On January 15 I wrote “He was purported to dwell in the cloud by day and the fire by night, the Tabernacle, then a couple of Temples, and now indwells you. Can you get your mind around that idea?”
Our small group is studying John Eldredge’s book Resilient. In his book, page 62, he makes the point:
But, folks, have we forgotten that God relocated the temple? In a stunning shift of geography, God changed the playing field. He moved the temple from a physical building to the hearts of His people.
John Eldredge, Resilient
Here are a few of the Scriptures he quotes.
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV
What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
2 Corinthians 6:16 NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Pray and say out loud and believe that if you have asked Jesus to be your Lord that you are God’s temple. His Holy Spirit is within you. You have received this from God. God’s Spirit dwells within you. God wants you to honor Him with your body.
No more dwelling only on high, no tent or tabernacle or temple! God decided and made the move through the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Now that you know these things how will that knowledge effect your life? Will anyone notice? Will you be able to explain the difference to them?
As you can see in the above picture by Missy Cummings, He was purported to dwell in the cloud by day and the fire by night, the Tabernacle, then a couple of Temples, and now indwells you. Can you get your mind around that idea?
This absolutely flies in the face of separation regarding us and the Lord God Almighty. He is not “The big man upstairs.” He is not just God of the Bible stories. Jesus made a way for Him to dwell within you, to abide, tarry, stay.
Bob was recently musing on the Gospel of John and these verses.
‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
John 17:20-23 RSV
Do you desire this sort of oneness with the Father and the Son? Perhaps you shudder at this level of intimacy with them? Many people want the idea of separateness – God separate from us – as the Word says in John 3:19 people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. Saints have been trying to teach us for generations that having God dwell in us is a heavenly gift. Julian of Norwich born 1342 and died 1416 was a celebrated author and mystic. She taught:
“Greatly ought we to rejoice that God dwells in our soul; and more greatly ought we to rejoice that our soul dwells in God. Our soul is created to be God’s dwelling place, and the dwelling of our souls is God, who is uncreated. It is a great understanding to see and know inwardly that God, who is our Creator, dwells in our soul, and it is a far greater understanding to see and know inwardly that our soul, which is created, dwells in God in substance, of which substance, though God, we are what we are.” ~ Julian of Norwich
~Julian of Norwich
“Between God and the soul there is no between.”
~Julian of Norwich
How do you interpret that in your own life? Read those 2 quotes again and ponder what they might mean for you 2023. If you love God and have accepted Jesus as His Son, He has come to dwell in you. We recently sang, “O come, o come, Emmanuel.” And He has come! Jesus was born a man, died for all men and rose again to be seated at the right hand of the Father. He has accomplished His work and has sent the promise of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us who believe. There is no between God and the soul.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
Ephesians 3:16-17 TLB
If, like me, you are facing another year of physical struggle, I pray you will take the above verses to heart. Ask the Father repeatedly to empower you with inner strength. Invite Christ to make His home in you and TRUST in Him. Help us all, Lord, to grow our roots deep into Your love and make us strong.
Wow! Another New Year. How long will it take you to remember it is ’23 now? Have you been thinking about resolutions? We usually form a New Year’s resolution from our flesh and our mind. Statistics show that more often than not the resolution is in the dust before February. So I challenge you to set not a resolution, but one word for the entire year. Have you ever prayed and tried to listen for what the Lord would have you focus upon for the coming year?
I have done this for several years and have found it inspiring, challenging and uplifting. Even when I fail to reach for the goal of the word, if I chose it from the Word of God, He helps me and sustains me in my efforts. I may fail one week and totally grasp it the next. The goal is to consistently reach for it.
So take a few minutes. Sit quietly asking the Holy Spirit what He would have you set as your word of the year. If you do not hear a particular word, keep trying, maybe even for several weeks. Pay attention to Scriptures that come your way. Do you perceive a theme?
I have been reading the book of Mark. In chapter 13 Jesus is speaking about the end of time as we know it. He says only the Father knows when that will occur.
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Mark 13: 32-37 NIV
Even the poet Rumi wrote, “Stay awake. Don’t go back to bed.” Watch. Be alert. NASB says, “Be on the alert.” The Message, “Stay at your post. Keep watch.”
What is the Lord saying to you about 2023? Are you awake, alert, listening, watching? Or have you dozed off to sleep content to just be comfortable, like most Americans want to be? Comfort seems to be our biggest idol these days.
Maybe your word will make you uncomfortable. Perhaps moving out of your comfort zone will bring you new life! Try it for 2023.
I recently bought another book of Puritan prayers from Christian Book Distributors entitled Piercing Heaven. The author says “That prayer is most likely to pierce heaven which first pierces one’s own heart.”
Every good prayer begins with some form of confession. This one is no exception.
It All Belongs to Jesus by Robert Hawker
Precious Jesus! I do remember my faults this day. So grant me from now on to live wholly to You, gracious Lord, to keep you always in view, walking with you, cleaving to you, hanging upon you, Help me always to remember you and your love more than anything else.
You, my dearest Redeemer! I pray for grace to set you always before me, to record in my heart your mercies, and to set you in my heart. To follow you wherever you go, and to watch the steps of Jesus. To pursue you in all your paths, at your table, at your ordinances, in your words, in your house of prayer, in your providence, in your promises.
Everywhere, and in all things where Jesus is, I pray that there may my soul be. Though I have no way to pay you back for this bounty, Lord, still in your grace may I follow you, to bless you, and to live out the truth that all I am and all I have is yours.
Grant me in this sweet sense to know you, precious Jesus, and to enjoy you in everything, for riches and honor come from you.
Yes, Lord, the work is yours, salvation is yours, glory is yours – everything is yours. All the remains for me is to be forever giving you the praise that is due your most holy name, content to be nothing – even less that nothing – that the power of Jesus may rest on me. Because when I am most weak in myself, than am I most strong in you, Lord, and in your power, amen.
I like the reminder that everything belongs to Jesus. It is so easy in this day to think there are things we obtained that belong to us, not to Him. “All I am and all I have is Yours.”
We have left the mostly clear skies of New Mexico and are firmly back home in the December gloom of Ohio. Though there is no mountain out my widow to remind me of God’s glory and majesty, there are reminders all about me of the same. The white eared squirrel just hopped across the yard. The moisture in the air seems chilly but has brought relief to my sinuses! Our small group met recently and we were re-united after a long session of being apart. Sadly, we will not meet again until next year, but prayerfully the bonds of unity will remain.
Yes, everything belongs to Jesus and He is in control. May I yield to His directions and follow closely in His paths. May you too, “be forever giving praise to His most holy Name, content to be nothing- even less than nothing – that the power of Jesus may rest on you. “ He is strong and is able to keep us in all of our ways.
Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you without blemish before the presence of his glory with rejoicing, 25 to the only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and for ever. Amen.
Jude 24-25 RSV
There are so many passages in the New Testament that contain the phrase He is able – would make a neat study!
Amy Carmichael “Edges of His Ways” continues to inspire me. When I read this selection I learned that the passage in Proverbs speaks as to how we can cause God to delight in us.
My son, if your heart is wise, then My heart will be glad indeed; My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
Proverbs 23:15-16 RSV
The passage reminds me of when one of my children makes my heart swell with joy. Like the time Emily at 3 years old, smuggled Jesus into church on Christmas Eve. When I asked her what was in her hand she opened her palm and said, “I thought He ought to come.” To this day I marvel at the faith of that girl-child.
How can a person protect or keep their ways? Psalm 119 tells some ways.
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. 10 With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!
Psalm 119:9-10 RSV
It is all of Him if we are made aware of His Presence and listen when He speaks, and so receive wisdom; but in His extraordinary love He speaks as if it were all our doing
Amy Carmichael “Edges of His Ways” December 5 “The Evens”
God lets things unfold as if our right doing is from our own strength. Yet, Amy and others teach us that He makes us aware of His Presence, He directs our paths, His grace and mercy carry us along our way.
If my heart is wise, if my lips speak what is right my Father will be pleased. This can make His heart glad and His inmost being rejoice. This is a good time and season to ask the Father “How could I most delight You today?” What gift can I present to You, Father of Lights?
I have been reading The Valley of Vision, A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. In the section entitled Shared Prayers and Devotions there is a portion for each morning and evening over seven days. The prayers and devotions are a lovely weave of Scriptures, praise and requests to our Lord. This jumped out at me, “Let us not live uncertain of what we are, of where we are going. Bear witness with our spirit that we are thy children and enable each one to say, “I know my Redeemer.”
Wait in His Presence. Remember God really loves you. Trust His love and learn how to be devoted to Him.
We visited Faith Church in Rio Rancho where Dan and Betty worship. Pastor Mike McDonald has been doing a series preaching on Jeremiah and this week was Chapters 50-51. “God’s judgement is a word to His people of future hope in their present hardship.”
And then the Word says:
He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he is the Maker of all things, including the people of his inheritance—the Lord Almighty is his name.
Jeremiah 51:19 NIV
The Maker of all things. The Lord Almighty is his name. Our portion.
Our strength, our reward. Father You bless us even when we are not aware of Your blessing. Help us to bring attention to You and Your holy power in all that we do.
He is our portion We are exceedingly blessed. Look to Him at all times.
In the summer of 2021 my friend Dan sent me the book The Valley of Vision A collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions, edited by Arthur Bennett. I do not read it daily, but I was prompted to open it last week. Here is where I read:
Grace Active
Lord Jesus, Great High Priest,
Thou hast opened a new and living way
by which a fallen creature can approach thee with acceptance.
Help me to contemplate
the dignity of thy Person,
the perfectness of thy sacrifice,
the effectiveness of thy intercession.
O what blessedness accompanies devotion,
when under all the trials that weary me,
eh cares that corrode me,
the fears that disturb me,
the infirmities that oppress me,
I can come to thee in my need
and feel peace beyond understanding!
The grace that restores is necessary to preserve,
lead, guard, supply, help me.
And here thy saints encourage my hope;
they were once poor and are now rich,
bound and are now free,
tried and now are victorious.
Every new duty calls for more grace than I now possess,
but bit more than is found in thee,
the divine Treasury in whom all fullness dwells.
To thee I repair for grace upon grace
until every void made by sin be replenished
and I am filled with all thy fullness.
May my desires be enlarged and my hopes emboldened,
that I may honour thee by my entire dependency
and the greatness of my expectation.
Do thou be with me, and prepare me for all
the smiles of prosperity, the frowns of adversity,
the losses of substance, the death of friends,
the days of darkness, the changes of life,
and the last great change of all.
May I find thy grace sufficient
for all my needs.
I am so excited to do this! It seems like just the thing I need after the distress of the past week. Hoping you can join me and others worldwide to celebrate joy! The book by Bishop Tutu and the Dali Lama was tremendous. This summit ought to be on your To-Do list big time!! https://www.globaljoysummit.org
Feeling the pain of the world and recognizing how many are struggling with isolation and despair, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu met one last time before Arch’s passing to create a final gift for us all – poignant, practical, and often humorous teachings on how we can live with more Joy, even during deeply troubled times.
I loved and shared the book with many!
How could you resist this sort of joy?
There is evidently a video which I intend to watch very soon!
From what I can gather the video is presented by YouTube in short sections. Still, these guys are some of the greatest teachers on earth.
You know something is up when all the messages around you harmonize!
And suddenly you know: It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.
Meister Eckhart
How about you? Is there anything new popping up in your life?
Conner Bowie on Unspalsh
Wouldn’t it be great to have some place like this to go for a retreat! Away from ‘the maddening crowds.” Asking for guidance and wisdom and able to hear His will.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Those who instruct writers tell that the best readership is when the writer connects from a personal place. So here is a recent telling of a personal relationship gone bad and how I am coping with that. My time is divided between writing two mornings a week, attending a crochet group one morning per week and participating in a church small group every other week. I have not joined any of church women’s Bible studies as my time is stretched as is.
I have been part of this crochet and knit group for many years. We meet weekly to construct our own projects. Sometimes a bunch of us decide to try the same pattern. Recently our leader was absent and no one knew where she was. Many reiterated, “She always tells one of us if she is not going to attend.” She had not told anyone. I called and there was no answer. Left her a message. Stopped at her house on the way home to drop a donation of hats and mittens someone had made. Lights were out but both cars were there. I assumed she was resting. I did not ring the bell. Placed the donation on top of her car in the open garage. Left a message that we were concerned by her absence. Later in the week I tried to get hold of her. Her phone mailbox was full.
When I attended group the next week she lit into me with fury. “I and my family are really pissed at you!” I was curious and it was humorous to me at first, “Why?!?” In anger she replied, “You called me three times! Even my cousin did not call that many times.” She accused me of butting my nose into other people’s business. I was told to just butt out. Wow. I thought I was showing concern for her well being. She had recently been hospitalized with lung issues. With the children’s virus going around that can affect seniors I was truly concerned. I still had no idea where she had been the previous meeting. I was wounded by her words. There had to be at least 15 other ways she could have handled that besides yelling at me in front of the group that was assembling.
I went out of the room to sign in at the Senior Center desk and realized I could not stay for that meeting. I was angry and distressed. I had brought a cake to share with the group for my birthday, and could not in good conscious act as if all was well. I got my cake, crochet supplies and purse out of the meeting room as she was explaining to the group what happened to her and where she had been the previous week. I did not wait to listen.
I admit, I have had a hard time shaking this one off. I have prayed. I have asked trusted friends to listen to my heart. Tried not to ruminate, just find out what the Lord requires of me in this.
This week the same Scripture came to me through more than one source.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psalm 40:2 NIV
Photo by Molly Dutina
Our church has repeatedly been teaching about the fact that we cannot, should not, try to walk alone in our Christian journey. The preacher asks us almost weekly to examine our circle of friends and influence. I have been doing just that and find my circle too limited and me often suffering from loneliness.
So having just passed my 72nd birthday I wondered what I am going to do about this? My Dad died when I was 11 years old. I was left with my mom and sister who were like two peas in a pod. I was the odd girl out. After that I grew up with a steady diet of criticism of them. It all left me with a tendency to not trust women in relationships. Mind you, I have some close female friends, but I also have a long line of women who shamed, falsely accused or betrayed me. Last Sunday a guest speaker came and challenged us to tell our story to a small group of fellow Christians. I am reading his book and asking my church if we are holding groups like he suggests.
Okay, there is no Christian focus at crochet group. There are Christians who attend, many go to the same church I do! I do not want to discuss this with them as I fear getting into gossip about her. That is not my goal. How do I get in relationship with other women who want to share life in a trusting, safe environment? Our speaker, Dr. Alan Ahlgrim, pointed out repeatedly that we cannot be heart healthy alone. (He was not speaking of diet.) He means a place where we do not only share from our heads, but our hearts, too.
I have come to believe that perhaps the Lord released me from the crochet group with this woman’s foot upon my bottom pushing me out the door. He knew I would not leave of my own accord. Her rude manner and unkind ways just put me over the top to see the opportunities to participate in my church’s activities with newly freed up time.
From Joshua Hoehne at Unsplash Images
Please pray that I can find a way to share my heart as well as my mind with others. Pray I will find or help create a group where we can each be genuine without shame or contempt.
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: 10 If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 