My Dwelling Place #3 “Changes Me” Pr. Paul Hohman

My Dwelling Place Overview

In this third installment of the My Dwelling Place series, Pastor Paul Hohman delivers a convicting and encouraging message centered on one simple truth: what we devote ourselves to shapes who we become. Drawing from Psalm 91, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:33, and 2 Corinthians 5:17, Pastor Paul challenges believers to examine their habits and ask whether their dwelling place is truly God. He uses vivid personal illustrations, including a childhood memory of ice skating and how his father discerned a spiritual danger before Paul could see it himself, to show how the company we keep and the habits we build quietly transform us. The sermon walks through the story of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 to demonstrate that God’s path to breakthrough is often simpler than we expect, and that pride can prevent us from receiving what God freely offers. Pastor Paul calls each listener to pursue a spiritual awakening by consistently spending time in God’s Word and prayer, not as a religious exercise but as a genuine dwelling, so that the character of God flows naturally out of our lives and into every relationship, workplace, and community we touch.

My Dwelling Place Outline

• 00:00 – Opening: What We Devote Ourselves To: Pastor Paul introduces the series and establishes the core premise that our habits and devotions determine who we become, whether shaped by the world or by God.
• 06:30 – God’s Word as a Living Dwelling Place: A call to read Scripture not as a novel but as a living conversation with God, asking for revelation and allowing it to reshape thinking, speech, and action.
• 13:00 – Romans 12:1-2: Give Your Body to God: An exposition of the New Living Translation of Romans 12:1-2, unpacking what it means to present ourselves as a living offering and to let God renew the mind.
• 21:00 – Bad Company Corrupts Good Habits: Drawing from 1 Corinthians 15:33 in three translations, Pastor Paul illustrates how surrounding influences gradually corrupt character, using his ice-skating story as a personal example.
• 30:00 – It Starts With Me: A pivotal section urging believers not to wait for God to change their circumstances first, but to embrace personal transformation as the starting point for every relational and spiritual breakthrough.
• 37:00 – Spiritual Awakening Through Consistent Devotion: Pastor Paul explains that building the habit of seeking God daily, through prayer and the Word, leads to a genuine spiritual awakening where opportunities to reflect Christ arise naturally.
• 44:00 – The Story of Naaman: Simplicity of Obedience: A walk through 2 Kings 5:1-15 showing how Naaman’s pride nearly cost him his healing, and how stepping into simple obedience opened the way for a miraculous transformation.
• 51:00 – Closing Exhortation: Find Your Dwelling Place: Pastor Paul closes with a pastoral invitation to stop allowing the past and Satan’s lies to define the future, and to commit daily to dwelling in the secret place of the Most High.

Scripture References

Psalm 91:1, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 15:33, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 6:33, Matthew 7:16, Matthew 7:20, Jeremiah 29:11, Isaiah 43:18, Psalm 119:165, Psalm 86:11, Psalm 25:4-7, 2 Kings 5:1-15

Key Takeaways

• What you consistently devote your time and attention to will inevitably shape who you become, for better or worse.
• Dwelling in God’s presence through daily prayer and Scripture is not a religious duty but the single most transformative habit a believer can build.
• God is not asking for perfection before He accepts you; He is asking for surrender so He can make you new in Christ.
• Bad company does not have to mean outright evil influences; any steady diet of relationships that pull you from God quietly corrupts good character.
• Spiritual awakening is not a one-time event but the fruit of repeated, faithful return to God’s Word until His nature flows naturally from your life.
• The story of Naaman reminds us that God’s instructions are often simpler than we expect, and pride is the most common reason people miss their breakthrough.
• Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness is not a sacrifice of the good life but the only reliable path to everything you truly need.

My Dwelling Place Notes

Dwelling Place Shapes Character Deeply

Pastor Paul opens by establishing the sermon’s central thesis: we become like whatever we give our lives to. Just as children mirror the language and habits of their parents, and teenagers absorb the culture of their closest friendships, believers who consistently return to God in prayer and Scripture begin to take on His nature. Compassion, grace, mercy, and love are not manufactured by willpower but absorbed through proximity. The dwelling place is not a location but a devotion, and that devotion determines the trajectory of every area of life.

Romans 12 and the Renewed Mind

A key passage in this message is Romans 12:1-2, quoted from the New Living Translation. Paul the apostle calls believers to give their bodies to God as a living and holy gift, which Pastor Paul clarifies is not about servitude but about alignment. When the mind is renewed through consistent exposure to God’s Word and Spirit, the believer begins to discern what is good, pleasing, and perfect according to God’s design rather than defaulting to their own limited understanding. This renewed mind becomes the foundation for every godly action that follows.

Ice Skating Story and Parental Discernment

One of the most memorable illustrations in the sermon is Pastor Paul’s account of his teenage years spent ice skating every day at a local park. He loved the activity and the friendships, but his father sensed something spiritually dangerous in the crowd and began requiring him home an hour earlier than the rink closed. Paul was furious at the time. Years later he learned that the majority of those friends fell into addiction, broken families, and instability. His father heard from God and protected him before the habits solidified. This story powerfully illustrates how those who dwell in God can discern threats others cannot yet see.

Naaman’s Pride and Simple Obedience

The account of Naaman in 2 Kings 5 anchors the sermon’s second half. Naaman was a great military commander afflicted with leprosy who expected the prophet Elisha to perform a dramatic public healing. Instead, a simple messenger told him to wash in the Jordan River seven times. Naaman was furious because the instruction did not match his expectations. Only when his servants persuaded him to try was he healed completely. Pastor Paul uses this story to challenge the tendency to overcomplicate God’s instructions or reject them because they seem too simple, too ordinary, or too humbling.

Spiritual Awakening Is a Built Habit

Pastor Paul makes clear that spiritual awakening is not a sudden mystical experience reserved for a few. It is the natural result of repeatedly and consistently seeking God in prayer and Scripture until His Word becomes instinct. He illustrates this with his own prayer life, explaining that people who hear him pray often assume he prepares extensively in advance. In reality, prayer flows easily because it is his dwelling place. What we build into daily habit eventually flows out of us without effort, and that overflow becomes the primary way we share Christ with the world around us.

New Creation Identity Silences the Enemy

A recurring theme in the closing section is the believer’s authority to reject the accusations of the enemy by standing on the identity Scripture declares. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Isaiah 43:18, Pastor Paul urges listeners not to allow past failures to define their future. Satan’s strategy is to replay old mistakes and suggest that past sin disqualifies present calling. The answer is not self-improvement but identity rooted in Christ. When the believer knows who God is, Jehovah Rapha the healer, Jehovah Jireh the provider, the Prince of Peace, there is no room for the enemy’s lies to take hold.

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