(S) I Corinth. 6:19-20 = Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.
(O) After Paul reminds the church about how the wicked will not inherit the Kingdom of God and how our bodies were not meant for sexual immorality, he then reminds us that our bodies are not our own! We are not only to equip ourselves daily to avoid all sin, we are to treat our human bodies as a temple for the Holy Spirit. God sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the ultimate price for our sins. The least, the very least, we can do is maintain our bodies as a temple for the Holy Spirit.
(A) I often use the phrase, "I owe you" or "I owe you big time!" whenever someone does me a huge favor. We so often try to reciprocate favors with a good deed of equal value or at least maintain an "indebted" feeling towards that person who helped us out. How much more then can we be indebted to Christ? We can't! He died for us! So, the least I can do is: maintain a lifestyle devoted to God; have a heart and soul committed to serving Him and doing His will; purge all sin and sinful thoughts from my body on a regular basis; and to make it a priority to do everything possible to allow the Holy Spirit to live in me freely, at peace, and without hesitation.
(P) Father, Please cleanse my heart of all anger, frustration, and sin I might have felt this past week. I want to please you while I'm here on Earth, but I also want to honor You by living in a way that allows the Holy Spirit to dwell in me (His temple) freely and comfortably. I don't ever want You or Your Spirit to feel second in my life or ousted by my sin. Help me to always remember that my body is not my own, that you paid the price for my sins, and that I maintain my human body as a temple for You to reside in. Thank you for loving me and for sending us your precious Son. I love you! Amen.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
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My comment is actually in response to the service today, Christ's command to love our enemies and do them good, as well as Marilyn's testimony on God's work in her life so she could eventually forgive her ex husband and his second wife.
ReplyDeleteA little over a month ago a childhood friend from when we were both 5 years old, befriended me in Facebook. How she found me, I don't know since we had not been in touch since those days. We have been sending each other messages catching up on our lives. She has a daughter with some mild disabilities, so we have things in common. Her marriage ended up in divorce as he wasn't able to handle the challenges. She has seen God work miracles as an answer to her prayer at critical points in her daughter's life. So she believes in God and his wilingness to hear our prayers. She even encouraged me to pray for my back trouble.
She posted a comment on her FB wall on Friday, "Love those who love you and forget those who don't treat you well." Not exactly the words of Jesus... I was wondering how I would be able to respond to her, trying to encourage her towards God's direction in our lives without sounding judgemental. She goes to the Lutheran church on Sundays, but depending on where the pastor is at, the services don't always direct people to following Christ, unfortunately.
So today's service was God's answer to my pondering what to tell her. I will tell her Marilyn's story of God's redemption in the lives of her family members and pray that this will give my friend a better understanding of who God is and challenge him to do the impossible for us without Him - loving our enemies and praying for them.
Tuula
Thank you for a timely message. I have a boss that has been difficult to love and she has seen attempt from me to be helpful from an entirely different perspective. My challenge is to love her anyway and do my best to respect where she is at. I have encouraged a co-worker to chin up. Gods word says anyone can work for a nice boss but there are more blessings in working for a bully boss and still honor God. We really work for Him anyway. Our goal is to not let our flesh respond with bitterness. Allowing the Holy Spirit to give us what we need.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing these thoughts Carol. These verses spoke to me as well and this subject has been on my mind for a while now. We're 'dared' to love and care for our physical selves as well as reaching out to love others. And my prayer was for God to help me to remember to make good, healthy decisions about my body in order to have the health and energy to love those around me.
ReplyDelete-LisaM
12Just because something is technically legal doesn't mean that it's spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I'd be a slave to my whims.
ReplyDeleteI work in a classroom as a para with teens with autism. We are required by the teacher to hold on to a gate belt around the students waist because he continues to run from class. He likes to run to the library and sit on the comfy couches. He also likes to down load music at home on the internet. He isn't stupid. The mother has approved the use but is pains me and other staff members to use it. The teacher is convinced he will not respond consistently to positive reinforcement. Teacher is under investigation at present but not for this. She says the IEP allows this. The verse above just shouted at me that just because it may be legal I pray we find another way. God went before this student on another occasion. He was jumping out of his seat on the bus and God provided an aid instead of the jacket and hand restraints they were attempting to get to use. So far that person is me. Pray that will continue and the God will provide the teacher with ideas for behavior that will be more positive. Like a comfy chair in our class!!
Thank you.
tina
Thanks Carol,
ReplyDeleteI found myself very much hearing a similar message to Lisa M. above. Help me Lord to honor you with my physical self to have the energy and ability to care for others around me.