Leaving the Shack

Temples of God - what does that phrase mean to you? To me it means there is a special dwelling place where the presence of God dwells. As we have discussed in the past, that 'temple' is actually human beings, filled with the presence of the Most Holy God through the gift of grace provided by the sacrificial offering of His One and Only Son, dying for the sins of the world. As a young girl, I remember going through some areas as my parents would set out on a long weekend away from it all. I recall seeing both very new, modern looking homes standing right next to a very old buildings fashioned out of adobe brick, tree branches, and even a few sod roofs. I asked my dad why the new homes were built, but not lived in and do you know what he told me? Those 'new homes' weren't what the people dwelling in the land were familiar with - it was foreign to them. They chose to live where they were most comfortable. I wonder if we sometimes are like those people I observed all those years ago - too comfortable in our old 'dwelling' to move into anything new prepared for us in God's grace?

We know that the earthly tent we live in will be destroyed. But we have a building made by God. It is a house in heaven that lasts forever. Human hands did not build it. During our time on earth we groan. We long to put on our house in heaven as if it were clothing. Then we will not be naked. (2 Corinthians 5:1-3)

What a tragedy to have something so magnificent prepared for us only to find that we don't aren't 'comfortable' in it, so we opt for the old. God makes our hearts new, our minds freshly renewed each day, and even fills our spirit over and over again with the joy of his presence. Even when we don't feel it, he is still working on this 'new dwelling' we abide in now. To now enjoy this new 'habitation' is to choose a life absent from the infilling presence of God. Indeed, this is a tragedy of astronomical proportions! Why do we choose what is 'most comfortable' over what is actually 'most beneficial' for us? I think it is because we want to hold onto the 'inferior' because we are familiar with it. Truly 'familiar' is the enemy of God's blessing in our lives many times. God's blessings oftentimes come no so much in the 'familiar', but in the place where God stretches us to move out of that comfort zone in life.

Human hands didn't build this temple - God's hands built it. Human hands may have corrupted it, abused it, run it down, and left if pretty much in shambles, but it was built by God's hands. We don't just want rebuilt lives, patched together here and there - we want God to have the access to make his best temple out of each of us. This may mean he tears down a few walls, but likely it could mean he tears us down to the place of the foundation and creates a brand new foundation in our lives. He takes the bits and pieces of our lives and puts them back together, but better than ever before, because the foundation is right, strong, and with perfect integrity. Our lives become the dwelling place of God and he begins the work of creating within us a healthy environment. 

This is an earthly 'tent' we dwell within today, but to stay in some run-down 'old life' because we are too scared to let go of the past is to really restrict the expansiveness of God's grace within us. The 'new home' he has for each of us is of 'TEMPLE MAGNITUDE', not a tiny run-down shack or a leaking tent! God isn't finished with any of us yet, but as his 'temples' we are being continually built. God doesn't want us to 'settle' in life - he wants to give us expansive lives that are filled with his very presence. Let's not just live 'shack lives' - let's begin to live 'temple magnitude' lives! Okay?