Honestly, I can’t stop writing. The Holy Spirit puts something so strongly on my heart and it’s impossible for me to not do my best to put it in words. I can’t turn it off. At least God hasn’t turned it off yet. I go through situations, I go through experiences, I see everyday miracles, and I go through life with my sweet Savior, Jesus Christ. Lately, God has been opening my eyes to the Heavenly realm and the spiritual battle surrounding us. I NEED to write it, all of it…it’s like breathing.
I was prinking (praying and thinking biblically or meditating on scripture) a month ago on a simple, campfire worship song called Sanctuary. It was the main chorus that was running through my head: “Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary. Pure and holy, tired and true. With Thanksgiving I’ll be a living Sanctuary for you”. I just sang that part over and over to myself and let it sink deep into my heart. And then I realized, as Christians we are to be living temples or Sanctuary’s. The Most High King wants to dwell within us! It is an amazing truth.
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are. -- 1 Corinthians 3:16-17
I started to pray to God about how grateful I was that He is dwelling within me and is therefore with me wherever I go. But then God whispered to my heart, “Heidi, yes I am dwelling within you but it is SO messy in here. Sin, worldly desires, unforgiveness, bitterness, and pride are cluttering and defiling this temple that is supposed to be a Holy place! It is time for some much needed summer cleaning”
I was so taken aback by what God said! God, how do I possibly begin cleaning my inner temple to make it fit for a King? I started to look around my room. I could barely see the floor. It was quite a horrible sight to see…it looked like my closet exploded, my desk was stacked a mile high with papers, there was a mountain of books my by bed, old mugs half filled with two day old peppermint tea, and my walls were over crowded with pictures and random things: the area as a whole was extremely overwhelming!
“Look around your room my precious daughter, this disorderliness and messiness is what your inner temple feels like for me. Start with cleaning up your earthly sanctuary and I will teach you during that process how to clean your inner temple!”
Jesus is my Solid Rock, my Cornerstone. I am always amazed at how He fills me with SO much wisdom and understanding right when I need it most. So quickly either in written words or spoken; He always puts the right words in my mouth or heart.
The process of cleaning your inner (and physical) temple is time consuming, scary, and EXTREMELY messy…you are being forewarned!! However, it is always, always necessary. Because remember that as Christians throughout our whole lives God is molding us to be more like Jesus. It is a beautiful process of being refashioned into an utterly new creation.
When I was cleaning my room I had three boxes; keep, throw away, and donate. Cleaning your inner temple is the same process. I prayerfully went before God and let Him clean; let HIM choose what needed to go, what needed to stay, and what needed to be given away. For example, my devoted time in the morning and night for bible and prayer time needed to stay. On the other hand, my unforgiveness needed to go.
*A quick side note: unforgiveness is an extreme spiritual poison. It NEEDS to be gone as soon as possible, it is so harmful. I love what Corrie Ten Boom says on forgiveness, “I could not do it [forgive]. I was not able. Jesus in me was able to do it. You see, you never touch so much the ocean of God’s love as when you love those who hurt you”.*
This was the prayer I prayed to get rid of the unforgiveness: Father, clear my heart from any jealousy or unnecessary hurt. You have other plans for me. Plans for good and not harm. You have something custom designed for me. I can trust fully in you!
Something that had to be given away (donated) was all that God had been showing me the past year. I often times get scared to share the things that God reveals to me…mainly for fear of rejection, but God does not want me to keep it to myself but to proclaim it on the mountain tops and tell of the wonders of our God. (For those curious readers: Yes, that is another reason why I am writing this five part series)
Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health my fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart. He is mine FOREVER!...How good is it to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do. ~Psalm 73:25-26:28
I want to be able to say…”I desire you more than anything on earth…” and truly mean it and have that truth reflect in my life. God is the strength of my heart and my first and forever love. He has been my shelter during every one of life’s storms and raindrop moments. My prayer is that God continues to fill me with boldness to not let fear stop me from sharing the wonderful things He has done in my life. I long to know Jesus, serve Jesus, and to become more like Jesus.
During this time of cleaning and preparing my body to be a living temple for the King of kings and Lord of lords; David’s plea to God became the cry of my heart…”Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” ~Psalm 139: 23-24
Now I have inner temple that is fit for my sweet Jesus and a clean room which is my earthly sanctuary and temple where I go away to meet with God. A room for bible studies, devotions, prayer, journaling and writing, TONS of prinking, worship...and it even has become a place where God presence has been dwelling so strongly because I have been keeping it clean, not polluted by the world (that's right ABSOLUTELY NO teen magazines , Z100,etc allowed in my room) it is always ready to be used to meet with God that my sister uses my room for her devotion time too!
After this season of my life I can candidly say that…
“I am one of the rare and nearly extinct breed of God lovers who still lives and breathes what she believed back then. Only now it is more real than ever because it’s in me. God’s Spirit is in me, changing me. Not just around me, influencing me.”
No comments:
Post a Comment