Temple of God - Personnal

(Due to power outage I was unable to post last night. My deepest apologies...kat)
 

As the temple of God, we are blessed that God lives within us, walks among us and calls us as His own unique people (2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Peter 2:9).

As we maintain our confidence and hope in Him, which is our delight, we are actually God's house (Hebrews 3:6), a fact, which I find amazing!

We rarely appreciate how wondrous it is to actually be the holy temple of God, with His Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Nothing is allowed to destroy us or they ultimately will be destroyed by God (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).

In Christ, we are co-workers in God's service; we are his field of ministry and His building made without human hands (1 Corinthians 3:9; 2 Corinthians 5:1). We cannot earn any of this by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

We no longer belong to our self, nor do we depend on our self or live according to our own plans (1 Corinthians 6:19). We spend each moment of every day walking according to the direction of God's Holy Spirit (John 15:4).

Jesus entwines us together as His Body, until we are so united that we rise as spiritual stones to corporately become His spiritual Temple as well, and God abides with us forever (1 Peter 2:5; Ephesians 2:21-22).

Christ, as the Son of God, is faithful to provide for and to protect us as God's house (Hebrews 3:6). He calls us to live healthy lives, free from addictions and excesses, with our thoughts focused on His Word (Proverbs 15:30; Philippians 4:8).

This maximizes our effectiveness for His Kingdom. We bring Him glory even in our infirmities, which He allows into our life (John 9:2-3). He uses us as living stones for His Temple, His called out ones (1 Peter 2:4-6, 9).

Prayer:

Father God, there is not one thought, idea or desire, which we have as human beings, which amounts to anything worthy of You. Yet, You have a perfect plan for each life, which You decided upon before we were ever born (Ephesians 2:10).

Remind us to walk in Your Spirit, so that we do not fulfill the lusts of our flesh and end up living under the dominion of the god of this world - the devil. Help us to see that nothing good dwells in our self-efforts (Romans 7:17-18).

We are hopeless without Your presence dwelling in our spirit; but, when we abide in You, we have no lack in our body, soul or spirit (Philippians 4:19). Thank you for fashioning us into Your Temple for Your dwelling place.

Thought for the Day:

Walking in the Spirit as God's Temple does not give us spiritual pride or place us above anyone else, but is merely humble reliance only on God's love, mercy, strength, wisdom and direction - one moment at a time.

Godly Self-Worth

Spiritual pride is the source of all haughtiness and unrealistic self-confidence. Our soul inflates with self-importance and we brag foolishly about our accomplishments. Contrarily, the humble Believer will only boast in the Lord, realizing that everything they produce is the direct result of the Spirit’s direction and provision (Psalm 34:2). They give God the praise and glory all day long (Psalm 44:8). When other people praise them, they appreciate the encouragement, but they give all the glory to God (Proverbs 27:1-2).

Our true self-worth does not come from who we are or what we do, but from our relationship with God, Our Father. Those with Godly self-worth admit to the consequences of our choices. We realize that blaming someone else is useless and stunts our spiritual progress. We know that we will never grow spiritually if we do not take responsibility for our own actions. God gives us all of the talents and abilities we need to live as good stewards for His glory.

God wants us to realize our limitations. Rather than to codependently attempt to meet every need we see, God wants us to volunteer to meet only those needs for which He calls and equips us. We may lose a battle, but Jesus already won the war on Calvary’s cross. We may have momentary failings; but by walking in the Spirit, we have no permanent failures. Belittling our self is always easy, but has no positive results (1 John 3:20).

There is no more condemnation in the life of an authentic Christian (Romans 8:1-2). We merely need to repent of our mistakes and believe that He is God and will reward everyone who diligently seeks Him (Hebrews 11:6). God has mercy on us according to His unfailing love and endless compassion. He blots out our transgressions, washes away our iniquities and cleanses us from all of our sins (Psalm 51:1-2).

We work out our own salvation with fear and trembling by realizing that we can only do this as God gives us the desire as well as the ability, power and strength to do His will (Philippians 4:12-13). God enables us to admit to the consequences and results of our choices, to realize our limitations without putting our self down, and to recognize our gifts and talents without taking the glory for them. He teaches us the secret of contentment in any situation, and leads us to make more and more righteous choices as we follow His Spirit moment by moment throughout the day.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for exchanging Your righteousness for our sins, and Your holiness in exchange for our ungodly thoughts and behavior. We may continue to do bad things, but that does not mean we are bad people. You faithfully forgive every sin we confess and sanctify us from any ungodly behavior (1 John 1:9-10). As long as we walk by Your Spirit’s direction throughout our day, we will accomplish the works You called us to do before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 2: 8-10).

Thought for the Day:

God’s Spirit dispells our feelings of defeat and doubt and gives us the faith to move mountains. – Matthew 17:20