Day Three Hundred One “Dwellings”
My husband and I began our journey together in the fall of 1975, and as the wedding day plans were falling into place during the preceding summer, we started on our search for a dwelling, a place to call home, somewhere to begin our lives together. We rented a rather sad fixer-upper, but as humble as it was, it was home, our first step together as husband and wife. From there, God opened the door to our Camelot, a multi-acre farm for rent, with a huge, homey farmhouse, surrounded by miles of gorgeous scenery and blissful quiet. But this haven of perfection was short lived, and due to some tragic life experiences, we found ourselves in dwelling place number three, a cramped, small home with an added surprise, for chained within a few feet of this rental home was the noisiest dog ever created by God, a dog that loved entertaining us at all hours with his basso profundo voice. It was with overwhelming exhilaration we would make our final move, our own home, a place to build memories and establish roots. We were home!
God has always sought to dwell among His people. In the earliest recorded experiences of God interacting with man, we see an all-powerful Creator Who would walk “in the garden in the cool of the day,” seeking a face-to-face fellowship with His creation. Soon after the children of Israel were rescued from the bondage and slavery of Egypt, God transmitted to Moses a detailed blueprint for the construction of the Tabernacle, even supplying the gifted artisans needed to complete the project. The “glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle,” and the “cloud abode thereon,” a visual proof that God was indeed among His people. Later in Israel’s history, King Solomon would “build an house unto the name of the LORD his God,” construct a more permanent temple in which God would reside, “a settled place for thee to abide in for ever.”
What a glorious thought that this same God Who has always yearned to dwell with His people, would choose to take up residence in the born-again believer! “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you..” The thought is unfathomable to me, that a holy, all-powerful God would choose to dwell in me, to identify Himself with me, a wretched sinner saved by grace. That same God Who walked in the garden with Adam, filled the Tabernacle and Temple with His glory, wants to fellowship with me, spend time with me, walk and talk with me. Amazing!
II Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
That You would choose to dwell within me is an awe-inspiring thought…what grace!
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