About where God lives…
Acts 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord
of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
We can all have the idea that temples built by man are somehow connected to
God. We can have the idea our mighty works that build mighty things can contain
God or that God lives in buildings we build. However, God lives within us, not
outside of us in inanimate things. We spend an inordinate amount of time
thinking God can be found in a place other than within us. We can spend a
lifetime searching for what God can give us in places God would never call a
place of His own. In selfishness, we can spend a lifetime involved in looking
for God or godly experiences wanting God to give us what we selfishly want. When
you are searching for God, you cannot find God living in a building. If you find
God in a church, it is not the mortar, plaster, steel, or concrete that holds
His love. If you find God in a church, you find God because you looked within
yourself and you found Him within yourself. Of all the ironies that ever were,
we find God within us, hanging from a Cross, giving His life for our life. We do
not find God within us yelling and screaming we should worship Him like we see
human leaders yell, scream, and demand subservience from followers. Our God is a
being of love, always living within us. If we are courageous enough to look for
Him, if we are willing and courageous enough to admit we are sinners, He becomes
real to us. As much pride as we take in our church buildings, as necessary as
our church buildings are, what we call the house of God is a "house"
we carry around within us, a house called the human heart. For this reason, He
is not far away from you and He is always calling out to you in love.
