Does Jesus Feel Welcome in My Heart

A few weeks ago I was cleaning my room while listening to worship music. I was talking to God and thinking about my relationship with Jesus when a thought inspired by Holy Spirit came to mind: Do I cultivate or harbor an atmosphere that Jesus feels welcomed in? Or do I completely cater to my own selfish wants and desires disregarding what His preferences and commands are. Am I saying yes to Him by denying what makes me feel good in the moment, so He knows that I want Him more than that temporary feeling? Isn’t He worth the discomfort to my flesh?

These questions had me thinking and evaluating every decision I make in my life. Big decisions and small ones; do the things I decide to do with my time, thoughts, and actions make Jesus feel at home in my heart and want to stay close? Or is He put off by my choices and feeling uncomfortable, unimportant, and overlooked? This is not how I want my Lord and Savior to feel.

Let’s think of Him as a dear friend coming over to stay in our house. It says in Revelation 3:20 that Jesus stands at the door and knocks, ready and waiting for us to open the door to Him with open arms. His desire is to come in, rekindle our fire and passion for Him, and to enjoy each other’s company while we partake in a delicious meal together. So, if our heart is His home to come and live in, what does it look like on the inside? Have we taken the time to clean and prepare for His coming? In other words, have we submitted to the processes that God allows us to go through, to refine and prepare us for more of His presence in our lives?

If I knew Jesus was physically coming over to my apartment, my first reaction would be to freak out for a good while. I’m sure thoughts of denial would try to surface too. But once I calmed down regaining my bearings, I would do my best to vacuum and scrub that place from top to bottom making sure it was presentable for the King of Kings. This really isn’t a farfetched idea because the truth is Jesus is waiting on us to invite Him in to dine together. He’s waiting to have that intimate relationship where all our attention is focused on what He wants to share with us. Fellowship and reestablishing intimacy are His end game. He wants us to rest in Him and His finished work on the cross, to let Him handle the craziness of life and the burdens that try to pile on top of us. He also wants purity and holiness. He wants for us to stay close to Him. But if we aren’t cultivating an atmosphere that He feels welcomed in then He will not be able to stay. He will not dwell where there is sin. The Bible tells us this very thing multiple times in scripture. In Psalms 5:4 it says,

“For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil dwells with you.”

It also says in 1 John 1:6,

“If we say we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice truth. “

What is darkness? Anything that goes against Gods Word and order; the complete opposite of Him. Galatians 5:15-21 gives us a good list of things we should not do.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissentions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

If we love Jesus, like we profess that we do, we will obey His commands. He says in John 14:15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” For us that means keeping a clean atmosphere of holiness and purity that doesn’t offend Him. I want to be conscious of His heart and what He likes and dislikes. What if I decided to watch a movie that takes Gods name in vain or has some sex scenes in it?

Do you think Jesus will hang around and watch it with me or will I be grieving Holy Spirit (Isaiah 63:10) because I chose to subject myself to filth that Jesus died to set me free from? The same could be said for a decision made to gossip about another person or allowing offense to take root in my heart producing unforgiveness. There isn’t enough room for both Jesus and unforgiveness to dwell in our lives so something or someone has to go. We can’t have it both ways. We must continually allow God to perfect us and convict us of the things that don’t belong in the cracks and crevasses of our heart. He has called us for so much more than what we settle for. Our purpose on this earth is to be Glory carriers and vessels that He can work through to bring others to Himself. If we don’t get the junk out of our hearts, how can we expect to be clean and empty vessels for God to pour through? How can we hear Him clearly when we have a dirty filter? He wants clean hands, a pure heart, and for us to be holy like Him (Psalm 24:4, 1 Peter 1:16). We cause serious damage to people when we try to pour through our junk “in the name of God.” As my pastors would say, “Get healed first!”

Right now, He is taking a Swiffer duster to my heart, combing over every corner so that He can stay and feel welcomed in my life. I know our intentions are to please and honor Him for all He has done in our lives. We can do this by letting Him work on us without having an attitude when He brings something up in our lives.

We need to do some spring cleaning! Throw out rebellion, defiance, and pride that way we can make room for obedience, submission, and humility. As things get exposed and closets are cleaned out, we need to be quick to surrender control of everything that comes to the surface when the dust is stirred up. He desires to do a complete overhaul in our lives so that He can have all the free space He wants in our hearts that He calls home. Let’s make it a welcoming atmosphere for Jesus to want to stay. Let Him be the keeper of your heart.