Devotional - Creating a Place for Him to Dwell

I am  a garden enclosed, a locked garden

A fountain sealed

I am your resting place

Here oh Lord have I prepared a place for your to dwell, here in the reservoir of me

That I would be in you and you would be in me

That I could fellowship with God

Here where it's you and me alone

The very glory of God on the inside of me

I want to fellowship with God

It's You and me alone God You and me alone
Here it's You and me alone God You and me alone

You've hedged me in with skin all around me
I'm a garden enclosed a locked garden
Life takes place behind the face.

So come into Your garden
Come into Your garden.

Here O Lord! Have I prepared a place for You!

I'm no longer my own I'm Your garden

I don't want to wasted my time living on the outside
I'm going to live from the inside out
I don't want to waste my life living on the outside
I'm going to live from the inside out

I'm no longer my own, I'm your garden.

Misty Edwards - Garden

This is absolutely one of my favorite songs ever, speaking on the longing for intimacy with the Lord.  These all seem like such lofty ideas when life is very little like a nice quiet garden, it is chaotic, busy and so little of our time is spent focused on the Lord.

I remember my mom and pastor talking a lot about digging your own well.  Creating a place at the center of your life where the Lord has full reign.  For mothers and particularly those who stay at home, it is easy to become frustrated and worn down with the goings on of daily life.  That is why it is so important to make our homes a place for the Lord to dwell.

So how do we do this?  Recently, I have been really convicted about the way I spend my time, the things I watch on TV, and asking myself, am I spending my life truly seeking His face?  What is the Lord requiring of me?  Am I ignoring Him while He is asking me to come closer?  It's so difficult to carve out that time for Jesus sometimes.  

We have a lot of really legitimate excuses.  We are busy, the kids are sick, the kids are driving us nuts, the house is a wreck.  It is during those times that I remember my mom playing Kevin Prosch or Don Potter videos while folding laundry.  The worship music always playing in her car.  She was intentionally creating an atmosphere, even in the craziness, for the presence of God.

I was listening to Corey Russell speak and he talked about why we get bored reading the Word of God and praying.  We spend all our time eating the "good" stuff, that we are to full to oenjoy the best that God has to offer.  Maybe sitting and watching an episode of your favorite show makes you feel good (guilty!), but yet we might be missing out on the BEST that God has to offer.  We are so full of sweets that we can't enjoy the hearty meal that the Lord has for us.

My life is nuts sometimes, ok A LOT of the time, but when I am faithful in doing simple things like, turning on the Prayer Room instead of the TV, or putting on some worship music, He is ALWAYS faithful to meet me, he gives me the grace to make it through rough days and even the time to spend with Him.  Give it a try :) I promise it works, the Lord honors our seemingly weak efforts.  They are precious to Him.

I am in a group study and we are studying David and the Lord called him a man after His own heart, not because he was perfect (he was a stinker!) or because of his great military triumphs, but because he was ravished by God's desire for him and lived a life fascinated by the beauty of the Lord.  This is what the Lord desires.

Ps. 27:4 ONETHING I have desired of the Lord that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.

Hopefully this Youtube video works...it is a recent interview with Rev. Billy Graham, possibly one of the last he may ever give and the first part of this he is asked if he would do anything differently and he basically answers that he would have done less meetings and spent more time with Jesus.  That is pretty incredible, that he would leave a legacy for this generation of LOVING God.  I truly believe that if we would take time to sit at His feet, that we would be AMAZED at the miracles that flow in our lives.