“Dwell well.” Those are two words that having been echoing in my mind for the past three months.
Allow me to briefly digress…The day before Thanksgiving of 2016 I happened to do what my brother calls “an old lady fall”. He said that after all the crazy and adventurous stunts I’ve done in my life, I had to simply walk and fall off my porch to break my right leg and dislocate my ankle. (Ugh, getting old has its downfalls. No pun intended. Well, maybe a little.)
Those months of healing and no driving should have been the best opportunity for me to get ample study time and journaling in with my Jesus. Yet, I didn’t dwell in His word as much as I thought I would.
Yes, God did shower me with valuable lessons through the whole experience, and I can’t wait to sprinkle those lessons in throughout the months to come onto you. But, no, my study time and journaling didn’t occur as I thought it would.
I’d pump myself up, getting my bible open, start to read, and…whoa…those pain meds made me loopy and unable to focus on anything with true meaning. I found myself resting (Being still and knowing that He is God. Paraphrased from Psalm 46:10) horizontally often, and mindlessly watching television. I became a Hallmark, HGTV, and Fox News junkie.
Once the pain meds were no longer necessary, I found myself in the monotonous routine of continuing the tv viewing. Then, when the time came for me to go back to work, I’d work, then come home somewhat dissatisfied with myself because “I” wasn’t the full-on/dramatic/energetic teacher “I” am known and love to be, and rest horizontally again.
Then in the next month (February), since we had moved into our newly renovated home in November, there was decorating that “I” wanted to do, which took dwelling well with Jesus time away.
Having no wifi at our home proved itself to be interesting. The Lord would dwell within me, but I didn’t dwell well with Him. God would still reveal Himself in various ways in my daily life for me to journal about and share His love with others, but I realized that I had relied on the accessibility to the internet to determine whether I would journal or not. Pathetic excuse, I know. The technology struggle was real.
Oh, I could come up with a plethora of excuses of why I wasn’t dwelling well with God. Don’t we often though?
In January I attended a ladies’ conference led by precious author speaker, and Bible teacher, Jennifer Rothschild. Jennifer, and the other speakers, powerfully spoke to us over the two-day conference, yet two little words hit me like a ton of bricks and have been resonating within me ever since. She simply said, “Dwell well”.
When God shows me His glory through nature, family, and various experiences in life, I whisper to myself, “Dwell well”, with a peaceful smile.
When I find myself senselessly scrolling through social media on my phone, turning the channels on the television, lying around wondering what to do, etc., the guilty question appears in my cognizance, “Dwelling well?”. My countenance isn’t a peaceful smile at that time.
I’m not sure how you dwell in the Lord or where you are in your walk with Christ, but permit me to share some godliness with you that I’ve learned, and am still learning:
- Getting out of the habit of seeking or spending time with God is EASY to do. Okay, I never let a day go by that the first thing I did/do each morning was click onto my phone to read the verse-of-the-day. That ritual was easy for me to continue to do. Why? Maybe because it didn’t take a lot of time to read one verse. Or maybe because I’ve gotten ingrained in me to seek the face of God before I seek the face of man. It was that “strap on my boots” mentality that I lost and the depth of my time with God was at times very shallow. I would often have the desire to spend time with Him more richly, but the ease of laziness would often overrule. Wherever you are in your depth in seeking and knowing Christ, I challenge you to be strong in the Lord, have self-discipline, build upon your godly habits, and simply remind yourself to Dwell Well in Him. Maybe you start off with day off with a verse-of-the-day, then turn that verse into a prayer for your day. Don’t be afraid to dig a little deeper in His word. Set your car radio to a Christian station. I know that when I listen to Christian music, my mind won’t get polluted with wordly views. Get involved in a bible study and grow closer to God with the fellowship of others. Open your eyes. Open your eyes to life’s simple pleasures that God reveals Himself to you. Thank Him for those moments. You can even keep a journal and write what you saw and thank God for revealing evidence of Him to you. Call it your “Blessings Journal”. One day you’ll be grateful you wrote those moments down. “Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” Colossians 3:16
- Finding excuses to not spend time with God is, well, an excuse in itself. I’m not even sure if that makes sense, but I’m rolling with it. You’ve probably heard the saying, “if it is worth doing, it is worth doing right.” Well, friend, spending time with God, growing closer to Him in love and in knowledge, is soooo worth doing! Stop making excuses and just do it! “Don’t put it off; do it now! Don’t rest until you do.” Proverbs 6:4
- Take your eyes off those “mindless” distractions in life, and fix your eyes on Him. “I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven.” Psalm 123:1
- Love BIG. God dwells in you, so let others see His goodness in and through you. “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.” 1 John 4:12
My prayer for you comes from Ephesians 4:17-19, “Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust I Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Dear one, when you are invite Christ into your life by trusting in Him, He makes your heart His home. The deeper you get with Jesus, the stronger you will become. Your love for your Heavenly Father will grow. I pray that you will feel the width and depth of His love for you. Experience Him! He will fulfill your life.
Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1 Oh how I desire for you (and me) to find rest in His shadow. Dwell well in the protection of our Lord.
The one thing I ask of the LORD, the thing I seek most, is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the LORD’S perfections and meditating in his Temple. Psalm 27:4 Amen.
Have a beautiful day opening your eyes to His blessings and richness of His love. Dwell well, my friend, dwell well.