DID YOU FOLLOW UP?
Last week I asked you just to sit with God for fifteen minutes each day and to begin to listen to whatever He told you to do regarding your physical and mental health during this fresh new year.
I wanted you to ask God to reveal to you those places in your own health and well-being that might need a little work and restoration.
Did you do this?
WHAT WORD DID YOU FIND?
Did you keep a journal and write down the things that God said to you as you sat and listened to him for just fifteen short minutes each day?
What were these things and how do you plan to bring them to fruition in 2021?
My own personal time was very revealing; and I pray that yours was the same. I hope your time was amazing, and I hope God has begun to speak to you about some positive changes that will increase your joy in life.
This week I want you to continue that same exercise.
Have you discovered how easy it is to take just fifteen minutes aside each day just to listen to God?
Did you find yourself anticipating this more and more each day after you finally cleared your schedule that first time?
WE MUST MAKE TIME FOR OUR WELL-BEING
Our lives are too busy sometimes.
We need to slow down long enough to hear from our Creator each and every day.
This important process is the first step to life-giving restoration of our minds, bodies and souls.
A few of you, like me, might have heard God say: “You are walking around in my Sanctuary; how are you taking care of the place where I reside within you?”
OUR BODIES ARE GOD’S TEMPLE
Have you ever thought about the fact that your own body is a walking and breathing Sanctuary where God dwells?
It is true.
Jesus spoke with the woman at the well about a future day that was coming when there would no longer be a need for buildings or mountains or places where we would go to worship; but the Spirit of God would dwell inside of each of us.
He made that possible on the cross. Then God sent down The Holy Spirit to dwell within each of us on The Day of Pentecost. This was for our assurance and our comfort; and also this dwelling of God’s Spirit within our bodies is a guiding voice that lives within us that helps us to keep God’s living Sanctuary (our own bodies) fit and ready for worship and witness to the world.
SANCTUARIES MUST BE MAINTAINED
But; all holy sanctuaries require close, careful supervision and maintenance.
You must carefully guard what goes inside the Sanctuary of God.
If you have been following our Thursday bible study called COME AS A CHILD; you would have recently read and heard about how God designated that the Levites helped the priesthood to guard the Sanctuary in the wilderness.
They kept trespassers out and made sure that only the priest of God could enter; especially into The Holy Place. The Sanctuary of God could not be defiled. Things that did not belong there could never exist there.
This was very important.
YOUR HEART IS YOUR BODY’S HOLY PLACE
In the Sanctuary of your body where God’s Holy Spirit dwells as you walk this earth, the place called The Holy Place would be in that spot where your heart is located.
You have an obligation and duty to God to make sure that no wrong presence comes into this Holy Place of your physical, portable Sanctuary where He dwells, and that nothing defiles your heart.
Funny to think of things this way; right?
But; it is true that you must guard the things pertaining to the health and well being of your heart. This is always essential for good health. If the heart isn’t healthy the whole rest of the body will suffer.
FOCUS ON THE HEART FIRST
For the first focus on how we should be keeping our Sanctuaries (our physical bodies with God living within us,) holy and fit as we go through the year of 2021 together; we will begin to concentrate on the health of our hearts.
This is the holy place of your body – your heart.
Let’s get the most important places cleaned up and running well first; then we can move on to all of the other areas. Without the section of the tabernacle called The Holy Place, the order of worship for the congregation of Israel did not work. It had to be very carefully and meticulously maintained. There were necessary functions that had to take place there; and there were things that were strictly forbidden to go there.
SIMILAR TO THE HOLY PLACE
God had a lot to say about The Holy Place when He was leading Moses to teach the Children of Israel who were living out in the desert.
I think a lot of what God had to say to those old Israelite priests maintaining The Holy Place in the wilderness Sanctuary could also apply to how we maintain our own physical hearts as we go about our own daily lives today.
Next week we will go into detail about the maintenance and care of our hearts, until then; keep spending your fifteen minutes a day with God and listening to what He tells you. Write it down and keep your notes handy for later. Pay particular attention to things pertaining to the heart.
GOAL FOR 2021 – TO LIVE HEALTHY AND WHOLE
Stay with us for living healthy and whole in 2021.
God bless you as you begin to learn how to keep up your own portable, physical Sanctuary with the same specific instructions that God spelled out to the ancient people so long ago.
I am praying for each and every one of you as I write, and I am right here with you all the way. Please also pray for me.
We can’t go wrong when we are using biblical instructions. Everything that was true way back then is still true today; let’s look into this subject more together in our next AN APPLE A DAY article.
Keep checking the AN APPLE A DAY topics for our next articles on this subject. Most likely these will be published on Fridays.
See you to talk even more in depth about this subject next week!