God's dwelling place

If there is one thing that I desire for my life it is the prayerful wanting for God's presence to dwell in my life.

Here's what I know: The entryway for God's presence in my life is fear and humility.

I am to fear God (a respect and reverence of God) and I am to walk in humility.

Pastor James writes, "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you......Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up." James 4:8,10

And then I read today in Isaiah 57:15 that God, "...dwells in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit."

God is not looking for a place to visit. He is looking for a place to dwell. And he dwells in the lives of those who walk in humility.

Walking in humility is not being weak, wimpy, soft spoken or spineless.

It is being obedience to God. It is depending totally on God. It is realizing that I am a child of God. That I have (as someone once wrote, "a right estimate of myself." I see myself as God sees me.

Father, help us to walk in humility today!

Frances Chan writes in his book, "Crazy love":

"A medical doctor who utilized his skills in Ethiopia for more than 60 years, Nathan Barlow dedicated his life to helping people with mossy foot. Mossy foot is a debilitating condition [that] causes swelling and ulcers in the feet and lower legs. The subsequent deformity and secondary infections makes people with mossy foot social outcasts equivalent to lepers.

I met Nathan shortly before he died. His daughter attended my church and brought him to her home from Ethiopia when his health started to fail. After only a few weeks, he couldn't handle being in the States. The people he loved were still in Ethiopia, so his daughter flew him back home so he could spend his last days there.

Once, Nathan got a toothache and had to fly away from the mission field to get medical attention. Nathan told the dentist he didn't ever want to leave the mission field for the sake of his teeth again, so he had the dentist pull out all of his teeth and give him false ones.

This amazing man was the first to help these outcasts, and he spent his life doing it. Yet no one really knew about him. It surprised me that such a man of God would faithfully serve for so many years, despite minimal recognition."

Wow....I don't have anything to add to that.