God's Divinity within Us

Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, the Holy of Holies (Hebrews 9:3). The Holy Spirit lives through us in the perfection of Christ and according to the will of our Father God (Colossians 2:9). We are no longer sinners chained to the flesh.

Christ is our righteousness, deliverance, redemption, sanctification and so much more (1 Corinthians 1:31). He challenges us to hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6).

If our flesh is tempted to sin, we simply remember that it is dead and hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3; Romans 7:25). When we view any temptation through the eyes of the Spirit living within us, the sin loses its appeal for us.

We realize that we would much rather live righteously through Christ than unrighteously through our old, dead flesh. We are a new creation freed from the power of sin through the divinity of Christ who dwells in us.

In the same way, if we attempt a ministry for the glory of God, and the Spirit did not lead us to serve in that area, we will never find His anointing in it.

When Jesus lived in the flesh, He suffered trials in every area, and had just as many temptations as we do. Yet, in each instance, He drew from the strength of His divinity; and in the end, He conquered sin, death and hell for us all (Revelations 1:18).

Every Born Again Believer lives in divine union with this same Christ. Even though we still live in a body of flesh, we now live by the faith of the Son of God who cares for us and sacrificed Himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

Sin has no more power over us; therefore, we live a victorious life through Christ in us, both now and for all of eternity (James 1:25). We draw from the strength of His divinity within us for healing, wisdom, strength, righteousness and direction.

Prayer:

Father God, our finite mind has such trouble understanding what we cannot see. Yet, the faith of Christ within us helps us to see with spiritual eyes of understanding. Help us to walk in Your truth by the faith of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who dwells within us by Your Spirit; so that we no longer think that we have to sin and we may bear fruit for You (Romans 7:4).

We limit Your use of us on this earth by our watered down concept that we are still sinners and will always be sinners weighted down by our sinful, fleshly nature. Remind us that this old nature is already dead in Christ, that we are new creations by Your Spirit, and that we are now spiritual beings and slaves to righteousness, not to sin (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:18).

Thought for the Day:

Once we make Christ our whole life, we are no longer sinners hindered by sin and our flesh, because the power of the spiritual law of life through the Holy Spirit has set us free from the power of the fleshly law which once held us in bondage to sin and death.

- Colossians 3:3-5; Romans 6:14, 6:22, 8:2; John 8:36

A Stress-Free Life

Prior to finding salvation through Jesus Christ we had little more than our own resources to rely on while facing the issues of life. We developed a routine of depending on our self, with a little help from our friends and family. Life was hard, and every little bump in the road threw us off course. We had to fight with all of our strength to regain our equilibrium. We stressed out under the strain and trials of daily living. Once we came to Christ, we carried these same habits and defense mechanisms into our new Christian walk.

We continue to overreact to life from our own energy and the reserve, which we built up within us. Living life through human achievement is deadly! Physical, mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion and illness are all the result of us living life through our own efforts. We get weary when we overly schedule our time or when we take on too many projects that God does not lead us to perform. We often feel like we are separated from God and He cannot help us, because He is too far away up in Heaven.

Life is always hard as long we as depend upon our own inner strength to conquer its difficulties. We want to please God with our life; but when we feel like we are doing His will, we often fail. At some point, however, we start to realize that we are struggling for no reason. As long as we separate our life into two compartments: our humanity and His divinity within us, we are divided and weakened. Once we realize that our humanity is already dead, and our life is now hidden with Christ in God, then we start to live only through His divinity within us (Colossians 3:3). 

Life is no longer a challenge, because it is now an adventure! We are united with Christ in salvation and perfected in sanctification. We no longer need to react to life from our lack, because He faces life through us with all of the power of the triune God. We are not called by God to live life for Him, but to step aside and allow Him to live life in and through us. God did not give us a faint, fearful spirit, because His love, strength and self-discipline reside within us by His Spirit (2 Timothy 1:7). Recognize the moments of His joy in your day and focus on Him as His Spirit directs your steps.  

When we realize Christ dwells in us, and we dwell in Him, then we succeed at living in serenity and fulfillment all of the time (John 17:23). It is useless to dream of or to wish for a problem-free life. In this world, we are guaranteed to have problems (John 16:33). However, they are not our problems to handle. They are God's problem, and He has all the wisdom and resources needed to meet these opportunities through us during each moment of our day. Allow the Holy Spirit of God to control your spirit, body and soul – your mind, choices and emotions, and you will live in abundant life, strength and peace (Romans 8:6; Psalm 29:11).

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, all that You require from us is that we obey Your Spirit's direction, and that we allow You to work in and through us. You desire for to take a step back and view the issues of life through Your eyes. We hide under the shelter of Your wings and live with joy in our heart and a smile on our face, no matter how disturbing or challenging life becomes. The more we allow You to live through us, the easier we walk in this realm of faith and Spirit. We center our mind and emotions on You and we walk in complete peace (Isaiah 26:3-4; John 14:27). You deal with the temporal aspects in our life, as we focus on the eternal aspects moment by moment throughout the day (Galatians 5:16,25; Isaiah 41:10-13).

Thought for the Day:
“The love of Christ controls us.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14

Divinity Within Us

God dwells in His children by the new birth we receive from Christ through Salvation (John 1:12). He rejoices as we grow in the knowledge of our salvation (1 John 3:2), but He waits for our realization that we are also temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). Once we begin to submit to the Spirit for sanctification of our flesh, then He teaches us about the divinity of Christ, which dwells within us (Galatians 2:20).

We are not separate from Christ, obeying Him in our own power. He permanently dwells in us and expresses Himself through us (Colossians 3:3). We are children of His death, but we are also children of His resurrection (Luke 20:36). We are transformed into Christ’s image in ever-increasing increments of glory, which come from the Lord’s Spirit. Then, as unveiled mirrors, we reflect to the world the glory of the Lord within us (2 Corinthians 3:18). In our daily life, as His Spirit molds us into His image, we experience and express all of the attributes of God just as He is within us, (Romans 8:29).

Jesus gives us the glory that God gave Him, so that we will be one with our triune God, just as they are one (John 17:22). If we do not recognize this divine power within us, then we will never live up to our full potential as Christians. Jesus’ sacrifice enables us to share in His divine nature and to escape the corruption in the world caused by evil human desires (2 Peter 1:4). As we mature, we attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ who dwells within us. We put on our new self, shaped by the Spirit to be like God with all of His virtues and holiness within us (Ephesians 4:13,24).

We often limit our understanding of life to what we perceive through our five senses. We also rely heavily only on what our human mind envisions. Yet, we ignore the supernatural and the eternal aspects of Christ within us. Therefore, we hinder the expression of God’s power in and through us. With Christ in us, it does not matter where we live, with whom we live or even if we live alone. Christ’s presence within us rises above the limitations of the natural realm and the circumstances in it. God imparts His Spirit to us in order to allow the glorious nature of Christ in us the freedom of expression through us (Colossians 1:27; 1 Corinthians 12:27).

As we grasp this fact, we realize who we really are in Christ. Then, we live by faith in the eternal, and no longer by sight in the temporal realm of life (2 Corinthians 5:7). It is not I, but Christ living in me (Galatians 2:20). When trials and tribulation afflict my life, I no longer have to overcome them. They are simply another adventure in Christ; an opportunity for Him to show His divine nature through us. Nothing, which comes into our life, is a surprise to God. He saw it all before the beginning of time (Ephesians 1:4).

Jesus completed the work of redeeming, sanctifying and perfecting us on the cross (Hebrews 10:14). Now, He is working through us to perform His purpose in each situation in our life as it occurs. We have His joy in our tribulation, because we know that God has a divine purpose for us in it. God allowed Job to experience devastating loss in his life; but He used Job for His glory in each one of them. In the end, God gave Job much more than he ever lost (Job 42:12). We enjoy God’s presence in our life now, and we look forward to dwelling with Him where righteousness reigns, in the new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Prayer:

Father God, when we forget that we are simply aliens and pilgrims in this world, we take life too seriously. We put all of our effort into attaining success in this world. There is no reason for us to doubt Your Word; it is true because all of its prophecies are true. Help us to believe Your Word and to allow it to transform our life as we live by the direction of Your Spirit through each moment of every day, until You decide to take us home to live with You in glory.

Thought for the Day:

As we continue to live in Christ, we walk in His holiness. When He returns for His bride, we will face him with confidence and unashamed (1 John 2:28).