{"id":26020,"date":"2015-05-27T00:20:12","date_gmt":"2015-05-27T04:20:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=26020"},"modified":"2015-05-26T18:31:25","modified_gmt":"2015-05-26T22:31:25","slug":"living-sanctuary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2015\/05\/27\/living-sanctuary\/","title":{"rendered":"Living Sanctuary"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SeekingHimLogo\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you not know that you are the temple of God
\nand that the Spirit of God dwells in you?<\/span>
\n1 Corinthians 3:16 HCSB<\/span><\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/p>\n

Ouch! \u00a0This verse steps all over my toes. \u00a0Especially<\/em> right now. \u00a0We just made a rush trip to Texas this weekend to visit an old friend who is in the end stages of liver failure. \u00a0It was emotional and stressful. \u00a0We also spent time with other friends that we haven\u2019t seen in ages. \u00a0Not to mention all the yummy foods available in Texas that we can\u2019t get here in Colorado. \u00a0(Can you say Tex-Mex heaven?) \u00a0I overindulged repeatedly…justifying my actions because it would be a loooong time before I could have such goodies again. The NLT version asks, \u201cDo you not realize…\u201d? The AMP version questions, \u201cDo you not discern and understand…\u201d? \u00a0Did I even think about being a living sanctuary<\/span><\/strong>\u2014God\u2019s temple? \u00a0Not really.<\/p>\n

For we are the sanctuary of the living God…
\n2 Corinthians 6:16<\/p>\n

And you are living stones that God is building into His spiritual temple.
\nWhat\u2019s more, you are His holy priests.
\n1 Peter 2:5 NLT<\/p>\n

As I read this verse, I thought about what a temple or sanctuary actually is….<\/p>\n

Wikipedia<\/span> defines a temple as\u00a0“a temple (from the Latin word templum)<\/em> is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum<\/em> constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur.”
\nDictionary.com<\/span> defines a temple as \u201cany place or object in which God dwells.\u201d
\nDictionary.com<\/span> and Wikipedia<\/span> both state a sanctuary is \u201ca sacred or holy place.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, I am a \u2018sacred precinct\u2019, a \u2018holy place\u2019 where God dwells. \u00a0Am I taking care of it properly?<\/p>\n

Rick Warren puts it like this: \u201cWhen you don\u2019t take care of your body, you are vandalizing God\u2019s temple.\u201d \u00a0That<\/strong> is a very scary thought because I sure haven\u2019t been treating my body as I would something sacred and holy!<\/p>\n

And I \u201cknow\u201d all this. \u00a0Why do I find it so hard to put this knowledge into action? \u00a0God\u2019s Spirit has His permanent dwelling in me! \u00a0But there are times you would never know it by my behavior. \u00a0James 4:4 HCSB asks<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?
\nSo whoever wants to be the world\u2019s friend becomes God\u2019s enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet I still can\u2019t seem to do what I know is right!<\/p>\n

Romans 7:21 NLT describes this perfectly: \u201cI have discovered this principle of life\u2014that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.\u201d \u00a0The struggle is constant and real. \u00a0It is a battle I cannot win alone. \u00a0It would be very easy to feel hopeless and give up. \u00a0Thankfully, Psalm 73:26 NASB whispers to me: \u201cMy flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

These verses remind me I do not have to do it alone:<\/p>\n

The Lord hears His people <me> when they <I> call to Him for help.
\nHe rescues them <me> from all their <my> troubles.
\nPsalm 34:17 NLT<\/p>\n

God is our <my> Refuge and Strength; always ready to help in times of trouble.
\nPsalm 46:1 NLT<\/p>\n

For You have rescued me from my troubles
\nand helped me to triumph over my enemies.
\nPsalm 54:7 NLT<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

* \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0*<\/span><\/p>\n

Father, gently remind me that Your Spirit dwells permanently in me. \u00a0Let my actions reflect that I am a sacred and holy place. \u00a0Taking care of Your temple, Your sanctuary is in itself an act of worship and gratitude. \u00a0Thank You for being there…a proven help when I struggle. \u00a0I am so thankful Your mercies are new each day and that I do not have to do this on my own. \u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name I pray, Amen \u2013 It is so!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 * \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0\u271e \u00a0~ \u00a0\u2665 \u00a0~ \u00a0* Ouch! \u00a0This verse steps all over my toes. \u00a0Especially right now. \u00a0We just made a rush trip to Texas this weekend to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":13840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3020],"tags":[8912,7865,5889,3367,8934,1287,425,8932,8933,840,844,8930,2426,8931,8911,3174,8913],"class_list":["post-26020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-devotions","tag-1-corinthians-316","tag-1-peter-25","tag-cynda-cottrill","tag-daily-devotions-2","tag-dwelling-place","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-james-44","tag-living-sanctuary","tag-psalm-3417","tag-psalm-461","tag-psalm-547","tag-psalm-7326","tag-romans-721","tag-sanctuary","tag-seeking-him-devotional","tag-temple","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/SeekingHimLogo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-6LG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/164"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26020"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26022,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26020\/revisions\/26022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}