The Body....a temple.

 

1 Cor 3:16

Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

This seems to be a difficult verse, and yet it is not!  it is saying that there is 3rd aspect of the human condition that we need to be aware of! The body is a temple; it houses both mind and spirit; we have some idea of mind, but spirit seems to be difficult to pin down; for the longest time it was spoken of as a ‘matter of the heart’! These days we understand better that the heart is a muscle, the hardest working muscle in the body; it never stops, even when we are asleep.

Our children need to learn these things. Almost doesn’t matter which order you state them in i.e. ie mind, body, spirit.  But balance is the key word. All 3 are God’s gifts to us. We are stewards. Just as mind rules the body, spirit rules the mind. But if we do not use the Spirit, Spirit remains dormant, unused; and we are poorer, because we have not learned how to do all that God knows we are capable of doing, having created us to be able to.

The notion of ‘Temple’ has always referred to a physical place. But that’s religious tradition and custom. This scripture is very different. Here it is one of dimensionality. It is where you are able to separate yourself from the world and its influences as you differentiate and distinguish between mind, body, and spirit.  

Read last week’s post and this one again in the week if you can; reflect; our senses provide essential function; but when we move into the realm of the spirit we are in a kind of extra-sensory place in-between where the earthly sensory functions simply distract. And we need to be focused. In common language, we almost always use ‘spirit’ interchangeably with ‘personality’. But with meditation, as opposed to a talking to God type of prayer, it is being in spirit or spiritual communion with God. No words are needed. This is why Scripture teaches that God is Spirit and that God is light. But, what gets between spirit and mind and body so that our ability to be Godly and our capability to exercise Godly power does not reach and fulfill God given expectations? That is a freedom we each need to discover, beyond the limits of body and mind!

God is Spirit, and God has created us in God’s own image, as spirit beings. Then we are of the mind, and then we are of the body. We have kind of reversed that order, somehow. I guess we chose to. But reversing the order does not help. It hinders the proportionate balance needed.

When you can reduce ordinary sight and sound, then you can focus on extraordinary new sight and new sound. And your adventure of the spirit begins. If there is an issue, the answer will come. The biggest error most of us make where God is concerned is that we fail to realize the incredible degree to which God is a loving tender caring Father to us. Jesus says this again and again. But we’re busy with stuff…..gotta go to church; or spend time in prayer or read the Bible. Sure. All good stuff. But mostly, all that is needed is to walk and live in the Father’s love. Through the loving things you do His love becomes clearer and stronger with each passing day! Quite amazing, really. Just don’t expect to hear the voice of God talking to you. God speaks without speaking. We just think we hear God within our ability to hear.

But whatever it is, it won’t be a thing God does for you as much as God does with you. Your will is a clear part of this. Your conscious decision to always live in the Father’s presence. Your will to make it so – a  part of prayer that still remains so undiscovered! The space between makes time irrelevant. You drift or seem to and it seems long but only a minute has passed. Very strange. God is timeless. Every day, make time, step into your temple of the Spirit. Your spirit. God waits for you.

Remember those 3 blessings we spoke of last week. Think of Galatians 5:14 and righteousness, peace and joy. Think of them, if you will, as a test phase for Lent this year. Find out for yourself.

Inner peace. Certainly a spirit and mind issue. As Jesus says, my peace I give unto you, not as the world gives! We are to be calm, patient, low key. But we will get the point across. Clearly, and with integrity. Never personal, always issue oriented. Let others be loud. No energy wasted on other’s negativity. Quite a goal, really. Learning to speak in their silence. More effective. Genuine concern. Sincerity makes a world of difference in all we try to do everyday. And people know fake smiles vs genuine care.

Energy – certainly a body issue for starters; this is where the spiritual impinges on the mind and the body; We all know the word ‘tired’. But why? What causes ‘tiredness’? Many reasons for sure, but the end result is we are not operating at peak. So we settle for ‘good days’ and ‘bad days’, but these really reflect emotional states. Stay focused on your goals and your objectives, meet them, and keep everything second that should be second. Every day, we will ourselves to do any number of things; this, that or the other. We can build on that easily. We just need to learn how to choose well and make it a matter of will,

Sleep – that meditation time is so critical when it comes to sleep and rest. Why? Because it cuts off all of the extraneous stuff in our lives that we don’t need and that will just plague us anyhow! Sleep is never a matter of quantity as much as a matter of quality. More than time for the body to rest, recuperate, heal etc. Time for the mind and body to shut down for a bit. Time for the Spirit to lead you. What does this mean? For starters, commit to your sleep time the issues that bother you, and then let them go. Some will say ah then the subconscious will begin to work on resolution. More than that, it is the synchronization of your will with Gods will on these things. It takes work.

More to say on these 3 as we go, but one key is important – the cup of cold water you give to the one who needs it, whomever, wherever, whenever. When you do this, the energy of the blessing that comes from God comes right upon you, no time wasted! Unbelievable. It is the Father’s way of showing us that He is always with us and He watches. That’s what it comes down to - that the children of the Father dwell and live in the Father’s love. And He will continue to hold them close. Next week we will turn to what it means to be a new person in Jesus and then we are into Lent and we will move into some challenging possibly confronting work on social holiness and what scripture says about the reform of a nation. Walk with Jesus. Peace, G.