A “Home Invasion”

Through former CIA spy Edward Snowden’s revelations last year, U.S. citizens found out their government is secretly watching them more than they knew. Every internet search, view, and purchase (even though in the privacy of our homes), along with every phone conversation, is not only observed but is apparently being stored in cyberspace. Some might say this is a violation that is nothing short of a “home invasion.”

But if this “home invasion” makes you feel vulnerable, think about the Spirit’s “holy invasion” [see yesterday’s post] of your heart. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable” (Heb. 4:13). How would it change us, I wonder, if we had a greater revelation of the Holy Spirit’s ownership and occupation of our body and spirit which are His dwelling place: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples [homes] of the Holy Spirit who is in you… and that you are not your own?” (1 Cor. 6:19), a “home invasion” that began the instant you gave Jesus the key.

Hearing Loss is on the Rise

I recently read an article about how to avoid hearing loss, and thought immediately of Jesus' words: “Those who have ears to hear, let them hear” (Matt. 11:15). He was not speaking to an audience of ‘earless’ people, nor who had suffered severe hearing losses. Jesus meant that their ears needed to be attuned to spiritual ‘sounds.’

In this world where we encounter a continuous cacophony of noise so loud “you can't hear yourself think,” our ears can suffer damage (hearing losses are on the rise especially among teens). Significantly, the article on avoiding hearing loss suggested “turning down the volume.” So it is in the spiritual realm: many believers are suffering hearing loss because they do not have a quiet time. If you daily give the ears of your spirit quiet and rest, they are more likely to hear what the Spirit says” (Rev. 3:22).

“Enter into your secret chamber and shut out the tumults of the world. In silence and in stillness a devout soul profits and learns the hidden things of the Scriptures.” Thomas a Kempis, 1450

Finding Our Place

Since 911, America has tried to find its place in the world, and especially the Mideast. It has become Obama’s chance to establish his place in history, not unlike a baseball star hoping to win a place in the Hall of Fame. I realize that finding one’s place in the world is both the hope and bane of human existence. Men and women of fame and success spend a lot of energy, and their fortunes, cementing their place among men.

The author of Hebrews speaks, however, of anonymous Hall of Faith-ers who never found a place on earth, going “about in goatskins, destitute (men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts, mountains, caves, and holes in the ground” (He. 11:38). They were homeless. To suggest we follow their example may seem a bit severe. But didn't Jesus exhibit the same spirit of detachment, “the Son of Man has no place?”

Because we are inclined to attach ourselves to places on earth, God “un-places” us—an often painful uprooting that allows Him to root us in Christ (Col 2:7). Jesus says, “find your place in Me, and My Father and I will come and make our place in you.” (John 14:23). Is there any other place you'd rather be?

Do You Have Reservations?

Have you ever saved a place for your friend(s) in a crowded church service and felt uncomfortable because you knew there was a chance they might not show up, and the seats would be empty?  But what if it was a concert your friend(s) had paid for?  You would have no reservations about holding their places.

While on earth, Jesus never had a place, once telling an aspiring follower, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). Jesus knew His Father was holding His place in Heaven.

And to His disciples, He promised: “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places, and I'm going to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). Ever since, all believers have treasured the truth that He has reserved our place in Heaven.  It is prepaid and has our name on it (Eph. 1:20; 2:6; Col. 3:1). And without reservation, I can tell you there will be no empty seats in heaven.

Secret Sins of the Secret Service

Are you getting tired of the daily news coverage of the Secret Service sex scandal? One editorial read, “The word “secret” in ‘Secret Service’ will never be the same!” Their secret sin made me think of Paul's words, “For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret” (Eph 5:12).

But there is another meaning to the phrase secret sins, one more relevant to us. David says “who will acquit me of my secret sins [or hidden faults]” (Ps. 19:12). The common interpretation of “secret faults” is those that are hidden from the one who committed them, unconscious sins, sins of ignorance.

Augustine said: “Secret sins, sins which my conscience has been unable to detect, are like private conspirators. They must be hunted out or they may do deadly mischief; it is well to be much in prayer concerning them.” His words reveal the heart of a man who wants nothing to separate him from God. Likewise, David prayed “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me” (Ps 139:23-24). It takes faith to pray that way. And that’s no secret.

Beware of Hidden Faults

Residents of California have reason to fear "the big one" [earthquake] because the state is home to a variety of 'known' fault lines. Even more fearful, there are more faults hidden beneath the earth that we don't know about. 

Geologically speaking, a fault is a breach in the rock. Humanly speaking, a fault is a sin causing a breach with God. Faults known to us may be hidden to others. Conversely, faults hidden to us may be obvious to others. King David said, “How can I know the sins lurking in my heart, [and be] cleansed from these hidden faults” (Ps. 92:12). 

Ray Steadman answers, “God's way of dealing with hidden faults is either to send somebody to point them out to you or to bring them out through some circumstance in which you are suddenly confronted with what you have done or said and you find it is ugly and you do not like it. That is how God cleanses us from hidden faults. He opens up the secret places.”  
            
Reflecting on Ray's words, it occurred to me that God's word comes in and fills up those secret, hidden places to make us faultless: "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:11). 

The Secret Place is Your Hiding Place

When my daughter Esther was about 3 years old, we had a little night-time hide-and-seek game we played with Altha. At bedtime Esther and I would go upstairs, get in her bed, and hide under her big pink comforter. Altha would come up stairs, look around the room, saying “Esther, where are you?” In her innocence, Esther didn't know the big father/daughter lump under the comforter was obvious. But as long as we stayed quiet, barely breathing, Esther believed we were hidden from Atha’s eyes.

And it is equally silly for us to think we can hide from God. But we do. That’s why a lot of people don’t cultivate a Secret Place with God—they are HIDING: feeling guilty, embarrassed, ashamed: “Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes” (Heb. 4:13).

But guess what! We don’t have to hide anything from God. Since we have died to the “old self,” we have “renounced the things hidden because of shame,” (2 Cor. 4:2); and are” hidden with Christ in God” (Col. 3:3). When God sees you, He sees you hidden in (through) Jesus. And when everything invisible becomes manifested, we who are in Jesus will also be seen in a glorious new condition, because Jesus “will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like his own” (Phil. 3:21).

As the world becomes more frightening, your Secret Place will increasingly become your Hiding Place. There you can come out from under your pink comforter and tell Him all your secrets.