There are people who live under the constant guilt of personal imperfection simply because they pursue to perfect themselves under competing pressure. The intensity of this battle is in being under constant maintenance, the focus being on the output of man’s works and performance. This may be perceived by some as an honorable token of spirituality, but it carries the seal of the defeat of self-righteousness. This is not what God is looking for, regardless how spiritual it may seem. We must consider this fateful dilemma within our soul, lest we become bound by it in blindness.

We are all prone to love our own product of performance. While the saint troubles himself with the carnality of such noble fraud, it is humbling to note that God wants no part in it. These are tactics of the enemy to cause us to take our eyes off God and focus within. Now we become a miserable escalation of ugly defeat. The more our eyes focus on our self, the more vicious this battle becomes. The constant defeat of this battle creates an atmosphere within the saint where the Holy Spirit is not welcome. Once the Holy Spirit is not welcome, there goes our joy and strength. This vicious cycle is almost humorous once we see the picture. However, the true saint is honest, and will at some point come to the truth of this messy self-criticism. Why? Because within he is a sanctuary temple of heavenly royalty that God will not forsake.

2 Corinthians 5:2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. V.3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. V.4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up by life. V.7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight)

Many of these conflicts that war within us, turn us to the utmost and only spiritual resolve. Hope becomes a discovered treasure and the only source of dependence on God’s grace and mercy. Here, we lose—He wins, and the picture is perfect! So in essence, we lose—He wins—we win, and all win! Thus are the conversation and picture that form upon the page of experience as a true sanctuary of victory! Hallelujah!

Found within us is this noble interaction between victory and being crushed. This creates an environment of contrition and brokenness that are draws to prayer, meditation, and vehement desire for more of Heaven and less of me. These longings lead us through the path of His righteousness. These personal places are mountains of valleys, or valleys of mountains, that offer a sanctified climate of spiritual strength and dependence. These private experiences bring a form of interaction from Earth to Heaven, and Heaven to Earth. It is the sanctuary of God’s interaction with man and it is the exact place God desires to be. Heaven is God’s throne and Earth is where His feet rest. May we be to Him a sanctuary so His presence can rest and not fight us? Isaiah 66:1 Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? where is the place of my rest? V. 2 For all those things hath mine hand made, and those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.

Being spiritually poor here means saddened, even a bit depressed, in mind or circumstances. The Hebrew meaning for contrite is: maimed, dejected, crushed. Trembleth means: “reverences His Word”. God is looking to live in the heart that has these conditions. These are conditions often found in the spiritual and effective saints. These true refined saints have few instructions for other people. They are vessels that God alone is glorified in. The fountain that flows out of these is so rich that many reject it and cannot drink. Their discourse is for God’s glory alone. They have the refinements and victories of Job. These saints know no double life. They are a sanctuary where the attributes of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are exceedingly present.

Psalm 96:6 Honor and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Previous Article

Within the Heavenly Sanctuary (Part 1)

Next Article

Contusions in the Sanctuary (3)