Holy Spirit, Thou art welcome in this place.  There is a chorus with these words.  it came to me as I began to journal this morning.  As I wrote them I was sensing The Holy Spirit telling me that the place mentioned is not in the room where I have my devotions, it is within me.  He dwells within me as promised.  The fact that He is present in our world is by creation.  The fact He is within me is a Gift given when Christ was invited to be my Lord and Savior.  I have to confess that this Gift living in me has been one of my most private and inner struggles.  How could someone so tarnished from sin possess something so pure and precious?

After my devotions yesterday I ended up letting my sponsor know how much I was struggling and why I was.  I also called one other person I trust well for the same reason.  In so doing, the cloud of shame lifted.  The rest of my day was one of peace.  I spent a couple hours with the gentleman who was my pastor from my late teen years until I was 30.  He is turning 90 next month and struggles immensely from dementia, yet, he knows me.  He doesn’t know where I go to church or where I live as he asks a dozen or more times, but it doesn’t matter–he knows me and calls me by name.  This man will be rewarded richly in heaven.  He has been God’s gift to hundreds and hundreds here on earth.

How much I love our TEAM–God the Father, Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit.  It seems I’m getting to know them more personally now.  The battle within is ebbing away.  Such a peace is replacing the emptiness of no value I’ve fought so long.  It really is a peace–a contentment.  It is just what the scripture says:  “A peace that passeth all understanding” as stated in Philippians 4:7.