Hey Everyone!!!
Today I am stoked - wow, I can't believe I am actually doing this blog thing again! My heart is so happy - I love to write and I love to read, and I really LOVE to SHARE!! Thank you to all of you who have not so subtly encouraged me to begin again!
In continuation from yesterday:
Yesterday we learned from
scripture, that when we accept, believe in, and trust Christ as God’s only son
and our savior, the Holy Spirit then comes and indwells within us and acts as
our teacher. (Yay!!!!)
That this spirit of God teaches us right from wrong and the Truth of God’s Word
by speaking to our minds and hearts. (Thank goodness -
I don’t have to rely on my own often mixed-up feelings!) (John 14:16-17, John 15:26, John 16:13-15)
We also learned from
scripture that only those who have accepted Jesus as God’s only son, and
believe in the work he did on the cross as truth, are gifted with the Holy
Spirit; that those who do not believe Jesus is the Messiah or savior do not
have the Holy Spirit and the Truth within them. (A
great reason to share your faith and the Truth with others – so more people can
actually KNOW the Truth!) (John 14:17)
So, with this we can see why
our focal scripture says “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in
you.” The Holy Spirit is “holy,” so it
should have a holy place or “temple” in which to reside, right? Remember, when
you accepted Jesus into your life as your “savior” that means your mistakes,
faults, yes, all those yukky characteristics you wish you didn’t have in you,
etc, were all forgiven and your slate was wiped clean. At that moment, you became holy. Voila! A holy place or Temple for the Holy
Spirit to enter in! On our own we can
never achieve enough cleanliness of spirit to resemble a temple – thank goodness
God created a way!! Oh thank you Jesus!!
Okay, so our bodies are a
temple, made that way by Jesus, and inhabited by the Holy Spirit, given to us
by God when we accepted Jesus. Today,
let’s look at what happens when we are bad to our temples. Ughh…this will be a
reality check for many of us – but never you fear – redemption is only a step away!
What do you think of a nice
cool glass of spring water, over ice on a really hot day? Or maybe after a hot and sweaty work out? Ahhhhhh,
nice and refreshing!!
Now add a tablespoon of
vinegar into that glass of cool water – how is it now? Yuk – bitter!! Add another spoonful of vinegar – uggghh –
disgusting!!!! Vinegar has some very
useful purposes, but for flavoring water, I’d say that more than just a drop is
not one of them!
Well, think of your body as
that nice, cool glass of spring water.
It’s been cleansed and detoxified by Jesus, invigorated by the Holy Spirit. Wonderful, smart and glorious! YES! Now, take your
body out for a night on the town. oh yeah!! Add a
few drinks; ok you’re still smart and glorious – maybe. Add a few more drinks – the tongue gets
loosened and the smart begins to seep away, little by little. A few more drinks and the glorious ceases to
be when you stagger across the floor or begin to slur your words or fall all
over your dance partner. As a matter of
fact, that’s the bitter starting. When
the inhibitions begin to ease away as the drunkenness creeps in – well, now
that cleansed, detoxified and glorious body is flirting with the disgusting!! oh no!!
Ugghh, imagine the Holy
Spirit trying to live in all that disgustingness in there! No wonder our stomachs want to just heave it
all up and get it out of our system! Yikes
– how in the world are we going to hear and understand the voice of the Holy
Spirit protecting and leading us when we are in this condition?
The simple
truth is – we can’t. And what’s more is
we leave ourselves open and defenseless against more serious vinegar invading our minds and bodies!
The other thought in this
situation is this: are you ever dismayed at the growing popular view that
Christians are hypocrites? Or at the
number of people turning away from Christianity to other religions?
Today I will leave you with
these questions:
- 1. When we are observed being loud, loose, irreverent and/or immoral in our speech, activities, and/or behavior, whether in drunkenness or sobriety – who are we glorifying? God? How important does that make God seem in our lives to those observing us?
- 2. If we profess to love God and believe in His Word, yet we are observed doing or participating in activities contradicting His Word, especially with any regularity, what kind of belief statement are we making in the validity of God’s Word? How worthy or worth our time does that make God seem?
- 3. Do we then sometimes deserve that taunt of “hypocrite?”
(But beloved, do not despair - remember –
God knows we will stumble, we are human.
Only God is perfect. When we
stumble, we have only to go to God, our Heavenly Father, and with a sincere
heart, ask for forgiveness, and with a stronger determination to succeed in
holiness, go on. We are forgiven, no matter how many times we ask. As long as we are truly repentant and keep sincerely
trying.)
Now go be glorious!!
See you tomorrow!
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