Introduction & Chapter 1 |
Chapter 11 & 12 |
Chapter 10 |
Chapter 9 |
Chapter 8 |
Chapter 7 |
Chapter 6 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 2 |
Chapter 3 |
Chapter 4 |
Chapter 5 |
Chapter 6 |
The first home my wife and I built was a small blue bungalow, on a not so quiet street. We were able to pick the floor plans, the carpets, cupboards, fixtures, colors and more. It was a venture of love and expectations. We were excited and overwhelmed at the thought of our own home. A place we could raise our young family. As the weeks slowly went and the walls emerged, we could visualize the lush lawn, shrubs, flowers and a small garden that would produce the best ruby red tomatoes in town. Before the carpets, fixtures and paint, we could see our furniture in its place and where our precious boys would have their very own rooms. It was exhilarating! The day finally came that we could put the key into the door, Oh what a feeling. A place of our own! But it was also the day we decided to dedicate our habitation to God. A place that He would be exalted, honored, worshipped and loved. Over the years we have had many homes but none so precious and warm as that jewel on 32nd street. The memories of our growing children, the Christmas's, the family meals, the play times, the bible studies, devotions and prayers. It was the good life! To a family, a home is a special place, a sanctuary of rest and security. A place of ownership, shelter from the cold. A place of tradition and culture no matter what part of the world one lives. The pages you are about to read speak of another special habitation. A home or habitation that God Himself through His only begotten Son has built. A place designed to rest the weary soul of humanity. A place of provision, healing, acceptance and security. Come let us journey to this secret place and learn the plan, purpose and great provision of His dwelling place. A place we also may dwell! Chapter 1 The Secret Plan God in His infinite love desires that His children know Him. He is a father of all fathers and more than anyone understands the uniqueness of the family and home. He created the family and all that is needed to make it function as an organic structure that is always evolving around the needs and personalities of people. He created the family because that in and of itself is what God is. I have heard it said that God has no needs, if this were true then why does He care! He cares because he is all family, a place where intimacy can be expressed and love can be enjoyed. God is love and what better place to express this, then in a place where God lives, in His body! The great Apostle Paul wrote in the book of Ephesians, "For I always pray the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets, in the deep and intimate knowledge of Him, by having the eyes of your hearts flooded with light, so you can know and understand the hope to which he has called you and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints, His set apart ones. Ephesians 1:17,18 According to these Words, it is God's desire to reveal truth to the saints of God and to see them come to a full understanding and deep infinite knowledge of His plan and purpose. Paul, in the same book wrote, "Making Known to us the mystery, secret of His will, of the plan, of His purpose, and it is this: in accordance with His pleasure, His merciful intention which He had previously purposed and set forth in Him. Ephesians 1:9 In the Psalms, God spoke a Word through a psalmist regarding a great mystery, a secret, a plan to reveal a habitation, a place where God would live and direct an eternal plan. He said, "For the Lord has chosen Zion, He has desired it for His habitation, this is my resting place forever says the Lord, here will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will surely and abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread, her priest also will I clothe with salvation and her saint will shout aloud with joy, there will I make the horn of David bud, I have ordained and prepared a lamp for My anointed. His enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon Himself shall His crown flourish. Psalms 132:13-18. Zion is a type and shadow of Christ body or what some call the church. God was conveying through the living Word a prophetic proclamation that a day was coming when he would build a habitation, a temple called the body of Christ! It would be a place of rest, a habitation not built of brick and mortar but an abode in the hearts of those who would believe. Hearts of flesh that would come together as living stones to become the most holy place of God. How would this great temple be constructed? What would be its foundation of greatness? Who would be its designer? There would be only one man to accomplish this great task, the man Jesus Christ! In obedience He humbled Himself and took the holy order as the greatest architect of the universe. He came to earth through the vehicle of the virgin birth. Through an act of unconditional love, He took upon Himself flesh and blood and walked as man in the midst of depraved humanity, yet He was the son God! Jesus the man walked on earth without sin, fulfilled the Laws demand, never wavering from the Father's plan to build a place of habitation, a temple, a holy place. The plan was simple! He must allow His temple to be destroyed in order to build a new one. So through His body He suffered death at the hands of His own people. A humiliation that would give humanity, without discrimination an opportunity to be part of a body of many hands, ears and voices that would spread and influence every corner of planet earth. Jesus the Man died, arose from the dead and then ascended into heaven. He now sits at the right hand of God as the great Architect. The Creator of a new and living spiritual home on earth, his body. Today the body of christ on earth is God's resting place, His household, His abode in the hearts of flesh that have become part of God's temple. It is not a church building that God resides in but a people who make up the most Holy place! And as he built it, He did it with perfection, to precise measurement, and paid for by the most expensive currency in the universe, The blood of Jesus Christ! If you are born again through the cross of Calvary, then you are a living part of this great habitation. A part of God's household with all its rights, privileges and status. A place of honor, integrity, grace and love. Let us examine the awesome truth of, where God lives, and the blessings of being a part of His family and home. |
Chapter 7 |
Chapter 8 |
Chapter 9 |
Chapter 10 |
Copyright Roxy J Nolin 2002 |
Chapter 11 & 12 |
Where God Lives By Roxy J Nolin Introduction Chapter 1 The Secret Plan |
The Book Where God Lives |
Introduction & Chapter 1 |
