How Lovely

How lovely is your dwelling place,

   O LORD Almighty.

My soul yearns and even faints

  for the courts of the LORD;

my heart and my flesh cry out

  for the living God.

~Psalm 84:1-2

A week ago in class I meditated on these verses following the RWSSP plan.

Read it

Write it

Say it

Sing it

Pray it

As I read through the verses over and over for a few minutes, the phrase, "How lovely is your dwelling place," stuck out to me, so I wrote it down. I then began to ask God what do you mean by lovely? He shared with me that He means not only lovely but also:

How Beautiful

Majestic

Wondrous

Awe-inspiring

Comforting

Restful

Gorgeous

Homey.

Then I began to ask God where is His dwelling place. His throne room is the first one most of us automatically think of, and these words describe his throne room. His throne room is beautiful, majestic, wondrous, homey and awe-inspiring. Creation is another place that God dwells. He dwells here on earth. He has created this place to be lovely, beautiful, gorgeous, comforting, and awe-inspiring. How many times have I driven down the road and my breath is taken away by the beauty of this country? God chooses to dwell here because it is lovely.

But the other thing that I began to write and God speak to me is this:

You dwell in us. We are your dwelling place. You call us lovely. You call us beautiful. You dwell within us. This world is your dwelling place. It is beautiful. There is beauty in the brokenness. It is there you meet with. 

Not only is God's throne room and creation lovely but WE are His dwelling place and He call su lovely. He calls us worthy. He calls us beautiful, majestic, awe-inspiring, comforting, homey, and wondrous. These words that we would use to describe the majesty of the throne room, that we read in Revelation 4 or Isaiah 6, or the beauty of creation- the Psalms are full of declaring the beauty of creation. And yet, with these words He would also describe us! He would describe us as beautiful, majestic, homey, and awe-inspiring. The one who created everything is so in love with the people He created. He chooses to dwell not only just amongst us but also IN us. That is just so amazing. 

We are lovely.

We are beautiful.

We are majestic. 

We are wondrous.

We are comforting.

We are awe-inspiring.

We are His dwelling place.

If we could just begin to wrap our brains around the fact that this is His heart and His thoughts for us, I believe we would be in constant praise and adoration of Him. He is just so worthy of all that we have because He is so deserving of it. He is a gentleman and does not go where He is not invited. I have been so challenged with how I live my life and just how much of my life am I actually giving to God. Am I willing to give up sleep to spend extra time with Him? Am I willing to give up popular music, movies, and TV shows because they are not glorifying God and edifying to my soul? Am I willing to look like a fool because this God of the universe has chosen me to be His dwelling place? Am I willing to stand apart from those around me?

I am not a part of this world. My home is in heaven. I am called to be a part of an upside down culture. I am called to be set apart. I am called to be His and to be His dwelling place. I want to give Him my everything for as long as I live. I want to run the race set before me, fixing my eyes on Jesus. I know who I am and whose I am! I am His dwelling place, and He calls me by name. He calls me to a higher standard. I am His beloved and He is mine.