Guide: A Relationship with God // Chapter 1 - Make Your Heart a Dwelling Place

Make Your Heart A Dwelling Place

A lot of us wonder how we can obtain and maintain a healthy relationship with God. Especially now that we are in the middle of a global pandemic and churches are closed down, we wonder how we can still be in God’s presence. The first step of maintaining a strong relationship with God is by letting Him into your heart. By making your heart a dwelling place for the Lord and allowing Him to reign as the King of Kings that he is. How do you make your heart a dwelling place for God?

Sacrifice to sanctify

“If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and has heard my prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” ‭‭‬ Psalms‬ ‭66:18-20‬ ‭NIV‬ In this verse King David is saying that if he had held onto and kept a desire for sin in his heart, God would not have listened to him. There are certain things that are sin in our lives that we cherish and we fail to sacrifice for God. There are certain things that we do, that we love so much that we wouldn’t want to give up despite of knowing that they are not pleasing to God. We need to understand that God is a jealous God and he does not share His throne with anyone or anything. “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6:5‬ ‭ God wants us to devote our entirety unto Him and it starts with your heart. If we want God to live in our hearts we need to sacrifice anything we place higher than the will of God and we must confess our sin unto God in prayer. The bible says “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.” ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬ Christ already came to pay the debt of our sins. It is now up to us to confess our sins unto God and repent, which means to turn. To turn away from the ways of the world and follow the ways of God. God gave me an analogy of making our hearts a dwelling place for Him. When a couple is expecting a baby they prepare their home to be a safe, nurturing and a healthy environment for the baby to grow up in. Whilst the mother is still expecting, the couple buys a crib for the baby to sleep in, they remove sharp objects around the house that the baby could harm itself with, they put safety gates in front of the stairs and ensure the baby has milk and the right nutrition for it to grow strong and healthy. Likewise, if you want God to dwell in your heart, you need to create an environment that is holy for Him to dwell in. We do this by sacrificing our sinful nature. “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.” ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:5-9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Sin is merely a physical manifestation of the impurities that are within our hearts. We make our heart a dwelling place for God by allowing God to sanctify which is to cleanse and make our hearts pure as God is a God of holiness and therefore can only dwell in a place that is a holy. You sacrifice the sin in your heart so that God can sanctify it and make it pure. That’s why king David asked “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

Psalms‬ ‭51:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ To create in this context translates to “cut out” in Hebrew, which is to remove anything that is making the heart to be impure; sin. To create also means “to form, or shape” out of nothing as God created the Heavens and the Earth out of nothing. Therefore, asking God to make you a completely new heart that is not contaminated by sin and our own corrupt desires. We also need a “loyal spirit” or a “steadfast spirit” in other translations. This is a spirit that is unshakable and faithful to God. Even when we are tempted the spirit of God will help us to stay loyal unto the will of God. “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” ‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:13‬ ‭NLT‬‬ The biggest and most important sacrifice that you can give to God is your heart. “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭51:17‬ ‭NLT‬‬ God wants your heart as it is right now. With all it’s impurities, imperfections, all it’s pain and troubles. A heart that is imperfect but is willing to turn to God. Once God has a hold of your heart he can give you the desire to seek Him and His ways. Summary: “God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Prayer:

Lord I give you my heart as it is right now. I pray you forgive me for my sins. I pray you cut out anything that does not give you glory and give me your spirit. Create in me a clean heart o God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Let me desire to do your will. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.