Day 239: Spirit Filled Life

1 Corinthians 5:5-8

Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns. Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough?  Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

Today I want to talk about the dangers of allowing sin to remain in our lives no matter how small we think it is. I want to talk about how it can spread and eventually lead to our spiritual death. But let’s talk about it by attacking what it is to have a spiritual life. When our spirits are alive in us, we have eternity right there in our hearts. If we want a spirit filled life we must get rid of anything and everything that will taint or put a hole in our spirit. Our sinful nature must be destroyed. We hinted on this a bit bit yesterday, but we cannot live for Christ while also serving the world. We serve one master and He is the living God. God cannot come in contact with sin, that’s why His Son had to first die on our behalf before we could have a personal relationship with Him.

I love the analogy of sin being yeast in a batch of dough, All it takes is a little yeast for the dough to rise. It spreads throughout the whole batch. In the same way that is how sin can easily take over our life if we do not get rid of it. All it takes is something “small”, all it takes is a little thing, that we think we can get away with and eventually it has turned into something that we have lost control over. We all have that one thing that we struggle with the most, and we are constantly praying against our flesh and doing all we can not to fall into the trap. However some of us have been in places where we let some things slide. I’m talking about the things we think are not so bad, or the things we know aren’t as bad as something else. Then we try to justify it by comparing sin. You all know what I’m talking about, in order to get the heat off of ourselves or make an excuse for what we are doing we try to make someone else’s sin look worse than our, so ours doesn’t seem that bad. You ever notice that we explain ourselves the most when we know what we’re doing is wrong. It’s like our spirit having an allergic reaction to the sin we are trying to force onto it.  

This is not how we are supposed to live. We are live in Christ, with Christ all the days of our lives and throughout eternity. How can we do that if we are letting things slide because we think it’s not that bad. God doesn’t overlook sin because we think it’s not that bad. No, that’s not how it works. When we take a step back we’ll see that it is less about, “not sinning” and more about living for Christ. It’s about loving Him with all our heart, soul, and strength. When we love God that way, and we focus on having a real relationship with Him. Not becoming a Christian just to save our souls from eternal damnation. But when we really fall in love with God and love Him more than anything or anyone, our desire for sin fades. We are so caught up in God that all  we want to do is live a life that will draw us closer to Him.

All this to say, life isn’t just about “not sinning”. What kind of life would it be if it were. It’s about living for something and someone far greater than ourselves. Let’s not allow sin to take root in us, but weed it out and allow our spirits to dwell in Christ and the Holy Spirit in us. Sometimes weeding out sin also means removing certain people from our lives as well.

Reflection

1. What are some things in your life that you let slide?
2. Do you live you life for life or for the sake of not going to hell?
3. What do you think is your biggest struggle?

Prayer time

Allow the answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what it is to live a life free of sin by being devoted and committed to Him at every moment.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 240!

Day 238: God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Temple-A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

The temple is the place where God dwells, it is the holiest of holy places. God’s spirit remains in the temple. Since God is a Spirit, He cannot dwell in a place where sin is, it doesn’t work, God and sin cannot cohabitate.

I grew up being told that my body is God’s temple, not really understanding what it meant or the depth of that statement until I was older. When we hear this term it is commonly referred to in conversations about sex. How we should not have sex before marriage, or engage in any kind of sexual immorality.  That is spoken about in 1 Corinthians 5. While it is true we should not engage in any acts of sexual immorality, there is so much more to it. Sex isn’t the end all, be all of sin. The church puts a lot of emphasis on sex before marriage as the worst, most condemnable sin of all. However, there are a myriad of things that will make you a sinner, but that is another topic for another day. When we think about God’s temple what do we usually think about?

The place where God dwells must be a place that is acceptable for Him, and place where no confusion lies, no sin, nothing that separates us from God but a place full of worship. The place where God’s presence is constantly. That’s the temple. Now when we think of ourselves or our bodies as God’s temple we must think of who we are as a Christian and the lifestyle we lead. A question we should ask ourselves is, “Is my body a place where God can dwell?” Meaning am I living my life in such a way that God’s presence is with me at every moment? Am I living and acting in a way that shows the Holy Spirit is within me? Am I holy? I know that’s a scary word for a lot of people, but it’s a simple yet profound word. We all proclaim to be Christians, but are we living like one? Or are we trying to find loopholes in the word of God? Sometimes we try to get around the parts of the bible we think don’t apply to us or shouldn’t apply to us. That’s not how it works, it’s all or nothing. If we are God’s temple we cannot be half in and half out. I think too often we take this as a burden, we view holiness as a burden, and this grand impossible task. It is not, it is more of an opportunity to grow in Christ. It is an opportunity to be in tune with God to remain close to Him. When I think about I am truly honored, and filled with gratitude that God loves us so much that He wants to be where we are. He wants to dwell within us. That’s amazing! Holiness is not a burden it is a lifestyle, and when we view it as such, we will no longer be burdened by it. When we decide that serving God is better and more important than our need and want to sin, this life of holiness will be more rewarding and even more relaxing.

Another question to ask ourselves, are we taking care of our temple? I mean that in every way possible. What are we doing to make sure that our temple is in tip top shape? First I mean it spiritually, is our temple clean? Are we making sure that it’s getting everything it needs to function properly. Meaning, are we diving into our relationship with God, are we feeding our spirit with His Word, are we praying? If we are fully devoted to Christ and committed to this life as a Christian, our temples will not be destroyed. We are the only ones that can destroy our temple. But also are we taking care of ourselves? Are we the vessels that God wants.

This can also be emotional, mental, and physical. Let’s not let anything get in the way of us being used by God. We don’t talk about physical well being in the church a lot, but the way I view it is, we must take care of the the body God has given us. Meaning let’s eat healthy foods, and workout, we only get one body and God gave it to us, so let’s take care of it the best we can. Also we must take care of ourselves emotionally and mentally. We can’t let our emotional or mental well being get in the way of our spiritual lives.  These topics are also topics that are skipped over in the church, but I believe that while God cares about our spiritual lives, He also sees and cares about those of us who are going through heartbreaks and struggling with mental illness. He’s there to help you through it and heal you.

All this to say, we must be the temple of God, as place where His spirit dwells. In order for the Holy Spirit to dwell in a place, that place must be holy. Are we holy?

Reflection

(Ask yourself these questions)

1. Is my temple a place where God can dwell?
2. How am I living?
3. Is my temple clean?
4. Am I taking care of my temple?
5. If anything, what is stopping my temple from being a place where the Holy Spirit dwells?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the about questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what it is to live and be holy, and be a home for the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to search you and cleanse your spirit and create a new heart within you. Have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 239.