OH LORD MAKE MY HEART YOUR SANCTUARY
Ps 84:1 “ How lovely is your dwelling place, LORD Almighty! 2 My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.”
Where is God’s dwelling place? Most of us think of heaven first.
Psalm 11:4 “The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven; His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.”
God desires to dwell among His people.
From the beginning, God has desired to dwell among His people. In Exodus, God commands Moses to build a sanctuary for Him.
Exodus 25:8 “Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them”
Moses and the people build a tabernacle which was to be a shadow of His dwelling place in heaven
Exodus 29:45 “ I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.”
Hebrew 8:5 “These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For He said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”
Jesus Tabernacled with man
Jesus came to be the real tabernacle for man.
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. “
When we joined our hearts and lives to Christ Jesus, we become the dwelling place of God for this appointed time.
Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”
Do we live as though we are God’s house or sanctuary? Do I desire to be fully aware of that each day? Yes, that is my desire. Am I able to do it? No,No and No. The truth is that I am and you are God’s house.
We are God’s House
Jesus paid the ultimate price so that we could be redeemed and be part of the household of faith.
Hebrews 3:5-8 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
5 Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; 6 but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.
7 Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
“Today if you hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,
As in the day of trial in the wilderness”
Listen to God
We have been studying how to listen to God’s voice since January. Are you listening? The Word tells us Today, if you hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts.
God desires to dwell with you and me. He wants our hearts and lives as His dwelling until we reach that final place that He is preparing for us now.
John 14:1-6 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And you know the way where I am going.” 5 Thomas *said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” 6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Better is one day in His courts (house) than a thousand elsewhere!
Psalms 84:10-12 “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand outside.
I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk[h]uprightly.
12 O Lord of hosts,
How blessed is the man who trusts in You”
This is your House Don Moen
Preparing our hearts for Heaven
Amen and Amen!