1 Corinthians 3: 16-17
1 Corinthians 3
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
2 Corinthians 16
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
After church Sunday, one of the ladies told my friend Randy, “There’s a young man outside crying, could you talk to him?” It turned out the young man (Ivan) was heartbroken because his ex-wife had taken a job as a stripper to support their little daughter. He said, “She doesn’t have to do that, I give her money!” Then he admitted he had committed adultery in the first year of their marriage and that she was paying him back by stripping and sleeping with other men.
Randy asked him if he had ever received the Lord. He said yes, about 10 months before. He said he knew his ex-wife was bad for him, and that she was keeping him from walking with the Lord, but he felt he loved her too much to give her up. We prayed with him and told him the Holy Spirit could give him the strength to stay away from her.
Seeing his pain reminded me of my own intense struggle the first time I lost custody of all my children. I hadn’t realized until then that they had taken a place in my heart that God never intended. Yes, we are to love and cherish our children (and our spouses), but they should never become our reason for living. Through that great and painful loss, I learned that even if I lose everything I hold dear, Jesus Christ is still more than enough.
Did God have my children taken away? No, I don’t believe so. But I do believe that having my children as idols in my heart allowed Satan to get a foot in the door and manipulate the circumstances so that they were taken from me. Satan is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy—don’t give him an excuse.
Check your temple. God idols? Get rid of them. Have an awesome Resurrection Sunday!
Cathleen
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
2 Corinthians 16
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
“I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.”
After church Sunday, one of the ladies told my friend Randy, “There’s a young man outside crying, could you talk to him?” It turned out the young man (Ivan) was heartbroken because his ex-wife had taken a job as a stripper to support their little daughter. He said, “She doesn’t have to do that, I give her money!” Then he admitted he had committed adultery in the first year of their marriage and that she was paying him back by stripping and sleeping with other men.
Randy asked him if he had ever received the Lord. He said yes, about 10 months before. He said he knew his ex-wife was bad for him, and that she was keeping him from walking with the Lord, but he felt he loved her too much to give her up. We prayed with him and told him the Holy Spirit could give him the strength to stay away from her.
Seeing his pain reminded me of my own intense struggle the first time I lost custody of all my children. I hadn’t realized until then that they had taken a place in my heart that God never intended. Yes, we are to love and cherish our children (and our spouses), but they should never become our reason for living. Through that great and painful loss, I learned that even if I lose everything I hold dear, Jesus Christ is still more than enough.
Did God have my children taken away? No, I don’t believe so. But I do believe that having my children as idols in my heart allowed Satan to get a foot in the door and manipulate the circumstances so that they were taken from me. Satan is the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy—don’t give him an excuse.
Check your temple. God idols? Get rid of them. Have an awesome Resurrection Sunday!
Cathleen
posted by BreadBakers at 12:29 PM
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