I PRAY THAT THE PEACE OF GOD BE WITHIN ALL OF YOU

Proclamation:

“For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’  For the sake of the house of The Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.”  Psalm 122:8-9 (NIV)

Explanation:

This psalm was written by King David under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  It is a psalm of ascent that the children of Israel sang rejoicing as they went up to Jerusalem to worship and for their feasts.  This is the third song of ascent.  In Psalm 120, the Jews were in distress because of their neighbors.  In Psalm 121, they were travelling to Jerusalem and could see it in the hills.  Now, in Psalm 122, they are within the gates of Jerusalem.  David rejoiced with the saints who said to him, “Let us go to the house of The Lord.” (Psalm 122:1)  He prayed for peace for Jerusalem and for the people who lived within the walls of the city. (Psalm 122:6-7)  He prayed for peace for his family and friends. (Psalm 122:8-9)  He also prayed for the good of the house of God and the people of God (Psalm 122:9) because of his zeal for God’s house. (Psalm 69:9)

Application:

Most people do not have to travel as far as the children of Israel did to go to worship in the house of The Lord.  However, most of us pass by many churches in order to get to our church to worship because we no longer live in the neighborhood where our church is located.  When we pray, we should pray for every church where they worship The Lord, our God.  We should also pray for all of the people of God, where ever they may be, that they would be blessed with the favor of God and that they will prosper.

Your Body Is A Temple

"... Know ye not that your body is the temple of The Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which is God's." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

A Christian's body belongs to The Lord and is part of the body of Christ. It is also the temple of The Holy Spirit. When we misuse and abuse our body we are destroying God's house. It is said that God will not dwell in an unclean temple.

"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

So it is in our best for us to take better care of our body which is God's house. We should not worship our bodies but we should take better care of them.

Our Bodies Are God's Temple

Once we accept Jesus as our personal savior, God dwells within us. We become a house of God.

"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him will God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Most of us know that we should do more the keep the church house clean and in good repair. However, we generally do not give much thought to our bodies being a temple of God and how we treat that temple.

Think of all of the things that we do that damage our bodies. We smoke, drink alcohol to excess, we overeat, and we eat an inappropriate diet. We physically abuse our bodies in the name of fun, sport, and having a 'good time'.

Worshipping the body is also not a good thing. Some of us obsess over our physical appearance and our diet, but not for the glory of God. We mar and physically alter our bodies for our own personal vanity.

That is not to mention all of the junk and trash that we let enter our mind by what we choose to watch, listen to, read, and think.

As Christians, God lives within us and we should be very careful regarding how we treat God's house.