Last week: Your life is like a castle - many rooms. Some people let God into the castle, but keep him in a separate room. God doesn't want to be a part of your life; he wants to be a part of all of the parts.
1. What does God do once he comes into a room? He shines his light. And God is able to see things we can't easily see.
Ex: Hidden pictures game. Once you see the answers (where the hidden objects are shaded differently), it's easy. Prior to that, we miss things that are hidden. God, when he searches our hearts, is able to see things that we can't.
Psalm 139:23-24: Search me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
It's a different thing to ask God to search your heart and for you to search your own heart - you might miss what God can easily see!
2. God brings truth. How? He speaks through the Holy Spirit through the words of the Bible.
Scripture is useful for teaching, for rebuking (telling us when we've done wrong), correcting us, and training us in doing right.
Hebrews 4:12 - The word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, penetrating to divide joints and marrow, soul and spirit - it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
3. God's goal in bringing truth into your "rooms" is to REDEEM everything. When we were created, God called it "very good". But sin produced something broken - God wants to put that back together, to restore things, to make you like Jesus.
My own castle at 11 years old: many rooms, not many that had God as a part of them. The Bible has a message about redemption for each room. BUT >>> I have to listen - it's not enough to just hear it.
How to meditate on scripture: "Meditation" in Christianity means something different than in other religions, where the goal is to think about nothing. To meditate is to take words or an idea and concentrate on that, to learn and understand deeply how it is true. Choose a short passage and spend time with it - what is God saying here? What is he saying to me?
