When my mom lived in Punxsutawney, her house had a beautiful foyer with skylights, a deacon’s bench and a grandfather clock. It was a lovely room in her house. But, even in all its glory, imagine how odd it would have been if every time I visited her, I only ever stayed in the foyer?
As nice as the entrance room to her home was, it was merely the gateway to bigger and better rooms. We usually congregated in the kitchen or the living room. We’d even occasionally pile in her bed and watch movies. Having lived there myself as a teenager, I felt free to move about her house as I once did, even getting into the refrigerator for a snack without permission.
Why was I able to go about another person’s home without hesitation or reservation? Because it was family, it was home, and I was welcomed. Like the expression goes, “Mi casa es su casa.”
And, now, when my own children visit, they do the same! It’s great!
I’m sure many of you can relate to how it feels to visit home or to have your children visit you. Unfortunately, all too often when we visit and fellowship with God in His home (under the shadow of the Almighty) we never leave the foyer! We never get past the formalities of religion and into the comfort of relationship.
We go to church week after week, sing and clap to praise and worship, say a few amens during the sermon, then forgo any depth with our Abba Father in the business of our lives. Maybe for some of you, you do not feel worthy to eat in God’s kitchen, or lounge in His living room, or watch movies in His bed. Maybe you feel Abba is too out of reach on His throne to be in the comfort of His arms. That as a mere mortal, He is to be feared in such a way that standing in the foyer is just your way of revering Him.
If that’s the case, I don’t think you quite understand why it is He Created man in the first place. After Adam sinned against God, the Bible says in Genesis 3:8-9 that, “…they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’”
Now, I understand in this context, Adam was afraid of God because he knew he had disobeyed. But look at the broader picture. God came down from His throne to visit with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day, to walk with them in the garden. He wanted to fellowship and have relationship with them. Simply put, God and man were friends.
That’s why He went to such lengths to restore us to Him through the blood sacrifice of His Son, Yeshua. God wants you to come boldly to the throne of grace, not hide sheepishly in the foyer of His judgment (Hebrews 4:6).
So, get out of the foyer! And get into the arms of the Almighty God, your Abba Father.
“Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.” Psalm 100 NKJV
In His Service,
Rebecca Hamilton, Founder/ Executive Director
For Every Great Battle, There is a Great Victory!!