That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17).
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong (Ephesians 3:17-NLT).
The word dwell in the above verse is from the Greek word katoikeo, a compound word from the Greek word kata which means down, and from oikeo which means to occupy a house. Katoikeo means to settle down and live permanently somewhere, making that place your home.
When Jesus comes to live within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, He comes with the idea of never leaving. He brings not just His suitcase, but all of His possessions! His residence is not temporary.
Your home becomes His home. When someone comes to live with you, your house becomes available to them. They can use all the parts of your house; the living room, the laundry room, the kitchen, and the bathroom.
When Jesus comes in the person of the Holy Spirit to live in our spirit, He wants total access to all areas of our heart life. He wants no locked doors that keep Him out of this room or that room. The idea of course is that He wants full access to all of our thoughts, our motives, our plans, our hurts and pains, and all our desires. He doesn’t want to just be a temporary guest. He wants to come in and help us rearrange the furniture, and make our house a home that He and the Father can feel comfortable living in.
Jesus comes to live in us and has all the needed cleaning equipment with Him. He’s ready to dust and clean and polish and shine the different areas of life that have become soiled with the dirt of the world. When Jesus comes into your home, He will begin ever so gently to sit down and have a talk with you about pride, self-centeredness, anger, gossip, jealousy, lust, fear, condemnation, inferiority, manipulation, habits, and thoughts.
Give Jesus the key to every room in your heart today. Give Him the things that trouble you most; the sin that easily snares you; the bruised relationships that have built walls of self-protection around you; the fears, the guilt, and the worry. His goal is to help you clean up your house, and help you create an environment of peace, joy, love, and purity.
Don’t forget that when Jesus comes into your home, He wants to be a permanent resident. Allow Him to bring with Him His cleansing presence. You will find that He is never harsh. He will be congenial and easy. He wants to take the weights of life from you, and replace them with His peace.
It is easier to give Jesus just a room in your home, and confine Him to it and keep the others rooms locked and away from His access. People who do this find themselves stuck in life, and find themselves holding on to patterns of life and behavior that hurt and hinder their personal growth. They remain joyless and unhappy. So many unwisely choose this way.
Making room for Jesus to dwell in us and bring the change He so desires to give us starts by us humbling ourselves and specifically giving Him permission to search us just as David did in Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT): Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (24) Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. When we do this, we are allowing Jesus, through His Word, to speak to the different areas of life. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you (John 15:3-NKJV).
Listen to Hebrews 4:12 in the Amplified Version: For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power [making it active, operative, energizing, and effective]; it is sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of life (soul) and [the immortal] spirit, and of joints and marrow [of the deepest parts of our nature], exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart.
Notice His call to your heart life today: All who love Me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and We will come and make Our home with each of them. Anyone who doesn’t love Me will not obey Me. And remember, My words are not My own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent Me (John 14:23-24-NLT).
If we will allow Him, Jesus will come into us, little by little, and He will make our house and our life His home.