The Glory within!

Remember when Solomon was dedicating the temple. He admitted that no building could contain the whole of God, but He asked God to bless this place as a place of prayer. The Glory of God filled the temple and the priests were unable to stand in this glorious presence of God.

On the way to church last Sunday the Lord connected some dots for me. I was thinking of the Glory that filled the temple and the Holy Spirit reminded me that Solomon's temple no longer exists. We human beings are now the temple of God and His Glory fills us. Whoa momma! Just meditate on that for awhile!

When I got to church my pastor taught on this very thing and this is the scriptures he gave us! 

Isaiah 60:1-4  (NASB)

A Glorified Zion

60 “Arise, shine; for your light has come,
And the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
² “For behold, darkness will cover the earth
And deep darkness the peoples;
But the Lord will rise upon you
And His glory will appear upon you.
³ “Nations will come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.

⁴ “Lift up your eyes round about and see;
They all gather together, they come to you.
Your sons will come from afar,
And your daughters will be carried in the arms.

Leaving behind

Sunday morning as I got up the Holy Spirit was reminding me of Abraham. God had asked Abraham to leave his clan, his country, and all that was familiar to follow Him. As I meditated on this scene in my head I realized what a leap of faith this was for Abraham. In those days the only safety was with your clan. All young boys had to learn to fight to survive the harsh world they lived in. Marauding bands of cutthroats could sweep down on a community and wipe them out, stealing everything thing they wanted, ravishing their women and killing anyone that got in their way. So banding together as a community was essential for survival.

Abraham was asked to leave all that behind and follow a God he could not see! Jesus said to Thomas, the disciple that doubted His resurrection, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29 KJV)

We too, like Abraham are asked to believe in Jesus without ever seeing Him. Yet in all this we are so blessed. Giving up the Kingdom of Darkness, for the Kingdom of Light is no sacrifice. The Kingdom of Heaven is upside down compared to our modern day cultural. We are told whomever wants to be first must be last. Position doesn't bring lasting contentment. To be admired and loved by the world doesn't fill the hole within us. But, coming to understand God's unconditional love for us fills our hearts to over flowing. Being baptized in His Holy Spirit is indescribable. Learning to walk by faith with His Holy Spirit leading us is an adventure so much more than anything this world has to offer.