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mstovall2003
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MY HEART - MY CHAPEL
9 stars|11 comments|April 22, 2009|125 reads
 


 

"I'm goin' to church" is a phrase I've used more times than I can remember and to be quite honest, will probably continue to use it for the rest of my days. Because let's face it. It sounds rather odd to say, "I am now going to the building where the pastor speaks and we sing songs to praise Jesus."
 

In my 38 years of living on this earth, I have heard numerous people share their spiritual woes with me. Many are frustrated that they are in God's waiting room and that He is just not moving fast enough for their taste. There are those who just can't seem to beat the demons who keep torturing them as they try to live their lives. But probably the biggest group is the people who struggle with not feeling close to God.

Maybe you've said it.

Maybe you've said it today.

Rest assured, just because you and I don't always feel God's presence or feel close to God doesn't mean we are far from him. Quite the contrary.

Brother Lawrence, author of The Practice of the Presence of God, writes:

It isn't necessary that we stay in church in order to remain in God's presence. We can make our heart a chapel where we can go anytime to talk to God privately.
 

Have you ever heard anything so profound? We can make our heart a chapel.

Today, have some church in that heart of yours.



Cindy Beall

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Prentiss United Methodist Church
 Prentiss United Methodist Church
April 22, 2009
I remember the thing I used to do as a kid...You know fold my hands...this is the church, here is the steeple (open hands)..here are the people. No, the church is truely communion with God and his children. And since God is everywhere, when he is in our heart we are never alone.....thanks for Sharing   Pastor Chuck
crystal
 crystal
April 22, 2009
I believe church starts in the heart and in the home before it starts in a building. If you don't have the love of God in you, it can't be in your home, and if it isn't in your home, forget it.
I am preaching to myself 
CraftsReen
 CraftsReen
April 22, 2009
Amen, Sister Deut 4:29  But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.     We don't have to be in a church to find him.   God bless
Liz Bell
 Liz Bell
April 22, 2009
The Bible tells us that we are the Temple of God temple(church)
That's were we go to meet with the Lord
So thank you for making this so real for us
Barb
 Barb
April 22, 2009
Beautiful---"Make my heart a chapel."  Brother Lawrence is one of my favorites.
Joey R
 Joey R
April 22, 2009

It's true...  my heart is my Chapel.  For, where I go, He goes with me.

pandabear
 pandabear
April 22, 2009
Oh, this is wonderful! Thank you & bless you for sharing this with us.
Teral McDowell
 Teral McDowell
April 22, 2009
My husband has started to reiterate to me the words I have said to him often that church is not in the building. Now I can share my heart - my chapel, blessings.
Preston Pittman
 Preston Pittman
April 22, 2009
This is the truth. Thank you, Precious. I love you
Gary Robison
 Gary Robison
April 22, 2009

There is a post about how dirty the church gets sometimes, by Sue

God's house is not a barn.

I was thinking about this while reading your blog, 

If we do have our heart as a chapel, is it clean?

Look at all the trash we leave behind in our own lives.

Do we even think about what the Lord must think, about the stink?

 

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

1Co 6:19  What? 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?

how many of us have idols in our lives, whether it be the TV, work, or anything else we put before the Lord

2Co 6:16  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  

 So I ask, is the chapel clean or dirty, remember the reason we go to chapel, church, but to worship the Lord.

how many distractions do we have, can we even get into the door, or is there so much trash, that the door is jammed shut.