{"id":231,"date":"2015-05-13T11:12:02","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T16:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/?p=231"},"modified":"2016-12-13T09:06:01","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T14:06:01","slug":"just-camping-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/?p=231","title":{"rendered":"Just Camping Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNow we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, and earthly house in heaven, not built by\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>human hands.\u00a0 Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.\u00a0\u00a0 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.\u00a0 Now it is God who made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>(II Corinthians 5:1-5)<\/p>\n

Ah, camping out\u2026what a delight!\u00a0 If you were to think back to your favorite tent camping experience what would it be?\u00a0 What would you list as your favorite memory?\u00a0\u00a0 The smell of a wood fire wafting in the air\u2026 the sound of a gentle breeze blowing through the trees\u2026the smoky taste of bacon frying in a campfire skillet\u2026 the occasionally glimpse of a deer or even a bear darting through the trees? \u00a0There sure are a lot of great things about camping out!\u00a0\u00a0 Probably why we keep coming back right?<\/p>\n

But those of you who have ever been tent camping before – you also realize there are a lot of challenges too!\u00a0 And even though camping out can be loads of fun you also pretty quickly discover that tent camping is probably not something you want to do for the rest of your life.\u00a0 Or at least every day for the rest of your life.<\/p>\n

You see, along with all those great moments of camping come the difficult ones too!\u00a0 Like the mosquitos that always manage to find their way in the tent or like that little river running through your supposedly waterproof tent or like that constant \u201cI need a shower\u201d kind of feeling.\u00a0\u00a0 I much as I hate to admit it, I always thought that the best thing about tent camping was that you get to go home and sleep in your own bed!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After about a week of smelly socks and eating burned hot dogs home never looked so good!<\/p>\n

I wonder if we couldn\u2019t supply some of that same imagery to this earthly tent that we live in!\u00a0 Actually, we don\u2019t have to imagine it – God\u2019s Word makes the comparison for us!\u00a0\u00a0 This earthly body that we live in is, just like a tent.\u00a0\u00a0 And make no mistake it is a great dwelling place!\u00a0 We get to eat and sleep, love and laugh, build friendships and loving relationships, and on top of it all, we get to take in all the wonders of God\u2019s spectacular creation.<\/p>\n

But there are times when we realize that this earthly tent that we live isn\u2019t the end all either.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not meant to be our permanent dwelling place.\u00a0\u00a0 Not because there was something wrong with God\u2019s original creation!\u00a0 God\u2019s original creation was perfect!\u00a0\u00a0 Remember?\u00a0 God looked at all he had made and said \u2013 It is very good!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 But all that changed when sin came into the world.\u00a0 Sin that not only affected our first parents but affects us too and, on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

These hands that God has meant for me to serve and honor him I realize can be quickly become self-serving too!\u00a0\u00a0 And how often I can selfishly disregard the other tents that God put in this world with me.\u00a0\u00a0 This body that I\u2019m supposed to regard as God\u2019s temple \u2013 the dwelling place that God lives by His Spirit I often mistreat and act as though it\u2019s my own personal play house. \u00a0And that youthful exuberant energy that God gave me when I was young, how quickly that can fade away, and all because of sin.\u00a0 Yes,\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019d love to think that this earthly tent could last forever but the longer I\u2019m in it the more I\u2019m glad that it really is not.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, our God has given us another dwelling place!\u00a0\u00a0 A dwelling place not built with human hands.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, this dwelling place, our dwelling place in heaven, was built with someone else\u2019s hands.\u00a0\u00a0 The hands of our loving Savior Jesus.<\/p>\n

And what did Jesus do with those hands?\u00a0\u00a0 Well first he used them!\u00a0\u00a0 He used them to live that perfect life that we were supposed to live but didn\u2019t!\u00a0\u00a0 And then he used them to pay price for my sinful actions!\u00a0\u00a0 Just think – Jesus hands were pierced for us!\u00a0\u00a0 And he allowed that earthly tent that he came in (the only one that was perfect by the way) to be destroyed so that you and I would never have to taste corruption.\u00a0 So that we could live on forever in that permanent dwelling that he\u2019s prepared for us in heaven.<\/p>\n

No wonder Paul said \u2013 \u201cwe groan!\u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>Literally yearn for a taste of what God has prepared for us!\u00a0 And with good reason!\u00a0 In heaven God says we will be clothed with a new dwelling place!\u00a0\u00a0 No more sinful struggles against the old self.\u00a0\u00a0 No more sadness or pain, no more blame!\u00a0\u00a0 Rather we will be fully clothed with that perfect life that God gives us through Jesus!<\/p>\n

Camping out?\u00a0\u00a0 It can be fun for awhile.\u00a0 \u00a0But there\u2019s only one place we can be truly at home!\u00a0\u00a0 As Jesus said \u2013 I go there to prepare a place for you\u2026\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>May that be the home that we look forward to this day and every day!\u00a0\u00a0 And may it also be the reason we make the most of this life as well!<\/p>\n

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\u201cNow we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, and earthly house in heaven, not built by\u00a0human hands.\u00a0 Meanwhile, we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.\u00a0\u00a0 For while we are in … [Read more…]<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"entry","1":"post","2":"publish","3":"author-pastordan","4":"post-231","6":"format-standard","7":"category-our-pastor"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions\/232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/risensavioraustin.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}