The Glory of it All

The Lord declares to you that the LORD himself with establish a house for you... 2Samuel 7:11

And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised so that your name will be great forever. - David, 2 Samuel 7:25b-26

In the early stages of the Temple, David was thrilled at the thought that he could build God a dwelling place. He was humbled that such a task could quite possibly be his. He could think of no greater thing than to supply God with a permanent dwelling. His heart was pure. His motives had no hint of self-worship. He understood the task at hand was great and awesome. Still, that which we find so respectful, so amazing in one man, was not enough.

That was not the plan of God. Yes, God would have a dwelling place, but it would come on His terms, by His plan, His hands, His design, and through a different person, David's son, Solomon. Not only that, but God turns around and promises David that He would not only give the task to Solomon, but would establish David's throne, David's house, forever.

God took away one, but establishes another.

He does the same for us. God stripes us, removes us from the possibility of trying to establish God's dwelling place on our own terms. We have the right motives, our hearts are pure, and we truly want to honor God with our lives, but we are inadequate, unable, and quite unfit for the task.

So, what does God do? He offers us an alternative: He will build in us a dwelling place on His terms, by His plan, His hands, His design and through a different person, His own Son, Jesus through the power of the Spirit, for His glory.

Our prayer should echo David's, "And now, Lord God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his (our) house. Do as you promised so that your name will be great forever."

Take a look at our poll from a few weeks ago at I AM (not):

We know what God's primary objective is, don't we? We know it, but so often fall short of doing what He has destined us to do. And why do we fall short? Because we are trying to do the job of the Spirit.

He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. John 16:14

Through the Spirit we are enabled to know what is of Christ, in Christ, and purposed through Christ and in that, and only that, are we able to truly glorify Jesus. The Spirit so indwells in us (to the extent we allow him...more on that later) that He reveals to us Christ in His glory.

It is not as a thought or a feeling that this is always expressed. In fact, the Spirit speaks spiritual truths in spiritual words as He teaches us. This is not something easily accepted or understood. We are told to believe in the work of the Spirit, watch for it, manifest it, but do we really consider that our minds might not be able to conceive it? That is quite true: "...no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him, but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." (1 Corinthians 2:9, 10).

And so, what do we seek? Truth? Feeling? Understanding? No, we do not seek these first. We seek first the Kingdom. And where is the Kingdom? Where ever God is---within us. We seek then, the Indwelling Spirit of Christ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found, so that we may know Him better and might be for the praise of his glory! (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 2:3; Ephesians 1:12, 17)

We have been given the Indwelling Spirit of Christ not as a tool to be used to make us feel better, although He does that, or as a tour guide to our life who leads us down the halls of history, although He leads and guides us. Nor is He a fleeting ghost who plays hard to get, although He dwells in the deep places where we seek Him in silence and faith.

He is not these. He is the power of the resurrected Christ that was used when God raised Him from the dead. He is the voice of Christ who whispers the mystery of heaven so that we will tell of Him to the nations. He is One who points our face to the face of Christ and says, "This is the way, walk in it." He is the Counselor, the Revealer, the Teacher, the Glorifier. And He is waiting for us to humbly remove ourselves from our seat in the inner place of the Temple in our hearts so that His glory can come down.

Are you ready to remove yourself? Are you ready to discover this Spirit more deeply, more intimately so that you may know Him better? It was Paul's prayer to the Ephesians. May it be ours as well:

...keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that we may know Him better. (Ephesians 1:17)

Begin today asking God to reveal Christ in you through His Spirit. Not through your understanding of the Spirit, but through the inner power of the Spirit. Wait for it. He will glorify Himself, and you will be amazed at who you become in Him.