Making your home in Jesus is a cutesy term for living in a relationship with Him. But I love the imagery of home. A home should be inviting, comfortable, and where intimacy and safety collide. Not every home is an image of this, but with Jesus, that feeling is always available to us. We can be comfortable, intimate, safe, and always invited with Him. 

The invitation is right there. If you haven’t decided to follow Christ, I want to make space here for you to seek. His gift of saving and life-giving grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus is here for you to accept as your own for yourself. 

There are three essentials to making your home in Jesus. 

• Reading Your Bible

Christians have made getting into scripture a complicated and over-thought-out activity. All you need is intention, a Bible, and a journal. That’s it. You find your intention through finding a plan, and there are tons of free plans. Have a Bible that you can read and understand, a.k.a. one that doesn’t contain complicated words or make you feel distant in the language. A journal can be digital, or like me, you can grab a composition notebook. Reading your Bible doesn’t have to be complicated or intimidating. Find a plan, a Bible you understand, and a notebook. 

Reading the Bible helps us know who God is, He reveals Himself to us in the pages. Getting to know Him is how we feel at home with Him.

• Prayer

Prayer can feel like talking to clouds. Is He really listening? Yes, God is listening to you. He cares about you; He wants to hear every care, desire, worry, and fear. But the best part of a conversation is making space to listen. So, how do we listen to God? I’ve never heard His voice, but I sit in silence, no music, no phone, nothing but my Bible and journal, and simply pray, “Speak, Lord, I’m listening.” This prayer and practicing silence has changed my prayer life. I don’t do this as much as I should, but it has deepened my relationship with God. I write down anything that comes to mind during that time with Him, and I hold it close. Those moments between us are precious to me. 

Prayer helps us connect with God, like a dear friend over coffee. Whether giving Him ourselves and what’s going on in our minds and hearts or making space to listen to what He says to us. It’s intimate and deeply personal. 

• Worship

Worship might be my favorite place to make my home in Christ. When I was deconstructing, I went through a time when I couldn’t open my Bible or step foot into a church. But, I spent my time with God listening to worship music. They became my prayers and my resting place. Worship isn’t just about singing on Sunday morning. Worship is where your heart is. When I turn my attention back to God by remembering who He is, which is what most worship music is, I feel connected. I’m engaged; I’m at rest. When I remember who He is, I am free to be me in every messy and beautiful way. 

These three ingredients aren’t new or inventive; we aren’t reinventing anything, but returning to what connects us to God is how we build our home in Him. We grow in our relationship and have more desire to be with Him. He already desires us, but we need to grow our desire for Him. That desire and intimacy ignites the fire in the hearth and makes our home a warm place we always want to be. 

Learning to make my home in Jesus continues to be a big part of my spiritual deconstruction. If you need some encouragement on your journey, please check out my new 30-Day Devotional; Deconstructing: A Devotional for Restoring Faith after Church Hurt.