{"id":6433,"date":"2024-02-27T04:27:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T04:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livingtheadventure.net\/?p=6433"},"modified":"2024-02-27T04:27:18","modified_gmt":"2024-02-27T04:27:18","slug":"the-hall-closet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livingtheadventure.net\/?p=6433","title":{"rendered":"The Hall Closet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Robert Boyd Munger wrote the booklet, My Heart, Christ\u2019s Home<\/em>, in 1954. I was immediately drawn to this booklet when I was first introduced to it when I was on staff of Campus Life and Youth for Christ in Lexington, Kentucky in the early 2000s. In the opening section of the booklet, Munger writes, \u201cAfter Christ entered my heart, in the joy of that newfound relationship, I said to him, \u2018Lord, I want this heart of mine to be yours. I want you to settle down here and be fully at home. I want you to use it as your own. Let me show you around and point out some of the features of the home so that you may be more comfortable. I want you to enjoy our time together.\u2019 He was glad to come and seemed delighted to be given a place in my ordinary, little heart\u201d (3).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rest of the booklet features the author and Christ going \u201croom to room\u201d in the author\u2019s heart. Each room includes a conversation and a challenge about how this room will be part of his relationship with Christ. The conversation goes well. As the booklet is wrapping up, it seems all the rooms have been covered, but there is one more issue that must be discussed and engaged: The Hall Closet. Munger writes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had given him access to the study, the dining room, the living room, the workroom, the rec room, the bedroom and now he was asking me about a little two-by-four closet. I said to myself, \u2018This is too much! I am not going to give him the key.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Well,\u2019 he responded, reading my thoughts, \u2018if you think I am going to stay up here on the second floor with this smell, you are mistaken. I will take my bed out on the back porch or somewhere else. I\u2019m certainly not going to stay around that.\u2019 And I saw him start down the stairs\u201d (13-14).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Mark 12:30 Jesus says, \u201cyou shall love the Lord your God with all your heart\u2026\u201d<\/em> All<\/strong> is such a difficult word to live into in our lives. The act of \u201call our heart\u201d challenges me to look at the intricacies of the relationships, possessions, and involvements I allow into my life on a regular basis. Who\/What has my attention and my heart? Am I giving my whole heart to Jesus or am I seeking to keep back a \u201chall closet\u201d of my own personal possessions where I don\u2019t want Jesus to have ownership?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lenten Adventure invites us to pray with David in Psalm 51:10, \u201cCreate in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.\u201d We are invited to love the Lord our God with ALL our heart\u2026a fully surrendered life. Where in your life is Jesus inviting you to let him into the hall closet of your heart, where some of the leftovers from your old life or the Self are residing and beginning to bring a stench to your life? Would you invite Jesus to clean out this closet with you during Lent?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prayer: Lord, I give you my whole heart. I want to love you with all my heart, not just a portion of my heart. I want you to have full control of my heart so that my life is no longer lived for me, but for you. In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Robert Boyd Munger wrote the booklet, My Heart, Christ\u2019s Home, in 1954. I was immediately drawn to this booklet when I was first introduced to it when I was on staff of Campus Life and Youth for Christ in Lexington, Kentucky<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t