The Temple of Your Heart

Daily Readings by Wild at Heart

Have we forgotten that God relocated the temple? In a stunning shift of geography, God changed the playing field. He moved the temple from a physical building to the hearts of his people:

Don’t you know you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple. (1 Corinthians 3:17)

For we are the temple of the living God. (2 Corinthians 6:16)

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

You, dear child of God, follower of Jesus, are now the temple. The New Testament makes that clear. Follow this closely, because it is so very holy, so deeply encouraging, and it will bring you vital resilience for this hour. Your heart is the dwelling place of the Almighty! (If you’ve invited him in, which is easy to do. You simply say, “Lord Jesus — I need you. I really do. I open the temple of my heart to you; I ask you to come and dwell within me. I surrender my life to you in every way. Come and be my saving God, dwelling in my heart.”)

In the Old Testament first came the tabernacle and then the temple. These were holy places where God came to be among his people:

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the lord filled the tabernacle. (Exodus 40:34)

Then the temple of the lord was filled with the cloud … for the glory of the lord filled the temple. (2 Chronicles 5:13–14)

No wonder Satan tried on multiple occasions to defile, desecrate, and ultimately destroy both tabernacle and temple—for here was the epicenter of the life of Israel with their saving God. Here God met with his people.

But at the coming of Jesus Christ — Immanuel, God with us — the abiding place of the Holy One shifted in a breathtaking way. When Christ died upon the cross, the veil of the temple in Jerusalem was torn top to bottom; the Holy Spirit came down on Pentecost; and now the temple has moved location to the human heart, because that is where God comes to dwell “that Christ may dwell in your hearts” (Ephesians 3:17).

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