Garbage dump or gathering place?

On those occasions when I take trash to the disposal site, I don’t find people sitting around sipping coffee. The ugly mounds of refuse, the smells of rotting garbage, and blowing debris do not create an inviting place for gathering. The dump is where we take cast-offs and then leave, quickly. In contrast, there are homes and shops that are purposely made to be inviting places, peaceful oases in the world. When you step into our home, our desire is that you find it ordered and presentable; inviting you in. It’s always been that way, even when we shared it with four active kids and their friends! We intentionally work at making our little house a home, a place we and others enjoy, a gathering in kind of place.

Which place does your life resemble more: the garbage dump or an inviting home?
Is it your desire to be the kind of person that invites others to enjoy your company and, even more importantly, to feel the kiss of God’s Presence when you pass by? That happens when we purposefully prepare ourselves to be a habitation of the Holy Spirit. When He is ‘at home’ in us, there a quality to our life that others, even those who are not Believers, will sense. An inviting life need not be full of worldly accomplishments, nor is a resume chock full of degrees or recognition necessary. The most common person can, with the help of the Spirit and some willingness to learn discipline, can have a beautiful and orderly heart that is a home to the Spirit of Christ Jesus. Where He is present, others will see a winsome beauty.

Here’s a word from the Word. These verse are excerpted from 2 Corinthians 3, a chapter that compares the ugliness of mere religiosity and the beauty of the Spirit-filled life. May they challenge each of us to seek to reflect His beauty through hearts and minds that are made beautiful through the saving, healing work of Jesus Christ; ordered in the way of holiness.

"We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians 3:4-6, NLT)

"Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life?" (2 Corinthians 3:8, NLT)

"For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image." (2 Corinthians 3:17-18, NLT)

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Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me;
All His wonderful passion and purity.
O my Savior divine, all my being refine,
‘Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me!

-Albert Orbson

Public Domain