{"id":21829,"date":"2017-12-06T00:05:50","date_gmt":"2017-12-06T08:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=21829"},"modified":"2017-12-07T12:19:14","modified_gmt":"2017-12-07T20:19:14","slug":"december-6-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/12\/06\/december-6-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"December 6, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div><\/div><\/div>

\u201cJesus answered and said to him, \u2018If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.\u2019\u201d<\/i> John 14:23<\/p>\n

A Happy Home<\/b><\/h2>\n

Someone very dear to me (outside of my home) has recently made some very poor decisions. The consequences of these actions are far-reaching, as the result of sin always is. In spite of this person\u2019s protest that it is no one else\u2019s business, we keenly feel the pain of those choices. This person\u2019s home is no longer happy, and if it will ever be happy again, it will take a tremendous amount of reconciliation and forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Since I am feeling this grief so deeply, I was relieved to come across this verse today. When the Father and the Son move in with us, we make a home together. The Father and Son are inseparable, and when They move in with us, together we are inseparable, because They will never leave or forsake us. A happy home is where love lives.<\/p>\n

In a happy home, forgiveness and mercy are given. Gentleness and kindness are shown. Peaceful, honest conversation takes place. There is sharing of thoughts and ideas and dreams.<\/i> \u201cLord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You\u201d<\/i> (Psalm 38:9). The atmosphere is safe and welcoming. There is mutual support\u2014not that God needs us to support Him, but we support Him nevertheless when we are agreeable to His ways, yielding to His sovereignty and wisdom.<\/p>\n

The members of a happy home work together toward goals and plans. Conversations take place where both listen to the other. The truth is spoken. They mutually protect the dwelling place from intruders and destroyers. They are committed to the relationship. A happy home is a comfortable place, a haven, a place of rest when one returns from the battles and strivings of a day.<\/p>\n

In a happy home, each brings joy to the other. We long to be near each other. So it is with our Father and our Savior\u2014our heart longs for Him. \u201cAs the deer longs for the water brooks, so longs my soul for You, O God\u201d<\/i> (Psalm 42:1). \u201cThe Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth\u201d<\/i> (Psalm 145:18).<\/p>\n

In our flesh, we fall short of this ideal home. But the Father and the Son make this home a reality in our hearts, for divinity put on mortality (flesh) when Christ came the first time; and when He returned to the Father, They returned in the Spirit\u2014the Holy Spirit. \u201cI will not leave you orphans; I will come to you\u201d<\/i> (John 14:18)<\/p>\n

\u201cFather, Son, and Holy Spirit, make Your home in us. Reconciliation and forgiveness have already taken place. You are welcome here. Amen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>

<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5G5","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21962,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21829\/revisions\/21962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}