"Not at Home in Your Home"

E. Stanley Jones was a missionary, a theologian, and a prolific writer. In his devotional book titled In Christ he shows how it is possible to not feel at home in Him but that we can continually rejoice in the reality: that we are worthy in His worthiness. Hallelujah!

"'And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.' (1 John 2:28).) Note: 'abide in him, so that . . . we may have confidence and not shrink from him.' In other words, he tells us to be at home with Him. Is it possible to be in Him and yet lack confidence, to feel a sort of shrinking from Him? Yes, it is possible to be not at home in your Home. Jesus Christ is our home, the soul's homeland, but many have not become truly naturalized in Him. They keep thinking of their own unworthiness--keep looking at themselves. This is a mistake. It is true you are not worthy of being in Him; nobody is. Our confidence is not in ourselves, but in Him. He is worthy--'Worthy is the Lamb'--and we are worthy in His worthiness. Your confidence will grow as you look at Him. When Peter kept his eyes on Jesus he walked on the water, but when he took his eyes off Jesus and thought of the wind and the waves and his own inadequacy, he began to sink. Look at Jesus and you can walk on anything.

"When I was small, a big bully had me down and was pummeling me. I was helpless. But suddenly the tide turned. My big brother turned the corner and took in what was happening, and the bully, seeing him, turned and fled, with my brother in full pursuit. My tears turned to triumph. I sat there and clapped my hands in triumph--triumph in my brother's triumph. I was strong in his strength, victorious in his victory. If you ask me why I have confidence, I point to Christ. I am worthy in His worthiness. 'Bold I approach the eternal Throne.' I let my full weight down on the fact that He has me; therefore I have Him and all He has. The shrinking is not humility--it is disloyalty, treason.

". . . [We are] at home in [His] grace; [we] never can be at home in [our] worthiness."