Christ dwelling in me

That he 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; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. – Ephesians 3.16-19

Part of Paul’s marvellous prayer for the saints is that we would allow Christ to dwell in our hearts by faith. Faith opens to door for Christ to move into our lives. The word ‘dwell’ means more than just to stay here. It means that He has moved in to stay.

We talk about the ‘indwelling Christ.’ Once I am saved I am a whole new man. I am not alone. Christ dwells in my heart and gives me the power to live like Him.

That’s a powerful thought. I heard some preachers, including myself, use that as a scare tactic to illicit right behaviour. That’s true and we can’t just ignore it, but I don’t think that’s the most important thing any more. The whole context here is love.

That means that Christ, the essence and epitome of love, is dwelling with me despite my failings and flaws and failures. He doesn’t leave – Jesus is at home in my heart.

Now, if He dwells in me and nothing is too hard for Him, what do I need to fear? Things may not and probably will not go according to plan, but the all knowing Creator and God will get me through it.

As a believer it is never just be alone. It is me and Him.