Devotionals

HOLY RECEPTACLES

by Ed Arrington
04/30/20
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      I’m a Christian, and my heart can be a lonely, unsure place if I don’t walk, each day, with the Holy Spirit. Jesus promised His disciples that he would send the ‘Spirit of Truth’ (John 14:16) to help them navigate the journey of life that leads to Heaven.    

      I must have my own unique relationship with the Holy Spirit.  Without a clean heart, I will not spiritually survive the destructive forces in this world. I am helpless, in my own strength, to cope with the merciless attack from Satan. A shining heart for Christ, however, a heart that I protect through intensified love for the Savior, will forever prevail against The Power of Darkness. 

      A good example of this is from the account of Satan and Job.  What happened between them illustrates the brilliance of God’s sovereignty over the human heart.

      In the land of Uz, Job was known as ‘the greatest man among all the people of the east.’ (Job 1:3) He was called by the Lord, ‘blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil’ (v.8).  Satan’s reply, in verses nine through eleven implies that Job has been remarkably blessed, especially on the material side of life.  Satan essentially makes the claim, “take all that away, and he will surely curse you to your face.” God’s response is to immediately allow the battle between Job and Satan, to begin.

      The deliberate, horrid, affliction by Satan on Job (chapter 2, verses 7 and 8) set the scene for an agonizing time of suffering by God’s servant.  It was Job’s heart that stood fast against the relentless march of the hideous beast. Satan was determined to prove that Job would collapse under malicious pressure, and deny the God he loved. Job, however, would not allow the fiery darts of Satan to win the victory.  During his time of trial, for instance, Job said at one point, in Chapter 27, verse 3, “as long as I have life within me, the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not say anything wicked, and my tongue will not utter lies.” Job’s heart was guided by the Holy Spirit, to rest securely in the supernatural chambers of God’s protection.

      My heart, my ‘holy receptacle’, needs to be a clean vessel before God.  I can accomplish that by faithful reading of the Bible (Joshua 1:8), and by continual prayer (1 Thess 5:16).  My human body (I’ll be 76 in September), may well become bruised, and battered, and broken.  I intend, however, for my heart to conform to the splendid standard set forth in 2 Corinthians 3:2-3: ‘You, yourselves, are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.  You show that you are a letter from Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts.’