What is in Your Camp?
May 05, 2008
ANNOUNCEMENT: This Friday, May 9th, I have a special guest paying a visit to Spiritually Unequal Marriage. Please, please, please plan to stop in here for this neat surprise. You will not be disappointed.
Hmmmmm. Do we have a camp? Does God move around in it? Does our camp, if we have one, need to be holy? If there is something indecent in our “camp” would he turn away? Does this verse apply to the year 2008? Does this verse apply to me? What does it all mean?
Deuteronomy 23:14 (New International Version) For the LORD your God moves about in your camp to protect you and to deliver your enemies to you. Your camp must be holy, so that he will not see among you anything indecent and turn away from you.
Wow, what a wise and Godly group of friends you are. The comments on Friday’s post were awesome. To read the first post in this series and the comments, click here.
The question today is; how do we welcome the Holy Spirit into our spiritually divided home?
I want to focus on this scripture verse in Deuteronomy, in the Old Testament. I found this scripture interesting, applicable to me, and profoundly intentional for all of us who live in a spiritually mismatched home.
Let me explain. First, let’s cover the basics about the Holy Spirit. Jesus said the following:
John 7:37-39 (New International Version) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.John 14: 15-17
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
"If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
In these passages we recognize the differences between the Old Testament era and the New Testament Age, The Age of Christ. The profound difference is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
These passages make it clear that our bodies are a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. Those of you who answered that your “camp” is your body/spirit, you were absolutely right. However, I also believe that our “camp,” which is referred to in Deuteronomy, is our physical home. The Bible is filled with passages about the Holy Spirit and how it works in and among our lives. If you would like a full scripture reference, email me and I would be glad to send you some scriptures for study.
But let’s keep moving to what the Lord has been telling me about our homes.
If you remember from last week, I told you the Lord has been pounding this verse into my head. The thoughts which keep surfacing when I ask God about this verse follow.
In fact, our physical home, an apartment, a condo, a room, or a house is our camp. I am not excluding our bodies, or our relationships, our families, or church. But for this post, the Lord is specific with me. Our camp is our home.
With that said, the Lord assures me that He does move about in our home. The Holy Spirit, angels, and God, Himself can and will be present in our home. And just as it mattered 4,000 years ago, when the Lord moved about in the camp of the Israelites, it matters what is in our camp – home.
The commands in this chapter of Deuteronomy actually are addressing cleanliness in the camp, primarily human waist. But as I read this verse and thought upon it, I was impressed to take an inventory of my home.
If Jesus knocked upon my door this minute and walked in, what would He see? Now remember this is God. He can see through walls, closed drawers, locked cabinets. What would He see? This question is weightier for those of us living in an unequally yoked home. We aren’t always going to agree with things our spouse might bring home.
I know this is a tough assignment. This question is especially difficult because our spouses don't share our Biblical values. For me personally, I have struggled with this in the past. For example, some of the books my spouse chooses are in my view, how do I say this…. not right…
As a believer in an unequally yoked marriage how does this verse apply to our home and our marriage?
Okay I am long winded. I will post again on this subject next Monday, May 12th, same time, same place.
We are going to take an inventory of our homes and discuss what might be considered indecent. We are also going to talk about the spiritual realm and how it affects our home and how we affect it. Fascinating stuff.
This week, take a walk around your house with Jesus. What bothers you? My question to you for this week is:
Thanks for your thoughts. It is my prayer that the Lord speaks through these words to grow us in our relationship with Him and grow us in our marriage. The best is yet to come as we discover the many ways to welcome the Holy Spirit into our home.
ALSO, today is Marriage Monday. Stop over at Chrysalis. Our topic this Monday will be, "The Crazy Way We Met." Here's your opportunity to share the dramatic (or dull!) opening moments of your dating relationship. Remember, the details of your story may be ancient history to you, but to us—it's news!
I am anticipating your great answers and your thoughts about this study. We all are going to learn something profound. Be blessed, Lynn