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, 18 That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it]; 19 [That you may really come] to know practically,[e]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses [f]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] [g]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and [h]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
Christ can dwell or make our heart His home! Can you imagine a home filled with magnificent glory? Kaleidoscopic rays of peace, prosperity, wellness and joy permeating every corner in every room. Hopelessness is defunct. Sorrow is defeated.
Joy, grace and spiritual abundance is rampant and welcome. Christ can feel at home inside each of us. As born again believers, the Holy Spirit dwells on the inside of us. He comes alive in each of us and helps to prepare the way for the Lamb of God to make our heart His home. How does Holy Spirit do this? Holy Spirit reveals the things that are offensive to God. Anger, bitterness, wrath, gossip, lying and lack of self-control are the things that deter Christ from making our heart His home.
Imagine living in a beautiful mansion with glass chandeliers, spiral staircases, indoor pools and marble pillars. Now imagine that home filled with furniture from the local garbage dump: soiled sofas, stained rugs, and broken chairs and end tables. It doesn’t fit, does it? The same holds true with our hearts.
When we are new believers, our spirit has been renewed but we still have soiled, broken things that must be removed. Our heart is the dwelling place of God. We have to examine our inner selves. Buddhists traditionally practice self-examination.
Believers must be willing to commit to making Christ feel at home in their hearts.
We ought to want to become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself so that we may have the richest measure of the God’s divine presence! God’s presence can dwell in us. Let us do all that we can to make Him feel at home and to welcome him in.