Can You HEAR His Voice?

Ephesians 3:17 - May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love...

May Christ, through faith, dwell in your hearts. Settle down, abide, make His permanent home.  Tyler & I were talking about this this morning. It came into a perspective that I haven't thought about in a long time... and now that I'm at a different place in life, it takes a WHOLE new meaning!

Imagine this.... Tyler compared it this way. "Amy, imagine loving the Bestul Family so much that we sacrifice Tyler Junior so that we can dwell in their hearts. We sacrifice our only son because our love is so great for the Bestul's."

Imagine a love so great! Imagine a love so great that you are the reason for the great sacrifice. A love so great, that someone would be willing to sacrifice their only son. I mean, have you SEEN how cute Tyler Jr is?!?! That puts it into a huge perspective. To sacrifice MY SON because of a love so great for you!

And that is exactly what God did for us! He sacrificed His ONLY son and we now have the opportunity for Him to come DWELL in our hearts. We have the opportunity for Him to take up His PERMANENT home! To dwell: settle down, abide, make His permanent home. What a place of peace, to be abiding with Christ. To be dwelling in the same place as Christ! Right?! Imagine. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and picture it. Sit with Jesus. In the peace, in the quiet. No toil. No stress. No chaos. No turmoil. No struggle. But......imagine, complete peace. Sitting with Jesus and you are overcome with complete peace.

That is exactly what God wants for us. He sacrificed His only son for a purpose! I can't IMAGINE loving someone so GREATLY that I sacrifice what is most important to me in my whole life, and then that person does not even receive the gift I have for them. Think about your son (or daughter). Imagine sacrificing your son, your only son that you love with ALL your heart. Imagine sacrificing him, so that you could dwell with, make a home with your in-laws, your sister, your best friend.

Christ came to earth. He came with the purpose of being victorious. He came with the purpose of saving us, the sinners. He came with the purpose of setting us free from death. But it doesn't end there. He came with the purpose of not just a "Security Plan" for us to get into heaven. He did not merely come that we may have "Fire Insurance" from hell. He came, His Father - God, allowed Him to be sacrificed that He may DWELL with us DAILY! That He may take up PERMANENT residence in our hearts, in our life! That He may direct us in daily decisions as we look to Him. That we may walk & respond in peace. That our homes would be filled with peace. That toil & chaos that the enemy tries to bring onto us would have NO place in our lives and homes. Christ came, lived, and was sacrificed, rose again, ascended to heaven so that that Holy Spirit would be left in His place to live inside of us. Jesus himself was fully man and could only be one place at a time. Because Jesus lived & died & rose again... that allowed the 3rd part of the Trinity to become a part of every believer. The Holy Spirit to live inside of each of us once we accept Christ as our Savior. (Romans 10:9-10)

I ask you today.... Are you saved? Do you know Jesus? For many of you, the answer is yes! You are! But don't let it stop there!! Don't live life with just a "Fire Insurance" plan! Allow the FULL BENEFIT of the Sacrifice to LIVE! Allow the Holy Spirit to direct your life. Lead your life. Take time to develop your relationship with your Father! Take time to get to know Who He is. This starts with time in His Word. This starts with planting the Word in your heart. It starts with consistency. Take time to listen. It says in John 10 verse 27, the sheep know My Voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. I ask you.... if you do not recognize the Voice of the Holy Spirit, GET TO KNOW HIM! You can only learn someone's voice clearly by KNOWING THEM! Get to know your Father! Spend time with Him so that during the day you CAN recognize the Voice of the Holy Spirit in your life! Like how I can recognize Tyler's voice on the phone. I recognize his voice easily because I have spent a lot of time with him. I KNOW my husbands voice! The same is true with the Holy Spirit. The more time we spend in the Word, studying WHO He is, time in prayer, time practicing the art of LISTENING to Him... the more we do those things the easier John 10:27 is a reality in our lives.

The sheep know my Voice and the voice of a stranger they will not follow. 

I ask you today, can you hear the Voice of the Holy Spirit in your life? If yes, great! Continue in that relationship. If no, the answer is easy. It takes TIME, time spent with Him to get to know His Voice. Commit today to spending time, daily time getting to know Him.