image courtesy of Beverly & Pack

Our Heavenly Dwelling

Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight.

2 Corinthians 5:1-7

I have been stuck on this passage the last couple days enjoying things I was getting from it. For instance, the line about longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked brought up some interesting thoughts. Were Adam and Eve clothed with a heavenly dwelling before the fall? Later the verse says that the Holy Spirit is a deposit of this clothing of heavenly dwelling. So were Adam and Eve clothed with the Holy Spirit as a deposit or did they have the full thing?

While I find this line of thinking interesting, I am inspired by the phrase that we were made for this very purpose. This gets us beyond theological musing into the intent of God for our lives. We were made to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling and the Holy Spirit is a partial deposit of what is to come. So what does this mean? If we were made for this, I want to know what it is.

I think Paul follows with a practical explanation of what it means. He uses two analogies of contrast to bring light to this concept.

1. Home in the body; away from the Lord
2. Live by faith, not by sight

This second phrase is something I have heard throughout my Christian experience with varying levels of understanding to what it means. At times it has had the mystical weight that is often put on the phrase, "faith as big as a mustard seed". Is this faith in whatever we want to happen? How much is enough faith? Should we ignore the things I see because it is all about whatever I am imagining in my mind?

Obviously those questions do not lead into what God has for us and often takes us off track in our Christian walk. I think that following the flow of the entire passage brings clarity to what Paul/God is trying to communicate.

Being at home in the body is equal to being away from the Lord. Being home with the Lord is being clothed in our heavenly dwelling. Therefore it is important to know what being at home in the body looks like. This is allowing the things of our physical lives to take precedence over the things of heaven. Or, to put it another way, it is allowing our understanding of how the world operates take precedence over what God says is true. It is trusting in our five senses instead of the leading of the Holy Spirit... that deposit of the heavenly dwelling.

Our five senses are not only sight, but hear, smell, taste, and FEEL. I know that the fifth sense is touch, but calling it feel opens it up to more. Touch tells you stepped on something sharp; feel is the pain mixed with worry of how bad it is cut. I have highlighted feel because this is the level that fear resides.

These five senses are based and controlled by the circumstances of life and our past experiences that define those circumstances. For instance, when you touch a hot stove, you learn not to do it again. Therefore if you have tried something in the past that has caused you pain or embarrassment, you are not likely to try it again. If a circumstance in your life comes up that feels like a past experience that caused pain, you will approach it with caution. If you have had a friend betray you in the past, you are not as likely to open up to someone else. Similarly if you have done something in the past that has made you feel good, you are likely to go back to do it again (e.g. addictions).

God is saying that basing our lives off our five senses keeps us away from Him.

Isn't that irresponsible? Isn't that the definition of futility, to try the same thing over again and expecting a different result? There is something different here. If Peter had trusted in his five senses, he would not have gotten out of the boat to walk on water. The difference of faith is God calls us to something different, and as soon as He calls us to it, that is to be our new reality. And, since He has called us to it, we can and should expect different results.

So faith is not in whatever we want to get. Faith is living by what God says is true, not what we have experienced as true based on the past.

As long as we believe sight as our true perspective, our prayers will be limited. When we operate on sight we think:

• that person will never come to Christ
• we can't afford to take time off work to spend time with my family
• I'll never overcome my sin
• the doctor said she only has 6 months to live

God may just have a different reality. Do not be limited by sight, but ask God for His will and pray accordingly.

What situation in your life are you trusting in sight and not even asking God His perspective?

While in college I read a booklet by Robert Boyd Munger called My Heart - Christ's Home. It had you imagine taking Jesus through different rooms of your heart. Jesus would ask about certain rooms or closets to show His interests were all of you. He never pushed His way in, but you knew His desires.

I was reminded of this in worship the other day. There was this song that had an invitation for the Holy Spirit to make His home in us. As I sang I thought about the house guest that my wife and I have staying with us. I thought about how different it would be if they not only guests but if our house was truely their home.

• They would be able to trash it if they wanted.
• they could invite people over they wanted to have.
• They could empty the fridge eating whatever and then fill it with things they liked.
• They could hang pictures up of things they were interested in.

Then I thought, does the Holy Spirit have this open invitation in my heart? Can He invite the people over He wants to be with? Sure He would invite Jesus and God the Father over some, but He would probably also invite over some who are needy and emotionally draining.

Can He spend the resources of my heart on the plans He has? Or, do I tell Him what I have time and energy for? What if He schedules something over the big game? What if I was saving something for myself?

My mental dialogue with this idea ended with me thinking of the Holy Spirit hanging up pictures in the "living room" of my heart. And, in the focal point of the room, He hung up an 8x10 picture of Jesus. I laughed and then the worship team transitioned to another song.

Several months ago I (Kevin) wrote a post on 10 things to pray for your wife. I’m finally getting around to complete those thoughts with a list of prayer items for your husband. For the wife I followed closely to the Proverbs 31 passage, not wanting to assume I know what I wife would need. However for the husband I took liberties. Here are things I would like my wife to ask God these things for me.

1. Grant him more than enough income to provide for your family.
2. Give him success in all that he puts his hands to.
3. Recharge him at home more than at work or play.
4. Help him develop friendships with other men that would encourage, validate, bless, and focus him on who God says he is.
5. May he will see you as his helpmate and may you be his best friend, supporter, and lover.
6. Make your image the model of beauty for him. (This is a concept I got from Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Marriage)
7. Help him to know that you believe in him, trust his decisions for the family, and are proud of what he is able to accomplish at work.
8. May we take every opportunity to bless each other and allow the Holy Spirit to be the one to convict of sin.
9. Allow him to truly enjoy time with Jesus and look to Him for direction and life to give to the family.
10. Open his eyes to God’s plan for his life. The plan he was created for and would stir up energy and passion in him.

Additional resources:

• The Power of a Prayer Wife by Stormie Omartian

image courtesy of FamilyLife

In the garden God said it was not good for man to be alone. Man had perfect communion with God, but God said He was alone. Then He creates woman as a help-mate for him. The answer to man’s loneliness was not more of God; it was woman. Isn’t that strange?

Unfortunately, it did not take long for the oneness between man and woman was jeopardized. The forbidden fruit was eaten, and shame and blame enter the garden. Separation occurs between God and man, but it also occurs between man and women. “This woman, she…”

So many of us thought that marriage would be the answer to the pain in our lives. We saw our spouse as the miracle drug to end all of our loneliness. Unfortunately, marriage is often the source of greater loneliness.

The point is God created marriage for oneness, but sin distorts God's plan. Sin and shame keep us from moving out of our shell we have created to protect us of exposure and pain. As we remain isolated from our spouse, additional pain and shame are added to it. Then we pull even more away into our protective shell. We are on a deadly spiral, and we need something or someone to stop the bleeding.

God in His masterful plan usually puts two people together that are perfectly matched to heal all of the pain. The thing is that in order to enter into that healing there needs to be tiny deaths to self along the way. Are you going to choose to deny yourself to allow healing to flow? When your spouse shares their struggles with impure thoughts, are you going to offer grace or shame? When your spouse tells you about their eating disorder, do you offer love or condemnation? When your spouse confides with you their fears, do you offer words of life or dismiss them as unrealistic?

The right choices above are usually not easy because it is those areas of hurt in your spouse that fed the areas of hurt in your life. You have to choose life for your spouse because even though attacking them feels like protecting you, it will hinder any chance of either of you to find freedom. Take your fears to Jesus. Allow Him to protect you. Then offer life to your spouse.

Jesus is better at protecting you than you are anyhow. Therefore you are able to move toward oneness.

• Additional Resource: When Opposites Attract in Marriage (via FamilyLife)

image used courtesy of Project M: Marriage Blog

Recently God is putting a lot of people in my path that are struggling in their marriages. There is a consistent encouragement that God has been allowing me to share that I think appropriate here.

Many people with marriage issues face an emotional rollar coaster. Good days and bad days. The good days are encouraging, but they are also emotionally draining because you just do not know what you are going to get. Some days your spouse thinks you are the source of everything wrong; other days they are offering hope to something better.

What is going on? Is your spouse bi-polar? How come you do not know what you are going to get?

On those good days, your spouse is living out of their true self. All God’s works are wonderful therefore when our lives reflect the fruit of the Spirit, we are living out of who God created us to be (Psalm 139:14 and Galatians 5:22). Even if your spouse is not a Christian, deep down God has created in them the desire to have a good and healthy marriage with you.

Since this is God’s will for your spouse, the enemy will try to steal, kill, and destroy it (John 10:10). He is feeding lies into your spouse about you, them, and your marriage. Therefore the ups and downs in your marriage are your spouse’s choice over which voice they will listen to.

Now before you think this is only a matter of spiritual warfare, your spouse does have responsibility in the matter. And, choices they have made in the past allow the enemy greater influence.

Let’s say your spouse had a father that constantly berated them saying they would never amount to anything. Therefore they grew up with many lies about God and themselves. One would be that God would never come through for them. What happens when there are difficulties in the marriage? The enemy feeds into those lies saying it is not going to work out. God is not going to protect you. You might as well give up. Your spouse is out to get you. They don’t believe you will amount to anything anyway. You don’t need that kind of pressure.

Because of the events of the past and the lies they already believe, the enemy’s lies are now amplified to a degree that they cannot hear the voice of God.

What are you to do? Choose not to respond in like form. When they speak these lies to you, do not get angry. Do not defend. Respond in love. Always proclaim your commitment toward the marriage. In prayer take authority over the enemy reducing his ability to speak to your spouse and to you. As you deny the enemy’s ability to speak, then the voice of God will be able to penetrate easier to your spouse.

This is not a magic pill. Your spouse still has the choice of whose voice to listen to. But you will be preparing the ground for a better harvest. You can plant the seed, till the ground, and water the plant, but only God causes it to grow. It is the pleasure of God to change lives. And, even if your spouse decides not to change, God blesses those who choose to give life to others. Rest in His ability to protect and provide for you.

• Additional Resource: 10 Things to Pray for Your Wife

What does it walking in the Spirit look like? I recently just finished a move cross-country. It was a move that both my wife and I felt God was leading. Even more we felt that He wanted us to move as soon as we could. It really did not make sense. We were to leave the state where we were born and raised, which meant leaving our family. We were to leave our house and neighborhood we really loved. We were to risk losing my job. But, in the end, we both felt this was God’s next step in our journey with Him.

As we moved forward in faith, God gave me favor with my boss to be excited about the potential that my move opened up. We also found places to stay in the move and people to help us in that transition that were just opening up as soon as we got there.

This in itself was wonderful, but just a few days after moving into our home, God introduced us to a young lady with a toddler needing a place to stay. She had just started to realize the destructive nature of her husband’s words and attitude towards her and her child and had just left for their safety. Our home provided a stable location for their family to get help. It also provided children to help her child have friends and love during a stressful time. It is a story that is still without an ending.

The point of what I want to get across is that walking in the Spirit is a life of faith. As you feel God leading you to something, you will often not know the reason for your actions ahead of time. Faith is stepping out in obedience with the outcome not guaranteed (that is circumstantial outcome; the spiritual outcome of pleasing your Father is always guaranteed).

The secondary point is that it is not always about you even though it is always about you. It is always about you because God is building character and eternal rewards for you. It is not always about you in the temporary.
God the Father, in His immeasurable love for this girl and her child, motivated a family from across the country to move with haste to create a place for her to land for her safety and health.

My wife and I believe that there are other blessings to come with the move, but the “as soon as possible” was at least for this hurting family as much as it was for us.