My Sanctuary
How many times have I sang, "Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary, pure and holy, tried and true, with thanksgiving, I'll be a living, sanctuary, for you?" Many, many times. What do those words mean? I had to ask myself. Once I began to ask, God began to answer. As the years have passed I can say, God is preparing me.
A sanctuary is a consecrated place where scared objects are kept. It is a place of refuge and protection. Personally, I have come to know it as my body, my heart to be more specific. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 6:19, "Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" If my body is where the Holy Spirit dwells, then for me, it is a place of refuge, a place of protection. If my heart is a place where God commands me to store His Word (Deut. 11:18, Prov. 7:1-4) then it is a consecrated place where scared objects are kept.
However, like the Israelites, I struggle to keep my body and my heart, pure and holy. Daily, I allow the muck of this world to fill my heart, leaving behind little room for the life giving words of the Almighty, little room for refuge.
Then, something happens, life becomes calm, if for only a moment, and I experience the gentle knocking of the Holy Spirit. He taps ever so gently on the door of my heart and I hear, "Is there room for me?" I say, "Yes," as I close my eyes. I relax. And I ask God to remind me of the place where I am safe in His arms. I am reminded that in that quiet moment, in the living room of my heart, I am safe. I am secure. I am protected. I am nestled in the arms of the Almighty and He is preparing me to be a sanctuary for Him.
- Are you allowing God to prepare you to be a sanctuary?
- When overwhelmed by the world, sit down, close your eyes, and go to the place where you are safe and secure in the arms of the Almighty.
- Will you ask God to clean out the muck, inviting the Holy Spirit to take control of your body, your heart?
Oh, how I must daily remind myself to stop oppressing the Holy Spirit within me, but allow Him to do His work and prepare me to be the sanctuary God desires.
Will you share how God is preparing you to be His sanctuary? Or post anything about your faith journey, giving God the glory for all that He has done.
If you decide to share....enter the URL to your direct post in the linky tool below.
You can link up any time through next Friday.
If you join, please help us find one another by sharing the "Journey of Faith" graphic within your post. You can copy and paste the code below.
Next Friday: and the Friday's throughout December I will be writing about advent. I am unsure exactly what I will share, but this is the direction I will be going. You can join me in writing about the advent season or feel free to write anything about your faith journey, linking back to Journey of Faith Friday.
4 comments:
I will try to join in next Friday! Enjoyed your post today, am having a crappy day and your post was a reminder to breathe in and relax for a moment. Sigh.
Also this morning during my quiet time I started listing all the things I'm thankful for and will continue to do so (although I won't share it on my blog). you and Kindra inspired me!
I have to constantly remind myself of the same things - how easy we forget, it seems.
What a beautiful, poignant reminder of keeping my heart a fitting sanctuary for the Lord. I completely relate to feeling the Holy Spirit asking if there's room in my heart, and that peaceful feeling that washes over me when I say yes. You have a gift dear friend of mine - keep writing!
That’s a discerning statement. It does sneak in, worry, lists, pride – and a human heart only has so much room – and God gets the boot too often. I know I do it. When the mind forgets, the heart, and then the heart forget.
I’ve never done a linky - so I write a little thing – and put it in the box? Or I write it on my blog and link back somehow? I’m a blog newbie. A little help amber?
Thank you – I heart your words.
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