The Mystery of the Temple

Every time that the children of Israel would prepare a place for God to dwell in the middle of them, He would always show up at the dedication. His glory would fall and those who thought it was their job to minister to the LORD and to His people would find themselves unable to work. They could only fall down and worship the Beauty of His Holiness.

The mystery of the Temple is this: God has always wanted to be close to us. He has always wanted to be right in the center of what we are doing. He never wanted a tent. He never wanted a temple made of stone and gold. He always wanted a body to live in.

Jesus revealed it when he told the Pharisees to destroy the temple and he would rebuild it in three days. Paul pulled back the veil a little bit wider when he asked us, "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit."

Whenever we consecrate ourselves; whenever we dedicate our body to the Lord; whenever we offer our bodies as living sacrifices, He will show up. Everytime. He will consume the sacrifice. He will send fire from on high to purify our hearts. And we will no longer be able to work. We will no longer depend on our own efforts to please Him.

That's what I think. How about you?

Oops!

So much for good intentions.

There is a concept that keeps rattling around in my head. Character must catch up with our gifts and callings. I just can't get away from it.

The Bible teaches that all of us have been given spiritual gifts from God. I believe that having been given the abilities to perform certain tasks, the Lord assigns us to particular situations (places) where we can best serve Him.

But then, we need to live right. Our character must be solid. We must be people of integrity. People who do the right thing when no one is looking. People who obey the Lord and the teachings of Scripture.

I believe that this is why we struggle in our ministries. Strong gifting. Strong calling. Weak character.

What do you think?