Tag: move in

His temple will stand forever

Karla Lees

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 you are that temple.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you know you are His temple?
God moved in when you accepted His offer of love, grace, freedom & belonging to His forever family.

He moved in to you & me.

Which if you have never paused to think about it before, is absolutely astounding in what that action reveals.

As God is Holy, if He lives in you & I, guess what that makes us?

Holy.

God lives in the Holiest of Holies, His throne room in Heaven, and also in each believer who makes up His living temple here on earth.

What an awesome humbling & fearful reality all rolled into one!

He truly not only somehow mindblowingly cleanses us completely when we follow Him, but His very Presence, His Spirit stays with us.

Wow.

We tend to think of Heaven being where we will fully experience His Presence, and somehow miss the stunning reality that His Presence has been with us all along!

We don’t need to wait until forever to feel Him.

And He didn’t choose to wait until we arrive in Heaven to be fully present with us.  He was 100% in front day one.

Double wow shocking stunner.

For God to live in His temple, it must be the way He wanted it.

He made us Holy so He can move in.

Not only did He supernaturally make us His temple, He arranged for the decor to be just what He needed: Holy.

You, and I, are His temple, and made Holy because of His forever Presence within us.

If like me, all you can see are the old pics you have pinned up within, or the boxes stuffed into your attic, please believe that He doesn’t see us that way.

He sees us as the most stunning treasure of them all, His Bride, whom He is ardently enamoured with, 24/7, and whom He always wants to be with, every moment of every day.

Take a moment today, and thank Him for this precious gift of His Presence.

He did all the work for us, preparing the perfect offering in Jesus to make us Holy.

Our part is to accept this gift, open & enjoy it.

His temple, where the Holy One dwells, forevermore!

Me, you!

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runaway, run the way Home

Karla Lees

I have had a tendency to run away from home way too often.

And God always keeps an eye out from His porch, waiting for me to return.

There are times I run because I don’t get what God has planned, and so I fill up at His table only when I hit exhaustion, and can’t run any further.

Other times I strike out on my own to try to maintain control over my life, before heading Home with my tail between my legs, humbled by the startling reality I faced – which reminded me again only He is in control.

Then there are the times when I am sick and tired of waiting for an answer, and I take off to lick my wounds & try to hide away on my own, even though I know that is the wrong place to be.

All the while, my spirit longs for Home.

My body longs for deep rest.

My mind longs for peace.

My emotions long to be still.

My heart? It yearns for Your love.

****†******†******†****

I have been keeping how I have been feeling about this current fall bottled deep within.

I hadn’t yet cried until yesterday afternoon.

Why? Because I have been trying to be brave in a situation where I have been praying for God’s justice, and discovered He may prefer for me to offer mercy & grace.

I was hoping to be made whole from someone other than Him.

Someone i respect pointed out that out, as well as that I need to be more aware of what’s going on around me, which hurt.

Because I have been trying to hold it all in, and barely managing with getting all my ‘have-tos’ completed as best I can.

Honestly, I felt slapped in the face with what was not intended to be received that way, but hit me hard through its delivery. It left me reeling for a few hours.

But family speaks truth even when it may hurt.

You see I normally try to be sensitive to the needs of those around me, for the most part. I realize I can’t always do that to the best of my ability at times, but God still wants me to listen for His cues and follow them. Whether it be an act of kindness, encouraging word or offering to help.

In trying to do more than I should be more quickly than I ought to, my sensitivity chip isn’t tuning in, as I struggle to keep it all together.

I had a few friends over for tea last night to catch up. All of us hit a rough patch of various degrees over the past two weeks. We heard one another out, hugged each other, offered comfort where we could, and are praying for each other. That was the other aspect of family I had been missing out on too.

After they left, I still had an ache I couldn’t wrap my thoughts around as I headed for bed. Heavy hearted and drained.

This morning, I awoke to hear God whisper: “I am enough for you. Come rest in me.”

With a jolt, I realized i had been living on my own again, this time without understanding I had even done so.

I am packing my bag for a permanent move Home.

No more flings with independence. No more long runs with futility.
No more sleepovers with sulking.

I am so thankful He is always with us, even when we can’t sense Him, for we are His, I am His beloved.

He will always welcome us home, and help us wash the laundry from the road we took to get back where we belong.

God’s beloved;
God’s permanent residence.
Encircled by God all day long,
within whom God is at home.

Deuteronomy 33:12 MSG

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when you are far from Home: 3 tips to help you through

Karla Lees

Like Mary, Joseph & Jesus, you too may feel far from home…. in a strange city, foreign country or in an awkward family gathering.

You too may be longing for the familiar surroundings or faces you are missing.

If you too feel far from home right now, here are a few tips to help you find your way back:

1. Love the ones you’re with:

You are never alone. There is someone around you most of the time- whether family, friend, coworker, barista, boss, server…

If you can’t be at home, make others feel at home around you. Throw out the welcome mat to your kindness.
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2. Ask for help:

If you are struggling, speak up. Get help if you can’t cope. The beat thing I ever did when I hit a sudden depression many years ago was make a list of how I was feeling & what I thought was contributing factors, after praying about things. List in hand, I ran it by a wise person I respected to ask if they thought I should talk to my doctor. She said yes.

My doctor read my list, asked me a few questions to clarify, and then told me he would have been in his doctor’s office getting help if he had half a list as long as mine. Six weeks later, I had improved enough to stop taking meds.

You may not need physical help, you may need spiritual or emotional help. Whatever the help you need, find the right resource and ask.
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Not asking for help when you need it makes you the main problem.

Don’t miss this step if need be to help make it back home.

3. Remember, home is with you everywhere you go.

You carry home with you everywhere you are. All the good memories? With you!

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Tune out the loneliness by taking a trip down Remember Road and reexperience the joy Home brings you.

Have you caught sight that Home is not just a place yet?

Mary & Joseph weren’t the first to bring God home with them at Christmas.

Holy Spirit resides in all who believe. He moves in and begins to make Himself at home.

Home moves outside our walls and within us.

We take Home with us everywhere we go.

As we end this year, and this series, you may be dreaming about when you will get back Home. It may not be about missing a physical place or loved ones. It may go deeper than that.

When you feel far from Home?

A simple prayer invites Him to move in.

God with us.
God within us.
Home.

#TheWhenSeries
#LoveCameDown

PS. Don’t forget to pray before you act. God will lead you, just as He used angels and a star to bring the Carpenters, the shepherds, and the wise men to Himself. If you need another reminder that He is trustworthy? Reread the Christmas story 😉