HOUSE or HOTEL?
I have been taught a lesson by the Holy Spirit recently. I would like to share that lesson with you in case you might have had the same perception and need to change it as I did.
Many Christians know this verse and believe in the meaning it conveys. But I am betting that many, like me, read this verse and take in it's meaning as head knowledge Only. If we all really applied this message and all the implications that are packaged with it, we, as believers in Christ, could be more empowered, more filled with the Holy Spirit, more in line with God's will for our life, and the more's of God just keep going.
If you read this verse backwards you'll realize that after you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior you get the benefit of the Holy Spirit moving into your being - hence the "whom you have received from God" and "who is in you" part of the verse. Then you get a very critical question - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit"?
When Paul wrote these words, he was addressing the believers in the church at Corinth on sexual immorality. However, now-a-days there are a lot more pollutants to our "temple". Considering that the Holy Spirit dwells within you and makes our body His home after we accept Jesus as our LORD, every body part that acts as an input (eyes, nose, mouth/tongue, ears) must be guarded with extreme caution. The old adage "garbage in garbage out" comes to mind here. If we truly believe we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we will want to consult Him about everything that comes into the "Temple" or our body.
However, my issue was that since my salvation at age 9 I have not been treating my body as a home for the Holy Spirit to live. No, instead, all this time I have been treating my body as a hotel and the Holy Spirit as a visitor or guest that comes and goes. The wonderful thing about my God is that no matter how I have been treating Him, He has remained faithful and continued to dwell within me via His Holy Spirit until I finally got this (thank you Lord!). My loss came when I realized that all the additional strength in the Lord and power of His might spoken of in Ephesians 6:10 - ("...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.") and all the plethora of benefits that I missed out on - could have been mine. Spiritual riches like honor, wisdom, mercy and the like could have been increased upon a hundred fold or more. Again, in 1 Corinthians 1:5-6 Paul mentions where we receive our riches and just how rich we are - "...In every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you." Rick Renner helps me here by saying, "The day you were placed in Him, they [spiritual gifts] legally became yours! In God's eyes, you are a spiritual plutocrat - so loaded with spiritual assets and treasures that you'll never be able to fully explore or exhaust all of them in your lifetime." (p.131, Sparkling Gems From the Greek) Wow!
Give it to them again Rick! "If you've been dealing with a poor self-image, grab hold of this truth, because this is the greatest self-image booster that exists! Inwardly you are so beautiful and magnificent that Almighty God wanted to live inside you! What kind of home do you think God would require? A shabby shack made of dirt and sticks? No! he has built for Himself a beautiful temple within your heart - and that is who you are right now! Now live like the magnificently decorated cathedral of God's Spirit that you are!" (p.116)
Are you a house or hotel? Are you operating under hotel management like I did for so long - treating the Holy Spirit as a visitor and missing out on so many blessings? Or are you a house/home of the Holy Spirit where God is comfortable and can speak to you on a daily basis from His Throne in the Living Room of your heart?
"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?" - 1 Corinthians 6:19
Many Christians know this verse and believe in the meaning it conveys. But I am betting that many, like me, read this verse and take in it's meaning as head knowledge Only. If we all really applied this message and all the implications that are packaged with it, we, as believers in Christ, could be more empowered, more filled with the Holy Spirit, more in line with God's will for our life, and the more's of God just keep going.
If you read this verse backwards you'll realize that after you have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior you get the benefit of the Holy Spirit moving into your being - hence the "whom you have received from God" and "who is in you" part of the verse. Then you get a very critical question - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit"?
When Paul wrote these words, he was addressing the believers in the church at Corinth on sexual immorality. However, now-a-days there are a lot more pollutants to our "temple". Considering that the Holy Spirit dwells within you and makes our body His home after we accept Jesus as our LORD, every body part that acts as an input (eyes, nose, mouth/tongue, ears) must be guarded with extreme caution. The old adage "garbage in garbage out" comes to mind here. If we truly believe we have the Holy Spirit living within us, then we will want to consult Him about everything that comes into the "Temple" or our body.
However, my issue was that since my salvation at age 9 I have not been treating my body as a home for the Holy Spirit to live. No, instead, all this time I have been treating my body as a hotel and the Holy Spirit as a visitor or guest that comes and goes. The wonderful thing about my God is that no matter how I have been treating Him, He has remained faithful and continued to dwell within me via His Holy Spirit until I finally got this (thank you Lord!). My loss came when I realized that all the additional strength in the Lord and power of His might spoken of in Ephesians 6:10 - ("...be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.") and all the plethora of benefits that I missed out on - could have been mine. Spiritual riches like honor, wisdom, mercy and the like could have been increased upon a hundred fold or more. Again, in 1 Corinthians 1:5-6 Paul mentions where we receive our riches and just how rich we are - "...In every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you." Rick Renner helps me here by saying, "The day you were placed in Him, they [spiritual gifts] legally became yours! In God's eyes, you are a spiritual plutocrat - so loaded with spiritual assets and treasures that you'll never be able to fully explore or exhaust all of them in your lifetime." (p.131, Sparkling Gems From the Greek) Wow!
Give it to them again Rick! "If you've been dealing with a poor self-image, grab hold of this truth, because this is the greatest self-image booster that exists! Inwardly you are so beautiful and magnificent that Almighty God wanted to live inside you! What kind of home do you think God would require? A shabby shack made of dirt and sticks? No! he has built for Himself a beautiful temple within your heart - and that is who you are right now! Now live like the magnificently decorated cathedral of God's Spirit that you are!" (p.116)
Are you a house or hotel? Are you operating under hotel management like I did for so long - treating the Holy Spirit as a visitor and missing out on so many blessings? Or are you a house/home of the Holy Spirit where God is comfortable and can speak to you on a daily basis from His Throne in the Living Room of your heart?
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