textfiles/humor/myheart.hum

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**		    My Heart - Christ's Home                   **
**			By Robert Munger		       **
**	      (C) Copyright 1954 Inter-Varsity C.F.	       **
**	    Typed by Servant, Used Without Permission	       **
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[This file may be of some use to many of you who are attempting or considering
the Christian way of life, especially new Christians.  It applies to all who's
goal as a Christian is to please Christ.  Please do not alter or add to this
file!  -Servant-]

In Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, we find these words:  "That [God] would
grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might
by his Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith"
(Eph 3:16).  Or, as another has translated, "that Christ may settle down and be
at home in your hearts by faith."

Without question, one of the most remarkable Christian doctrines is that Jesus
Christ himself through the presence of the Holy Spirit will actually enter a
heart, settle down and be at home there.  Christ will make the human heart his
abode.

Our Lord said to his disciples, "If a man love me, he will keep my words:  and
my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him" (John 14:23).  It was difficult for them to understand what he was saying.
How was it possible for him to make his abode with them in this sense?

It is interesting that our Lord used the same word here that he gave them in
the first of the 14th chapter of John:	"I go to prepare a place for you...that
where I am, you may be also." Our Lord was promising his disciples that, just
as he was going to heaven to prepare a place for them and would welcome them
one day, now it would be possible for them to prepare a place for him in their
hearts and he would come and make his abode with them.

They could not understand this.  How could it be?

Then came Pentecost.  The Spirit of the living Christ was given to the church
and they understood.  God did not dwell in Herod's temple in Jerusalem!  God
did not dwell in a temple made with hands; but now, through the miracle of the
outpoured Spirit, God would dwell in human hearts.  The body of the believer
would be the temple of the living God and the human heart would be the home of
Jesus Christ.  It is difficult for me to think of a higher privilege than to
make for Christ a home in my heart, to welcome, to serve.  to please, to
fellowship with him there.  One evening that I shall never forget, I invited
him into my heart.  What an entrance he made!  It was not a spectacular
emotional thing, but very real.  It was at the very center of my life.	He came
into the darkness of my heart and turned on the light.	He built a fire in the
cold hearth and banished the chill.  He started music where there had been
stillness and he filled the emptiness with his own wonderful loving fellowship.
I have never regretted opening the door to Christ and I never will-- not into
eternity!

This, of course, is the first step in making the heart Christ's home.  He has
said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock:  if any man hear my voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me"
(Rev.  3:20).  If you are interested in making your life an abode of the living
God, let me encourage you to invite Christ into your heart and he will surely
come.

After Christ entered my heart and in the joy of that new-found relationship, I
said to him, "Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours.  I want to have you
settle down here and be perfectly at home.  Everything I have belongs to you.
Let me show you around and introduce you to the various features of the home
that you may be more comfortable and that we may have fuller fellowship
together." He was very glad to come, of course, and happier still to be given a
place in the heart.

THE LIBRARY

The first room was the study -- the library.  Let us call it the study of the
mind.  Now in my home this room of the mind is a very small room with very
thick walls.  But it is an important room.  In a sense, it is the control room
of the house.  He entered with me and looked around at the books in the
bookcase, the magazines upon the table, the pictures on the wall.  As I
followed his gaze I became uncomfortable.  Strangely enough, I had not felt
badly about this before, but now that he was there looking at these things I
was embarrassed.  There were some books there that his eyes were too pure to
behold.  There was a lot of trash and literature on the table that a Christian
had no business reading and as for the pictures on the wall -- the imaginations
and thoughts of the mind-- these were shameful.

I turned to him and said, "Master, I know that this room needs a radical
alteration.  Will you help me make it what it ought to be-- to bring every
thought into captivity to you?"

"Surely!" he said.  "Gladly will I help you.  That is one reason I am here.
First of all, take all the things that you are reading and seeing which are not
helpful, pure, good and true, and throw them out!  Now put on the empty shelves
the books of the Bible.  Fill the library with scriptures and meditate on them
day and night.	As for the pictures on the wall, you will have difficulty
controlling these images, but here is an aid." He gave me a full sized picture
of himself.  "Hang this centrally," he said, "on the wall of the mind." I did
and I have discovered through the years that when my thoughts are centered upon
Christ himself, his purity and power cause impure imaginations to retreat.  So
he has helped me to bring my thoughts into captivity.

May I suggest to you if you have difficulty in this little room of the mind,
that you bring Christ in there.  Pack it full with the Word of God, meditate
upon it and keep before it ever the immediate presence of the Lord Jesus.

THE DINING ROOM

From the study we went to the dining room, the room of appetites and desires.
Now this was a very large room.  I spent a good deal of time in the dining room
and much effort in satisfying my wants.

I said to him, "This is a very commodious room and I am quite sure you will be
pleased with what we serve here."

He seated himself at the table with me and asked, "What is on the menu for
dinner?"

"Well," I said, "my favorite dishes:  old bones, corn husks, sour cabbage,
leeks, onions and garlic right out of Egypt." There were the things I liked --
worldly fare.  I suppose there was nothing radically wrong in any particular
item, but it was not the food that should satisfy the life of a real Christian.
When the food was placed before him, he said nothing about it.	However, I
observed that he did not eat it, and I said to him, somewhat disturbed,
"Savior, you don't care for the food that is placed before you?  What is the
trouble?"

He answered, "I have meat to eat that you know not of.  My meat is to do the
will of him that sent me." He looked at me again and said, "if you want food
that really satisfies you, seek the will of the Father, not your own pleasures,
not your own desires, not your own satisfaction.  Seek to please me, and that
food will satisfy you." And there about the table he gave me a taste of doing
God's will.  What a flavor!  There is no food like it in all the world.  It
alone satisfies.  Everything else is dissatisfying in the end.

Now if Christ is in your heart, and I trust he is, what kind of food are you
serving him and what kind of food are you eating yourself?  Are you living for
the lust of the flesh and the pride of life-- selfishly?  Or are you choosing
God's will for your meat and drink?

THE DRAWING ROOM

We walked next into the drawing room.  This room was rather intimate and
comfortable.  I liked it.  It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a bookcase,
sofa and a quiet atmosphere.

He also seemed pleased with it.  He said, "This is indeed a delightful room.
Let us come here often.  It is secluded and quiet and we can have fellowship
together."

Well, naturally, as a young Christian I was thrilled.  I could not think of
anything I would rather do than have a few minutes apart with Christ in
intimate comradeship.

He promised, "I will be here every morning early.  Meet with me here and we
will start the day together." So, morning after morning, I would come
downstairs to the drawing room and he would take a book of the Bible from the
bookcase.  He would open it and then we would read together.  He would tell me
of its riches and unfold to me its truth.  He would make my heart warm as he
revealed his love and grace towards me.  They were wonderful hours together.
In fact, we called the dining room the "withdrawing room." It was a period when
we had our quiet time together.

But little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time
began to be shortened.	Why, I don't know, but I thought I was just too busy to
spend time with Christ.  This was not intentional, you understand; it just
happened that way.  Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to
miss a day now and then.  It was examination time at the university.  Then it
was some other urgent emergency.  I would miss it two days in a row and often
more.

I remember one morning when I was in a hurry, rushing down the steps, eager to
be on my way.

As I passed the drawing room, the door was ajar.  Looking in I saw a fire in
the fireplace and the Lord sitting there.  Suddenly in dismay, I thought to
myself, "He was my guest.  I had invited him into my heart!  He had come as
Lord of my home.  And yet here I am neglecting him." I turned and went in.
With downcast glance I said, "Blessed Master, forgive me.  Have you been here
all these mornings?"

"Yes," he said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you."
Then I was even more ashamed.  He had been faithful in spite of my
faithlessness.	I asked his forgiveness and he readily forgave me as he does
when we are truly penitent.

He said, "The trouble with you is this:  You have been thinking of the quiet
time, of the Bible study and prayer time, as a factor in your own spiritual
progress, but you have forgotten that this hour means something to me also.
Remember, I love you.  I have redeemed you at a great cost.  I desire your
fellowship.  Now," he said, "do not neglect this hour if only for my sake.
Whatever else may be your desire, remember I want your fellowship!"

You know, the truth that Christ wants my fellowship, that he loves me, wants me
to be with him, wants to be with me and waits for me, has done more to
transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact.  Don't let Christ
wait alone in the drawing room of your heart, but every day find some time
when, with the Word of God and in prayer, you may fellowship with him.

THE WORKSHOP

Before long he asked, "Do you have a workshop in your home?" Down in the
basement of the home of my heart I had a workbench and some equipment, but I
was not doing much with it.  Once in a while I would go down and fuss around
with a few little gadgets, but I wasn't producing anything worthwhile.

I led him down there.

He looked over the workbench and what little talents and skills I had.	He
said, "This is quite well furnished.  What are you producing with your life for
the Kingdom of God?" He looked at one or two of the little toys that I had
thrown together on the bench and he held one up to me.	"Are these little toys
all that you are producing in your Christian life?"

"Well," I said, "Lord, that is the best I can do.  I know it isn't much and I
really want to do more, but after all, I have no skill or strength."

"Would you like to do better?" he asked.

"Certainly," I replied.

"All right.  Let me have your hands.  Now relax in me and let my Spirit work
through you.  I know you are unskilled and clumsy and awkward, but the Spirit
is the Master-worker and if he controls your hands and your heart he will work
through you." And so, stepping around behind me and putting his great, strong
hands over mine, controlling the tools with his skillful fingers, he began to
work through me.

There's much more that I must still learn and I am very far from satisfied with
the product that is being turned out, but I do know that whatever has been
produced for God has been through his strong hand and through the power of his
Spirit in me.

Do not become discouraged because you cannot do much for God.  Your ability is
not the fundamental condition.	It is he who is controlling your fingers and
upon whom you are relying.  Give your talents and gifts to God and he will do
things with them that will surprise you.

THE RUMPUS

I remember the time he inquired about the playroom.  I was hoping he would not
ask me about that.  There were certain associations and friendships, activities
and amusements that I wanted to keep for myself.  I did not think Christ would
enjoy them or approve of them so I evaded the question.

But there came an evening when I was leaving to join some companions -- I was
in college at the time -- and as I was about to cross the threshold, he stopped
me with a glance.  "Are you going out?"

I answered, "Yes."

"Good," he said, "I would like to go with you."

"Oh," I replied rather awkwardly.  "I don't think, Lord, that you would really
want to go with us.  Let's go out tomorrow night.  Tomorrow night we will go to
prayer meeting, but tonight I have another appointment."

He said, "that's all right.  Only I thought when I came into your home we were
going to do everything together.  We were going to be partners.  I want you to
know that I am willing to go with you."

"Well," I said, "we will go some place together tomorrow night."

But that evening I spent some miserable hours.	I felt wretched.  What kind of
friend was I to Christ, When I was deliberately leaving him out of my
associations, doing things and going places that I knew very well he would not
enjoy?	When I returned that evening, there was a light in his room and I went
up to talk it over with him.  I said, "Lord, I have learned my lesson.  I
cannot have a good time without you.  We will do everything together from now
on."

Then we went down into the rumpus room of the house and he transformed it.  He
brought into life real joy, real happiness, real satisfaction, real friendship.
Laughter and music have been ringing in the house ever since.

THE HALL CLOSET

There is just one more matter that I might share with you.  One day I found him
waiting for me at the door.  There was an arresting look in his eye.  He said
to me as I entered, "There is a peculiar odor in the house.  There is something
dead around here.  It's upstairs.  I think it is in the hall closet." As soon
as he said the words, I knew what he was talking about.  Yes, there was a small
hall closet behind lock and key I had one or two little personal things that I
did not want anybody to know about and certainly I did not want Christ to see.
I knew they were dead and rotting things.  And yet I loved them, and I wanted
them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there.	I went up the
stairs with him and as we mounted, the odor became stronger and stronger.  He
pointed at the door and said, "It's in there!  Some dead thing!"

I was angry.  That's the only way I can put it.  I had given him access to the
library, the dining room, the drawing room, the workshop, the rumpus room, and
now he was asking me about a little two-by-four closet.  I said inwardly, "This
is too much.  I am not going to give him the key."

"Well," he said, reading my thoughts, "if you think I am going to stay up here
on the second floor with this odor, you are mistaken.  I will take my bed out
on the back porch.  I'm certainly not going to put up with that." And I saw him
start down the stairs.

When you have come to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen to
you is to sense his fellowship retreating from you.  I had to surrender.  "I'll
give you the key," I said sadly, "but you'll have to open the closet.  You'll
have to clean it out.  I haven't the strength to do it."

"I know," he said.  "I know you haven't.  Just give me the key.  Just authorize
me to take care of that closet and I will." So, with trembling fingers I passed
the key over to him.  He took it from my hand, walked over to the door, opened
it, entered it, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting there and
threw it away.	Then he cleansed the closet, painted it, fixed it up, doing it
all in a moment's time.  Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing
out of my life!

TRANSFERRING THE TITLE

Then a thought came to me.  I said to myself, "I have been trying to keep this
heart of mine clear for Christ.  I start on one room and no sooner have I
cleaned that then another room is dirty.  I begin on the second room and the
first room becomes dusty again.  I am so tired and weary trying to maintain a
clean heart and an obedient life.  I just am not up to it!" So I ventured a
question:  "Lord, is there any chance that you would take over the
responsibility of the whole house and operate it for me and with me just as you
did that closet?  Would you take the responsibility to keep my heart what it
ought to be and my life where it ought to be?"

I could see his face lighten up as he replied, "Certainly, that is what I came
to do.	You can not be a victorious Christian in your own strength.  That is
impossible.  Let me do it through you and for you.  That is the way.  But," he
added slowly, "I am not owner of this house.  I am just a guest.  I have no
authority to proceed since the property is not mine."

I saw it in a minute and dropping to my knees, I said, "Lord, you have been a
guest, and I have been the host.  From now on I am going to be the servant.
You are going to be the Lord." Running as fast as I could to the strong box, I
took out the title deed to the house describing its assets and liabilities, its
situation and condition.  Then returning to him, I eagerly signed it over to
belong to him alone for time and eternity.  "Here," I said, "here it is, all
that I am and have forever.  Now you run the house.  I'll just remain with you
as houseboy and friend."

He took my life that day and I can give you my word, there is no better way to
live the Christian life.  He knows how to keep it in shape and deep peace
settles down on the soul.  May Christ settle down and be at home in your heart
as Lord of all.

[This file was both blessing and challenge for me as a new Christian.  I hope
it is for you, too.  -Servant-]