John 14:23-24: Jesus answered and said to him [Judas (not Iscariot)], “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
1 Corinthians 3:16-17: Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
Hebrews 3:4-6: For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
GOD is our BUILDER, and we are the houses He framed, built, and bought in love and blood, through the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of His Son, JESUS, the LORD of lords and the KING of kings.
We’re the houses GOD lives in, works in, and uses every day, and life is more about Him than us, more about us being SOULED-OUT, exclusively His; being VACANT—open and available—so He can use us; and making HOME IMPROVEMENTS, so we can get right with Him—GOD—and meet His standard, which is greater and higher than anyone else’s, including our own.
JESUS is the DOWNPAYMENT for FULL PURCHASE: He is the GATE—the DOOR of HOPE—for He is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE, and no one comes to the FATHER except through HIM, and HOLY SPIRIT is our OCCUPANT—our RESIDENT—our HOME DWELLER—our GUARANTEE—and our SEAL of APPROVAL until the day of redemption—because when we open our hearts, invite JESUS in, let Him be the LORD—the OWNER—of all within us, and we honor GOD, furnishing the house with everything He likes—everything that pleases Him, like the FRUIT of the SPIRIT—love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, kindness, and self-control—and giving Him full access to every room in our lives, and we make ourselves available to use every day, then GOD is welcomed as more than a visitor, guest, or renter in our houses, and He actually wants to UNPACK and STAY forever, building an intimate, personal relationship with us, as no guest, renter, nor visitor but as HOMEOWNER: GOD WITH US.
GOD is unchanging, JESUS, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and right now, GOD is standing at our door, knocking, waiting patiently to see two things: If we will open the door and let Him come in, and how we will receive Him, as a Guest, Visitor, or Renter, like in a hotel, a temporary place, where He doesn’t need to unpack every bag, or as a Homeowner, in a house, a permanent dwelling, where He’s invited to unpack every bag, redesign the place, making it His own, and He can inhabit every room, resting and abiding there forevermore.
So, here are the real questions for us, as believers today: Are we SOULED-OUT, exclusively GOD’s? Or are we FOR RENT to anybody, including the adversary? Are we VACANT, open and available to GOD? Are we GOD’s HOTELS or GOD’s HOUSES?
Do we receive GOD as a GUEST, VISITOR, or RENTER? Or do we receive GOD as a RESIDENT, OCCUPANT, or HOMEOWNER?
Which ENCOUNTER or EXPERIENCE do we want: GOD’s temporary VISITATION or His eternal HABITATION?
In His prayer in John 17, JESUS says, eternal life is knowing GOD.
So, if eternal life is knowing GOD, our answers to these questions may reveal just how well we know GOD intimately and how close we’ll be to Him eternally, for if GOD paid for us in full through JESUS, accepted our invitation to abide in us, gave us His SEAL of APPROVAL through HOLY SPIRIT, guaranteed our redemption, and becomes our LORD of ALL, then He owns us legally, heart and soul, and our lives are completely His, but if we’re still denying Him the rights, honor, and privilege of a Homeowner, full use and access to every room in our lives, then He’s nothing more than a Guest, Visitor, or Renter, and we’re not VACANT; we're not OPEN to GOD; we're CLOSED to Him, and we're not the houses GOD owns and inhabits 24/7; we’re just the houses GOD rents or worse, the hotels GOD visits, then leaves.
