God’s Dwelling Place

Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 1 Corinthians 6:19.
By a most beautiful and impressive figure, God’s Word shows the regard He places upon our physical organism and the responsibility resting on us to preserve it in the best condition….
The body is a temple in which God desires to dwell,…. it must be kept pure, the abiding place of high and noble thoughts.
The knowledge that man is to be a temple for God, a habitation for the revealing of His glory, should be the highest incentive to the care and development of our physical powers. Fearfully and wonderfully has the Creator wrought in the human frame, and He bids us make it our study, understand its needs, and act our part in preserving it from harm and defilement.
Our first duty toward God and our fellow beings is that of self-development. Every faculty with which the Creator has endowed us, should be cultivated to the highest degree of perfection, that we may be able to do the greatest amount of good of which we are capable. Hence that time is spent to good account which is used in the establishment and preservation of physical and mental health. We cannot afford to dwarf or cripple any function of body or mind. As surely as we do this we must suffer the consequences.
The desire of God for every human being is expressed in the words, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” 3 John 2.
He it is who “forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:3, 4….
“Above all things,” God desires us to “be in health”—health of body and of soul. And we are to be workers together with Him for the health of both soul and body.
The Faith I Live By p. 227
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for Jeremiah (age 13) who possibly has bone cancer. Esther
—-Please pray for the parents and children of the mother who was trying to escape an abusive marriage. Her husband killed her and wounded her father. Then he killed himself. Rose
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Dear Friends,
When I was about four, my mother would often take me to town. In those days, when people went to town, they dressed up almost as nicely as when going to church. As we walked the mile to town, we had to cross the railroad tracks. It was not uncommon to see several homeless men (They were called “hobos” or “bums” in those days. ) leaning against one of the buildings or sitting on a bench. They seemed nice to me as they always spoke to us and smiled. My mother would try to ignore them, but not me. I always smiled and waved and sometimes even talked to these dirty, rough-looking men. They didn’t scare me, I remembered all of the stories my grandfather had told me of his growing-up years when he had been homeless and ridden the rails.
One day, as we were passing by these men, my mother saw a lady that she knew waiting for the train. She was a very fancy lady and my mother was trying to impress her. As they were talking, this lady noticed me. There I was, dressed in a frilly dress, having on hat and white gloves, standing quietly at my mother’s side, and looking up at the lady with wondering eyes. She was someone new, someone fancy, someone to ponder.
She bent down and shook my hand. She began talking to me. I answered her politely. She thought that I was quite the little lady. Then she made the mistake of asking, “And what would you like to be when you grow up?” Expecting to hear the customary “nurse” or “teacher,” shock registered all over her face when, pointing to the bums who were lounging nearby, I looked up at her innocently and said, “A hobo.”
That fancy lady was horrified! My poor mother was mortified! Their conversation came to an abrupt end, as my mother excused herself, grabbed my hand, and hurriedly headed toward town. She had many things to say to me as we walked the rest of the way.
How many times we set our sights too low. The things of this world beckon for our attention. The pleasures of this world allure us. Before we realize it, we have taken our eyes off from the goal and immerse ourselves in that which will soon pass away. (Rev 21:1) We step off from the narrow path that leads to Heaven and follow the broad way that leads to nothing but misery and unhappiness in the end. Our Dear Saviour urges us, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Matt 7:13,14
The Apostle Paul speaks of his experience, “what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you. Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.” Phil 3:7-16
Let us, as did Abraham, look away from the things of this world which vie for our attention and fix our gaze upon that “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb 11:10 “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 12:1,2
Rose