Rebuilding His Temple in My Heart

"For we were slaves, but in his unfailing love our God did not abandon us in our slavery. Instead, he caused the kings of Persia to treat us favorably. He revived us so we could rebuild the Temple of our God and repair its ruins. He has given us a protective wall in Judah and Jerusalem."  Ezra 9:9

I'm not sure where you find yourself in life's circumstances today.  Perhaps you are in a celebratory place.  Perhaps you are far from that.  Whatever place you find yourself, the God of Israel and of America, too, longs to meet you in that place.  He longs to be—and He is—all you could ever need right now and always.

In examining my own life, I see places where the walls have crumbled and I have tried in my own strength to patch and repair them—a shoddy job at best.  Yet, God sent a lady I didn't even know to speak His loving and tender truth into my life, rebuilding His temple there.  I am grateful for her obedience.

Rebuilding is hard work.  But there is nothing our God cannot do.

Remember Jesus' own words in John 2:19-21, "'All right,' Jesus replied. 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.' 'What!' they exclaimed. 'It has taken forty-six years to build this Temple, and you can rebuild it in three days? But when Jesus said 'this temple,' he meant his own body" (NLT).

Remember something else.  He did.  His own temple was rebuilt in three days, and, as if it were even possible, it was a gloriously new and better body!

Jesus will rebuild your heart and mine, too, in just such glorious fashion if we will allow it.

Will you allow it?

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart."  Ezekiel 36:26

Goodnight, Runners.