Just this One thing I have desired, just One. That singular thing which I seek ~
That all my days I may dwell in the house of the Lord, to behold and to know the beauty of the Lord, and that all my inquiries are presented in Your temple.
Forgive me for the times I have desired another.
Just this One thing ~ all the days of my life. But . . .
Can I dwell in the house of the Lord as I sojourn in a lost and dying land?
Can I behold His beauty when the ugly truth of sin and separation from God surrounds me and sometimes I think I may even succumb.
All my days spent in His temple when we live amidst the lost and the hurting? My existence existing in Him when sin still so easily ensnares me?
I have wondered, I have sought answers to these questions and He has answered. All my wandering days spent in His temple? Trodden on earthly feet amongst His dwelling?
Yes, surely ~ for I know His Truth that the kingdom of God is within, within this soul still so easily ensnared. The temple within in this grimy, broken earthen vessel.
Luke 17:21 ~ " . . . For behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The Pharisees had questioned Him yet again, another earthly trap and Jesus replies with a heavenly answer . . . "the kingdom of God is within you." And that changes everything, His words always change everything. Every situation, every encounter, every relationship, absolutely, positively everything! Everything is changed once we hear this Truth, once we become this living, breathing reality of His words. Terrifyingly awesome! The kingdom of God is within me, astonishing, simply astonishing. That every adopted brother and sister in Christ, every forgiven and redeemed and prior orphan has an astonishing Truth that he bears witness to on this spinning globe. The kingdom of God is within! And all the power, and all the majesty, and all the glory, and all the encouragement, and all the wisdom and all that He is, the Alpha and the Omega, the Great and Morning Star ~ He abides within . . . me and within you if you know Him as Lord and Savior. And everything changes and just this One thing that I have desired ~
Psalm 27:4 ~ "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."
Certainly now this One desire becomes all the more probable and certainly promised in light of our Savior's words ~ I am within you.
So then, what keeps us from this constant dwelling in His house?
All the other desires.
The desire for success and stability, for relationships that satisfy self, deep desires of greed (which the Word rightly calls idolatry ~ Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5), the longing for more and the climb up the rungs of this selfish ladder, the need to self promote and the drive to others ~ demote, the desires for more family or less family, the cravings of worldly beauty to obtain and then possess and then consume this counterfeit beauty. All the desires of self ~ to be known, to be understood, heard, seen appreciated, valued and taken care of and the list goes on and on. And they sound all too familiar to me and the list flows off finger tips like running water for I have known them all.
And yet, the only One desire we can pursue is NOT desire of self but desire for the One Who created that self.
And as the desires save that One, clear away a light dawns bright and beauty we do behold ~ a beauty past the pain, a beauty through the pain, and a beauty in the pain.
Only this One thing will do ~ to be in His presence today and forevermore.
Races are run and lost by the burden of unnecessary weight ~ burdens of selfish desire run us ragged and run us down and run us low to a depth of darkness no man should go.
Runners who run in Spirit and in Truth run lite with a singular focus ~ the One true desire to run into His presence and to run continually in His presence.
Well my dear runner ~ I must ask, what desires of duplicity do you run with today?
Heavenly Father, let each foot fall burn with but One desire ~ to race our days away in Your house and to behold the One True Beauty.
Let it be Lord, let it be.
That all my days I may dwell in the house of the Lord, to behold and to know the beauty of the Lord, and that all my inquiries are presented in Your temple.
Forgive me for the times I have desired another.
Just this One thing ~ all the days of my life. But . . .
Can I dwell in the house of the Lord as I sojourn in a lost and dying land?
Can I behold His beauty when the ugly truth of sin and separation from God surrounds me and sometimes I think I may even succumb.
All my days spent in His temple when we live amidst the lost and the hurting? My existence existing in Him when sin still so easily ensnares me?
I have wondered, I have sought answers to these questions and He has answered. All my wandering days spent in His temple? Trodden on earthly feet amongst His dwelling?
Yes, surely ~ for I know His Truth that the kingdom of God is within, within this soul still so easily ensnared. The temple within in this grimy, broken earthen vessel.
Luke 17:21 ~ " . . . For behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
The Pharisees had questioned Him yet again, another earthly trap and Jesus replies with a heavenly answer . . . "the kingdom of God is within you." And that changes everything, His words always change everything. Every situation, every encounter, every relationship, absolutely, positively everything! Everything is changed once we hear this Truth, once we become this living, breathing reality of His words. Terrifyingly awesome! The kingdom of God is within me, astonishing, simply astonishing. That every adopted brother and sister in Christ, every forgiven and redeemed and prior orphan has an astonishing Truth that he bears witness to on this spinning globe. The kingdom of God is within! And all the power, and all the majesty, and all the glory, and all the encouragement, and all the wisdom and all that He is, the Alpha and the Omega, the Great and Morning Star ~ He abides within . . . me and within you if you know Him as Lord and Savior. And everything changes and just this One thing that I have desired ~
Psalm 27:4 ~ "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek;
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in His temple."
Certainly now this One desire becomes all the more probable and certainly promised in light of our Savior's words ~ I am within you.
So then, what keeps us from this constant dwelling in His house?
All the other desires.
The desire for success and stability, for relationships that satisfy self, deep desires of greed (which the Word rightly calls idolatry ~ Colossians 3:5 and Ephesians 5:5), the longing for more and the climb up the rungs of this selfish ladder, the need to self promote and the drive to others ~ demote, the desires for more family or less family, the cravings of worldly beauty to obtain and then possess and then consume this counterfeit beauty. All the desires of self ~ to be known, to be understood, heard, seen appreciated, valued and taken care of and the list goes on and on. And they sound all too familiar to me and the list flows off finger tips like running water for I have known them all.
And yet, the only One desire we can pursue is NOT desire of self but desire for the One Who created that self.
And as the desires save that One, clear away a light dawns bright and beauty we do behold ~ a beauty past the pain, a beauty through the pain, and a beauty in the pain.
Only this One thing will do ~ to be in His presence today and forevermore.
Races are run and lost by the burden of unnecessary weight ~ burdens of selfish desire run us ragged and run us down and run us low to a depth of darkness no man should go.
Runners who run in Spirit and in Truth run lite with a singular focus ~ the One true desire to run into His presence and to run continually in His presence.
Well my dear runner ~ I must ask, what desires of duplicity do you run with today?
Heavenly Father, let each foot fall burn with but One desire ~ to race our days away in Your house and to behold the One True Beauty.
Let it be Lord, let it be.
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