“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Where do we expect to find God? Where is the presence of God, the Holy of Holies.
We are that sacred space it is within us, our physical frame is His temple. Therefore each of us can say “I am His house”.
He is not aloof and withholding and untouchable, that is old covenant, OT thinking.
One where we today might feel it necessary to run to a building to meet with Him.
We have no need to wait for Him to come into a building into our presence.
He already abides within and may be instead awaiting for our ‘yes’ so that He can explode out of us and rest upon us and fill the atmosphere surrounding us.
It was the work of the cross that made us righteous and worthy. His blood has cleansed us of sin. Nothing of our own doing. It was available for everyone no exceptions.
It requires our ‘yes and amen’, our belief, faith and acceptance only. It requires our “living sacrifice” for us to be burnt on His altar.
For us to submit to His ways not ours and offer up, surrender, our time, wealth, flesh in exchange for all He is and offers to be ours.
Simply then, we are where His burning glory will fall. His fire consume us and falls out from us.
He is again cleaning our house and wanting us to return to it and keep it so by consistently allowing ourselves to be burned and purified and kept clean and remain healed and uncontaminated, as we contend for it in sacrificial prayer.
In the OT Leviticus a house cleansing had a pains taking procedure to cleanse it of Leprousy contamination.
Jesus cleanses us sacrificing His body and blood. We sacrifice by giving of our all.
“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed.”
We can only carry the weight and glory of God by formation of firm foundations and by walking in tandem, evenly yoked to Jesus.
Pentecostal fire falls on a collection of followers called the church of characters firm in stature, who are hungry for Christ.
Our sacrifice costs, it is not just our enthusiasm and passion. Where do we pay a price of sacrificial living?
It lies in both what we give out and what we give up. Revival never comes on a sale price ticket.
It has always the total value that it was bought with. It is the cost that perpetuates and refines us. So that we and others can taste and see that God is good.
The illustration shows God within the sacred space of our physical frame. We the temple, the house, the home of the Holy of Holies. His Power and Light emanating to push back the darkness.
Two Scriptures that come to mind :
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2 ESV
“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, “But if the priest comes and looks, and if the disease has not spread in the house after the house was plastered, then the priest shall pronounce the house clean, for the disease is healed.”Leviticus 14:34, 48 ESV
The song Show Your Power. Jeremy Riddle
Lessisgreater 