Names of God - Zao Theos- The Living God

 

ZAO THEOS

(pronounced zah'-o theh-os')

LIVING GOD

2 Corinthians 6:16

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of The Living God; as God said, “I will make My dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people." 

    This verse is a reminder to the born-again believer to not be unequally yoked with a non-believer. That Christ-followers cannot, nor should not want to, mingle what we believe with what other religions believe. 

    Chrislam is a pagan religion, as it is impossible to be a faithful and obedient Christian when one has aligned itself with a non-Christian religion and unbiblical belief system. Christian Nationalism is also a comingling of two ideological platforms where it becomes neither. 

    Christianity begins in the heart of a person. Here in our hearts is where we believe that Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, is Lord. It is through the power of God's Holy Spirit that God's Holy Son takes up residence within us. It is after we believe that Jesus Christ is Lord that The Holy Spirit immediately begins to change us inwardly, transforming us from unrighteous sinners into righteous saints. Christianity puts Christ first, above all else. Even above national pride and promotion.

    Nationalism on the other hand begins in the mind. It promotes the nation's values and strengths above all others, even religion and Christianity. Britannica defines nationalism as "an ideology (social and political philosophy that hopes to describe the world and make changes to it) based on the premise that the individual’s loyalty and devotion to the nation-state surpass other individual or group interests." Knowing that Christianity is an individual interest, the faithful born-again believer chooses to put Christ first, while the faithful nationalist puts his country first. 

    We are the temple, the dwellingplace, the residence, of  The Living God. No other god can be defined in this manner. All other gods were created by mankind in rebellion to The Living God and will end in eternal death for their followers. The Living God died for His people, conquered death, conquered hell and conquered the grave by walking out of it, giving all of His followers eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son. No other god has done that. Nor will they ever, for they do not exist, except in the imaginations of mankind. 

    When we become Christians, not only do we become God's dwellingplace, but we become His servants. Not in a mean sort of way, but in humility and loving sacrifice, placing God's needs above our own. We choose to serve The God Who Loves Us With An Everlasting Love. We opt-in to dedicate our lives to His service: doing what He wants us to do, going where He wants to go, saying what He wants us to say. 

    We choose to love The Living God with all of our hearts, our souls, our strength. We choose to worship The Living God, just as His prophets and His disciples have before us, for this Eternal God alone is worthy of our praise. Let us enter now into His Eternal presence and surrender our hearts and our lives to Him, that The Living God may seal us into His covenant Word. Let us lift our hands and raise our voices in praise and worship!

HE LIVES  - Acapella choir rendition 

     

   

Signs & Wonders of Christ's Arrival - - A Dwelling For His Name

 

 

Deuteronomy 16:11

11. And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God in the place He will choose as a dwelling for His Name—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levite within your gates, as well as the foreigner, the fatherless, and the widows among you.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 7931

Dwelling: to settle down, abide; continue, cause to dwell, make to dwell, have habitation, inhabit, lay, place

From the Hebrew word 'shakan or shaken' (pronounced shaw-kan'). 

    It was no accident "there was no room in the inn". The Master Creator created the perfect set of circumstances so that His Son would be born at the intended time in the least honorable place. 

    Of course the inn was full: every body in the house of, the lineage of David, had to return to the city of his birth with his family and be counted to pay taxes. (Luke 2:1-7). That wasn't the place God chose for His name to dwell. 

    Nowadays, the parents usually get to pick where and when their child will be born: a hospital, a home birth. Though there are times when the baby arrives early: a taxicab, an elevator, backyard bbq. And sometimes there are complications. But that wasn't so when the Son of God was born. 

    God chose Bethlehem (Micah 5:2). God chose a stable (Luke 2:7). God chose a manger (Luke 2:7). God chose when (Matthew 2:1-7, 16) His Son would be born. A place for everything and everything in its place. But Bethlehem was not His dwelling place. 

    We learned that as a child, He grew up in Egypt and Nazareth. In His ministry He stated that He had "no place to lay His head" (Matthew 8:20). In other words, He had no place to dwell, to reside. There was no God-ordained place for Him to rest and live. During His ministry Jesus lived a nomadic life, depending on His Father to meet His needs. 

    God chose something a little less substantial than a house for His Name to dwell in: He chose us. Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone should hear My voice and open the door, then I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me."

    Luke 12:36

Then you will be like servants waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks, they can open the door for him at once.

    John 14:23

Jesus replied, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

    God chose our hearts to be the dwelling place for His Name. The place where the Lord lives is in our soul: our thoughts, our emotions, our attitudes. An ethereal place of residence: it cannot be seen, or touched, or known by any other than God. For only God knows the heart (1 Samuel 16:7; Psalm 94:11; 1 Corinthians 3:20). 

    God wants to be a part of our everyday lives. He created us. He knows how each of us thinks. He knows our plans, our dreams, our desires. Yet still He chooses to call us by name, knocking on the doors of our hearts to let Him come in and live in us. 

    Though our hearts are filthy and unkempt places when He first arrives (when we first believe on His name for our salvation), The Lord Jesus will clean house after He moves in with His Holy Spirit and make Himself at home. But we must make that decision to let Him into our hearts. He's a gentleman, not a bully. Jesus only lives in the people who ask Him into their hearts and lives. 

    God knows our names and He calls us to come out of the system of this world, out of the darkness and evil which dwell here, into His love and light. "Come out from among them" the Word tells us (2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1). 

    And let God and Jesus and The Holy Spirit take up residence in your hearts (John 14:23). Indeed, until you believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, there is no room for God to dwell in our hearts. 

    What are you waiting for? God loves you. God wants you to be in His family. God calls you by name, pleading with you to answer His call to salvation through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. God stands at the doors of your hearts, knocking patiently, waiting for you to open the doors of your hearts and let Him in, to give Him a dwelling for His Name. 

    Here is the day, now is the time. For there is coming a day when time will be up and making a decision for Christ will be out of your hands. 

KING OF GLORY by Third Day

    

TIS SO SWEET TO TRUST IN JESUS by Casting Crowns

LOVE HAS A NAME by Jesus Culture

ABIDE WITH ME by Keith and Kristyn Getty

HE LIVES by David Phelps

    

    

  

Jesus & God Live Here

  

John 14:23
Jesus replied, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

John 15:10
"If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love."

2 Corinthians 6:16
What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people."

Revelation 3:20
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me."

How wonderful to know that as soon as we believe, God the Son and God the Father enter into us and begin to live in us! We are so blessed to have the power of God resting upon us!

Romans 8:9
You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.