The Temple is You~By Jessa

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The Temple is You~ By Jessa

You know what really gets my attention in scripture?  When God poses a question-

“This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” Isaiah 66:1

In all things God entrusts us with free will- we are not robots nor slaves to his tasks. He is not a task master. He is a loving father who trusts his children with what he has given us and the plan he has for us. In the words of Misty Edwards, “He knew what he was getting into when he called us, and still he calls us.”

He asks his friends and those who seek his heart the question posed in the verse above. He asks anyone that will hear the cry of his heart…

It is equally important to reciprocate giving and receiving in any relationship.  God gives us everything.  In return he receives our worship, our thankfulness, our hearts, love and whatever we set out to do in accordance with him.  We love him because he first loved us!

When we get into the word of God, life becomes full of purpose – we realize everything we do has an impact. Every decision we make can influence generations after us, because of who we know and trust, the author and perfecter of our faith.

He is looking throughout the earth for a heart that is his. Do you think perhaps he is also looking for a heart containing the desire to build with him?

Let me share a little about David. David is known as a man after God’s heart. He was a true worshipper of God. In my eyes, a friend of God, because he sought after the qualities in the heart of God and wrote about them with such raw authenticity and desire. David’s desire was to know God and for God to truly know him. He became vulnerable with God and the Lord showed his favor, victory, and support for David even as David struggled to persevere through unimaginable circumstances.

2 Samuel 7:1-3 “After the king was settled in his palace and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, 2 he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”3 Nathan replied to the king, “Whatever you have in mind, go ahead and do it, for the LORD is with you.”

What was on David’s mind? What did he want to set out to do?

David desired to build a house for the Lord. He did not get to build the house with in the time frame of his days on earth, but his son Solomon, his successor, took the call to heart and from the legacy of his father’s prayers and desire, built the temple. Of David, God said,

12 “When your days are complete, and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.

13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever”. 2 Samual 7:12, 13

First, God had a plan to build a temple, then, a plan to tear it down…

Enter Jesus…One day upon visiting the temple that was built by Solomon, he saw people buying and selling animals and goods.  He angrily overturned their tables and sent the animals running out of their cages.  He told the people buying and selling, “It is written…my house will be called a house of prayer, but you have turned it into a den of robbers.”   His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.

Why? He was doing a new thing.  He wasn’t only  going to open the door for us, he was going to rip it off it’s hinges. He essentially tore down the temple walls to represent no more separation between us and him. When Jesus died on the cross the power of God fulfilled this word.

“At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.” Mathew 27:51

When Jesus made the decision to open his arms on the cross, he tore down the walls that separated us from him and built an archway into our hearts. That archway to God comes when we open our hearts to him, and in that moment we see what Christ accomplished for us.

He calls us his own! God initially crafted the idea of building a temple – a place where he could dwell with his people as a temporary arrangement, physically speaking. He knew when he asked Solomon to build the temple that he was going to demonstrate his compassion and mercy to us and unravel his plan. It was only the beginning.  His ultimate purpose was to have a very personal relationship with us, through Christ!

“Who will build a house for me?”

“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.” 1 Corinthians 6:19.

God is saying, “I chose you to be a place for me to abide, for me to reside.” Oh that our response would be awe and astonishment and the desire to partner with the Lord in what he is doing in our hearts, minds, and lives! How amazing!

If God is a faithful builder, then he who began a good work in us will complete it. He will not fail us, he cannot. It is not in his nature. Love never fails. (1 Corinth. 13) When we join our heart’s desire with God’s we will see the goodness of his handiwork in our lives.

Will you trust God to be the builder of “you”?

~Jessa