✍️ In the Old Testament days, the Ark of the Covenant was understood to be the presence of God among His people. When the Ark was present, the people knew God was with them. A day came, however, when the Philistines captured the Ark and carried it away. The Ark was with the Philistines, but they had no place in their hearts for the true God. Great tribulation came upon them because they had taken the Ark of the Covenant from God's people, so they eventually sent it back to the Israelites. My prayer for you 🫵 today is to have a space in your heart for God Almighty in Jesus Name 🙏.

When the Ark was returned, it ended up being kept in the home of a man named Obed-Edom. This happened because the first attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem ended in death for one of the Israelites. You see, God had given exact instructions on how the Ark was to be handled, yet when the Ark came back to God's people, they had attempted to move it in an inappropriate way. A man named Uzzah touched the Ark and died. Now you can be sure of this, death will get everyone's attention and it did so when Uzzah dropped dead after touching the Ark. David decided it might be best to wait a while and move the Ark in a proper manner to a preferred place. So, the Ark was taken to the home of a man named Obed-Edom. I prophesy you 🫵 will always give God His proper place in your life, and your home in Jesus Name 🙏.

Obed-Edom makes the decision. He will keep the Ark of the Covenant in his house. Now, listen to me on this issue. Obed-Edom is inviting the presence of God into his house twenty-four hours and seven days a week. He is opening the door of his home to the Lord. No place on earth 🌎 is as private as your own home and the rooms in which you live. Obed-Edom knew this fact, but he said yes to the presence of God in the corners and closets of his family home and personal life. It is so important to have a faith that goes beyond the church-house door 🚪. A faith that is only visible when you are in public is a false faith. Real faith begins in the heart and lives in your home. Obed-Edom had a place for God in his home and he made a choice - a personal choice. No one could make it for him. How wonderful that he made the choice to welcome God into His life and home. I prophesy, may God keep opening doors of success to you 🫵 as you 🫵 open your home to Him henceforth in Jesus Name 🙏.

Life is filled with opportunities, I read some years ago about a company with a research center in Texas that received a request to allow two young computer 🖥️ greeks to visit the place. The lady executive at the lab was not going to allow them in without permission from someone higher up in the company. She contacted the vice-president over their division, who was at the headquarters in another city 🏙️. He sent her a written confirmation to allow the young men into the research center. His reason for allowing them in was that the work at the research center had nothing to do with their major product. Two young men went in and history was changed forever. You see that research center was owned by Xerox, and it was a place where young, sharp people were working on something new at the time - personal computers 🖥️. The two men who visited were Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft and Steve Jobs, founder of Apple. They learned that day about the use of something called a mouse to operate the cursor on the computer 🖥️ screen. Well, you know the rest of the story. Xerox lost millions, and probably billions, of dollars because of that one mistake. Gates and Jobs, however, had acted at just the right time and in just the right way. It is even more important to make your decisions for God when He calls you to make them. May you 🫵 never miss any of God given opportunities in Jesus Name 🙏.

It is hard to imagine what life was like in the home of Obed-Edom and his family during the three months that the Ark was in their house. Surely, they looked up on the presence of God with them as something remarkable and amazing. The Ark of the Covenant was covered in gold and glittered with every flash of light that fell upon it. In that day and time, light was something rare. Of course, they had the sun 🌞, but they didn't have electric lights 💡 or the brilliant glittering lights that we have today. Why, even your smart phone 🤳 or flat screen television 📺 puts out lighter in your home in one night than some of the farmers in the Bible days would have seen in a lifetime. But, here at the Obed-Edom home things were different. Let me tell you that no light in the world 🌎 is as beautiful and helpful as the light of God in your heart ❤️ and in your home 🏡. Jesus said, I am the light of the world, and indeed He is. No artificial light 🚨 of man can ever light the way for the individual or the family the way God's Son and God's Word can. Don't you see this fact when you watch the news or look at some family situations today. You can see that many people and families are just wandering around in a dark world 🌎 and dark home 🏠?

Obed-Edom had the light of God in his house 🏡. Now, just think about this for a moment. This man, husband, father, farmer, and citizens of Israel had one chance to make the decision to have God in his house 🏡. It was an opportune time and he grasped it. Someone reading this devotional today is standing at the door 🚪 of an opportunity. The Lord is speaking 🗣️ to you🫵 by knocking on the door 🚪 of your heart ❤️, and perhaps the door 🚪 of your home 🏡. He wants residence there. He desires to come in and make things right 👍 in your heart ❤️, in your home 🏡, among your family and in every area of your life. No matter who you are, where you've been, or how small you feel in this big world 🌎, God cares about you individually. This is your opportune time to invite Him in. Receive grace to welcome the Lord God into your home and blessed forever in Jesus Name 🙏.