1 Cor 6:19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;

How many of us know that the Temples of old were magnificently adorned? A rich man’s status lies in his home, his car, his belongings. The richer a man is the more elaborate is his dwelling place. He fills his house with symbols of his wealth . The man of God also decorates his temple, the temple of the Holy Spirit, with riches. His dwelling place will be no less elaborate than the richest men of the earth. He will decorate his temple with the finest gold of unconditional love. His walls are encrusted with the jewels of forgiveness and mercy. His windows are draped with opulent coverings of meekness and humility. Trophies of grace hang on every wall. They are framed with the finest materials of patience and kindness.

Let us ask ourselves this question, do we pursue the riches and the glories of heaven with the same vigor and single-mindedness that men here on earth pursue the treasures of the world? And the treasures that we have attained in Christ, do we protect them with all the resources that we have? Do we value the treasures of our heart in the same way men value their wealth? There is a direct correlation between how much we value something to the lengths we will go to protect it. Guard your hearts brothers and sisters in Christ, for we have an enemy who seeks to steal and destroy what we have.

Share your treasure this day. The more we give our treasures to those who have none, the more our treasures shall increase. The word says “He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might, He strengthens them.” We have been called to empower the weak, to bind the hearts of the brokenhearted, those who are weakened, we come along side and strengthen. We have been called to wipe the tears of those who mourn, to grieve with them. Let us move in Christ brothers and sisters, and know that He that goes before you is He that lies within you.

Isa 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

The real test for us as Christians is how we walk along the path set before us. We can walk with the Lord by our side, and by that I mean we can walk with His empowering manifest presence. Not unlike the disciples that walked with Jesus after His resurrection and their hearts burned as He taught them. His very nearness and His Spirit caused their hearts to burn and glow. Or, we can walk alone, and by that I mean we can walk in our own strengths minus the awareness of His presence.

Now we know saints, as good Bible scholars, that God is omnipresent, meaning He is everywhere at the same time. And as saints we know that He also dwells in our hearts. This is not what we are here referring to. We are talking about what it means to walk in the nearness of the Spirit of God as opposed to walking in the flesh. And as saints we can do both. If we would walk in the Spirit of God, walk in His awareness and therefore walk in His power, then we must, as the Lord told us to, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Every day.

We must be aware of the Kingdom and the Kingdom walk. Our eyes must be engaged in Kingdom sight. We must see things through the lense of the Lord and His word. Our mouths must be engaged in the Kingdom language, we must speak as ambassadors of the King. We must draw near to Him and not quench the Spirit of God. To quench the Spirit of God is to pour cold water upon our burning hearts. Will you throw another log on the fire and cause it to burn brighter, or will you douse it with the cold waters of the world?

A man and a wife can stay in the same house but never be intimate, perhaps even stay in two different bedrooms. Are they close? Yes, in proximity. Are they married? Yes, still married. Yet, because they are not intimate they are really no better than room-mates. One may call it a love-less marriage. Who would want to be part of a love-less marriage? It is considered by most as a tragedy. How greater a tragedy than to be room-mates with the Lord? Yes He is in your heart, yes you are saved, but you are never spiritually intimate.

The real tragedy in a marriage is if one longed for intimacy but the other never responded or had no such need or desire. Jesus longs to be spiritually intimate with His disciples. Only as a result of this intimacy can we expect to be aware of His presence. We grow together in intimacy. We become alike in intimacy. Two become one in intimacy. The man or the woman who does not understand, seek or desire to be intimate with the Lord shall never grow and his or her walk will be a very lonely shallow one.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me (Psa 23:4)

Isn’t that the beginning and end of it all? No matter what we are suffering, no matter what we are going through, as long as He is with us then we can go through it. Through the waters, through the floods, through every trial and tribulation and vexation of heart and soul and mind and body. If we are found in Him and He is in us and with us then we shall prevail, we shall overcome. And not only prevailing and overcoming but also victory. There is victory in Jesus and that is why there is and can be joy even in the midst of the valley of the shadow of death. For when He is with us, and we are aware of His presence, He is our green pastures. His presence restores our soul. His presence is our still waters.

A few years ago I needed a round of shots in my spine for old injuries from a fall in construction many years ago. I had them before, they are not pleasant. I was asked prior to the shots if I needed a valium to calm me down. Like a good Scotsman I said no. I had people praying for me. Just before going in as I waited in a room, kinda regretting my decision on the valium, the Dr came in and asked me if he could pray for me. I was taken aback. I said of course. Then when I was lying face down on the table the radio was on. Some terrible rock music was playing. I heard the Doc tell someone to turn that of.

Just a moment later, a nurse started singing a hymn I had never heard before. The presence of the Lord filled the room and I quietly shed some tears. The Lord, in His manifest presence had come into the room to let me know He was with me. The nurse finished her hymn and the Doc said to me “your very lucky, in twelve years she never sung for me.” It all seemed otherworldly. When the injections were finished and I could look up, I asked who had sung the hymn. A little black nurse said “it was me.’ She came over and I hugged her.

I find in Him I have no want, He is my all and all and He is my everything. And because He is my everything He is my path and He leads me and guides me. He anoints my head with oil and my cup is overflowing, whether in the valley of the shadow of death or the glorious mountaintops of His transfiguration. This table that He sets before me is an everlasting and eternal one. There has been served upon this table the delicacies of goodness and mercy and love and forgiveness. A feast fit for a hungry heart that pants and longs for the good things of the Lord. Saint, today is the day that you are invited to sit down at this table and the goodness and the mercy that you shall find there will follow you all the days of your life.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the Words of eternal life.

Where shall we go, those of us who know Jesus? To the world? Impossible. Back to the life that we came from? Who would want to be dead again and wallow in our own vomit? No, those of us who know Jesus, no matter how hard the calling, no matter how difficult the road, shall stay right there by His side for in Him is life and everything else is death. Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. His Word and His words are life to us. They sustain us in the rain, they keep us in the storm, they cover us when the darkness rages all around. His Word, His presence keeps us and upholds us.

By coming to Him, by staying close to His presence, His manifest presence, you receive His power like living waters through your pores, through your senses, through your spirit through every particle of your being right down to the very molecules that makes up who you are. You are infused by Him and by being infused by Him, by consuming Him, by being consumed by Him, you are changed by Him. And you become more like Him and worship Him more. You read the Word more and you pray more and you weep more and you live more and you love more. And most importantly, you are obedient to His Word and that still small voice.

You are more compassionate and you are more joyful and more grateful and more thankful and you witness more, not out of any legal requirement but out of necessity because your bones burn within you. Your heart is on fire, your whole body glows in the residue of your encounter. You are infused by Him and it makes you diffuse the fragrance of His knowledge in every place(2 Cor 2:14) So many men choose their own strength to try and achieve everything that can only be achieved in His presence because to come to Him, to come close to the light, it illuminates our dark deeds.

Yet eternal life dwells within His presence and it draws us and it keeps us close to our Lord. Better to come before Him in intimate confession and dwell in the light and in life, than to stay in the darkness and in the shades of grey where only death dwells.

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.

Perhaps you have reached a crisis point today? Will you call upon the Lord who is your refuge and strength and who is a very present help in time of trouble? Do you know that God is in your midst and you shall not be moved? God will help you at the “turning of the morning.” This means “at the break of Dawn.” You have heard the phrase “things are always darkest just before the dawn,” then praise the Lord we serve a God that shines His light into the darkest of situations. No matter what you face today, no matter how dark your situation, there is a God who cares and is working behind the scenes.

And He is not distant God, like the gods of this world. He is “a very present,” help in time of trouble. He is with us. He dwells in us and therefore He is always near. Whether you sense that presence or not, He is always near. If the Spirit of God dwells within your chest, then so does your heavenly Father and His glorious Son. So yes, He is near. He is not a days journey from you, He is your very breath. He is your high tower and we run into Him. We draw near to Him. How near? The nearness of your heart for it within your heart that He dwells. He hears your whispers on the wind. He hears your anxious heartbeat. The world may rage around you, the mountains may tremble and the waters roar. Yet just one word from our God and the whole earth would fall silent.

Come now to the mountain that cannot be shaken. Stand under the shadow of the Almighty. Lie down in the palm of His Hand. Let not your heart be troubled for our God stills the raging seas, He breaks the bows o. f the strongmen and He burns their chariots with fire. He will be exalted in your situation. The heathen and the unbeliever will marvel at His faithfulness to you. So, be still and know that He is God, He is your refuge and the righteous run into Him and they are safe

Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

The freedom to do what is right, towers above the prison and the chains of commandments. One is initiated by love, the other is enforced by the whip. Holiness comes from freedom and freedom comes from love . And this love inspires and draws us and compels us to honor and respect and obey our Father in heaven. His love is the very air that we breathe and the air before His throne is rarified air and if we cannot breathe this air then we die. The impetus for us to follow the commands that are written upon our heart is love. It is more powerful than the commands that were written upon tablets of stone. Those who would sin without conviction and use some kind of legal fiction (cheap grace) to excuse or justify their actions simply do not have the laws of God written upon their hearts.

The grace of God is such a beautiful and dynamic and fundamental part of our relationship with the Lord. It is never a license to sin, God forbid. It is the very opposite for those who know Jesus. When we sin there is a separation between ourselves and the one that we love. We cry with David “restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.” The blood bought heart can never be at peace when there is any kind of distance between it and his Lord. Love compels us to humble ourselves, broken and contrite, and come before our Lord in confession so that we may once again walk in the beauty and closeness of His presence and holiness.

(Jas 1:2-4) My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into many kinds of temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith produces patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Trials and tribulations will ultimately bring out the best in genuine Christians and the worse in the religious man. The harder the circumstances get for the genuine Christian, the more he is forced to his knees and driven deeper into the heart of the Father. He is humbled and contrite as he understands how weak he is and how much flesh he still has. Ultimately the results of this is more love, more peace, more forgiveness and more understanding.

The harder the circumstances become for the religious man, the more bitter he becomes. He has no joy or peace. He will not forgive his enemies and his hatred for those he perceives to have caused his sufferings increases dramatically. So, the trial and the deep valley is death to one and life to another. The flesh dies and the spirit rises.

The genuine saint faces the same danger as the one who has never known Jesus if he reacts in the same manner as that one. The difference will be their love for the word of God and their love for God Himself. A saint is motivated by His love for God and his passion for the truth that is written, not only in the Word but upon his heart. It is the driving force of his life. It is his very heartbeat, the essence of who he is.

Nothing else matters when sin disturbs this, it has to be put right for the alternative is distance between him and the one that he loves. When you find yourself in the midst of troubles of any kind dear brother and sister, resist the flesh’s desire to run into a dark corner and react as the world reacts. Do the opposite of what the flesh demands of you, draw near to God and He will draw near to you and you will grow in the Lord and in the power of His might.