"Make The Dwelling ..." God gave very specific instructions on how the people were to make and beautify "The Dwelling" place in the wilderness. He wanted it to be "one whole" dwelling place or in another word "unified", covered and brought together as one. He wanted things to look identical so it matched and anyone looking at it knew it was one dwelling place. The light inside was to always be burning even throughout the night.
What are we told in the New Testament books about God's Dwelling? Two things come to mind, first, our bodies are a dwelling place:
1 Corinthians 6:19 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.
Second, he tells us that collectively we make up one body of Christ.
Romans 12:4-5 For as in one body we have many members,
and the members do not all have the same function,
so we, though many, are one body in Christ.
What this tells me is first we must collectively act as ONE in the body of believers. In the wilderness tabernacle all the hangings and coverings were to match and even though there were many panels and clasps they were to come together and make "The Dwelling as one whole" dwelling. Paul tells us in Romans the same concept, even though there are many members we are one body.
In today's society we are more separate than ever. The body of Christ is so spread out. In the congregation I belong to the members live in at least four different cities. We have our family units or bodies, then we have our church bodies, then we have denominational bodies and we are spread out in cities, states, countries and continents. It is hard, I think, to think and act as "one body" when we are so spread out, but we must continually strive to be unified, to be whole, which most likely and unfortunately, probably will not completely happen until He returns, but Paul encourages you, as do I, to continue to try to be one in Christ.
Put aside minor differences and FORGIVE one another. In Luke 17:1-4 Christ tells His disciples that temptations and snares will come ... but we are to completely forgive one another. Stop reliving unforgiveness by repeatedly sharing ill harbored feelings with others. Forgive and let it go! Otherwise Luke 17 tells us we will become ensnared into sin. Every time thoughts of unforgiveness comes over past situations immediately take it to God and let Him fill you with love for that person.
Second, as individual dwelling places for the Holy Spirit our lives must reflect a certain beauty about them. The wilderness temple wasn't a drab dark place. It was full of light even in the dark of night. It was colorful with blue and purple and scarlet fabrics. It had beautiful tapestries woven in the fabric and there was gold coverings over strong wood.
Friends, let's seek to be beautiful dwelling places today. What are one or two things you can do today to show the beauty of the Light that dwells in you? (be forgiving, love like Christ loves you, manifest the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, etc.) And secondly, are you connected into a strong body of believers that you can fellowship with and share the love of Christ with and be unified with? These are my two challenges to you today, be beautiful (not outwardly, but inwardly I Peter 3:3) and be unified with other believers.
Blessings Abundant,
Michelle
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