The Most Holy Place

A curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and temple and separated the presence of God from the Israelite priests who served there.

Only the high priest was allowed into the Most Holy Place, and only after a strict regimen of cleansing. Jesus cleanses us from our humanity, so that we may serve the Living God through His divinity within us (Hebrews 9:14).

As Jesus took His last breath on Calvary's cross, the temple curtain split in half from top to bottom (Matthew 27:51). Most scholars believe that God orchestrated this torn Temple curtain as an object lesson for us.

It illustrates and signifies the fact that we cannot earn our way to heaven, but we can now enter the presence of God by the blood of Jesus with confidence in our salvation (Hebrews 10:19).

When we accept Jesus as our Savior, He sets His seal of ownership on us and gives us His Spirit as a down payment of our inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22).

Once we repent of our sins, ask for forgiveness and surrender our will to Him, He moves into our Born Again spirit and resides within us all through our lifetime. He places us in His Body and we work together for His glory.

We are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Christ lives in us (Colossians 1:27). Our Spirit is the Most Holy Place where God resides. God makes us a holy sanctuary in which He can dwell (Exodus 25:8).

Cleansed from sin by the blood of the perfect Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19), we are His priests and we shall reign with Him during the Millennium for 1000 years and then serve Him throughout eternity (Revelation 20:6).

Prayer:

Father God, You are our safe haven and our power to deal with temptation and persecution (Psalm 46:1). Even in the most unthinkable and earth shattering circumstances, with our faith in Your faithfulness, we have no reason to fear (Psalm 46:1-3). We consider trails as a time of great joy, because they are an adventure with You (James 1:2).

We stop our stressing and watch You work in our behalf (James 1:2; Psalm 46:10). We are Your children (Romans 8:15). You promise never to leave us or to forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You are our Mighty God who saves us and abides within us. You celebrate over us with delight. You calm us with Your love. You even rejoice over us with thunderous singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Thought for the Day:

Our hope in Christ is the sure and steadfast anchor for our soul. – Hebrews 6:19

Emotional Honesty

Emotional honesty is an oxymoron. We are so adept at hiding behind masks that we do not even know how we really feel or how to express that to other people. Journaling our true feelings is a good way to start.

We can also meet regularly with a trusted friend and verbally express our true feelings and deepest thoughts. We may even surprise our self when we discover our deepest feelings.

Talking, drawing, music and writing releases our soul from the bondage of playing games and pretending to be someone other than our true self. We release pent up emotional energy that formerly robbed us of physical energy.

Then, staying in touch with our true feelings allows us to find the root causes of all of our negative emotions. We can deal with the issue, or put it in God's capable hands.

Imperfection brings with it a certain vulnerability, shame and fear of not surviving. However, perfectionism is a demonic plague on humanity. Once we rid our self of the need to be perfect we can breathe a refreshing breath of pure air. We allow God's Spirit to do His perfecting work in us (Matthew 5:48). 

We also learn to accept life as God allows it to play out in the moments of our day. We stop resisting and attempting to control the issues. Instead, we find out what God is saying to us through them. We look for the seed of a miracle in each one of them.

When our perspective on life changes, so do our attitudes, thoughts, feelings and actions. We stop trying to force God into our box. Our paradigm, expectations and goals remain fluid in order to obey the leading of God's Spirit.

We learn to cherish every aspect of who we are, even our failings. We are kind to our self and learn to have more compassion on other people. We see life from their perspective and stop judging them and our self, but relate to them with God's mercy and grace.

Prayer:

Father God, our fears are not rational or logical; and often, not even conscious. We react in fear because our current circumstances trigger the memory of an event from our childhood. People look at us as if we have two heads and judge us as emotionally unstable, unpredictable and unbalanced. Yet, the fact is that we are simply wounded children.

Help us to rid our soul of the painful memories which litter our past. Teach us to cling to You as our defense rather than to defend our self. That way, no enemy can prosper against us (Isaiah 54:17). You are our comfort and the lifter of our head (Psalm 3:3). You heal us from the inside out and cleanse us all over. You make all things new and bring us into Your holy hill in Your perfect time and way (2 Corinthians 5:17; Psalm 24:3-6).

Thought for the Day:

When we pass judgment on our self or someone else, we are taking God's place and abusing and wounding our self and others more deeply than the pain we already experienced in our past.

Jars of Clay

God created us as fragile, clay jars to contain the greatest treasure this world has ever known. We have the light of Christ shining in our hearts, and His power is constantly available to us in every situation (2 Corinthians 4:7). Jesus’ sacrifice on Calvary’s cross cleansed us, consecrated us and set us apart to God (1 John 1:7; Hebrews 10:10-12).

Jesus chose us to be a royal, holy people who exclusively belong to God’s family (1 Peter 2:9). He bought us with the price of His life, so that we would glorify God in our thoughts, words and deeds (1 Corinthians 6:20). God’s Holy Spirit exchanges, in our soul, the fleshly carnality of our old nature for the holiness and spirituality of God’s Son (Galatians 5:16; Romans 8:13).

Christ manifests His life in and through us. The individual members of Christ’s Body die with Him, are set free from the powers of this world and are raised to walk in new life in Him (Colossians 2:12,20). When we realize our human powerlessness, dependence and worthlessness apart from Him, we enter into a place of His spiritual power and authority, and our identity is centered in Jesus (Luke 10:19).

We faithfully walk before Him in humility and total reliance on Him for every need in our life (Genesis 17:1). People see Christ in us and realize that we are set apart for Him. An example of this phenomenon is Joseph in Potiphar’s and Pharoah’s service, as well as his time in prison. They recognized the power of God in Joseph, and respected him and elevated him in power and authority.

Joseph accepted God’s plan in spite of his brothers’ duplicity and abandonment, as well as false accusations against his character. He knew that God would work out everything, even prison, for his good. Joseph gives us an example of someone entirely sold out to God. God will bless our life as He did Joseph’s, if we will put our complete faith in His faithfulness.

Prayer:

Father God, You are more to us than a help in times of trouble, the pardon for our sins and our fire insurance policy against hell. You are also our King. We do not live according to our plans and purpose and ask You to bless us. We live in constant, total surrender to Your plans for our life, and we reap the blessings of a child of the King. Thank You for sending Jesus to redeem us and to reconcile us to Yourself. Remind us to live each moment of our life in Your service and not in selfish ambition and self-serving goals.

Thought for the Day:

As we obey God fully and keep His commandments, we are His treasured possession from among all the people in the whole world. - Exodus 19:5