My first memory of home was when I was five years old. I can still see the faded white clapboard house sitting on a hillside looking down onto a gravel road. Dad worked in a coal mine at this time of my life; and he would come home with black coal dust covering his face, arms and hands. He would be carrying a case of Royal Crown Cola on his right shoulder and his dented metal lunch box in his left hand, wearing his hard-hat fitted with a coal miner’s carbide lamp. I can see it just as clear as if I was on the front porch watching him come up the hill to his family. Even though dad had worked hard in dangerous surroundings all day, he had a smile on his face showing his gratitude for seeing his wife and children again. Dad came home and the family was together again.
Dad soon left the coal mine for a career in carpentry, which entailed moving the family to follow his work. I can remember nine of the eleven houses that I lived in during my first 17 years of life. Each one holds memories of events that helped shape my personality and my thirst for God.
I was fortunate in having both parents in the home during my developing years of life. Even though there was a lot of arguing and attempted suicide, and not a lot of cash flow, it was still home. There are so many who have to grow up without both parents guiding them. They carry those scars for life. God meant for families to be together, but our world tears them apart.
Jesus promised us that in His Father’s House were many dwelling places; and when He returned to His Father, He would prepare a place for each of us who believe in Him as Lord and Savior. We have His promise of where He is, we will be there with Him for eternity.
When you look at the world around you, it appears that there is no permanence to this life. You scurry here and there and everywhere, faster and faster, while the longing in your heart grows stronger and stronger for a place of rest. We need a stopping place where we can catch our wind and renew our bodies and refresh our minds, and connect with the source of all life through Jesus Christ. Where is home? Can we go there now? We are tired, and our minds are overwhelmed. Stress is taking its toll. We need some oil and wine for our wounded souls and hearts. The world offers many things to soothe the pain, but those things cannot heal our wounds. Only Christ can heal a soul.
Jesus said I could come unto Him when I’m weary and heavy laden, and He would give me rest unto my soul. The problem is, life doesn’t allow for quiet time with Christ and His Word. The enemy of my soul fills my mind and life with distractions, and problems to solve. Sometimes I am just too weary to read or mediate, so I shut down and tune out and allow meaningless drivel from Hollywood or the media to fill the void. I go to bed weary and I wake up weary. I have failed to come unto Christ for rest for my soul. The weariness of the soul has a direct effect on the body.
Paul said when we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. When we die, and leave this body behind in the grave, our spirit and soul will be at home with Christ. For Paul, living was Christ, and dying was gain. How do we connect to Christ, while we still have this body that causes us so much trouble? How does living become Christ to us today?
Jesus said the Kingdom of God does not come with observation. The Kingdom of God is within you. Paul said the Kingdom of God is peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus that a New Birth is required to be able to enter into the Kingdom of God; and that we had to become as little children to enter His Kingdom.
While the world has advanced in technology, and people are more educated than ever before, with a worldwide web of knowledge at their fingertips, the Kingdom of God is missing in most people’s lives.
If we seek with the mind, we find with the mind. If we seek with the heart, we find with the heart.
Most everyone is communicating with the mind today. Mind-to-mind leaves the heart cold and indifferent to each one’s needs and pain.
As our minds accumulate more and more knowledge, our hearts become more and more hardened to each other’s needs. Each is left on their own to swim or drown in the sea of life. If I can gain something for myself in helping you stay afloat, I will. If not, I won’t. Life in the twenty-first century is as simple as that; and it leaves everyone completely worn out, with little strength to keep their own heads above water.
Jesus came to give us Life just by believing on Him and obeying His teachings. If we believe in Him, even though this body dies, our soul and spirit will never die, but live with Christ for eternity, in His house, which He has given to each of us as our home.
Through asking Him to forgive us and to fill us with His Spirit, He empowers us to have peace and contentment in the midst of a chaotic violent world, by placing His Spirit, or His Kingdom, or His House, within our hearts. His peace, His love, His forgiveness, His Mercy, His Grace, His strength, His Comfort, His guidance, His provision, His joy, His wisdom, and His very character, begins to duplicate itself within our very soul and spirit. We soon realize that we are already home, even though we haven’t left our bodies yet. We are living with Christ just as Paul said.
In the midst of all the cares of this life, I find that just by pausing and asking Him to help me, that He is there and will never leave me alone, and that I begin to feel in my heart His peace that passes all understanding. I soon realize that my soul is refreshed, and even my body has found new energy to deal with the rest of my day and its cares. His Kingdom, His House, and His character, are within me as I open my mouth and call upon His Name, believing that He is in me and around me and knows exactly what I need each moment of my life.
You and I, like Abraham, are looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Jesus assured us that there is such a city; and the prophets and apostles gave us a glimpse of its glory throughout the Scriptures. But what if God is building that city right now? In your heart? In my heart? One personality at a time, personality upon personality, upon personality, all duplicating the character of Christ in our own way, until, as Paul said, we become the building of Christ and His dwelling place.
Jesus Christ – the Chief Cornerstone, the Apostles and Prophets – the foundation, and the believers in Christ, from all ages – the bricks, stones and mortar, while the Spirit of Christ is filling every heart and soul with His character.
Billy Graham said, “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.”
You and I are creating Memories of Home each time we call upon His Name, and experience His Character manifesting in our souls and spirits. All of those memories will become reality once we stand in His Presence for eternity. The more we call upon Him, the more memories we will have to celebrate with Him. Is this what He meant when He said, “Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)
The prophets have foretold that Christ will come again and fill His earth with His Righteousness and Glory and Truth. Christ, and the Apostles, confirmed this promise. The nations of the world are positioning themselves on the side of good, or on the side of evil, for that second coming.
Every knee will bow to Jesus Christ, as King of kings; and every tongue will confess to Jesus Christ, as Lord of lords. The Kingdom of God will fill the earth when Christ returns to rule from Jerusalem.
Why wait to bow and confess then? You can have the Kingdom of God right now by just asking Him to come into your heart, and help you to do what is pleasing in His sight. You can experience the Kingdom of God and His Peace each time you call upon His Name in agreement with His Word.
That Word of Faith is in your heart and in your mouth, continually, because Christ has made His home within your Spirit and soul. When He returns, your body will be changed into His Glory, and He will place you into His Father’s House right where you fit the best. I can’t wait to see where I fit, can you?