at home

“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.” John 14: 23-24

My child,

As your love grows for me, your desire to keep my word will flourish, also. More and more, you will want to do what I ask you to. This happens because as our relationship grows, your trust in me blossoms. When you believe my way is best, you are more prone to demonstrate that by following my directions.

Remember I have the perfect perspective that you lack. You cannot see things from my eternal vantage point. What seems foolish to you may actually be wise. You just can’t see everything, all the time, and process it perfectly, like I can.

Since we (the Son, Spirit, and I) have made our home with you, our living arrangement has changed you. We love being with you. You are increasingly experiencing the joy of our glorious communion.

Rely on my Spirit to teach you and give you the desire and power to follow me. Even when things look wild and crazy out there, we can give you everything you need to thrive.

Don’t let your problems consume you. I want you to be caught up in my larger-than-life, transcendent, eternal, over-arching story. There is so much more happening than what you can see, touch, hear, and chew on. Trust me on this. I have been around the block more than a few times. Nothing surprises me.

I love you,

Abba

My Abba,

I have been thinking about how “impractical” keeping your word can seem from the human perspective. It doesn’t always seem practical to abide by certain rules or laws. It doesn’t always seem practical to do what you say is right when “no one” is looking. It doesn’t always seem practical to beat back our busyness to spend time with you. There is so much to do.

But the more I get to know you and the more consistent our communication becomes, the more I realize it does not always have to make sense to me. You are not under some kind of obligation to give me all the answers.

I need to embrace the fact that your mind and mine are infinitely different when it comes to perspective. I am only seeing a tiny piece of your eternal time line from a very limited vantage point. It seems comical when I really think about it.

If a toddler in the last row of a massive football stadium were watching the Super Bowl, would we find it appropriate for him to make the call that would decide the game?

But I stand on my little speck of ground in the universe, time-bound, and influenced by my sin nature and think I know definitively how things should go down. I am sorry for my poor judgment. Please forgive me.

I certainly love the idea of you making your home with me. I know how those with whom we live influence us. They bring their preferences, rhythms, habits, priorities, passions and perspectives. They substantially influence our environment.

So what about you taking up residence with me? I want you to set the tone for our environment. I don’t want to flee the home front when you disrupt business as usual. You always make our home better. I lose sight of that, at times. Please show me how to enjoy being at home with you today.

Permeate my heart, our home, with your presence!

I love you,

Mollie

photo: m. gorbunov