A Living Tabernacle

The faulty thinking of most Born Again Believers is that we are separated from Christ by the ethereal boundary between Heaven and earth.

We believe that God is only in Heaven with Christ sitting on the throne at His right hand. That leaves us all alone, struggling down here on Terra Firma to live a holy life.

Actually, Jesus substituted His life for ours on the cross. In the same way, He now lives our life for us and through us. Jesus fulfills our Father’s will in us as we follow the leading of His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

When we come to the understanding that we are dead, and that Christ is now alive within us (Colossians 3:3), we stop striving to perfect our self and we step aside and let God be God in our life. We are His Living Tabernacle.

Life no longer requires any effort from us. God only wants our obedience. We simply stand firm as we watch the Lord bring deliverance in us and through us (2 Chronicles 20:17).

There is nothing left for us to strive for or to attain to (Galatians 3:1-3). Therefore, there is no way we can boast about our accomplishments in the Lord. We boast about Him instead (1 Corinthians 1:31).

Once we get the focus off our self, and place it on Christ where it belongs, then He can use us to fulfill His purpose in the earth. We decrease, so that He may increase in and through us.

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus acknowledged that He is in us, and You are in Him. He wanted us to experience this same unity with You and with one another so the world would know You sent Him and that You love us as much as You love Him (John 17:23).

All of Your fullness dwells in Christ and He is the head of all powers and principalities. In Him, we are made complete (Colossians 2:9-10). Therefore, help us to let Your light within us shine so brightly, that people will see Christ in us and glorify You, who are our living hope (Colossians 1:27; 1 Peter 1:3).

Thought for the Day:

We search in vain for Christ outside of our self, only to discover that He lives in all of His fullness within every Born Again Believer. - Ephesians 3:16-19 Amplified Bible

A Life Worth Living

Life is only worth living as we live it for God. Jesus surrendered all to Our Father - even His crucifixion and death on the cross (Matthew 26:36-56). He gave us this example to follow.

God is more than one who answers our prayers. He is Supreme Ruler of the universe. We owe Him our allegiance. The least we can do is to surrender all to Him.

Once we realize the true meaning of Christ abiding in us, we appreciate our unity with Him, depend on Him for every breath we take, and trust in His grace and love.

He gives us power for our service for Him, gladness in our fellowship with Him and His Saints, and security in His goodness and provision for all of our daily needs.

Since God supplies all of our needs, if we do not have something we want, this means that we do not really need it at this time in our life. As we wait patiently on His timing and will, He will put His desires in our heart and we will live in true contentment.

When we surrender to God our cares in this life, we not only improve our outlook on life, but also our physical health, our emotional balance and our spirit's well-being.

We dedicate every waking moment to Him: serving in the vocation, ministering in the neighborhood and church family, and dedicating our fun times to the service to which He calls us.

We enter His rest, bask in His presence and walk in His will each moment of our day and night. We join all of creation in groaning for His glorious redemption and appearing (Romans 8:19-22).

His abiding presence in our life fills us with hope, gives us His joy as our strength and inspires us to live in the happiest place on earth - the very center of His will.

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that sin separates us from You, and apathy will rob us of the joy of our salvation. You reveal to us Your path of life and in Your presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). You never hide Your face from your children as we walk in Your will and love You with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength (Luke 10:27).

We joy in Your continual presence in our life, we delight in doing Your will which You write on our heart, and we draw from Your constant strength which supports us throughout our day (Habakkuk 3:18; Psalm 40:8). We owe You all of our praise and dedicate our life only to you.

Thought for the Day:

We rest in undisturbed repose, unimaginable joy and a life blessed with quietness and worship as we totally surrender every aspect of our life to God.

The Importance of Christ in Us

 

Jesus came from God (John 1:14; Philippians 2:7-11); Jesus was God (Matthew 1:23; John 17:21) and God performed His will on the earth by abiding in a human body as Jesus (John 14:10; Acts 2:22).

God gives us a free will that allows us to choose or to reject His salvation. We can either accept His freedom from eternal destruction or reap the consequences of our choices.

In unbelief, we condemn our self (John 3:18). Every sin we commit stems from the root of unbelief. Once we believe in Christ, God works in us through His Spirit (Luke 4:14-15).

Every Born Again Believer is united with our triune God (John 17:21). The Trinity takes up inclusive residence within us (John 14:23; 1 John 4:15-16).

Our divine union is as intimate as the union between a husband and wife (Ephesians 5:28-30). We are buried with Christ in baptism and raised to walk in His new life.

Our old carnal self is crucified with Him and our body is no longer ruled by sin (Romans 2: 20, 6:12). Christ works His “ministry of reconciliation” in us and through us to the world around us (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Jesus gave us the ultimate example of surrender when He submitted to the suffering of Calvary in order to provide us with salvation.

We are reborn of the Spirit into a spiritual union with Christ (Romans 8:9, 16). Now, Jesus abides within us and wants to work through each of us. We are the visible presence of Christ in our world (1 John 4:17). 

Prayer:

Father God, when Christ moves in, we serve Him by the strength which You supply us (Philippians 2:12-13). This brings You glory and honor (1 Peter 4:10-11). It is no longer us, but You living within us by Your Spirit. You give us the desire and the power to work out our own salvation (Philippians 2:12-13).

We give You all the glory, honor and praise for opening the eyes of our understanding and bringing us to a saving knowledge of Your plan for our life (Ephesians 2:10). We walk in Your Spirit and fulfill the deeds, which You designed for us before we were even born.

Thought for the Day:

We are in Christ, but Christ is also in us.

- Galatians 2:20; Colossians 1 27; Romans 8:10; 2 Corinthians 13:5; Ephesians 3:16-17