesus Himself, His purity and power cause impure imaginations
to go away. So He has helped me to bring my thoughts into captivity.
2 Cor. 10:4-5 4For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5Casting down imaginations,
and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
If you have trouble with this little room of the mind, bring Jesus in there.
Pack the room full with the Word of God, meditate upon the Word, and keep the presence of the Lord ever in your heart.
Please stay tuned for part two to follow of the teachings of Mama Shirley.
Mama Shirley & Bob Goulding © April 2008
Song playing is: Open Up My Heart by Peter Gringhuis and Manon Wierenga
Songs of Praise
Used with Permission Return To:
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