My Special Place

There is a special place we all have in our being, and that place is our heart. Yes, our heart is a real place. It is our soul, our inner being, and a dark place because of sin, but praise God, Jesus died to offer us life and light! I have gotten a lot of questions about the statement we use, and the statement in question is "I asked Jesus into my heart." If you don't believe God is Spirit, then you won't be able to answer the question, because how can Jesus "get in there?" If we look at salvation purely from a human perspective, we will miss one of the most vital parts of the salvation experience. The takeover of the Holy Spirit when we are born again IN the Spirit. Some people have a hard time getting the "Spirit" thing in their thinking, but realize the Holy Spirit leads us and directs our path, if we will just listen and follow. Following the leading of the Holy Spirit does take us down some paths we don't understand. Jesus experienced this by setting the example for following His Heavenly Father, and Jesus was equipped with the weapon of God's Word. In Matthew 4 we see Jesus being led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness. Matthew 4:Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

Jesus was prompted or led by the Holy Spirit, and even though it was the "Spirit" leading Him, He followed to be fully committed to God for what was going to be His journey, which was to the cross. We need to be led, sometimes by the hand, to follow the Lord in the areas of our lives. In my life, the Holy Spirit led me from a small town in Missouri to travel, by faith, to a town in Northern California, and God was with me through it all. Culture shock. Different lingo. Just not Missouri. That started in my heart, and I had a decision to make. Dave, are you going to do what you said you would do and go wherever I lead? I said yes, and trusted the Holy Spirit, and He showed me more and more about what true service is and how it affects not only me, but all whom I meet.

If you are wondering where Jesus is in your heart, you can be sure He is in your heart, and you have given Him your heart in exchange for eternal life in heaven and abundant life here on earth. He is in your heart, and at the very depth of your being, where you make decisions. Jesus is in that special place at our core we call "our heart." He is now in charge and from that special place, He maneuvers us as His sheep. Jesus explained this special place and what takes place in our heart to Nicodemus in John 3:⁵ Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. ⁶ Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. ⁷ So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

In 1 John 5, the writer tells us a very important bit of life advice, where he says the following in verse 21: Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. If you are a little confused about how Jesus gets into our heart, and if He is there, then the above verse shows that God has a place in our hearts. God gave His son so we might have the blessing of having God inhabit us at our core, and His power is ready and willing to work through us. God is in charge, and we need to protect the special place where He lives in us. In our heart. When we invite Jesus into our hearts, we really give Him control of that special place, and it is called "our will." Everything changes, and the changes are complete and irrevocable, and we are complete IN HIM.

The writer of Proverbs showed a lot of wisdom when in Proverbs 4:²³ Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. In modern-day love language, the very words where someone says "I give you my heart" are a false statement for born-again believers. God has all your heart, and you need to live for Him and grow in your faith walk so you don't compromise the Spirit working in your heart. Your morality is different than the world's.....and that is good!! That is why the Word of God says not to be unequally yoked in marriage to a non-believer. No one can be in My Special Place except for God, and I need to protect that place so I can hear God's leading completely.

What is the "course of your life?" God will show you if you, at your core are bound to Him through the Holy Spirit. Paul knew this, and that is why core he wrote in Ephesians 6:¹² For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Fight those spiritual battles with God's power that originates in your heart, and your special place will be even stronger.

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David Warren