"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own," - 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
Our body, or mind, is going to be a temple of something. Our imagination (the chambers of our imagery) is active and something is there. It is either holy and the spirit has free access to the rooms of our soul or it is closed off and filled with things that never see the light.
This next passage is an amazing picture of a person's thought life that is filled with idolatry. God sees it all but if we 'dig in the wall' it can be seen by us also.
"Then he said to me, 'Son of man, lift up your eyes now toward the north.' So I lifted up my eyes toward the north, and behold, north of the altar gate, in the entrance, was this image of jealousy. And he said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel are committing here, to drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see still greater abominations.' And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, dig in the wall.' So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, 'Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.' So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up." - Ezekiel 8:5-11 ESV
Don't get me wrong most of us have closed off rooms in our soul. They may be secrets we protect or places that are just too painful to enter. Abuse does that.
"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." - Luke 11:21-23 KJV
The Holy Spirit is the 'stronger man' who can take back that chamber, those chambers, God can cleanse His temple.
"And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise." - John 2:13-16 KJV
Yes. Passover is when God set Israel free from bondage. Jesus is 'freeing' his Father's temple here. Those money changers had rigged weights. They cheated people and gouged them. They bought 'sacrifices' that where made to God but that was not God's heart. He wanted people to have easy access to his house.
God wants easy access to your mind. He wants to cleanse your mind and mine so we can be clean and free and not in bondage to lies and systems that are false and dark.
If you and I are functioning as 'temples' people can have access to God when they are with us. If our mind is cleansed we will have thoughts, words and ideas that are nourishing and wholesome. God is the treasure and not the structure that He dwells in. An empty Church is just a building. Our mind can be a thriving place if God dwells there.
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Showing posts with label Imagination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Imagination. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2020
Monday, April 25, 2016
Enter Through The Doorway
Wow. What an interesting morning. I endeavored to study privacy this morning... the good kind of privacy that allows for a covering and the bad kind that allows for corruption and cover ups.
We live in a time of exposure. Private things are made public all the time. Perhaps we long for the days when this wasn't so. We long for a more innocent time. I know I do. At the same time I know there was great behind the scenes corruption happening in those 'good old days' also. People in power did things and there was little accountability. Abuse of power leads to a need to expose. People want to feel safe and they sacrifice privacy to get that safety but the ones who suffer are the innocent ones who need privacy to grow and should be allowed a season of wonder.
"And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley... And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, dig in the wall.' So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, 'Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.' So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.' " - Ezekiel 8:4, 7-12 ESV
This is a great picture of the mind that lacks faith. There is a hole in the wall. Walls are meant to be sealed as support structures. Doors and gates are where we are supposed to enter buildings but the fallen mind has a hole in it's wall.
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
Israel was not to create graven images but there they are in a fallen person's heart. We all have the potential to have this 'chamber of imagery'. It is born of a faithless attitude.
We wonder why leaders can get so corrupt. They just have the power and resources to do (and justify) what the human heart is prone to do if God is not central in the focus of our minds.
"All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." - John 10:8-11 ESV
Jesus is the door. He is the one way we can understand ourselves. Without Him we will all have a secret life built on illusion. That illusion may be mostly dark or it may be mostly light but if there is no door that opens and closes we will dig through the wall and make images. Then exposure will become the next logical step.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
Jesus is who we need. He is the door. He is the visible representation of an invisible God. He Is the mystery we all crave. In Him we have privacy and purity. We find a friend when we find Him. We stop sneaking and hiding because we can walk upright before God when we walk with Him.
No matter how moral or well meaning a person is they have the potential to develop a chamber of imagery and make decisions from that chamber. A leader must be someone who walks through the door and not the wall.
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We live in a time of exposure. Private things are made public all the time. Perhaps we long for the days when this wasn't so. We long for a more innocent time. I know I do. At the same time I know there was great behind the scenes corruption happening in those 'good old days' also. People in power did things and there was little accountability. Abuse of power leads to a need to expose. People want to feel safe and they sacrifice privacy to get that safety but the ones who suffer are the innocent ones who need privacy to grow and should be allowed a season of wonder.
"And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the valley... And he brought me to the entrance of the court, and when I looked, behold, there was a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, dig in the wall.' So I dug in the wall, and behold, there was an entrance. And he said to me, 'Go in, and see the vile abominations that they are committing here.' So I went in and saw. And there, engraved on the wall all around, was every form of creeping things and loathsome beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel. And before them stood seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them. Each had his censer in his hand, and the smoke of the cloud of incense went up. Then he said to me, 'Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in his room of pictures? For they say, 'The LORD does not see us, the LORD has forsaken the land.' " - Ezekiel 8:4, 7-12 ESV
This is a great picture of the mind that lacks faith. There is a hole in the wall. Walls are meant to be sealed as support structures. Doors and gates are where we are supposed to enter buildings but the fallen mind has a hole in it's wall.
"You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments." - Exodus 20:4-6 ESV
Israel was not to create graven images but there they are in a fallen person's heart. We all have the potential to have this 'chamber of imagery'. It is born of a faithless attitude.
We wonder why leaders can get so corrupt. They just have the power and resources to do (and justify) what the human heart is prone to do if God is not central in the focus of our minds.
"All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." - John 10:8-11 ESV
Jesus is the door. He is the one way we can understand ourselves. Without Him we will all have a secret life built on illusion. That illusion may be mostly dark or it may be mostly light but if there is no door that opens and closes we will dig through the wall and make images. Then exposure will become the next logical step.
"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." - Isaiah 1:18 ESV
Jesus is who we need. He is the door. He is the visible representation of an invisible God. He Is the mystery we all crave. In Him we have privacy and purity. We find a friend when we find Him. We stop sneaking and hiding because we can walk upright before God when we walk with Him.
No matter how moral or well meaning a person is they have the potential to develop a chamber of imagery and make decisions from that chamber. A leader must be someone who walks through the door and not the wall.
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