As little girls many of us spent hours playing with a dollhouse. Whether it was in front of an antique tin home, a Fisher Price house or a Barbie Dreamhouse our play times were likely very similar.
We made a home.
Isn’t it fascinating how much we already knew about making a home when we were preschoolers?
We knew
- where the furniture should go
- what went on in the kitchen
- our specific decorating styles
- how people would interact in conversations
I love that Jesus includes an image of home when He shares about our intimate relationship with Him in John 15. (It also makes me wonder if there were women in the Upper Room.)
Did He know how this image of making a home would resonate with the women who followed Him in such a profound way? Of course He did, and how precious for us!
Read our theme verse with me:
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
Jesus is describing a healthy home that functions well.
So, as well-practiced homemakers, let’s consider what Jesus is giving us to work with in this HOME. Imagine you are a little girl stepping into the room and you see a dollhouse.
- First, we see the frame the home itself. Simply the frame tells us it’s a place to call our own, a place of rest, a place for our needs to be met.
- Next we notice the community WITH Jesus. We are not alone. A relationship with Him can develop by His Spirit, our helper and friend. Listen to the way Jesus describes this in John 14:25-27: I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
- Then we need to decorate our heart-home by being IN His Word. Because I’m a “wordy” (I like to see words all over), words and phrases decorate the walls of my home. Words create images and depth and life for me.
Here are some times when we might need God’s Word to decorate our hearts:
- When we can’t understand what is going on in our world … God’s Word helps explain it:
“If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.” John 15:18-19
- When the future is fuzzy … God’s Word is our hope:
“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” 1 Corinthians 13:12
- When relationships are hard … God’s Word brings a safe place:
“May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!” Romans 15:5-6
- Finally, our spiritual homes need communication THROUGH prayer.
If our heart is settled in our relationship with Jesus, and His Spirit is helping us understand His Word, we are able to ask and receive with the same intent that God has for us. Amazing!
Yes, we may all be experienced homemakers, but how are we making our home with Jesus, in the Word, through prayer these days?
What is challenging about feeling safe and comfortable in your home with Him?
- Perhaps it’s worship . . . feeling comfortable being with Jesus, appreciating all He’s given, being humble before Him.
- Maybe it’s hard for you to concentrate reading or studying the Word . . . you get distracted, you fall asleep.
- Or maybe it prayer that’s a challenge . . . you’re afraid to ask the wrong thing, to speak up (even to God alone), so you push aside the nudge to talk to God. I happen to think that WORRY is our nudge to talk to God. Have you worried lately? Please talk to God instead.
Our desire for you, each Tuesday Morning, is that you take one step further in your journey with God. May today be the day you begin to make steps toward a more healthy home with Jesus . . . in the Word . . . through prayer.
Equip Her 