The Year of the Dwelling Place

Welcome to Season 6 of Relentless Pursuit – Year of the Dwelling Place!

This season, we explore what it truly means to create a Dwelling Place for God, making room for His presence to dwell within us. Through personal stories, powerful guest appearances, and inspiring messages rooted in scripture, we’ll uncover how we can live a life filled with purpose, holiness, and a deep hunger for God's presence.

In this Season Kickoff episode, Nate shares his spiritual journey, the revelations he’s received, and the profound insights that have shaped his understanding of what it means to invite God to dwell in our hearts. Whether you’ve been walking with God for years or are just beginning your journey, this episode is for you.

🎧 What’s in this episode?

• Word of the Year: Dwelling Place (01:01)
  Discover why Dwelling Place is the powerful theme for this season and what it means for your spiritual walk.
• Understanding Spiritual Hunger (05:08)
  What does it mean to hunger for God’s presence? Learn how to cultivate a deeper desire for communion with Him.
• The Call to Holiness and Submission (10:49)
  The journey toward holiness is not easy, but it’s worth it. We’ll explore how submission to God’s will leads to a life where He can truly dwell within us.
• Living in Communion with God (21:39)
  Dive into the beauty of living in constant communion with God and the transformative power it has on every area of your life.
• Closing Prayer and Final Thoughts (25:43)
  End the episode with an uplifting prayer and reflections that set the tone for the entire season.

This season of Relentless Pursuit is all about building and deepening our relationship with God, making room for His presence, and living a life full of spiritual fulfillment. You won't want to miss the impactful episodes ahead that will challenge and inspire you to reflect on your own walk with God.

Join us for this powerful season of spiritual growth – subscribe, like, and hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode!

Transcript

0:00

Welcome back RP family. It's been a long time since I've been able to come to you guys and I It took a well needed Rest my family is going through a lot of transitions right now and I believe God put this on my heart to take two two and a half months off and I took it and the Lord has done some amazing things in those two two and a half months Some that I'll share with you further on in As we come up to the new season, so we're gonna have guests This season the only difference for this season is that we're going to be ending pretty soon. We're only going to have six weeks and there's a reasoning for that. But I believe God is going to do great things this season. I have such a high level of expectation for what God is doing here at RP. And I know that there's things that are coming that are just going to be amazing. And really knock your socks off. But I wanted to come before you and the first thing before we get into anything, I want to discuss the word of the year, the word that God put on my heart. For this year for not just relentless pursuit, but also for my family and I believe God is, has been using this word really preparing this word and cultivating this word in my life. Because I, like I said, I think this is such a crucial and a part of what is God is going to do this year. And so without further ado do drum roll the word of the year or the word. of the year is dwelling place. This is the year of the dwelling place. And the reason why I wanted to say it like that is because I believe God desires to have a dwelling place. There, in the Old Testament you could see when he told David and Solomon that he wanted to build a temple. You've seen when he wanted to Build the temple or the tent of meeting with Moses there. There's these places where God will want to build these temples these places of interaction with him. And let's get into it and it'll make sense as we continue, but I want to open. With this verse in Psalms one 20 or 1 32, 1 through five. In the amplified version it says, oh Lord, remember on David's behalf all the hardship and affliction how he swore to the Lord and foul to the mighty one of Jacob. I absolutely will not enter my house nor get into. My bed, I will, I certainly will not permit my eyes to sleep, nor my eyelids to slumber until I find a place for the Lord, a dwelling place for the mighty one of Jacob. This dwelling place, it's not necessarily a physical location anymore. When Jesus was on the cross and he died, and he tore the veil north to south, he tore the veil for a reason. Because he said he, In essence, what he was saying was he wants everyone to have access to the holiest of holies. He wants everyone who accepts him and receives him to have access to the throne room of heaven. He said it's not just limited to a specific group of people, but it's more encouraging to every Gentile, to every nation out there to be drawn to Him and prepare a place for Him in their heart, in their life. And so a dwelling place isn't the physical location that God is saying over this year, but instead He's saying, I want you to be my dwelling place. And the Bible says that. that he prepares a table for us in the midst of our enemies. And then the thing about that is, is the tables that are prepared are usually in the homes. They're usually in the houses. They're usually in a place of an intimate setting where you will want and desire to eat there. You'll desire to consume something there. You'll desire to be hungry there. Because there is a That you have that willingness to eat. You have that willingness. And he's preparing this table in the midst of your enemies. This is the dwelling place that we have today. We have a dwelling place in the midst of God. In the midst of his presence. And that he is prepared for us. He is prepared for us. And no matter the chaos that's around us, no matter the circumstances that we're going through, He has prepared in us a place for Him to dwell. In Psalms 63, 2 through 5 in the NIV version, it says, I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory because you Because your love is better than life. My lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live. And in your name, I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest foods. And with singing lips with singing lips, my mouth will praise you. And so this general theme through this season will be a dwelling place for God. A dwelling place for God. God desires to dwell in our midst. He, not just visit with us, not come, and we look in the Garden of Eden when He would visit Adam on a daily basis. And He said He would come to, to, in the cool of the day, meet with Adam. God doesn't just want to meet with us, He wants to dwell with us. He wants to have that continuous, intimate relationship. And the thing is this is what we call hunger and thirsting for His presence. Is that we are creating a dwelling place in our lives because of the hunger and thirsting for His presence that we have. And so it's the nature of hunger for God. The spiritual hunger. A hunger is a need. And not an achievement. Meaning that a hunger isn't something we can manufacture or fake. It's not something that, that we can build. It's an awareness of a need that we have. Just as a physical hunger signals our body's need for physical food and nourishment. A spiritual hunger is a deep awareness of our need for God. And so a scripture like we were saying in Psalm 63, it says I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods. Our dissatisfaction can't come from the physical thing. When we hunger after God, the only thing that will satisfy us and even create a greater hunger in us is the presence of God. It is that dwelling place that we have been made into. And so hunger is about a desire. Our hunger after God is we don't need a specific talent for Him. I've been so discouraged when I see friends of mine that, that lay hands and prophesy and do these crazy things for God and I praise God for that and for what God is doing in their life. But I'm, I don't have the most, I'm not the most talented. I'm not the most gifted. But I just desire a place for God in me. And that hunger. For God is what causes a reaction, a ripple effect, if you will, a ripple effect around you, for the people that are around you, for your family members for your, for the congregation, for the people that are following you. There is a ripple effect that will take place when you hunger after God. When there is a desperation after God. And see the woman with the issue of blood I know I use her a lot, but But I believe that it's a key example of what hungering after God is. Because we say we hunger after God, but if church is inconvenient for us, we won't go. We say we hunger after God, but if prayer is inconvenient for us, we won't pray. But what hunger, hungering after God is that you are someone that has been in pain or someone that has been so desperate that you don't have anything else and that you're willing to push through something. You're willing to push through a crowd. You're willing to push through to get to the point. point of where you meet Jesus and have contact with Him, so much so that virtue will then begin to be dispensed in you and you are pulling something from God. You are pulling out of Him, out of your hunger because you're so desperate for Him, because you're so hungry for Him. You push through everything that is in front of you. You push through the distractions. You push through the interferences. You push through the mountains. You push through the obstacles. You push through what is supposed to be against you. Because of your hunger, you're willing to find a way. If there is a will, there is a way. And you're finding the feet of Jesus where you can pull out from Him what you are hungry for. See, hunger is relentless. It's the reason why Relentless Pursuit was named, cause a Relentless Pursuit doesn't stop on, on, on just a wall, hitting a wall, but there is breakthrough when you're relentless after him. Hunger refuses to be denied. A true hunger for God desires to seek Him continuously. And see, when you're hungry for something, and I get hungry a lot praise God, I get hungry a lot. And so when you prioritize it, you will then begin to Prioritize it in your life. Meaning that, let's say I'm hungry at 12 o'clock, but I have a meeting at 12 o'clock. So what end up, what I'll end up doing is before that meeting, I'll make sure to eat something. So I go into the meeting satisfied enough to get me through the meeting so I can eat after the meeting. But because my hunger for something physical and the physical has rearranged my schedule of life. It, my, my hunger made my life revolve around it. My hunger Moved out Obstacles That could have been there because I was hungry And see in Psalms 27 for it says one thing that I've desires that I may dwell in the house of the Lord and that's where our desire should lies to dwell with God to be that house for him To be the one that houses the Holy Spirit and be the temple that is that is given Put together by him. There, there is a Scripture that keeps hitting me in different ways. And it says, Jesus, increase in me so that I may decrease. And it keeps hitting me in different ways. Increase God so that I may decrease. Increase in me so I may decrease. Increase in grace. Increase in mercy. Increase in your attributes so that I may decrease in my attributes. Increase. because I want the holiness of God. I don't want the holiness of Nate because holiness of Nate isn't holy. It's impure. I don't want the righteousness of Nate. I want the righteousness of God. I don't want the good character of Nate. I want the good character of God because everything that God can provide for me is so much more and so much greater than what I could do for myself. And so increase in me so that I may ding decrease. And so my hunger for God will. Give room and give a deeper, a deepened capacity for Him to fill me and increase in me so that I may get out of the way. His will, not my will. His desires, not my desires. His thoughts, not my thoughts. Because I will fall short time and time again. I will mess up time and time again. But because God has increased in me, I don't have to rely on my own strength to get me through the valley. I can look to Him and He can be my shepherd. See God's desire is to dwell among us. See, we can see, look at the Old Testament and really the novel that it is of the Bible because every step of the way was God, it was showing and expanding God's desire to be with us. It starts from in Genesis when God created the heavens and the earth but He gave a specific assignment to only one thing, one thing alone was He gave a piece of Himself to man and gave them assignment, be fruitful and multiply. He said, let us make them like me. Let us make man like me. Like him, like God. And see, God wants to make us his home. Because we see God trying to reconnect us. He sends the prophets to say, you need to repent to get back to God. You need to repent to get back to God. You need to turn from your wicked ways. You need to humble yourself to go back to God. Submit your ways to God. And we see that throughout the Old Testament. And God's okay, fine. Y'all ain't gonna do it, I'm gonna do it for you. And so he sends his son Jesus, although God's mind never changed. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. So that always was gonna happen. But my point is that then He sent Jesus to die on the cross to pave a way for us to reconnect with Him. Because all our sins blotted out that, that bridge, but when Jesus came He took our sins with Him and removed that hindrance from His presence. And so now He has access to our heart and we have access to His throne room. And so God wants to make His home within us. And God is not looking for occasional visits. Like I said before, He desires to dwell in our midst. To have His glory inhabit our lives. The cool thing about Moses is that He had an encounter with the glory and it stayed with him. It stayed with him. It impacted his life. It removed Or I shouldn't even say removed. He really imparted his glory into Moses for a time being. So much so that he had to cover his face because the glory of the Lord was so much over his life. In John 17, 24 through 26, and I'm reading from the Amplified Version. I jump to different versions because I believe they expand a little bit. Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given to me, as your gift to me, may be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory, which you have given me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world, O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known you, and has never acknowledged you, and the revelation of your mercy, yet I have always known you and these believers know without any doubt that you have sent me and I made your name known to them and will continue to make it known so that the love of With which you loved me may be in them, overwhelming their heart, and I may be in them. And so we see this as we see behind the fold of God's heart posture, is that His longing is for them to be, for the people of God to desire to be with Him. Because God desires that for, He, God desires to be with us. But there needs to be that reciprocation. Is that a word? I don't know. We'll figure it out. But that, there needs to be that that, I'm pretty sure that's a word. But there needs to be that, that I can't get past that word. Reciprocation. Is that a word? There need, whatever, we need to desire Him as well. We need to have that desire for him. We need to be the one that answers the call that God is giving us to not just dwell with us, but we need to dwell with Him. And God desires to dwell with us continuously, not just visit for moments. And I keep reiterating these points because it's not just a visit. And we treat God like it's just a visit, because we don't take Him outside of the walls of the church, or we don't take Him outside of the walls of the prayer room. We don't take Him outside of our devotional time. We go to work, we go to our jobs, we go to schools, we go outside into public places and thinking that God doesn't see us where we are. We go into our sin, even, and thinking that God doesn't see us where we are, but we have to know and understand that God is with us everywhere we go. And He desires not just to visit for moments, but He wants to dwell with us. He wants to dwell in us and require, and here's the thing, is that, that, that. That requires a heart and a life of surrender to Him. And in order to surrender to Him, or I wouldn't even say because you surrendered to Him, it, the necessity of, there is a necessity of holiness. And I know people don't like to hear this part because they think that's too judgmental and that only God can judge me. And first off, that's not biblically accurate. And yes, God judges you, but then, but you shall know a Christian based off their fruit. So there's that judgment that's going to need to take a factor, but there's also need that discernment that needs to be weighed in. And we can't let our emotions and feelings. Push our perspective of who we think someone is on them. And so that's a whole completely different other topic, but that's not my point. For God to dwell among us in His full glory, there must be a cleansing from sin and compromise. I really like this scripture in Isaiah 6. It says, Woe is me for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. Because he's witnessing the glory of the Lord. He's witness, he's seeing God on his throne. And just imagine seeing God if he's just sitting on his throne and all these angels are around him, just saying holy. And he's seeing this go down and he's I don't deserve to be here. Why am I here? I am a man that is unclean lips. That has unclean lips. I'm a man that that, yes, I am called a prophet. But in the presence of God, I am nothing. And it gives me this like, how merciful is our God that he's willing to not compromise heaven. But to wash us clean so that we may enter into heaven. That is crazy to me. That is insane to me that we are full of iniquity and transgressions. And hear my heart in this. Because we are all broken. We are all filthy. Our the Bible says our filth, our righteousness is as filthy rags compared to Him. We are all sinners. Or we were all sinners in need of a savior. We were broken in need of someone to restore us. We were hurting in need of a healer. We were hopeless in need of someone to give us hope. And there is our God that is willing to step into where we are. No matter where we came from to say, Listen, buddy, I can wash you clean of all your sins. Do you choose me and I will choose you. I will be your dwelling place if you be my dwelling place. That is insane to me. Because I think of all the brokenness that I've, all the brokenness that I carry. I think of all the hurt that I've caused. And the Lord told me that and I was in a service not too long ago, and He said, You're someone's testimony. Meaning that, Someone had to say to God, I forgive Nate because he did this. Someone had to say to God that Nate hurt me this way, but I release that hurt to you God. Someone had bitterness towards me because I did something to them. Unforgiveness towards me because I did something to them. And so many times we just think about what we can do for ourselves or how we need forgiveness for us and we don't realize that there are people that need forgiveness for us. And it sucks sometimes because I realize how jacked up I am, like I've lost friends, I've lost family members even. And people's perspective of me has been different over the years and people think That I'm the same person I was five years ago. And I just All I need is Jesus. He washes me from who I was. I thank God that he had an assignment for my life and a purpose for me. And if he had one for me, then he has one for you. See, God called you to be holy as He is holy and the thing is that holiness doesn't come from action or works. Holiness only comes from submission to Him. Because you can't be holy on yourself, by yourself. It's impossible. The Old Testament was proof that you can't be holy on your own works. The Bible says in Psalms 24, and this is one of my favorite scriptures I just recently read it so it can't be that. Favorite of mine, but it's 24, 3 4, it says, Who may ascend into the heel of the Lord, or who may stand in the holy place, He who has clean hands and a pure heart. We cannot expect God's glory to rest on us or in us, if we are living in compromise or in holiness. The temple must be pure. The temple must be pure and I think back to the Old Testament again because that's like the physical temple and when Israel was conquered, I just think about there's the Holy of Holies and nobody was able to go into the Holy of Holies unless they would die because the presence of God was there. But I just think about it. But if the presence of God wasn't there. The Babylonians, the Romans, the Assyrians I can't remember anybody else at that time, but if they would walk into the Holy of Holies, they would be completely fine. Why? Because the presence of God was there. Wasn't there. There was compromise in the temple, so the presence of God wasn't there. Crazy. But anyways and so this leads us to the call to deny ourselves. Like I said, you can't be holy on your own strength. You have to be holy through submission. Submission to God, submission to his works, submission to his will, submission to his word. And so it's dying to self is not a one time decision. It's not one of those prayer Lift your hands for prayer salvation and although I agree with what you're doing in that But it's a daily thing that you have to die to yourself To be a dwelling place for God We must choose on a daily basis to give ourselves to God to follow him and this is An occasional sacrifice, this is a constant surrender. In, in, in Luke 9, 23, it says, Anyone who would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily. This is a daily decision to choose God, a daily decision to be a dwelling place for Him. And so how often do we put our own desires over God's will, and are we denying ourself and choosing God daily? I didn't realize how long this might be. Oh, praise God. Praise God. Alright let's jump a little bit. This is twelve months, or two months in the making I have a lot that I've been wanting to go over, yeah let's do this. Living in communion with God. The beauty of, And power of God's presence. Prayer is essential. So I want to say that. In order to be submitted, you have to pray. In order to follow God's will, you have to pray. In order to be a follower of Christ, you have to pray. Prayer is essential in your relationship. Prayer isn't just about asking for things or you speaking. Speaking to, I don't want to just say nothing, but, cause that's not what I mean, that's in my heart. But what I mean is that it's not just you speaking to God. It's that prayer is a dialogue between you and God. It is an intimate moment with Him. It's a way to commune with God. And so in Matthew 6 it says, But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door behind you. See how, it's a reflection of how much time are you spending with God? Are you shutting the door? Are you willing to pray in private so that what God can do in public can be the power that moves through you? I heard this recently and your preachings or your teachings or what you minister doesn't come from a place of what you have, but it comes from the place of overflow. And the only way to have overflow is what you do in private. The woman with the issue of blood, and I know I keep going down these, like I said, two months of working on this the woman with the issue of blood, or I'm sorry, not which woman, the widow. That, that cried out to the prophet and she was like, my sons are going to get taken by debt collectors. I don't have anything but the smart jaw of oil. He split the prophets Pacific specifically said, go into your house and shut the door behind you. And what happened was the oil kept pouring into all the vessels. That is a symbolic because it shows, I should say it shows us that. When the door shut, what the door is shut and what we're closing the door and what's happening in private is there is an outpouring of God's spirit over each individual vessel and what was sold was the excess. What paid the debt was the excess oil from the small jar. So we are the small jars and what pours out from us Upon whether it's upon the feet of Jesus or whatever we want to say it is our that our small jar We are the small jar of oil pouring out the vessels and the access of the oil will be sold and paid for the debt And he'll provide a bridge for intimacy with him And so prayer is essential the consequence, let's skip that part see the transformation, the transformative power of God's presence when God fills us, he heals our wounds and flaws and our past and it shapes us into the vessels for his glory. And the thing is that there's a lot of times where we doubt who we are and doubt ourselves and it's not, I get it, we carry guilt and shame, but God is not intimidated by our imperfections. He, in fact, he uses our imperfections to create a place for his dwelling. He uses our weaknesses to be his strength in us. He uses our past to be a testimony and a platform for what God wants to do through us. So I'm going to say this last part. There needs to be a fresh cry for God in our daily lives. Something where it's renewed. Renewed. The devil fears a generation. That is desperate for God's presence. Because that's when true transformation happens. And so I invite you to examine your hunger. Examine where you are spiritually. And examine your desperation for God. In 2 Corinthians 6, 17 it says, For we are the temple of the living God. So I challenge you to make A place, whether it's in your house, whether it's in your car, a place where you can get in contact with God. Place where you can build your relationship with Him. And the choosel. To choose to be a dwelling place for Him. And, I believe God is going to transform a generation, but I think God is going to transform the previous generation as well. God's heart is to commune with us. God's heart is to be with us. And as I close, I want to exit and end on a prayer. And so if you guys I was going to say bow your head, but if you're driving, don't bow your head. You probably should stay focused on the road, but. Anyways dear Heavenly Father, we thank you God for this time. We thank you God for these this word, Lord. We know God that this is the year of the dwelling place. This is the year where you've called us to be the vessels that you pour into and to be the vessels where you inhabit. Lord, I pray Father for every individual that's listening to this podcast, to this episode, Lord, that their lives would be touched and impacted, God. I pray Father that you would reach them where they are, Father, and where, whether they feel. That they are chosen or not. Lord, I pray God that you would make yourself known to them. Lord, whether they feel, God, that you are present or not, Father, I pray God that you would make them aware of your spirit. Lord, I pray, Father, that you would deepen in their hunger for you. And Lord, that you would expand their capacity for more. Lord, I pray God that you would show them your ways, show them your heart, show them who you are. So that they may create that they may have a longing for you. Lord, I pray, Father, for every individual in their life, in their following, in their hunger. Lord, that they, God, Would be in alignment with your will and that they would have a deeper surrender in Jesus mighty name Thank you guys so much for joining this week's episode of Relentless pursuit. We are so happy to be back and we're ready. Let's go So don't forget to follow us on all our social media platforms at relentless pursuit we want to connect with you. We want you to join this journey and we're believing so much For so much and that God has so much for us and you as well. All right. See you guys