The Home of God
More than anything else, I want to clearly hear God's voice and be aware of His abiding presence all the time. I know what God has called me to do, and I know that I cannot do it without knowing God is with me. I am desperate for the manifest presence of God in my life, and I know that I cannot live in the flesh and enjoy that intimate fellowship.
As I explained previously, for many years I believed in Jesus Christ as my Savior but did not enjoy close fellowship with God. I felt that I was always reaching for Him and coming short of my goal. One day, as I stood before a mirror combing my hair, I asked Him a simple question: “God, why do I consistently feel as though I am reaching for You and coming a little bit short of finding You?”
Immediately I heard these words inside my spirit, “Joyce, you are reaching out, and you need to be reaching in.”
God's Word says that He lives in us, but many people find this truth difficult to understand. Second Corinthians 4:6-9 says:
For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness, has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ (the Messiah). However, we possess this precious treasure [the divine Light of the Gospel] in [frail, human] vessels of earth, that the grandeur and exceeding greatness of the power may be shown to be from God and not from ourselves. We are hedged in (pressed) on every side [troubled and oppressed in every way], but not cramped or crushed; we suffer embarrassments and are perplexed and unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; we are pursued (persecuted and hard driven), but not deserted [to stand alone]; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed.
We have the treasure of God's presence within us; but just as earthen vessels can hold water without being filled and overflowing, so we can go through a prayer line, get baptized in the Holy Ghost, and receive the gift of speaking in tongues—but a single filling doesn't mean we are spiritual. To be spiritual is to be aware of the presence of God and to act accordingly.
The church in Corinth operated in all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, yet Paul told them they were still carnal (see 1 Corinthians 3:3 KJV). “How do I know you are carnal?” he asked. “Because you have jealousy, envy, and greed, and you gossip. None of this should be going on in you.”
Jesus corrected a lot of religious people, telling them, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matthew 23:27-28 NIV).
That Scripture gripped my heart. I didn't want to be a whitewashed tomb full of dead men's bones! Jesus had more trouble with the pretenders and the hypocrites than with anybody else.
One day I was dragging myself through the kitchen with my head hanging down—I was downcast! I was murmuring and complaining, saying, “God, I’m so tired of all this. When are You going to do something? When am I going to get a breakthrough? When am I going to get blessed?”
Just then I heard the voice of God say, “Joyce, don't you know that you have the life of almighty God on the inside of you? That ought to be enough to keep you jumping around in joy from now until Jesus comes to get you.”
Ephesians 3:17 says, “May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts!” If you are born again, you know that Jesus is dwelling on the inside of you through the power of the Holy Spirit, but is God comfortable in you, and does He feel at home there within you? It took me a long time to understand that God lives in me with all the other stuff that's going on in my inner life.
God gave me an illustration of what it is like for Him to live in a heart where murmuring and complaining still reside. Suppose you go to the house of a friend who says to you, “Oh, come on in. I’ll get you a cup of coffee. Sit down, make yourself at home.” So you prop up your feet to get comfortable, and all of a sudden your friend starts yelling at her husband. They get into all kinds of strife while you sit there watching. Right in front of you, they rant and rave and carry on. How comfortable do you think you would feel in their home with all of that strife?
Or suppose you go to another friend's house to visit, and all of a sudden she starts talking ugly about another good friend of yours whom you dearly love. Would you feel at home in the midst of that kind of gossip and slander? Yet, how many times do Christians talk ugly about somebody else whom Jesus loves and to whom He is committed?
Because many Christians are not willing to submit to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, they are not full of peace. They keep their inner lives in a constant war zone. They don't sense the rest of the Lord within them because even though He in Himself is at rest, they resist His nudges to “let things go, and trust in Him.” Their turmoil increases because they do not yield to His promptings, and they cannot be at rest if their inner life is not in harmony with Christ's nature.
If we want to be a comfortable home for the Lord, we must give up grumbling, complaining, faultfinding, and murmuring. Our words should be full of praise. We need to wake up in the morning and say, “Oh, good morning, Jesus. I want You to be comfortable in me today. Praise You, Father. I love You, Lord. Thank You for all the good things You're doing.”
The Bible says that God inhabits the praises of His people (see Psalm 22:3 KJV). He is comfortable in the midst of our sweet praises, but He is not comfortable in the midst of our sour attitudes.
I am encouraging you to take inventory of your inner life because it is the dwelling place of God. When God used to dwell in a portable tabernacle that the children of Israel carried through the wilderness, they understood that the inner court was a holy place. But now in the mystery of God's plan, we are like a portable tabernacle; we move from place to place, and God dwells on the inside of us. There's still an outer court, a holy place, and a most holy place. The outer court is our body, the holy place is our soul, and the most holy place is our spirit.
When we examine our inner life, we are looking at holy ground where the Spirit of God wants to make His home. Our inner life is of more serious interest to God than our outer life. That's why we need to be more concerned about our inner life than our outer life. Our outer life reflects our reputation with people, but our inner life determines our reputation with God.
The Bible says, “On that day … as my Gospel proclaims, God by Jesus Christ will judge men in regard to the things which they conceal (their hidden thoughts)” (Romans 2:16). Everything we do will pass through the eyes of fire on the Day of Judgment, and everything that is not done out of a totally pure motive will get zapped! Fried! Gone!
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him (2 Peter 3:10-14 NIV).
That passage should invoke reverential fear and awe in us. It is a waste of time trying to impress people; what matters is what God thinks of us. We should spend our time doing things that have eternal value, things that are inspired by right and pure motives.
WHAT'S INSIDE OF YOU?
Our lives can be like beautifully wrapped packages with nothing inside of them. Our outer lives can look good, but our inner lives can be dry and empty. We can look spiritual on the outside but be powerless within, if we don't allow the Holy Spirit to make His home in our heart.
As we submit to Christ's lordship in our innermost being, we will see His righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit rise up from within us to empower us for an abundant life (see Romans 14:17).
Psalm 45:13 says, “The King's daughter in the inner part [of the palace] is all glorious; her clothing is inwrought with gold.” God puts the Holy Spirit inside of us to work on our inner life: our attitudes, our reactions, and our goals. Through His work in us, our inner life can be tested and refined into an environment in which the Lord is comfortable to reside.
When I didn't know much about my inner life, I wasn't a very happy Christian. But now the Holy Spirit acts somewhat like a traffic policeman inside of me. When I do the right things, I get a green light from Him, and when I do wrong things, I get a red light. If I am about to get myself in trouble, but I have not fully made a decision to proceed, I get a caution signal.
The more we stop and ask God for directions, the more sensitive we become to the signals within from the Holy Spirit. He doesn't scream and yell at us; He simply whispers, “Uh-uh-uh, I wouldn't do that if I were you.” He will always lead us to life and inner peace, if we yield to Him.
Romans 7:6 explains it this way: “So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life].”
From that day when God told me to look within, in the middle of an ordinary experience on an ordinary day, God began revealing a vital biblical truth to me. That truth is this: We are the dwelling place of God. I believe this truth is necessary for each of us to understand in order to enjoy close fellowship and intimacy with God.
The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, you were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body.
Why would God want to live in us? And how can He? After all, He is holy, and we are weak human flesh with frailties, faults, and failures.
The answer is simply this: He loves us and chooses to make His home in us. He does that because He is God—He has the ability to do what He wants, and He elects or chooses to make His home in our hearts. This election or choice is not based on any good deeds we have done or ever could do, but solely on the grace (or power), mercy, and election (or choice) of God. We become the home of God by believing in Christ (as God tells us in the Bible to do) in order to become His dwelling place.
Jesus explained why some people never experience intimacy with God, saying, ‘“You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life’” (John 5:37-40 NIV).
We are to simply believe that Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins was enough to allow us into the presence of God. God takes up residence within us when we give our life to Jesus by believing in Him as the only Savior and Lord. From that position He, by the power of the Holy Spirit, begins a wonderful work in us. This truth is so awesome that it is difficult for our finite minds to grasp and believe.
A NEW HEART AND A NEW SPIRIT
Ezekiel 36 contains God's promise through the mouth of the prophet that the day would come when He would give people a new heart and put His Spirit within them.
A new heart will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27)
As we have seen, under the old covenant the Holy Spirit was with people and came upon people for special purposes, but He did not live inside them. God dwelled in a tabernacle made with human hands during that dispensation. But under the new covenant, signed and sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ (see Hebrews 13:20), He intends to dwell no longer in a tabernacle made by human hands but in the hearts of humans who have committed their lives to Him.1
No one could be born again and become a dwelling place for God's Spirit until Jesus died and rose from the dead. He is called “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). After Jesus was resurrected, He appeared first to His disciples, who were hiding behind closed doors for fear of the Jews. When He spoke peace to them and then breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit!” (John 20:22), it was at this time that the disciples were born again or born of the Spirit. They had a spiritual awakening, so to speak.
This event marked a new beginning for them; but there still remained a work to be done in them to prepare them properly for service in God's kingdom. God's Word explains:
But now put away and rid yourselves [completely] of all these things: anger, rage, bad feeling toward others, curses and slander, and foulmouthed abuse and shameful utterances from your lips! Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, and have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect knowledge upon] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it. [In this new creation all distinctions vanish.] There is no room for and there can be neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, [nor difference between nations whether alien] barbarians or Scythians [who are the most savage of all], nor slave or free man; but Christ is all and in all [everything and everywhere, to all men, without distinction of person]. (Colossians 3:8-11)
SANCTIFIED AND MADE HOLY
According to John 16:13-15, the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. Everything that the Father has belongs to Jesus, and Jesus transmits that inheritance to us. The Holy Spirit receives from Jesus everything that belongs to Jesus and transmits it to us.
In 1 Peter 1:2 we are also told that we are sanctified by the Holy Spirit. To be sanctified is to be set apart for a sacred purpose. According to Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, the word sanctification is defined as “(a) separation to God” and “ (b) the course of life befitting those so separated.” It is “that relationship with God into which men enter by faith in Christ … and to which their sole title is the death of Christ.”
Vine goes on to explain, “’Sanctification is also used in NT [New Testament] of the separation of the believer from evil things and ways. This sanctification is God's will for the believer … and His purpose in calling him by the gospel … it must be learned from God … as He teaches it by His Word … and it must be pursued by the believer, earnestly and undeviatingly … For the holy character, hagiosune … is not vicarious, i.e., it cannot be transferred or imputed, it is an individual possession, built up, little by little, as the result of obedience to the Word of God, and of following the example of Christ … in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Agent in sanctification.”2
As Vine implies here, the word sanctification is synonymous with the word holiness.
When we receive Christ as Savior, Jesus comes to live in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, and our life begins to change. How? First John 3:9 says, “No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God's nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.” Jesus comes as a Seed of everything that God the Father is. So when we become born again by accepting Jesus as our Savior, holiness is planted in us as a seed and continues to grow into fullness and bear fruit as we work with the Holy Spirit, who is constantly changing us into the image of Jesus Christ.
THE HOLY SPIRIT CHANGES US
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
From this passage we learn that both the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit are required in order for believers to be changed into suitable representatives of Jesus Christ.
All of us who come to Christ need change. We can and should desire change, but we cannot change ourselves. We must lean entirely on the power of the Holy Spirit to effect the necessary change. There is, of course, a work of cooperation we believers must perform, but we must never forget that the Holy Spirit is the Agent in the sanctification process. In other words, holiness is impossible without the Holy Spirit.
I have to confess that, in ignorance, there were many years when I diligently sought God for His power. I wanted to see signs, wonders, and miracles and have authority over evil spirits and do great and mighty things in Jesus’ name; but I was an “outer” Christian. I was a spirit-baptized Christian for at least ten years before I understood much at all about the inner life. Then God began to teach me that His kingdom is within me. As I allowed Jesus to rule over my inner life, I began to see more power in my outer life.
Jesus’ disciples didn't understand a lot of what He was trying to say about His kingdom, either. They kept thinking He was going to set up a kingdom on earth and they would all be rulers in His new government.
“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, “Here it is,” or “There it is,” because the kingdom of God is within you’ “ (Luke 17:20-21 NIV).
In Romans 14:17-19 NIV the apostle Paul explains the kingdom further, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace, and to mutual edification.”
The kingdom of God is in us, and if we want to enjoy the presence of God, we must let Jesus be Lord over our inner life through the power of the Holy Spirit. If we make Jesus Lord of our life, we are to allow Him to rule over the entirety of that kingdom that is within us. His Spirit will always lead us to what brings peace and mutual edification to those around us.
The fact that the Holy Spirit lives inside us believers is itself proof of His willingness to always be available to help us when we need Him. Those of us desiring holiness will still experience temptation, but thank God, He has given us His Spirit to enable us to resist it and make right choices. We change gradually, little by little, or as 2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV states, “from glory to glory.” While these changes are taking place, we still make mistakes, and God's forgiveness is always available to us through Jesus Christ. Receiving this forgiveness actually strengthens us and enables us to keep pressing on toward new levels of holiness or better behavior.
Forgiveness frees us and cleanses our heart of strife, selfishness, and discontent. When we become aware of the presence of the Lord in our heart, we no longer want to hold on to ungodly attitudes. God subdues the power of sin in us and works to change us as we set our minds on and seek after the things that gratify the Holy Spirit.
When we feel defeated and condemned by every mistake we make, it weakens us. Instead of using bur spiritual energy to feel bad about ourselves, we should use it to press on to new levels in God. Any believer who has a right heart attitude toward God will continually press toward perfection, but none of us will totally arrive at perfection as long as we are in a flesh-and-bones body living in the present world.
Recently I was feeling bad about a wrong attitude I had displayed. I picked up a book I had been reading, and my eyes fell on these words: “There is a 100 percent chance that you will make a mistake today.” Those words reminded me that Jesus died for people just like me, ones who have a heart to do what is right but who don't always succeed.
God, in His grace and mercy, has made provision for our sins (errors, faults, weaknesses, infirmities, and failures). That provision is forgiveness. When you fail, receive God's forgiveness, but don't stop trying to do better.
THE THREE PERSONS OF THE TRINITY
Jesus told His disciples that when He went away, the Father would send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who would live in them, counseling, teaching, helping, strengthening, interceding, performing the functions of an advocate, convicting of sin, and convincing of righteousness. The Holy Spirit would come into close fellowship with them, guide them into all truth, and transmit to them everything that was theirs as joint heirs with Jesus Christ (see John 16:7-15; Romans 8:17 KJV).
God would never expect us to do anything without providing us what we need to do it. We need the Holy Spirit, and God has provided Him. Every good thing comes from God, who is the Source of all good things (see James 1:17), through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ, and is administered to us by the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Trinity, which is one God in three persons, is a concept that our finite minds cannot grasp easily. It does not work out mathematically; nonetheless, it is true. We serve one God, who is the only true God, but He ministers to us in three persons—God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As we have seen, everything we need from God the Father comes through Jesus Christ the Son and is administered by the Holy Spirit. I am restating that point to emphasize how important it is not only to know God the Father and Jesus His Son, but also to know the Holy Spirit personally and to have close fellowship with Him.
Scriptural proof of the Trinity is found in many places in the Bible. For example, Genesis 1:26 tells us, “God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness.” In this verse, God does not refer to Himself as “Me” and “My,” but as “Us” and “Our.” We see the Trinity in Matthew 3:16-17 KJV at the baptism of Jesus, when the Holy Spirit descended like a dove, and at the same time a voice (the Father's) came out of heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (v. 17). In John 14:16 Jesus told His disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter.”
In Matthew 28:19 the disciples were told by Jesus to baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The apostolic benediction found in 2 Corinthians 13:14 NIV reads as follows: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
When Jesus died on the cross, He was trusting in God to raise Him from the dead, which God did—by the power of the Holy Spirit. This truth is discussed in Romans 8:11.
Based on these and other supporting Scriptures, it is impossible to deny the concurrent existence of the three persons of the Holy Trinity. Yes, the Trinity is a scriptural fact, and it is time the Holy Spirit is given the place of honor in our lives that is due Him. He has been ignored for far too long and by far too many. May He forgive us for our ignorance and neglect of Him.
GET TO KNOW THE HOLY SPIRIT
It is the revelation and work of the person of the Holy Spirit that I am endeavoring to bring forth in this book. I approach the subject with fear and trembling, for what human flesh can accurately write on the subject of the Holy Spirit, unless the Holy Spirit Himself is the Leader of the project? Therefore, I ask for wisdom and guidance from the Helper (the Holy Spirit) and lean entirely on Him to bring revelation about Himself to you through this book.
It is my desire that you will understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit, so you can appreciate it, cooperate with it, and—through it—come into a new level of intimacy with God, one that will lead you into His good plan for your life.
Outer power only comes from inner purity, and that inner purification (or sanctification) is a work of the Holy Spirit living within. He wants to fill you with Himself, to give you the power to live the abundant life that is available through believing in Jesus Christ.
Be willing to take a serious inventory of what is going on in your inner life. Not what is going on in your circumstances at home, not what is going on in your bank account, not what is going on in your marriage or ministry, but what is going on inside of you. Allow the Holy Spirit to lead you to His perfect peace.