Welcome to this Come to Jesus Daily devotional. For the near future, we put our Luke series on pause as we have some stand-alone summer devotionals. I hope you find them helpful.
‘“‘Then let them make a sanctuary for me, and I will dwell among them.” (Exodus 25:8)
Lesson: God wants to move us to give ourselves wholeheartedly to building His house, the church, because it is the place where He dwells by the Spirit.
God chose to dwell among the people of Israel. His presence was to be manifestly present in the Tabernacle and later in the temple. God would dwell in a special way in this sanctuary. This was a great privilege to have God dwelling among them.
This was a foretelling of the New Covenant age - After the death and resurrection of Christ and the pouring out of the Spirit on His people. In these days, before Jesus’ return, The church is God’s temple and each of us is a ‘living stone’ in this spiritual house.
‘Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.’ (1 Corinthians 3:16-27)
‘As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Peter 2:4-5)
In our day, God wants to dwell among us by the Spirit but not in physical tabernacles or temples.
How were they to give toward the sanctuary?
The Lord, through Moses, asked those whose hearts were moved to give toward the building of the Tabernacle. We read:
“The Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from everyone whose heart prompts them to give.” (Exodus 25:1-2)
If they were to build the Tabernacle, the people needed to give the materials and the skills that would be required. Likewise, if we are to build God’s sanctuary, it will involve sacrificial giving. Each of us needs to allow the Spirit to move our hearts so as to give toward the building of the church.
Response
God wants to move us to give ourselves wholeheartedly to building His house, the church, because it is the place where He dwells by the Spirit.
God wants to give us His passion to build a house for His Spirit. Do we understand that Jesus’ death and resurrection leads to our justification but also to the Spirit coming and living in us? Do we know that together, we are God’s temple? Has God moved our hearts to give to this? How can we give toward building the local church? This involves an holistic response from us. Here are some ways:
Our passionate prayers - will we pray personally and together?
Our gifts or abilities - Are we serving on a team?
Our time - perhaps the most challenging one! Will our diaries reflect our devotion to building God's house?
Our money - Will we give according to what we have and sacrificially?
Paul writes about how God gifts us to build His house:
“But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says: “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” (Ephesians 4:7-8)
God has give each of us time, talents and treasure. Will we allow the Spirit to move our hearts so as to use what ‘Christ apportioned’ to us to build His house, the church?
COMMUNITY GROUP NOTES AND STUDY
Until September I'll not be producing a group study. However, if you meet with your group why not simply use one of the devotionals as a basis for your discussion together?
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