Family of Priests
An amazing insight occured in me recently. (at least I think it's an amazing insight) The majority of Christians realize they are part of "the family of God". My amazing insight is that as members of the family of God (adopted sons and daughters through Jesus Christ) we are also ordained into this royal family of priests. (1 Pet 2:9) I am a son of God and my primary role is as a priest to Him. Priests are set apart for God to worship him.
I think there is great signigicance in this priesthood role in our lives. More than we realize. We tend to think the "church" is a building down the street and the "priest" is our pastor or church leader. The reality is the "church" is us, our bodies. The "priest" is our primary vocation in the Lord's Temple, our bodies.
(1 hour later) This morning as I prayed through the Tabernacle with my wife and kids we received more Rehma on this important principle. We gained additional insight into it's practical application in our lives.
Today the Lord guided us toward better stewardship of our bodies (the positive side of commandment #8 - you shall not steal) And to repent of idol worship. (commandment #2)
As we have prayed through the 10 commandments at the Laver in the Tabernacle, the Lord continues to do marvelous transformation in our family. He himself changes each of us from the inside out.
Stewardship is actually the main principle in commandment #8. Today He reminded me how worldly appetites were still an ongoing challenge for me and my family. Our natural man has intense appetites for food, money, power, possessions, sex, etc. Each one of those appetites has to brought under control. Each one has to brought into balance in our Spiritual man. That is part of the "sanctification process" of every believer. It is a very practical example of daily stewardship in our lives. If I want to live a truly blessed life, I have to allow the Lord to be master over my appetites. Today God was teaching us about the food appetite in us.
He showed us that as priests, we have the responsibitlity of temple management. His temple is our body. We are to manage it well. A by product of good temple management is living all the days of our lives, not 80% of them. Another by product is having the energy to live life well, do all the activities He wants us to do, and not be couch potatoes who are not advancing the Kingdom of God much at all.
The Lord showed us that we had failed to achieve healthy balance in the past because of our violation of commandment #2. We were practicing idol worship.
The very idea of "thinness" and "looking attractive" had become an idol for the Packards for many years, perhpaps for many generations. When we Packards had dieted or exercised with our "idol" as the focus, then He could not bless it. God despises idol worship.
Instead we are to focus on making His temple, our body, well managed, clean, and healthy (all attributes of Holiness) Then God Himself is glorified in our body, His Temple.
And guess what, as we focus on worshipping God that way, He will give us the "healthy good looks" that were previously our idol. These things are a by product of our faithfulness to Him. It won't happen as an idol we desire more than Him. That is why diets had always failed for the Packards.
So Lord we repent of breaking commandment #2 and #8. We repent of idol worship and poor stewardship of our bodies. We repent of putting anything ahead of you in our lives. We repent of desiring good looks more than desiring you. Give us this day our daily bread in the way you have ordained for us, not according to our gluttony or American lifestyle.
Help us today Lord, to manage our temples well, to bring our food appetites into alignment with your ways. We desire to worship you with our appetites. AMEN (so be it)
DP
Give the Temple Prayer a try at TemplePrayer.com
I think there is great signigicance in this priesthood role in our lives. More than we realize. We tend to think the "church" is a building down the street and the "priest" is our pastor or church leader. The reality is the "church" is us, our bodies. The "priest" is our primary vocation in the Lord's Temple, our bodies.
(1 hour later) This morning as I prayed through the Tabernacle with my wife and kids we received more Rehma on this important principle. We gained additional insight into it's practical application in our lives.
Today the Lord guided us toward better stewardship of our bodies (the positive side of commandment #8 - you shall not steal) And to repent of idol worship. (commandment #2)
As we have prayed through the 10 commandments at the Laver in the Tabernacle, the Lord continues to do marvelous transformation in our family. He himself changes each of us from the inside out.
Stewardship is actually the main principle in commandment #8. Today He reminded me how worldly appetites were still an ongoing challenge for me and my family. Our natural man has intense appetites for food, money, power, possessions, sex, etc. Each one of those appetites has to brought under control. Each one has to brought into balance in our Spiritual man. That is part of the "sanctification process" of every believer. It is a very practical example of daily stewardship in our lives. If I want to live a truly blessed life, I have to allow the Lord to be master over my appetites. Today God was teaching us about the food appetite in us.
He showed us that as priests, we have the responsibitlity of temple management. His temple is our body. We are to manage it well. A by product of good temple management is living all the days of our lives, not 80% of them. Another by product is having the energy to live life well, do all the activities He wants us to do, and not be couch potatoes who are not advancing the Kingdom of God much at all.
The Lord showed us that we had failed to achieve healthy balance in the past because of our violation of commandment #2. We were practicing idol worship.
The very idea of "thinness" and "looking attractive" had become an idol for the Packards for many years, perhpaps for many generations. When we Packards had dieted or exercised with our "idol" as the focus, then He could not bless it. God despises idol worship.
Instead we are to focus on making His temple, our body, well managed, clean, and healthy (all attributes of Holiness) Then God Himself is glorified in our body, His Temple.
And guess what, as we focus on worshipping God that way, He will give us the "healthy good looks" that were previously our idol. These things are a by product of our faithfulness to Him. It won't happen as an idol we desire more than Him. That is why diets had always failed for the Packards.
So Lord we repent of breaking commandment #2 and #8. We repent of idol worship and poor stewardship of our bodies. We repent of putting anything ahead of you in our lives. We repent of desiring good looks more than desiring you. Give us this day our daily bread in the way you have ordained for us, not according to our gluttony or American lifestyle.
Help us today Lord, to manage our temples well, to bring our food appetites into alignment with your ways. We desire to worship you with our appetites. AMEN (so be it)
DP
Give the Temple Prayer a try at TemplePrayer.com
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