Category: Published

On What’s in My Temple

1 Kings 6:23-29 [MSG] “Then he made two cherubim, gigantic angel-like figures, from olivewood. Each was fifteen feet tall. The outstretched wings of the cherubim (they were identical in size and shape) measured another fifteen feet. He placed the two cherubim, their wings spread, in the Inner Sanctuary. The combined wingspread stretched the width of the room, the wing of one cherub touched one wall, the wing of the other the other wall, and the wings touched in the middle. The cherubim were gold-plated. He then carved engravings of cherubim, palm trees, and flower blossoms on all the walls of both the Inner and the Main Sanctuary.”

Observation

Why are cherubim always portrayed as little naked baby angels?  Here they are very definitely portrayed as the strong silent types (“gigantic angel-like figures”) who guard the very presence of God.  Their images are carved all over the inside walls of the Temple.  Very few people could even enter into the sanctuary (the Holy Place or the Holy of Holies) to see these carvings, so this was not a reminder to the general public.  Who needed to be reminded of what Heaven affords in provision, protection and power?  The priests who served. 

In addition to the cherubim, there are the palm trees – symbols of victory, the conquering King (the palm branches of the triumphal entry in John 12 and Revelation 7).  I think also of the wonder and relief that a palm would bring to a wanderer in the desert as the promise of an oasis with water, dates for food, rescue, rest, restoration, relief from the dry, parched journey.  

What of the flower blossoms?  They are beautiful, fleeting, striking, promising seed – spending themselves for the reproduction and generation of more plants, more flowers, more seeds in the future, symbols of hope and redemption.  

Why was all of this on the inside where the general public could not see it?  Because they were not yet redeemed.  Hebrews 9:6-15 This Tabernacle and its sacrifices were a temporary fix, a shadow of the relationship God wants to restore. This Tabernacle, the Temples, and now us as His temple are so reminiscent of the Garden of Eden, that place where God walked and talked with His people, the place He intends to restore to us all in Christ.

Impact on Me

The Word tells us that we are not only a holy people and God’s priests, but also the temple of God’s Spirit.  In Christ, we can enter into the Holy of Holies. I have to ask myself what is engraved on the walls inside me?   Do I look like this Tabernacle on the inside?

When Jesus enters this temple, does He find me offering sacrifices of praise, prayer, obedience, and commitment?  Does He hear my heart and soul declaring that God is my protection, my hope, my victory, my redeemer, my resource, my Lord Whom I obey gladly even to the point of being broken and spilled out for His will and purpose?  Is the presence of God in my Holy of Holies guarded by fiery, fierce cherubim who strike fear in the heart of any enemy that would dare to approach?  Is my service to God coated with gold from top to bottom?

With the help of His Holy Spirit, I am being remodeled, reconstructed, restored to look like His Heaven on the inside so that people who don’t yet know Him will meet Him in me.

Prayer

Lord, I want to serve you with clean hands and a pure heart, a holy temple in which You find the sacrifices You count worthy to praise and worship You.  May my tabernacle of Your Holy Spirit also look like Heaven on the inside, full of Your presence, power and anointing. May my altars always be smoking with that sweet savor of Your presence, Your wisdom, Your redemption, Your grace so that others will come to know You because they are drawn to that fragrance and meet You in me.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.

Psalm 8 (NLT) (A Psalm of David) 1  O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.  2  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.  3  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place –  4  what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  5  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  6  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.  7  the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, 8  the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.  9  O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!

“Lord, who am I compared to Your glory?  Who am I compared to Your majesty? I am Your beloved, Your creation, and You love me as I am. You have called me chosen for Your kingdom, unashamed to call me Your own.” (“Your Beloved” from Jesus, Lead On album, Vineyard Music).

Observation

Reflecting on David’s life and reign, I recognize that his life experiences produced awe and wonder that is clearly evident in David’s song of praise in Psalm 8. Despite living a tumultuous life – a wild roller coaster ride of faith and faithlessness, submission and selfishness, sin and repentance, loyalty and betrayal (both his own and that of those he trusted), humility and pride, courage and cowardice, from being hunted like a dog to becoming king over all – at the end David puts his hope and trust in the God he has depended upon, served and returned to all of his life – the God Who has rescued and restored him over and over again.

Half of the book of 2 Samuel focuses on David’s sin, his failures as a father, king and commander, and the troublesome consequences of those failures; yet, at the end David is no longer crying out for rescue, restoration or deliverance but only marveling at the wonder of this limitless awesome God Who first even takes notice of us and then loves us so that He forgives our sin, ignores our shame and calls us His beloved (“When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers — the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?”).  I believe David in his darkest, lowest, most desperate places experienced the wonder of being God’s beloved, one whom God redeemed, restored and gladly called His own.

Impact on Me

Like David, I am so human and have in my life had my own roller coaster of trauma, sucess, tragedy, joy and sorrow. Some of the low points were not of my doing (deaths, relatives who struggled with mental illness, etc.) The failures I must own are the result of poor judgment or selfishness or pride or other choice that “seemed good in my own eyes.” However, although I present myself before Jesus with nothing to offer but a load of guilt and shame to my name, He forgives me again and restores me like the Prodigal Son. I marvel at the wonder of it.

So, like David who kept repenting and returning, I dare to believe that Jesus was serious about making salvation accessible to me when He died on the Cross even though my life is sometimes a roller coaster.  I want to fully embrace and, yes, even live my life as evidence that:

• Regardless of the most worthless or despicable past, redemption, restoration and renewal are truly available for whosoever will call on the name of The Lord;
• The Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings knows me;
• That same King has entrusted me with power and authority in His name (You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.);
• In times of failure, the throne room of that same King is where I enter in to find grace, mercy, Jesus there as my strong advocate, where guilt and shame are washed away, and
• In my victories, I give all the praise, honor and glory to my King, holding nothing back for myself.

I never want to forget the wonder of His grace, His sacrifice on my behalf, His continuing care, His love for me.  I want to live my life fully embracing that He has called me (and you) His beloved, chosen for His kingdom, unashamed to call me Your own.  What a wonder!!

Prayer

God of Wonder and Majesty, Father, Redeemer, I dare to believe that I am Your beloved even though it seems too good to be true. Lord, may I also hear You describe me as one after Your own heart, one who gives You joy in Your heart, one who knows without a shadow of a doubt that I am Your beloved, one who has been good and faithful in Your service.  Make it so, in Jesus’ name.

Ephesians 1:15-23 MSG ^15-19 That’s why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn’t stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I’d think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life He has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of His work in us who trust Him—endless energy, boundless strength!

^20-23 All this energy issues from Christ: God raised Him from death and set Him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from His rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the Church. The Church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the Church. The Church is Christ’s body, in which He speaks and acts, by which He fills everything with His presence.

Observation

“The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church.”  The word “peripheral” is defined as something sitting on the edge, and is a synonym to such words as outermost, fringe, border, and surrounding.  Because we are creatures that live by our senses, we tend to accept as real what we can see, hear, touch, taste, or smell.  We can fall into the trap of letting this physical world seem to be more central to our existence, more impactful, more powerful, more substantive than the spiritual, which we can’t see, hear, touch, taste, or smell.  Paul is reminding us here to keep our perspective in line with reality – the world, as well as everything and everyone in it, revolves around Jesus, Who “is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything.”  He is the center of all that exists – the Word that created all and the Life that sustains it.

“God raised Him (Jesus) from death and set Him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from His rule.”  Satan is an insurrectionist and wants to deceive us into allowing our physical world to be our center because then we have put him in charge.  He wants to manipulate our circumstances so we depend on what we can do in our own strength to fix or improve them.  He wants to get our eyes to wander and our understanding to dim so that we forget Whose we are, Who we serve, and Who is really in charge – “everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from His rule.”  Jesus walked this earth as a man empowered by the Holy Spirit to show us what He intends for us to do and be in His name – individually and as a part of His Body, the Church. 

Impact on Me

I confess that I have at times allowed my eyes to wander and my understanding to dim when I look at the condition of the world around me.  So many families, including my own, struggle with keeping Jesus as the center.  We feel the need to do something!!  There are times when fear, heartache or desperation creates an urgency for me to do something to fix situations or people rather than trust in and wait on God.  In times like these, I have allowed myself to drift out from the center toward the fringes.  It is in those times when I don’t remember and dwell in that personal relationship with Jesus that the physical impossibilities swell to become overwhelming.  It is then that I must repent for insurrection.  “God raised Him from death and set Him on a throne in deep heaven, in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from His rule.”    When I take matters into my own hands, am I not putting myself on the throne? 

When I wake up to my insufficiency to rule the Universe, the Holy Spirit so sweetly reminds me of Jesus, Lord of the Universe, Creator of all, God’s Son, changing the course of all history by dying an excruciating, shameful death on a Cross and rising again to provide life eternal for whosoever will come – including all those I think need fixing and, especially, me.  One faithful person submitted to God changed the future of nations and generations.  He listened and obeyed God in the face of overwhelming circumstances.   What can I accomplish in His name if I do the same?  “I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing Him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is He is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life He has for his followers.” 

Prayer

Lord, God of the Universe, Creator of all, Savior, Redeemer – why do I ever neglect time with You?  Why do I ever consider my ways as better than Yours?  Lord, forgive me for doubt, unbelief and the arrogance of trying to usurp Your authority and throne.  I embrace Paul’s prayer for me so I can become intelligent and discerning as our personal relationship deepens so I will fulfill Your call on my life and allow Your love, grace, power, anointing and hope to flow through me without any human hindrance.  Make it so, Lord.  I pray this in Jesus’ name.