Sometimes, we forget that God is forming us into one unified temple.

Sometimes, we forget that God is forming us into one unified temple.

Sometimes, we forget that God is forming us into one unified temple. That’s the goal, but we get distracted. The struggle to be righteous may be the biggest distraction. Second to that may be the struggle to be right on doctrine. Both of these exalt fleshly efforts rather than exalting God. Let’s look at where righteousness comes from. Let’s just call righteousness love. Love fulfils the whole law. But let’s understand love. God is love. Are you going to try to self-generate God? Where does true doctrine come from? Let’s just call truth. That’s easier to understand. Jesus Christ is the truth. Are you going to try to self-generate Jesus? Somehow, we have to get to these things, but where does it start? We say we need faith, and then we struggle fruitlessly to have faith. If we try to self-generate faith, we end up with a make-believe faith. Faith comes by hearing God speak. The word in Greek is rhema, and it means a spoken word or a statement. Rhema is God leading us. The Father speaks His Word into our hearts. And Jesus Christ is the Word. That’s why you have Jesus Christ in your heart if you’re born again. You were born by the Word as the Father spoke His Word into your heart. You had to receive it, but you didn’t create it. So then, how do we hear the Father and know it’s Him and not our own mind or the voice of a demon? (We’re really getting down to it here and not pulling any punches.) God has promised us that anyone who diligently seeks Him will find Him. That’s a promise. In fact, God says no one can please Him unless they believe He exists and they believe that He rewards anyone who diligently seeks Him. In other words, He will reveal Himself and His will to those who diligently seek Him. If God weren’t all-powerful and all-wise, this would be impossible, but now we can find Him.

 

He’s not looking for those who have never made a mistake. God is forming us into one unified temple. That starts with us diligently seeking Him. God inhabits the praises of His people. If we praise and thank Him, we stand in His presence. We need to live in a state of praise and thanksgiving to God. Then, we will be in His presence. In His presence, He will lead, teach, and correct us. Our part is to receive it. That gives us access to His grace. His grace does His works through us. That’s love. That’s joy. That’s peace. That’s gentleness. That’s patience. That’s goodness, meekness, inner strength, and every other good thing. Our part is to yield to the Spirit to the point that He can say His words and do His acts through us. We can’t have that experience and remain the same as we were. We’re changed. This is a walk from glory to glory by the Holy Spirit. Each time God leads us, He shows us a little bit about who we are in Him and how we fit into the body of Christ. The body of Christ is God’s holy temple. God is transforming us from glory to glory into the image and likeness of Christ. And as we’re formed into the stones that make up that holy temple.