There is a line in Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians that reads: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
In our world today, we often find ourselves wondering about belonging. When we see tragic events unfolding in various countries, we wonder if that will come near to us, maybe even engulf us. When we see and hear of war, starvation, heartless oppression of the poor, or painful illness, we wonder if we belong. In the news recently I have been reading of an outbreak of the Ebola virus which kills with seemingly random efficiency. When one person comes down with a fever, others around them quickly move out of the danger zone and the person is left to suffer on their own. They must ask themselves, as I know I would, “Is there no one who will stand with me? Is there no one who will say I belong to them and they will not abandon me?”
One of the most common “illnesses” of the soul is the pain of loneliness. The pain can arise in any number of ways.
- It can come from our sense of alienation from a close friend due to a conflict of opinion.
- It can arise from being alone in a big city. Everything familiar has been left behind and now even in a pressing crowd, the loneliness is painful.
- It can come from being confined in a prison cell. The loneliness engulfs us and overwhelms even the strongest person.
- It can arise from one’s experience of a family structure that leaves one feeling abandoned in the midst of what should and could be one of the places with the best comfort level.
- Name your own issue here. We all have one or fifty.
In the Church, we train people, both men and women, to be physicians of the soul. In the church we discover that the pain of loneliness can be overcome by the power of a God who calls us his children, who has bought us at a price that is called “blood money.” God bought us with the life-blood of his Son, Jesus. Now we are not our own, we belong to God. He gives to the church gifted people who can discern our loneliness and find ways of treating that very real illness.
In the Bible, we discover God addressing our deepest issue of loneliness again and again. Do you know why? What happens when we are lonely? We become afraid. In the Bible we find God saying again and again, “Do not be afraid. I am with you.” Not just a few times, over 350 times. Each time God calls us to not be afraid, he always adds a line about his presence. We discover in our very hearts God’s holy presence. We are, says the Apostle Paul, a temple of the Holy Spirit. We are not our own, we belong to God as his personal residence in the world today.
I Am Not My Own
In Old Testament times, the mountain of Zion was spoken of as God’s residence on earth. If you were going to send an email to God, it needed to go to the email account @templemount.jerusalem. Since the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus after which the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church, the bodies of God’s people, all over the earth, are where God is living in his holy temple.
For centuries the Church has used a series of questions and answers as a method of teaching the principles of the Christian faith. There are many such catechisms found in various religious communities around the earth. One that I am very familiar with is one that is 450 years old now. It has been in use for centuries in many churches all over the earth. It is called the Heidelberg Catechism. It begins with the following question and answer.
Q & A 1
Q. What is your only comfort
in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,
but belong—
body and soul,
in life and in death—
to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in heaven:
in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him,
Christ, by his Holy Spirit,
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for him.
What is so interesting to me is that 450 years ago, the first issue to be addressed in the training of Christians about what it meant to be a Jesus follower was loneliness and belonging. “I am not my own, but I belong…” No matter what comes my way, no matter how desperate my feelings of loneliness, no matter if I stray far from God, as a Christian I belong to Jesus. I am now a temple of the Holy Spirit. Even if all humans may forsake me and run in fear because of something that is going on with me, God says, “Do not be afraid. I am with you. Your very body is my temple. I bought you with a price. So glorify Me with your body.”
I am currently living in Germany and have been in this country for about 15 years. Before I traveled to Germany, I had a dream and saw a light coming from the sky directly to me and I was carrying Jesus as a baby. Later on, I saw multitudes of people surrounding me and I was directing others to give them food as well as where to sleep. While in Germany, I was invited one day by a sister to visit a living Church in our area. I accepted the invitation and started visiting the Church. Within some Months, I was asked by the Pastor to do the administrative work and also take care of the finances of the Church. It wasn’t an easy task to execute, but the Lord keep on motivating me to humbly do the job without complaining.
I had many challenges because people who were there before me never wanted me to do the job. I had to constantly called a meeting with the Pastor and the people in questions to discuss things amicably. After some years, my family and I have to relocate to another city because of employment.
In this city, I am assisting the Pastor in every area of the ministry. It is still a small Church and we are having a serious crisis. I have been thinking of doing a Pastoral course at a later time but due to the crisis we are having at the moment, I don’t want God’s children to go astray. My Pastor no longer want to continue the church and besides have a serious problem with the wife that is affecting the church. Everyone in the church is looking upon me and I am not fully equip to handle the challenges. I will be more delighted if I can be given the assistant to take care of God’s children not to go astray. My local church is not in a any position to support my Ministry calling. We are in a serious financial crisis and I am the want trying to support the church in my own little way that I can.
A scholarship at CLI will be the answer to my dream of doing the Pastoral course to save souls for the kingdom of God in this region and beyond. I have been longing to do the course but due to financial circumstances, I have been postponing the training. I will personal needs your prayer to assist my Pastor and the family. Additionally, we need a constant prayer to support the ministry to grow in unity, love, peace, care for one another and support the weak.
My name is Cynthia Jones, a 55 year old wife, with one daughter and two grandchildren. My husband and I live most of the year in a small community outside of Spartanburg, SC, USA and five months in Costa Rica where my husband receives part of his cardiac care. My daughter is in her third year of seminary and was instrumental in the life I live now.
Being brought up in the Baptist church I was baptized before I was a teenager. Always believing in the Bible, prayer, the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father I thought I was a good person although I had allowed alcohol and drugs to dominate my life. The life I was living was not the life that is described and desired by Jesus Christ. My daughter tried to reach me and in July 2010 her love and prayers opened my heart and my desired for God to take his place in my life. Rededication of my life was made publicly and with baptism. Praying and talking to God, reading and studying the bible daily I felt my heart began to change. Outside my anger was removed, the tone in my voice changed, the way I viewed my world softened and I felt peace and happiness.
During my chemo-therapy for Stage III-C ovarian cancer in 2003 God tried to reach me but I refused to listen. When I would pray before bed or during difficult days I was never afraid of death because my soul was saved… but God was trying to tell me the life I was missing without a dedicated walk with Jesus Christ. Even though I survived when I was given two years to live my life began a downhill spiral. My days were unhappy, discontented and felt like there was nothing special about life. God was patient with me; allowing my misery until I was willing to surrender to his will. He led me through conviction with the unconditional love that only God can give His children. What a gift!
God told me to pursue education on His word. Where I will be lead is unknown but I know God has a plan. The pain and suffering of our disadvantaged children through divorce, drugs and being discarded by society is something I feel strongly about. It is not for me to question why, when or where but to study God’s word so I may share the truth of Jesus Christ and life everlasting. My family supports my studies and we see the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in many close to us.
A scholarship with CLI is important because it will allow me to study no matter where I am with courses that are presented in a clear, direct manner which I am able to understand. I was left with a condition called chemo brain which affected my ability to remember, I lose words and sometimes cannot finish a sentence. It is with my faith that I know the Holy Spirit will guide me in my studies and God will restore my body. The mission of CLI leaders and staff is clearly to bring God’s word to all areas of the world regardless.
My church is new with few members. Each member is dedicated to an area of service and everyone works together to accomplish God’s work. Churches are abundant in the USA but so many do not have God as their leader. I know God is calling out to the world in many ways; showing us how we are surface Christians and giving us a warning to come back to Him. It is not about a religion – it is totally about God the Father who sent his Son to die for me (us) and the gift of the Holy Spirit that is His gift to guide us everyday in every way when we listen. That is the truth God placed in my heart.
In years past I would never have pictured myself and my husband in a foreign country and I do not know if my calling will plant something or if there is something I am to learn by being there. Your prayers for guidance in my life, knowledge and understanding of the courses I am studying and the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide me that I will know the truth.