EDEN: 15 - Day Devotional by The Belonging CoSample

Dwelling Place - Mitch Wong

One of the greatest biblical mysteries is that the God of the Universe would desire and delight to dwell in us. We know that God is omnipresent, meaning that He is everywhere, all at once. But the Bible clearly shows us that He chooses to concentrate His presence and glory in spaces that are consecrated to Him. The best Old Testament example is the Tabernacle. God could have chosen to meet with His people anywhere. Instead, He detailed the designs of a travelling tent (the Tabernacle), which was holy and set apart for Him, and it pleased Him to meet with His people there.

Although we don’t need a tent to meet with God today, the same principle remains that God desires and delights to dwell in consecrated spaces — in us who believe in Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul describes us as temples of the Holy Spirit. We have been washed clean of our sin by the blood of Jesus and become a holy place where God can rest His Spirit. But in order to preserve the holiness of this temple we need to keep ridding our lives of sin, with the help of the Holy Spirit, and honor God with our bodies. Paul warns us about sin because it grieves the Holy Spirit and its objective is to eradicate the holy dwelling place in our hearts where God can rest.

You might be thinking to yourself, “I desperately want to be a dwelling place for God, but I find it really difficult to rid my life of sin.” Well, this is why the grace of Jesus is so powerful. We cannot do this in our own strength. In fact, it’s impossible to do this in our own strength. God knows it’s a journey and gives us great mercy. He gives us His Son, Jesus, who intercedes for us and is our strength in our weakness. He gives us the Holy Spirit, who convicts us and helps us when we don’t know what to do. It is only with God’s help that we’re able to present ourselves before Him with clean hands and pure hearts — as a holy dwelling place.

So today, let’s take a moment to ask the Lord and ourselves if there are any areas in our lives that are grieving the Holy Spirit. Take a few minutes and write down anything that comes to mind.

Next, let’s repent of those sins, turn our hearts back towards God, ask for and receive the forgiveness that was purchased at the Cross and thank Him for His mercy.

Lastly, let’s pray that God would purify us so that we become holy and consecrated dwelling places, where He can speak to us and move freely in our lives.