“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

The Pharisees asked Jesus when the kingdom of God would come. He answered them, “People can’t observe the coming of the kingdom of God. 21 They can’t say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ You see, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21 GW

The Kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom – it’s not a kingdom you can see with your eyes – the Kingdom of God is on the inside of all those who are His born-again children.

However, the Most High does not dwell in houses and temples made with hands; as the prophet says.
Acts 7:48 AMP

God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Acts 17:24 NKJV

People commonly think that God only lives way up in Heaven, far removed from earth, but He has always been very involved in the affairs of man – He personally came down to earth to save mankind. Ephesians 4:10 says that His presence fills the universe, from the lowest to the highest! Many people think that, on earth, His presence lives in buildings and they go to churches or temples to worship Him and pray to Him. They call the building, “God’s house”, however, God Himself has told us that He doesn’t live in buildings and He doesn’t want to live in buildings; He desires to live in you and in me!

Let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. Exodus 25:8 AMP

And I will walk in and with and among you and will be your God, and you shall be My people. Leviticus 26:12 AMP

My tabernacle or dwelling place also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Ezekiel 37:27 AMP

God’s desire is to live in the heart of man. He wants to be in us individually and as a group. He wants to be IN us and AMONG us. He wants to surround us with His presence.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed out His life. 38 And the curtain [of the Holy of Holies] of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Mark 15:37-38 AMP

Under the Old Covenant, the presence of God was in the Ark of the Covenant, where the blood of animals was offered for the atonement of the sins of man. When Jesus died, He took His blood to pour it on the Heavenly Holy of Holies so that our sins could be completely washed away. God’s presence moved out of the temple made with the hands of man and He comes to dwell in the heart of all those who receive Him.

Or do you suppose that the Scripture is speaking to no purpose that says, The Spirit Whom He has caused to dwell in us yearns over us and He yearns for the Spirit [to be welcome] with a jealous love? James 4:5 AMP

The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you. John 14:17 AMP

God has caused His Spirit to live and dwell in us. The Holy Spirit – the very presence of God, Himself, came to live in your heart and my heart! Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has planted eternity in man’s heart! God’s very eternal presence dwells in you and in me. Oh what a privilege we have to have Almighty God come and live in us. Don’t you know that if God lives in you, that everything in your life is going to change! He will bring freedom, joy, and peace to your life. His presence will drive out every sin, every sickness, every disease, and every demonic stronghold, if we will let Him have His way. Romans 8:11 says that, “if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken – or give life – to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

You should know that you yourselves are God’s temple. God’s Spirit lives in you. 17 If you destroy God’s temple, God will destroy you, because God’s temple is holy. You yourselves are God’s temple. 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ERV

Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, 20 You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 AMP

What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 2 Corinthians 6:16 AMP

If we are born again, our bodies are the holy temple of the Living God! We need to get a revelation of this fact: that God, Himself, lives on the very inside of us. I am sure that if we recognized this fact, and understood that the very God of the universe lives permanently on the inside of us, and that He is with us wherever we go, that we would change our conduct and our speech very quickly.

For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2:18-22 NIV

Because of Jesus, we are citizens of the Heavenly Kingdom. We are also His building. All those men and women of faith who love God, including us, are part of God’s building, with Jesus as the Chief Cornerstone. Thank God for the life of God and for His precious presence that lives inside us!