Human temples

TODAY'S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 5-8; Psalm 72

TO CHEW ON: "But will God indeed dwell with men on earth? Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built!" 2 Chronicles 6:18

Picture the scene: all of Israel is gathered in Jerusalem for the dedication of a magnificent structure - the temple David began with an idea, plan, materials, and Solomon built.

On this day of the temple's dedication Solomon stands before the assembled crowd, probably in the temple's outer courtyard, blesses them, then ascends a bronze platform, kneels, raises his hands toward heaven and prays the eloquent prayer recorded in 2 Chronicles 6:12-42.

Within it he asks the question of our today's focus verse: "Will God indeed dwell with men on earth?"

He answers: "Behold heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built!" Solomon grasped God's bigness and the impossibility of only one location ever holding Him.

He's right, of course. No place on earth can contain God, as in become a boundary or edge past which He cannot go, or contain His sum-total so that He is no where else. But God will dwell with men on earth — will and does.

1. In Israel's case, God responded to Solomon's prayer by sending fire which consumed the prepared sacrifices and glory so awesome, the priests couldn't enter the temple to complete their duties (2 Chronicles 7:14). From that time forward, God's presence dwelt in the temple's Holy of Holies room, as it had the ark.

2. Centuries later God sent Jesus to dwell with us in human flesh (John 1:1-5,14)

3. Now, since the day of Pentecost  and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4), God dwells in us:

"Do you not discern and understand that you [the whole church at Corinth] are God's temple (His sanctuary), and that God's Spirit has His permanent dwelling in you [to be at home in you, collectively as a church and also individually]?" 1 Corinthians 3:16 Amplified

"Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Message

PRAYER: Dear God, please teach me what it means to be Your dwelling in practical day-to-day ways. May Your glory shine through my life today more than it ever has before. Amen.


PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 72

It's interesting to note that today's psalm is one of the rare ones written by Solomon!

MORE: The Holy Spirit in us — insights from Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest

"It is very easy to quench the Spirit; we do it by despising the chastening of the Lord, by fainting when we are rebuked by Him....Never quench the Spirit..."  (August 14 reading).

"Never discard a conviction. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to have brought it to your mind, it is that thing He is detecting." (September 24th reading)

"Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when one five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam." (October 10th reading)

****************
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Are you a functioining part?

Image: Pixabay

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Ephesians 4:1-16

TO CHEW ON: From whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:16

Is your body operating with replacement parts? Modern medicine has made amazing progress at fixing faulty body parts and replacing those that no longer work well. I would hazard a guess, though, that no matter how slick your replacement heart valve, or what a great match your transplanted kidney is, it’s not as good as a healthy original.

Each of our body parts has its own function. Toes, fingernails, eyelashes, the ability to smell, taste, feel (yes, pain too) are important and missed when absent. Even a small discrepancy in, say, the length of one’s legs can have repercussions to posture, neck, back, and foot health. Most of the time we have no clue about how interconnected our body parts are—until one of them gets ill or stops working and our whole body feels the impact.

In today’s passage, where Paul underlines the importance of Christian unity (Ephesians 4:1-4), and identifies spiritual gifts available to believers (Ephesians 4:7-12), he ends with a sort of argument for the function and cooperation of each member in the body of believers by comparing this spiritual body to a physical body (Ephesians 4:13-16).

I love these segments:

"...Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies… working by which every part does its share...” Ephesians 4:16.

This reminds us that each individual is not only important but essential for the smooth functioning of the body of believers. Of course only God in His ultimate wisdom and omnipotence would have the smarts and power to also place us in physical churches on physical earth in our place and time where we also have a unique purpose and function.

Why?

For body growth and edification (Ephesians 4:16).

[Edify: to instruct or benefit, especially morally or spiritually; to uplift.]

So, don’t absent yourself from the Christian community just because you appear (to yourself at least) insignificant or useless. You are needed and essential as one of the "every joint” and “every part” of the body of believers.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to be a healthy part, in tune and cooperating with You, my Head. Amen.

 *********
Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.