“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.’” Revelation 21:3
Being inspired by love to obey the Lord is only the beginning of a lifestyle of joy. The Lord promises us: “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” (John 14:23).
As we learn to receive the Lord’s love and be inspired to obey Him, our life becomes a house the Godhead wants to permanently dwell in. Our lifestyle is like a welcome mat for the Lord. He wants to come and live in us. He desires to set up His home in us. He wants to abide there, not just visit once and a while.
The Lord expresses His desire to dwell with us throughout the Bible. In the beginning, God created Adam so He could commune with him in the garden because God wanted to dwell with man. When the Lord called Moses to build a tabernacle in the wilderness, it was because He wanted to “dwell among” His redeemed people (Exodus 25:8). And Jesus came to earth as “Immanuel,” meaning “God with us.” The desire of God to dwell with man is best summed up in the book of Revelation:
“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Revelation 21:3).
The message to the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelation shows us that Jesus wants to access the “door of our hearts” so He can come in and dine with us (Revelation 3:20). He wants to live in our home so He can have intimate fellowship with us. In His message to the church at Laodicea, Jesus is seen knocking on the door, but their lukewarm hearts are restricting His access. The Lord rebukes them for their lack of passion for Him.
The message to us is clear. If we respond to the Lord’s extravagant love with a love that is weak and passionless, it is insulting to the Lord. Since we are loved by the greatest lover in the universe, He expects us to love Him as passionately as He loves us.
Our lack of passion for Him is a symptom of our inability to accurately perceive His passion for us. So, God tells the Laodiceans to “anoint their eyes with eye salve, that they may see” (Revelation 3:18). Somehow, they have developed a problem with their ability to accurately see the Lord. Their inaccurate perception of the Lord has resulted in a lack of passion for Him, and so now the Lord is standing outside their house, knocking. Jesus wants them to correct their perception of Him so they can again see the intensity of His red-hot love for them and make a home for Him in their hearts.
We must keep feeding our spirits on the Lord’s love for us in order to maintain the love for Him that He deserves. If our perception of the Lord grows dim, we are left with a lukewarm heart.
A lukewarm heart is not a place where the Lord feels welcome. Jesus says this: “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love” (John 15:9).
The intensity of the Father’s love for Jesus is like the red-hot magma of a volcano. There cannot be a love more intense than this. Jesus tells us we are loved with the same intensity that the Father loved Him. This is incredibly good news!
Then, Jesus tells us to “abide” in His love. His intense love for us has made it possible for us to live with an intense love for Him. His desire is for a relationship with us where there is a reciprocal flow of intense love. It is possible to live this way because Jesus tells us to abide in His love.
So, Jesus wants to dwell in a heart and a house with a fire. His love for us enflames our love for Him. He provides the fire, and we offer a place for it to continually burn. What a privilege we must be empowered by His love to love Him. What an amazing gift it was when His death opened direct access to His presence!
Once again as we celebrate Christmas, we declare the love we receive in His presence inspires us to follow and obey Him, and what an indescribable blessing it is to have Him set up His home in us!
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