Pages of Joy // John Greco

After a slight delay, I’m happy to say my new devotional, The Sword and the Spirit, is now available!

The Sword and the Spirit is a forty-day reading experience designed to help you draw near to the Holy Spirit and discover God’s amazing heart in the Scriptures. I hope you’ll pick it up!

In the meantime, here’s an excerpt:

Holy Spirit Host

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)

It began with the sound of teeth crunching into forbidden fruit. A short time later, we human beings found ourselves driven away from God’s presence, even as the Lord found ways of drawing near to us. He spoke to the patriarchs, at times appearing to them in human or angelic form. He showed up in signs and wonders to rescue and redeem. He delivered his messages through burning bushes and donkeys and prophets—all so we would know he cares for us. And, of course, “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Hebrews 1:2).

It’s a pattern we see throughout Scripture: the justice of God keeps sinners from returning home, but the love of God keeps him reaching out to make his home with us. We see this most clearly in the tabernacle and, later, the temple. God dwelled in the midst of his people, but the people couldn’t get too close, at least not without the shedding of blood. Even then, it was only the high priest who could enter the Most Holy Place, where the manifest presence of God dwelled—and that was only on one special day each year (Leviticus 16).

So, imagine the delight of the first Christians when they became living, breathing temples of God. No longer was God’s residence on earth confined to a room at the center of the temple in the city of Jerusalem. Beginning at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit took up residence within the people of God, each one becoming an outpost of heaven in this fallen world.

No distance exists between the Lord and those of us who love him. There is no longer the need for an earthly priest to make intercession before we can come close; Jesus Christ is the high priest who “always lives to intercede” (Hebrews 7:25). And animal sacrifices are no longer necessary either, for “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (10:10).

Your body is sacred space, a walking, talking temple of the Lord God Almighty. Therefore, pour out everything you are as an offering of praise. Become “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). Host the Holy Spirit with your life, each and every day.

Holy One of Israel, I love your presence. My heart beats to worship you.

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