A True Temple

2010
Tuesday, 18 May
07:05:00

Me: Good Morning Lord, Thank you for waking me this morning, and for giving me this new day. I love you Lord.

Lord: Good morning Son, thank you for walking with me this morning and for our time together. I love you too.

Me: Lord, I was reading about Solomon building the temple this morning, (1 Kings 6) a fascinating account. In verses 11-13 you give him a promise about the temple, but I'm curious about how it squares with our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit?
 

The word of the LORD came to Solomon:
 

As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.

And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel.

Lord: I didn't make the promise with Solomon. I made that promise with his father David. I made a deal with Solomon: "If you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, then, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father."  The temple was to be a symbol of that deal, a constant reminder of the covenant we made. Later on I allowed the temple to be filled with my Holy Spirit, as a mark of my approval of all that Solomon had done, and was trying to do. The problem with that sort of action (filling the temple) is that man somehow gets the notion that the place is then, and forever, holy and special. If this were the case then the whole of creation would be holy, which it is. But nowhere is more holy than anywhere else, except for a moment, if I deem it to be, as I did for Moses in the wilderness at the burning bush. But does any man know the place where that happened? No, because the place is unimportant.
 

Every human spirit that is open to the Holy Spirit is my dwelling place. Every human heart dedicated to me, and every life committed to me is a temple that gives glory to God. These are the only dwelling places I require. I do not dwell in houses made of stone and wood, but in every heart that makes room for me.
 

As long as Solomon remained single minded in his dedication to me I was able to bless him, and his people, but as soon as he became distracted, and allowed other gods into the space he himself had dedicated to me, then my Spirit was pushed out.
 

The ten commandments are not just rules I have laid down for man to keep; they are the foundation upon which all creation is built. The first is: "You shall have no other gods but me." In allowing his wives to keep their idols and household gods, Solomon left himself open to corruption. That corruption took a hold when he allowed a temple to be built to one of their gods. He may not have worshipped in that temple, but, by building it, he showed the world and his own people that he was divided in his loyalties. There was another god in his life.
 

I long to dwell in the hearts and lives of my people, but I cannot, and will not, share with other gods. "You shall not make, or have, nor desire, any graven images...." Single minded faithfulness to me, is counted by me, as righteousness.
 

My name is holy, and thus has not been revealed to everyone. Those to whom it has been revealed are therefore charged to keep it holy, and not to use in in vain or as a swear word or a curse. My people, the Jews, revere my name so holy, that they do not even mention it. I want you to revere it too, but I want you to speak it right, for in my name is the power to heal, and the power to save.
 

If you desire for your heart to be the dwelling place of God and his Holy Spirit, then begin by learning the first three commandments and living them every day of your life. Get your relationship right with me and the rest will follow. I love you.

Me:  I love you too, Lord.