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The Dwelling Place of God

We know that God is high and lifted up and He dwelt among His people in the wilderness. He is holy and He dwelt in the Ark of the Covenant under the Mercy Seat between the wings of the Cherubim  in the Holy of Holies. Psalm 26:6 says, “Lord, I love the dwelling of Your house, and the place where Your glory remains.” And Psalm 22: 3-4, “Yet You are holy, You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. In You our fathers trusted; they trusted and You rescued them.”

And again in Psalm 135:1-4, “Praise the name of the Lord; praise Him, you servants of the Lord, you who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courtyards of the house of our God! Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is lovely. For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself, Israel as His own possession.” God dwells among our praises and so we must bring Him the sacrifice of our praise as Hebrews 13:15-16 tells us, “Through Him then, let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips praising His name.  And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” But God does not only dwell amongst stone and mortar but He dwells within man, but not in every man. 

Romans 8: 5-11 says, “For those who are in accord with the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are in accord with the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law (commandments) of God, for it is not even able to do so,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Messiah, he does not belong to Him.  If  Messiah is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Yeshua from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Messiah Yeshua from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” God dwells within us, if the Holy Spirit dwells in us. God dwelt in His Holy Temple and now He dwells within us and as we will see we must be a proper dwelling for God. 

1 Corinthians 3:10-17 tells us this, “According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Messiah Yeshua.  Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw,  each one’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each one’s work.  If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.” We are the temple of the Lord offering up the sacrifices of praise and God dwells within those praises.  2 Timothy 1:13-14 says this, “Hold on to the example of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Messiah Yeshua.  Protect, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” We have been entrusted with the Word of God as the Jewish people were entrusted with those same oracles, (Romans 3:2). Colossians 3:16 says,  “Let the Word of Messiah dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Our praises, the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God must dwell in our hearts, and it must be manifested in our lives. 

Galatians 5:13-25 tells us this, “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love.  For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.  But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.  For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (those ceremonial laws concerning proselytes).  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior,  idolatry, witchcraft, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (for they fulfill the commandments).  Now those who belong to Messiah Yeshua crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit as well.”

Are you a dwelling for God? If so, then you must be holy for He is holy.