Courtney Gilmore Because we can’t see God, it is easy to think of Him as distant and uninvolved. But from the beginning, God has wanted to be close to His people. He walked in the Garden with Adam & Eve & continued to communicate & work in the lives of those that loved & followed Him. He called Noah, Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob. He took Jacob’s children as His people & called Moses to bring them out of captivity in Egypt into their own land.
In the beginning, He made His Presence known to them as He led them in a pillar of cloud. Then when they settled at Mount Sanai, Moses met with Him outside the camp, in the Tent of Meeting. But He wanted to dwell in the midst of His people & be involved with them collectively. So, He told Moses to build a Sanctuary, a Holy House specifically for His Presence to dwell. This Tabernacle was a portable tent that they could carry with them as they traveled to the Promised Land. Once they settled into their new land, Solomon built a stationary Temple for the Lord in Jerusalem. When the Israelites were captured by the Babylonians it was destroyed, but the Israelites rebuilt it when they returned to Jerusalem. Then Jesus came & He was called Immanuel, God with us. So, His body was called the Temple of God. History tells us that the Jerusalem Temple was destroyed in AD 70 by the Roman army. But the Jews that worshipped there did not believe Jesus was the Messiah anyway. So, their worship was misplaced & Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to dwell personally in the body of believers instead. Now we house the Presence of God & are called His Temple.
“Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
So God no longer dwells in a building, but within each one of us that have accepted Him as our Savior & Lord. His Spirit is not in the building of the church but in the body of those within the church. We are “members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” Ephesians 2:19-22
Praise God that we no longer have to go to a specific place to meet with Him. He is working in hearts & minds all over the world. “I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.” Hebrews 8:10
Acknowledge His Presence today. Make Him the Lord of your life.
Excerpt from Episode 70 “Where God’s Spirit Dwells” on Podcast and YouTube
