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

The Joy of the Lord

 

God gives us several commands throughout His Word to rejoice in Him. When God thinks a concept is worth repeating, it is definitely worthy of our consideration (Psalm 32:11, 35:9, 64:10, 97:12, 104:34; Isaiah 29:10, 41:16; Joel 2:23; Habakkuk 3:18; Zechariah 10:7; Philippians 3:1, 4:4).

When the joy of the Lord fills our spirit, it also affects our body and soul - our thoughts, choices and feelings. It influences our words and actions and how we relate to our self and to other people.

It affects our relationship with the Lord and helps us to sing the praises to Him that He is worthy to receive (Psalm 147:1). We pray about everything and give thanks in everything, even in the negative aspects of our life (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

The Lord puts a hymn of praise, a new song, in our heart (Psalm 40:3). We come before His presence with thanksgiving as we make a joyful noise to Him in song (Psalm 100). His joy is our continual source of strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

God's Word is living and powerful and teaches us to abide in our spirit rather than in our body and our soul (Hebrews 4:12; John 15:11; Galatians 2:20). He opens the eyes of our understanding to the opportunities we have to walk and live in His Spirit.

God helps us to discern between the desires of our flesh and the leading of His Spirit. We no longer allow the appetites of our body, considerations of our mind or fickleness of our emotions to dictate our thoughts, words or behavior.

Instead we seek the Lord to reveal the root source of any negative impulses we experience and to free us from any dictates of our flesh, any influence of the world and any tyranny of the devil over our life.

Prayer:

Father God, we submit our spirit, body and soul - our every thought, choice and emotion - to Your Spirit. Our union with You consumes our every waking moment, and we want nothing more than for You to live Your life in and through us. Remind us not to worry about anything, but to seek Your will in ceaseless prayer. 

We want to live a life of continual joy, prayer and thanksgiving to You through Christ in us (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). We thank You for meeting all of our needs, and for giving us Your peace, which is not dependent on our human reasoning and understanding, and which guards our hearts and minds as we live, move and have our being in Christ alone (Philippians 4:4-6; Acts 17:28).

Thought for the Day:

The Lord loves us so much that He actually takes delight in us and rejoices over us with singing. - Zephaniah 3:17

Many thanks to Matt Milligan for the use of his photo.

Blessed Assurance

Regardless of the state of affairs in our life, whether smooth sailing or troubled waters, we have God’s blessed assurance that everything will work out for our benefit (Romans 8:28). If we are not living in rebellion or known sin, then we can live with the promise that God has a plan and purpose for every trial and tribulation we experience.

Sometimes, His purpose is nothing more than to isolate us for a while, so that He can enjoy our company. We just surrender our self-will, self-confidence and self-centeredness to God and exchange it for a focus on Christ alone. With our attention on Jesus, we live a full and complete life (Colossians 2:10). We decrease, so that Christ in us can increase (John 3:30).

As we fellowship with our King of kings, we gain insight, power, direction and wisdom to face the issues, which we experience during our day. As we wait on Him, He directs our paths in the way that we should go (Proverbs 3:5-6). The glory of the Lord shines out from within us and blesses those around us (Isaiah 60:1). God’s Spirit fills us with the measure of Christ, which our heart longs for (Ephesians 4:13).

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of sin and gave us everlasting life. Sin no longer has a hold on us. There is no enjoyment in sin for us, and there is no longer any desire to practice sin. We walk in this world, not as a sinful human being, but as the embodiment of Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). Anyone who lives for God, filled with His Spirit, cannot live in habitual sin (1 John 3:9).

As Christ is, so are we in this world (1 John 4:17). The desire for the world is crucified in us (Galatians 6:14). We no longer crave anything other than all of Him, because God’s Spirit gives us new desires. Our human nature is crucified with Christ, and Christ lives in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Jesus makes our life sweeter and more fulfilling as the days go by.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for setting us free from the bondage to sin and giving us a new life in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The power of Christ in us destroys our desire to live a life of sin and draws us ever closer to Your heart. We have no more attraction to sin and we desire nothing more than to please You with our whole life. We are crucified to the values of this world and we look forward to living in Your eternal Kingdom both now and for eternity.

Thought for the Day:

God gives us the blessed assurance that once we surrender our life to Him, He gives us new life in Christ both now and for eternity.