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Wednesday, June 20, 2012

I'm Building a House!

Many of us refer to our churches as, "the house of God", and that is how it should be. Where we go to worship is the house of God.  Last week, my daughter and I went downtown in our city to take pictures.  We went inside some of the churches there to see what they looked like.  They were so beautiful and clean and showed honor to God in every corner.  There were stunning stained glass windows, pipe organs, polished pews, crosses, Bibles and hymnals.

We were struck with how much care and preparation was put into making God's house holy.  Everywhere we looked were symbols of holiness.  And it should be just that way. When we meet to pray and fellowship, we love for our house of worship to be a place where God's presence is welcome.  Our churches are symbols of where God lives, because people come there to invite and welcome Him in. We are aware of His presence there.  We give Him praise there.  We worship and adore Him there.  We take heed to His word there.  We repent and ask forgiveness there.  He makes us clean there!  

But did you know that your heart is the house of God too? When you've invited Him to be a part of your life, He takes up residence in your heart.  Do you make sure that His presence is welcome there?  Is your heart holy and pure, just like your church?  Of course, I don't mean that we have to be perfect or without sin, not making mistakes or having any fun.  But are you aware of Him being with you throughout your day, walking with you, talking with you?  Do you stop to give Him praise and worship?  Do you repent of a sin just committed?

I find that sometimes I have days of harboring bitterness or lashing out in anger or wallowing in self pity.  On those days, I know that my heart isn't pure towards God.  I let it become a dark cold place.  But He loves me so much, He doesn't leave.  He waits for me to ask His help in cleaning up my heart again.  In prayer and quiet time with Him, he washes me anew and makes me pure and holy, a vessel where God's presence is welcome!  I am building a house, God's house, and it's in me!

Knowing that my body and my heart are the temple of the Lord, I desire to make better decisions, love more, forgive often and sin less.  Is your heart a welcome house for the Lord?  Does He have fellowship with you there?  Do you love to clean "house" for Him?  As my daughter and I walked through those churches, I purposed in my heart to be more aware of my temple and to make sure that He always is welcome there!  I want every corner of my heart to honor Him.  I'm building a house that will be pleasing to Him; a place where He feels welcome and where we fellowship many times throughout the day.

Today I'm linking up with Paula Ebert at Worship Wednesdays.  Please visit there and see what others are saying about worship!

Grow Where You're Planted

From His lap,

18 comments:

  1. You always write such beautiful, timely posts. They always hit home with me. Thank you for this.

    P.S. Those pictures went so perfectly with the post :)

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    1. Thank you, Elisa. I'm so glad my posts speak to you! That is our middle daughter in the pics. She was so great to let me take pics of her for my blog!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  2. Great post, Erin! I so love the way you used the beauty and holiness within these churches to relate with God's beauty and holiness that should be inside of our own lives. Thanks so much for linking up! :)

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    1. Paula, I always love linking up with your Worship Wednesdays! It really struck me when I looked at those churches that I wanted my heart to honor the Lord like that!
      Thank you so much for stopping by! I'm always honored when you visit!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  3. Honestly it's only now that I visited again your site and again you inspired me. And your background music, argh! I just love them. I find comfort whenever I realize that God never leaves us. He will always love us no matter what.

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    1. Rachelle, I'm glad that you are inspired when you visit here! That's what I pray my writing does! I'm so glad you stopped by!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  4. I especially love this line Erin, "I am building a house, God's house, and it's in me!" If more people realized this just imagine how we would dress and groom ourselves. Thank you for your reminder of who I am and what I'm trying to do!

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    1. Becky, I'm so honored that you would stop by here when you are right in the middle of moving. I know if we were always aware of His presence in our lives, we would look and act differently!
      I love you, sister!
      ~Erin

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  5. Erin! WOW!! Thank you... Thank you... THANK YOU!! Funny how things happen in one's day, just t be reaffirmed by a good friend. Yes! You are a good friend. Reminding me that it's okay to have a dark day, knowing that God is still by our sides waiting for us to lighten up!! This is by far one of your best posts for me!! I agree with Becky... I loved the same line too! "I am building a house, God's house, and it's in me!" Today I had a little road rage come into play... however as soon as I realized it I apologized to God out loud for my daughter to hear... after all she heard the other stuff too! Love you bunches!! and I LOVE YOUR BLOG"S NEW LOOK!! Beautiful!!!

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    1. Carla, I love you so much! Your journey this past year has blessed me so! God understands that we will have dark days and hard days! He loves us right through those days and he makes them bright again.
      Thank you for your kind words. You are a blessing,
      ~Erin

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  6. I love GOD's house in YOU! Lovely post!

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    1. OMG, Shannon, that made me cry! You couldn't have said anything that blessed me more. I hope to always show the God in me!!! More of Him, less of me!!
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  7. All we can do to better build a house for Him is to invite Him in while we are building... :) loved this.

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    1. Duane, I love the way you put that! Thank you so much for sharing it! I'm glad you stopped by. Thank you for your kind words.
      Blessings,
      ~Erin

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  8. Wow...you just described how low I can get.

    I love those pics and you're right...gotta build me a new and BETTER house :)

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    1. We all do, Sharon! Keep building every day and invite Him to be a part of it! I had fun taking those pics with our daughter!
      Love ya, sister!
      ~Erin

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  9. Great afternoon to you Erin! You're a lovely, honest writer and I appreciate your sharing. YES, I'm answering with another capital YES I want all of God, or none at all! I've got a holy fire burning in my belly from Him... I'm so expectant that He will continue to show up in our churches! We are His church... ~ Blessings new sister, Amy

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    1. We are HIs church, Amy. I know He loves it when we answer His call with a resounding YES!!! You are a blessing to me! Thanks for your encouragement!
      ~Erin

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Thank you for giving us a little nugget of truth from your heart!

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