Tag Archives: Francesca Battistelli

Temples

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Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honour God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, NLT*

Think about the care that went into building the Israelites’ temples in the Old Testament. God has put that same care into us (see Psalm 139:14).

The temple building was

  • a place to meet with God
  • a place to bring sacrifices and find forgiveness
  • a sign to others of God’s glory
  • a sign of the nation’s unity and identity

Our bodies as temples:

  • let’s intentionally practice His presence – be with Him
  • we’ve been cleansed and forgiven, based on one completed sacrifice; we keep receiving cleansing and forgiveness as needed
  • our lives become signs to others of God’s glory and goodness
  • corporately as well as individually, we need to find our identity in the Lord, and to show unity (not uniformity!)

Since we represent God in the world, let’s keep our “temple” clean, guarding against decay and defilement.

Majestic and holy God, it’s beyond our understanding that You would choose to show Yourself through us despite our weakness. Even more amazing is that You’d choose to dwell in us. Fill and change us, and lead us in Your ways.

∞

Today’s “temple song” is “Holy Spirit,” by Francesca Battistelli.

*New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Out Through the Rubble

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28, NIV*

I got away for a much-needed spiritual retreat last weekend. Our speaker challenged us to ask God to take down the walls we’ve built, and to let His living water flow out through us instead of being dammed up.

As part of this process, she asked us meditate on Scripture. Not sure what verse to choose, I thought, “Come to Me”. Not a verse, but a fragment. Okay.

Come to Me.

It said some things that meshed with our weekend:

  • step out through the rubble of your wall;
  • you need to be with the people you’ve walled out; and
  • Jesus is waiting there to welcome you (not that He’s not with you in your self-made prison too).

It wasn’t until later I recognized the phrase as coming from Jesus’ words in Matthew 11:28. But don’t they fit beautifully?

If we’re struggling to hold up a wall, we’re definitely weary and burdened. It’s hard work. And it never ends.

Trusting Jesus to be in charge gives us rest. Taking down the walls lets us be ourselves: the gifts God has for those around us.

Father, I praise You for Your grace and mercy to bring us back into relationship with You, and for Your healing and restoration in our lives. Thank You for setting us free, for equipping us to live with one another and with You. The world may look out of control, but You are sovereign. Teach us to live trusting in You, listening for and confident in Your leading.

∞

I had trouble finding a song for this, but Francesca Battistelli’s “Free to Be Me” captures the feeling of how I want to live on the other side of the rubble.

*New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.