Temples of the Spirit

Yesterday I heard the phrase “We are temples of the spirit”, a phrase I will have heard a thousand times before.  I had a two fold realisation.


Firstly, we are all therefore ‘God Carriers’ and as such ought to treat others and ourselves a such, with extreme respect. My words, actions, feelings and thoughts must reflect therefore this.  To judge another person is to judge God. To hurt another person is to hurt God. To speak ill of another is to speak ill of God.  BUT to love another person, to love people is to love God.

Also this means the spirit of God.  The very power of God is closer than you ever imagined.  The Spirit of God is part of your very being and when you think a prayer God knows it.  God is closer to you than mother, father, brother, sister, wife or husband.

We must all therefore be present to the fact we are temples of the spirit.  Acknowledge God at all times, be present and love and adore God in others we encounter. We should be kind to others and ourselves.
Pray at all times.

God is not there, 
God is not on a cloud, 
God is not in the temple in Jerusalem nor in Rome.  
The Spirit of God is in your heart.
The Power of God is in you.

1 Corinthians 6:19

Broken

Last Sunday at church we had some visitors.  A teenage boy with his family, he had a moderate learning disability, autism possibly.  A young man with severe mobility and learning disability, possibly cerebral palsy, accompanied by his mother.  An elderly lady with limited mobility, incontinence and dementia.

The sermon was not engaging with me. So I was looking around, a man with two prosthetic arms another with no arms at all and that was what I could see.  What about hidden problems, the hard of hearing, partially sighted, diabetics, heart issues, those with depression, mental illness, anxiety, the bereaved, the lonely, the broken hearted and unloved.

I realised that virtually everybody, if not everybody, in the church were broken.  The minister, the congregation were like you and me broken, physically and spiritually broken.

Our only true hope is through the healing power of Christ. Christ loves us all, the blind, the cripple, the incontinent, the depressed and anxious.  Only through Christ will we be made whole.

And we must remember we must be Christ to each other, we are called to heal and care for the sick around us.

Ashes to ashes

Recently I had the privilege to be with somebody in their last moments.  I was present as she became ill and passed into unconsciousness and sat beside her bed as she took her last few breaths.  This christian lady was not fearful or agitated, it was clear to everybody she was dying, it was clear to her.  She was calm, collected and peaceful.  It was over and she was going home to be with Christ.

We cannot avoid death it comes to us all.  Our fragile life ceases like a flower withering, ashes to ashes, dust to dust.

But like my friend Elizabeth in Christ we can die without fear, not just hopeful of something else, but certain of a new life in Christ.  The death and resurrection of Jesus blesses us all in this certainty.

All we have to do is accept Christ.  In the name of the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit.

Say yes to Christ and you too can face death without fear.