I daydream about real estate. While others might be prone to scroll Instagram, “window-shop” online, or have a wanderlust for faraway places—I find myself pulling up Zillow, just for fun. I search for real estate in remote parts of the country as well as on my own street. I slide through listing photos, imagining life within four different walls, as if somewhere out there, there’s a better place for me, some home where I’ll finally have real peace. And of course, a view. But in my soul, I know I’ll never find what I’m looking for out there. The building where I live is far less important than what’s being built inside of me.
God dwells in holy places. From the ark of the covenant, too precious for human hands to touch, to Solomon’s temple in all of its splendor, God chooses spectacular places to display His glory. But when Jesus came to earth, He also changed the zip code of God’s powerful Spirit. No longer would we have to go somewhere else to find God. Thanks to Jesus’s work on the cross, God can now build something beautiful, holy, and sacred right within me.
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul begged Christians to remember this truth: “Don’t you yourselves know you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God lives in you?” (v.16). Unfortunately, when I was a child, these verses in Scripture were all too often weaponized as a message of shame, intended to wag a finger in my face and remind me to remain sexually abstinent. At the very heart, this message from Paul isn’t about rules, but about a powerful, holy relationship. Being a temple of the Lord isn’t about what I do but about what God is already doing in me.
Pause for a moment, and think about that. God could have chosen any house, and He chose to live with me, in me, and through me. In a way, it’s as if God looked through all of Zillow, through all time, found my listing—with my broken spirit and my jealous impulses and my numb, unfeeling heart—and said, “I’ll take that house, thank you very much.”
The good news is that God is a master renovator. He refuses to leave my heart the way He found it. Just like any good house, it only feels like home once you’ve put your personal touch on every wall. The architect of the universe knows what walls to tear down. He paints the walls of my soul with His peace, compassion, tenderness, and kindness. When I embrace the power that lives inside me, I can live in response to the Spirit’s heartbeat rather than my own impulses.
Construction is messy, and we are all unfinished. But the good news—perhaps the best news—is that God promises to finish everything He starts (Philippians 1:6). And He’ll live here with me, in the mess, at work until that day comes.
Leave a Reply
55 thoughts on "The Temple of the Living God"
How beautiful that we all together take part in building this, with Jesus Christ as our foundation.
Loved these words today. It’s not about rules but a powerful, holy relationship. ❤️
Thank you Father for laying the foundation inside of me. Thank you Holy Spirit for dwelling inside of me and making the space inside of me pure and whole, for I’m no longer broken. Thank you Yeshua for removing the blockage so that the spirit can flow freely through me and everything I am. I love you and will never forget this moment
Wow needed this today—thank you for the reminder ❤️
What a beautiful devotional today, wow
Just as He provided gold, silver, and precious gems for the Tabernacle, He has also provided His riches to build the temple that we are. How wonderful and gracious He is!
Wow !! This is so beautiful and powerful.
Wow this was such a powerful devotion I need this to really stick with me ❤️
❤
Claire, your words spoke to my soul and gave me a beautiful image of God living in me, with me and through me.
I found freedom in, “Being a temple of the Lord isn’t about what I do but about what God is already doing in me.”
I’m not into real estate, but I love to renovate. I want to give God, the master designer, free rein to make my heart and my life something beautiful.
❤️
“Thanks to Jesus’s work on the cross, God can now build something beautiful, holy, and sacred right within me.” What a powerful statement! I am not perfect and I know that my heart needs a lot of fixing, but I am so grateful that God has chosen me regardless of my warts. I’m thankful for Jesus’s work because He has made it possible for God to start His work in my life. There’s a long way to go but I know, much like stated in the devotional today, God won’t give up on me. I hope you all are doing well this week! ❤️ Praying for all you wonderful women.
♥️
SHARON, Jersey Girl- I’m right there with you. Thankful that the Lord is still working on me.
MICHELLE PATIRE you have mentioned your song and others have also. I guess I missed that somehow. Could you please share that again? I look forward to hearing it.
Thank you Claire Gibson!!
Kirs, I too looked up that verse.
Sharon Jersey Girl, a loud AMEN!
Tina, I’m with you and a But God.
and prayers all.
I purposely saved my Bible study time for during the time my daughter would be taking her real estate test for the 6th time. I wanted to be studying the Word and praying for her during the 3-4 hour test. I ugly cried when I read the first sentence of today’s devotion, “I daydream about real estate.” He has made His presence known to me today in a way I’ll never forget. I praise You Jesus!
I agree, this devo was spot on, so good! I could repeat exactly what you said for myself/my life Maria Baer! And loved all that Tina!! (also, I LOVE listening to Jimmy Swaggart singing hymns and playing the piano!)
This devo helped me put into context the realness of having the Holy God living in me, even though I feel so run down and unworthy! I know He loves us, broken as we are, but to dwell in us, the rundown shacks that need so much work, is hard to fathom! I definitely needed the 2×4 to smack me across the head! lol. I am also glad for the prayers and influence, and the guidance and examples from my parents and family. It makes it hard to want to give it to others that don’t want to receive it, but I am still going to throw seeds at them (that’s better than the 2×4!)!!
Jail ministry was so good yesterday about making choices. Big and small, all the time we are making choices….and knowing that we carry the Holy Spirit IN US, our temple- makes it a little easier to chose wisely, to not only please Him our Father, but in the knowing it draws us closer to him. Thank you Lord for all this, for loving us, for restoring us, and saving us. You are Worthy! You are worthy of our Praise!!
CHANGED LIFE: This is from BibleRef : A fiery test is coming that will reveal the quality of the work of everyone who helps to build the church of Christ on earth. Paul’s metaphor pictures the church, the community of believers, as a structure that may be raised with either high-quality or poor building materials. He seems to equate these building materials with teaching that is true and helpful about the way of God versus that which is distorted and misleading.
I also recommend going to Blue Letter Bible, and searching for this passage. There’s a lot there, too much to copy and paste here. I’m sure there are other commentaries out there, too! Google it!
Good morning,dear sisters in Christ. I have a question regarding one of the scriptures in today’s reading…
1 Corinthians 3:14-15. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.
I am sometimes very literal when I read the Bible, and I fail to understand the writing style of the author. I’m not sure what is meant by being saved as through fire. I bring this to you ladies, with your insight, study, and understanding of these sacred scriptures. Thank you.
Loved this message today. I am so incredibly hard on myself. I feel as though I don’t enough etc. and it’s such a heartwarming reminder that God lives within us. We ARE enough.
He had to send His Son to be part common (flesh) so that the common could be a dwelling place of the Holy
❤️
Beautiful lesson today! I am so thankful that God chose to live in me! I’m thankful that we are all a work in progress until eternity. It’s just like our homes. No matter how perfect our homes may appear to others, they always need things changed, cleaned, updated, fixed and the list goes on. But God in His mercy keeps working on us. Doing the needed maintenance! I guess that’s why His mercies are new every morning because we need it!
God is good.
Amen
So many great comments today.
I’ve said many times…I can’t believe how many times God has to teach me the same lesson over and over. At my age of almost 65 (which some days feels much older and others much younger), why haven’t I learned that yet?!?
But I am a work in progress. And I’m so thankful He has never given up on me.
Blessings and hugs to all of you.
Prayers for all of you…Mia Faith, Taylor Graves, Victoria E, Kris, Anna Leonor and others. You are always on my heart. ❤️
Today’s devotion resonated with me also. I have always been amazed at the thought of Holly Spirit residing in us believers, in me… Seems to wonderful and big to comprehend!
But when that ‘still small voice’ guides me during my days, leading me to a scripture, preventing me from making a mistake in my work, giving me an insight that I know was not my own, I am SO grateful for His presence.
I am requesting prayer for two of my friends: a new woman, Lisa, who came to my Bible study yesterday who is really struggling after the death of her father, and for a dear friend Teresa, working through issues with her mother. Both are believers. But the issues seem never ending, don’t they? I have my own too.
Praying as I read all of the requests, and fully enjoy everyone’s insightful comments.
Blessings to you all, dear She’s!!
I love this!! Also, I learn so much from you precious sisters! Thankful for you and your prayers.
I’m not trying to shame anyone, but God really convicted me about my body being His temple, when I wasn’t really taking care of it. A few years back, my daughter pointed out to me that I lived a very sedentary lifestyle. (Of course I wasn’t very happy with her to point that out) But I listened, and began to evaluate the “temple” I was letting the Lord live in. There were times when I didn’t even want to live in this temple. I wasn’t grossly overweight, but I had extra baggage, I wasn’t “moving” enough, I was letting myself go. But if this body was His temple, I felt like I needed to take better care of it. So, I’ve been on a health journey to improve His dwelling place. I know when I get out and “exercise” (which for me means just doing stuff, not sitting around)(biking, kayaking, golfing, walking, mowing my own lawn, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, etc) and eating better foods – the natural stuff God made for us. I think He likes His dwelling place a little better these days.
My son in New Zealand: funny you should ask, my son has to come back home because his VISA expired and his new one hasn’t been approved yet. I truly believe this is all part of God’s plan. He hasn’t lived at home for probably 13 years, but he will be staying with me until his new VISA gets approved. I did some fasting at the beginning of the year, expecting to see some great things from God in my life, and the salvation of my son is top on the list. He will be in my environment for 2-3 months, and I can’t wait to see God work out His plan.
God sure had His work cut out for Him when He chose me as His dwelling place! Not only did He have to do an entire renovation, but He continuously has to make updates! I wish that I could be one of those “homes” where God comes in reconstructs everything and I’m good till the end. But that’s not me – there is always “renovating” that needs doing. Praise God that He’s not finished with me yet, and He will carry on to completion the good work He began in me. (Philippians 1:6)
Happy Thursday Sisters – have a blessed day! …continuing to pray for all your requests.
I have tears in my eyes as I feel extra “messy” today, and I am just overwhelmed that God would come down into my mess and choose me. Even when I don’t choose Him back, even when I go my own way, He never gives up on us. Thank you to the Master Renovator of my broken and messy heart. As @Tina said may I be re-aligned, re-newed, re-leased from myself to be more like Jesus. May I feel His Spirit within me. Love & prayers for all <3
ANNA LEONOR – praying for your dad!
There are good builders in my family, but those skills didn’t filter down to me. Not at all. With God in charge of the much needed renovation/restoration and Christ as my cornerstone, I need faith, willingness and obedience rather than hammers and saws. So much thankfulness.
TINA ❤️ love the revelation, and also the breakdown from KELLY (NEO) ❤️
MICHELLE PATIRE ❤️ your song! May we never forget the importance of family.
TERESA DONLEY – amen. Good to see you
KRIS – ❤️ what a description of peace and quiet confidence! Nothing like me, trying to keep too many plates spinning …
RHONDA J ❤️ I need to work on not being a hindrance!
LAURA DIANNE – I cry at the drop of a hat, caught up in feelings many times. I do need to remember that when those feelings involve an action, I need to turn to God and His word before I make a choice on following through on that action. Another angle of filling over feeling!
MARIA BAER – I hear ya, amen. Thankful His lumberyard is well stocked!
CEE GEE ❤️
Praying God will tear down walls and put a fresh coat of peace in me today and everyday. Thank you, Jesus. Get comfy, Lord, and let your will be done.❤️
Ladies, prayers for my dad, Armando, would be appreciated as he has the final test today to see if he’s healthy enough to receive a kidney transplant.
Dear Father,
You do the work, but we call us to contribute as:
— Your coworkers, Your field, Your building (1 Corinthians 3:9).
— Your holy temple. (1 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 6:16).
— Your living stones. (1 Peter 2:5)
May we be careful what we build and how we build.
May we build on the foundation of Jesus Christ.
May we “embrace the power that lives inside us” so that “we can live in response to the Spirit’s heartbeat rather than our own impulses”.
Guide us, teach us, and let Your power change us, Lord.
AMEN.
Praying for you all today ❤️
CLAIRE GIBSON- thank you! This analogy spoke so clearly and strongly to me. I too remember the finger wagging, and often long for and wonder if my family and I will ever be able to buy a home. But amen- the building where I live is far less important than what is being built inside of me.
God dwells in holy places!
Amen! I love this reading today. I so needed it.
“When embrace the power that lives inside me, I can live in response to the Spirit’s heartbeat rather than my own
impulses.” This was so GOOD! ❤️
@MARIA BAER- thank you for your words, this morning. Lol. I want to hit some of my siblings with a spiritual 2×4, right now. LOL. I’m laughing as I type that… But your words encourage me about them. It is painful to be the one on the other side. Like your mom who dealt with your rebellion and prayed for you… I’m hoping that I stay patient with them, despite their push back against my faith and hurtful comments. I know many of you are praying for me and my family. Now that my song is out there in the world, you all can really hear my heart about it. But I leave it in God’s hands and believe Philippians 1:6.
Thank you @Julia C & @Sharon JG ♥️
Father God thank You for choosing to live in me, with me, through me. Holy Spirit help me to shine the light of Jesus through my words and actions. Heal my heart. I love You. In Jesus name, Amen
I love He tears down walls and paints my soul! What a beautiful description of what is taking place in my heart!
Good morning, She’s. Today’s Scriptures and devotional touch a tender spot in my heart because they remind me of where God has brought me from. It’s interesting that today’s theme follows that of a builder because I always humorously say that for me to come to Christ, God had to hit me with a spiritual 2×4. That is because of my relentless stubbornness before coming to Christ. I could write a book about all the reasons why God should not have chosen me as his temple, as Scripture says, but I am so thankful that he saw the potential and didn’t give up on me. I am also thankful for my God-loving mom, because during my rebellious decades, without me realizing it, she was also helping build the foundation through prayers and by her example. Am I perfect? No. But I’m so thankful that I am a work in progress, thanks to God’s love— the perfect Renovator. Because a day as an imperfect Christ follower, is better than a day without Him. Have a wonderful day, sisters.
Amen @Maria Baer! He is the Perfect Renovator of our messy souls! What a great way to look at this. I am currently looking to buy or build, so I am constantly on Zillow, Homes.com or architectural plan websites. This resonates so well with me at such a time as this. Have a wonderful day, She’s!
I have also mainly experienced the “your body is a temple” idea as a weapon of “don’t do this, don’t do that”. Don’t defile the temple. But I love this new way of looking at it, that God CHOSE me as his temple, his dwelling place, his real estate. I’m his fixer-upper. He saw the potential in me, the good bones, and is willing to do the messy renovations. What an honor! Even though, like every reno project, I feel like every time a wall comes down, there were three unexpected issues lurking beneath! Grateful for a God that doesn’t walk away from the Good Work his is doing in me!
All Praises
“For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”
COOWORKER: May all I do today aid in building God’s kingdom.
FIELD: May what God plants in me, flurish and bear fruit.
BUILDING: May I be a safe place where God’s glory dwells.
TINA ❤️
SHANNON STROSCHEIN – praying your heart is being encouraged with this study
MIA FAITH – continued prayers for you and your family
GAYLE CRAIK – praying your cancer treatments are going well
KRIS – how is your son doing in New Zealand?
Claire, I love the Zillow and renovation analogy. That clicks in a new way for me! Great writing and teaching!
Feeling thankful as I listen to Jimmy Swagartt, singing ‘Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place..
Thank you Lord God, forever thankful, Lord God, Thank you for your grace..❤️
Tina, My 90 year old Daddy loves the Jimmy Swaggert music.
I loved this CLAIRE GIBSON! ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!
Thank you.
IT IS AMAZING, that this wretched body of mine, filled with sin, old, new, and ongoing, with so many ‘skeletons in the closet’ of my being, and so often armed with the wrong tools to do life, and scars of my past, should be a place where The Almighty God would want to live/dwell!
This blows my mind..
BUT GOD..
In my relationship with Him, and in my knowing the truth of Jesus’s gift on the cross, God sees only the me He created, because I am covered by the blood of Jesus, covered in it to the point where my wrong doings can not be seen! God chooses to remove the sin and replace it with the good of His Son, my Savior..
I absolutely DON’T deserve or understand this gift of the Holy Spirit, (God living in me), I know that i am too far ‘a wrong un’, BUT GOD, in His love, goodness, grace and mercy said in His creating us, I have tears.. “..it is good” (He saw good in us in the beginning) and because of Jesus, He can and will make us “good” again, through His Spirit in us..
How my heart sings with this knowledge!
I have hope!
This broken, sinful,’wrong un’ of a vessel, is tweeked daily.. being..
Renewed.
Re-wired.
Re-generated.
Re-stored.
Re-leased.
Re-aligned.
Re-grouped.
Re-claimed.
..to be a home for the Spirit of the living God..
Rejoicing as I take in this great news of God with us.
He, for sure is not just for Christmas, but for all time, everyday!
AMEN.
I’ve probably gone on, Ooops, sorry. I felt this was a revelation for me..
Oh, Happy day, Sisters! Covered in many, many blessings.. and wrapped in prayers..❤️
❤️
Thank you for sharing Tina! Beautiful!
Amen
So good! AMEN!! ❤️