December 23, 2024

This Week…1 Corinthians 3:16

May 29, 2015 by

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Do you not know that you are a temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

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This week, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, Ann, Ahmee, Cynda and Tina have reminded us that we ARE a temple, a sanctuary that God chooses to dwell in.   In light of the importance of this subject, and the fact that we desperately need God’s help to do this, I would like to repost the humble prayers that our sisters included in their devotionals this week.  May each of us be drawn into a closer relationship with Almighty God recognizing the privilege of living as a sanctuary and a temple for Him.

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Cynda‘s prayer in Living Sanctuary…

Father, gently remind me that Your Spirit permanently dwells in me.  Let my actions reflect that I am a sacred and holy place.  Taking care of Your temple, Your sanctuary is in itself an act of worship and gratitude.  Thank You for being there…a proven help when I struggle.  I am so thankful Your mercies are new each day and that I do not have to do this on my own.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen – It is so!

❦

In Spiritual Temple, Ann prayed….

Dear Lord, thank You for giving us this insight that our bodies are Your temple and the Holy Spirit dwells in it.  We feel honored to be loved in such a way!  However we confess our sins of not doing the right things at the right time with our bodies.  Cleanse us with hyssop; let us be whiter than snow.  We pray for new beginnings in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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In Sanctuary, Tina prayed…

Father, I thank You again for Your wonderful example of how to trust You and how to seek You in all things.  Forgive us when we forget to seek You first.  Holy Spirit, come back to us!  Do not grow weary with our stubbornness to not seek You first.  We need you—like a headstrong child needs a patient, loving, and caring parent—be there with us.  We want to have solid food from our Father.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

❦

And Ahmee asked in We Are Stewards of Our Bodies…

Lord, help us to be good stewards of the body that you have provided in whatever fashion that looks like in your eyes for us. Help us to have open minds and to seek your guidance in how you would have us care for this gift you have given us. Thank you, amen.

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Living Sanctuary

May 27, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

Do you not know that you are the temple of God
and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16 HCSB

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Ouch!  This verse steps all over my toes.  Especially right now.  We just made a rush trip to Texas this weekend to visit an old friend who is in the end stages of liver failure.  It was emotional and stressful.  We also spent time with other friends that we haven’t seen in ages.  Not to mention all the yummy foods available in Texas that we can’t get here in Colorado.  (Can you say Tex-Mex heaven?)  I overindulged repeatedly…justifying my actions because it would be a loooong time before I could have such goodies again. The NLT version asks, “Do you not realize…”? The AMP version questions, “Do you not discern and understand…”?  Did I even think about being a living sanctuary—God’s temple?  Not really.

For we are the sanctuary of the living God…
2 Corinthians 6:16

And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple.
What’s more, you are His holy priests.
1 Peter 2:5 NLT

As I read this verse, I thought about what a temple or sanctuary actually is….

Wikipedia defines a temple as “a temple (from the Latin word templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur.”
Dictionary.com defines a temple as “any place or object in which God dwells.”
Dictionary.com and Wikipedia both state a sanctuary is “a sacred or holy place.”

So, I am a ‘sacred precinct’, a ‘holy place’ where God dwells.  Am I taking care of it properly?

Rick Warren puts it like this: “When you don’t take care of your body, you are vandalizing God’s temple.”  That is a very scary thought because I sure haven’t been treating my body as I would something sacred and holy!

And I “know” all this.  Why do I find it so hard to put this knowledge into action?  God’s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in me!  But there are times you would never know it by my behavior.  James 4:4 HCSB asks

“Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.”

Yet I still can’t seem to do what I know is right!

Romans 7:21 NLT describes this perfectly: “I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.”  The struggle is constant and real.  It is a battle I cannot win alone.  It would be very easy to feel hopeless and give up.  Thankfully, Psalm 73:26 NASB whispers to me: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

These verses remind me I do not have to do it alone:

The Lord hears His people <me> when they <I> call to Him for help.
He rescues them <me> from all their <my> troubles.
Psalm 34:17 NLT

God is our <my> Refuge and Strength; always ready to help in times of trouble.
Psalm 46:1 NLT

For You have rescued me from my troubles
and helped me to triumph over my enemies.
Psalm 54:7 NLT

God will give me victory over my fleshly desires if I call out to Him. He is always there…waiting to help…if I am willing to give control to Him.

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Father, gently remind me that Your Spirit dwells permanently in me.  Let my actions reflect that I am a sacred and holy place.  Taking care of Your temple, Your sanctuary is in itself an act of worship and gratitude.  Thank You for being there…a proven help when I struggle.  I am so thankful Your mercies are new each day and that I do not have to do this on my own.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen – It is so!

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We are Stewards of Our Bodies

May 25, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

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 AMP

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Who are we in relationship to the things around us?  God made it very clear that we are His stewards.  Paul says, in 1 Corinthians 4:2, “Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.”  Remember this as you continue to read.

I have always been overweight.  I cannot remember a time that I was ever a size that would be considered “normal weight.”  Weight is often one of those things that make people uncomfortable.  Here recently I have been teetering on 300 pounds.  According to health charts, for my height I am supposed to weigh 140-160 pounds.  I weigh almost twice as much as recommended.

Why am I mentioning this?  Well, because!  Because God made us stewards of our bodies.  Our body is a temple.  Temples are regarded as holy places.  Have you ever met a person who would cuss anywhere under the sun except for in a church?  There are many things that people would do OUTSIDE of a church that they would never do INSIDE of a church.  I suppose it makes sense.  People often view a church as God’s house.  When people go searching for God, they often go to a church.  People somehow understand that inside the church is a sacred place.

Just as we would treat the inside of the church, we should treat our bodies.  This means taking care of ourselves.  This means maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  We are stewards of our bodies and should not do anything to intentionally hurt the gift we have been given from the Lord above.  This does not just pertain to weight alone, but also our mental and emotional health are important, along with not smoking or excessive drinking.

I’d venture to say that we should also utilize the tools that have been provided to us, i.e., doctors.  God loved us enough to provide a shelter for our souls to dwell within.  He Himself dwells inside this body in the form of the Holy Spirit.  So!  As you would behave in a certain way inside a church, so you should behave within your own body.  God dwells in us and we are stewards of His little personal temple that is our body.

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Lord, help us to be good stewards of the body that you have provided in whatever fashion that looks like in your eyes for us. Help us to have open minds and to seek your guidance in how you would have us care for this gift you have given us. Thank you, amen.

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Sanctuary

May 24, 2015 by

SeekingHimLogo

Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s sanctuary
and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You

It is You, Lord
Who came to save
The heart and soul
Of every man
It is You, Lord
Who knows my weakness
Who gives me strength,
With Thine own hand

Lead Me on, Lord
From temptation
Purify me
From within
Fill my heart with
Your Holy Spirit
Take away all my sin

Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary
Pure and holy, tried and true
With thanksgiving, I’ll be a living
Sanctuary for You

Unknown vocalists
Written by Randy Scruggs, John Thompson
additional lyrics by Lloyd Larson

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