June 2026
An Encouraging Word from Karen Pulley
Hi ladies,
We had such a wonderful time in the Lord’s presence with you last weekend on our retreat. We missed those of you who were unable to attend, but the Lord is not limited to a specific time or location when it comes to meeting with His children. I pray this email whets your appetite and that you’ll have your own retreat with the Lord this summer. The messages and reading material are included below.
If you’re familiar with the booklet My Heart Christ’s Home by Robert Boyd Munger, you’ll remember that the longing of Christ’s heart is to have access to ours–that no “room” would be off-limits and that He would truly be at home in our hearts.
Perhaps your heart is in utter chaos. Perhaps you’re a hoarder. Maybe everything looks fine outwardly, but inwardly it’s a different story. If we let Him, God can set our house in order.
This hit home for me one day as I was cleaning. I noticed a wooden plank that looked very strange, as though it were being eaten away. When Lloyd saw it, he suspected something was going on behind it. He ripped down the boards and part of the wall and sure enough, there was a termite colony. Outwardly, things didn’t look so bad. But when we dug deeper, we discovered the extent of the damage.
The same can be said of our hearts–the very place Christ seeks to dwell.
Perhaps your library (the mind) is filled with books or social media posts that don’t edify you. Let God fill that room with uplifting reading material instead. His good news–His truth–leads to His peace, whereas the news of this world is the source of much of our anxiety.
Maybe your dining room (appetites and desires) is filled with unsavory, unnourishing things. “You are what you eat,” as they say. Garbage in is garbage out. Let God change your appetite and cravings. As He does, He’ll nourish and strengthen you with the best meals.
Maybe your living room (devotional life/the place of fellowship) is empty. Perhaps you feel so alone. God wants to change that–He wants to meet you. He longs to fellowship with you daily. Isn’t that incredible? The Christian life is all about your relationship with Him.
Maybe your workroom leaves you exhausted, like you’re on a treadmill. You are running hard but going nowhere. He wants to give your life purpose and meaning. He has wonderful plans for you and your future. “Surely one life will soon be passed, but only what's done for Christ will last.” I love that.
Moving onto the recreation room, we can ask ourselves: are our hobbies and activities leaving us unfulfilled? There’s only so many videos we can watch on how to make sourdough bread, right? He wants to give us heavenly and eternal pursuits. All the things of this world are soon passing away, but she who does the will of God abides forever.
As we consider the bedroom, we must ask: how is our love life? Have we been looking for love in all the wrong places? Look to the cross–look to Jesus–He shows us what real love is (1 Corinthians 13) as we see Him broken for us. There is no greater love than His. Do you have broken relationships? God is able to heal them.
Lastly, we come to the hall closet. It might be filled with things we treasure, but even those things can start to rot and smell. They can do us harm and not good. In My Heart Christ’s Home, the hall closet begins to smell so badly that Jesus moves out. This finally made the man realize he had great food but no fellowship. Wonderful pursuits but no meaningful relationships. He realized he needed to transfer the title over to Jesus. Jesus needed to be in charge.
Who’s in charge of your life? Are you on the throne and Christ is on the cross? Or are you on the cross, crucified with Christ, and He is on the throne? When He’s on the throne and the title is transferred, a beautiful, heavenly fragrance fills the house. Spurgeon preached a sermon where he used the analogy that we are like tenants living in God’s house, and God is the landlord. The “rent” God desires is our love, fellowship, and devotion.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (Revelation 3:20)
He not only wants to live with us, but He longs to beautify us! What love!
When we open the door to Him, He comes into our hearts and begins to clean, rearrange, and redecorate things.
You need not fear opening the door to Jesus. He is:
the Almighty, Altogether Lovely, the Bread of Life, the Burden Bearer, the Comforter, the Caring Counselor, the Crucified One, compassionate, Deliverer, my defense, dependable, eternal, Everlasting Father, Faithful Friend, fortress, the Great Physician, holy, hope, just, my joy, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, love, Light of the World, Lamb of God, Mighty One, Miracle Worker, merciful, Name Above All Names, powerful, Prince of Peace, Provider, Protector, Restorer, my rest, the Risen Lord, my Refuge, my Redeemer, my Savior, my Shepherd, strength, Truth, trustworthy, unchanging, undefiled, and Victor.
This is just a fraction of who He is! Why would we say no to Jesus? Why would we keep Him out by not opening the door?
Like that willing slave who chose to stay with his master for life (Exodus 21), let’s open the door to Christ by saying, “Make me your slave, Lord, then I will be free.”
We would see Jesus,
Karen Pulley
Click here to listen to the retreat messages and here for related readings and reflections.