East End

12-30-07

"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. 6:19, 20).
I thought I would share the verses that are going to be my focal point as I begin to lost weight. One thing we must understand is that we should not diet. I know people are thinking, what? But a diet is something that you do to drop a few quick pounds and then you go off of it until you put the weight back on. It is a never ending yo-yo cycle. We should make lifestyle changes, something that has a definite start date but no end date. You know something, I think that would preach! But as any good bible student would do, you want to make sure you are understanding what you reading in its proper context. When Paul penned these verses through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he as specifically targeting sexual immorality. We see that by starting our reading in verse 12 of chapter six. So does this mean that my verses aren't applicable? Of course not! Let's take a quick inside look at these two verses. "Or do you not know"-Paul is essentially saying, "have you forgotten this fact?" What fact? Fact-"that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you." Paul is telling is audience, don't forget that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. The key word in that is HOLY. A simple definition of holy is, separation from what is common or unclean, and consecration to God. Man is unholy or in other words, unclean in our spirit, unrighteous, and selfish. Therefore to be holy means to be clean in spirit (justified), righteous, and selfless, or to be like God (1 Peter 1:16). How can an unclean, unrighteous, selfish person be holy? The answer is in the next phrase, "whom you have from God." The answer, you can't be holy unless the Holy Spirit lives in you and the only way the Holy Spirit can live inside of you is when He is sent from God. When does God send the Holy Spirit to live inside of you? You receive the Holy Spirit when you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you accept Jesus you trade in your uncleanness, unrighteousness, and selfishness for the holiness of God. How do you do that? It has already been done for you when Jesus died on the cross for ALL of your sins. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you "you are not your own" (verse 19). You know longer belong to yourself which would lead to death and eternal separation from God, but you are God's and that entitles you to an inheritance, heaven. "For you were bought at a price"-many people ask what did God pay for me? He paid it all with the sacrificial death of His son Jesus. He paid the highest price one can pay. And having knowledge of that Paul says "therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (verse 20). What does all of this mean to us today? First of all it is one way that Jesus fulfills His promise to always be there with us (Matthew 28:20). Secondly it means that we should be living for God's purpose in our life and not our own. And it also means that we should take the very best care of our body because it is the temple of God. You wouldn't want your actual house dirty when company comes over even for a few moments, so we shouldn't want our temple to be dirty and unfit when God takes up permanent residence. I believe this is an area in which I have lacked in and I believe that I can not be as effective of a minister if I am not giving my very best to God body, mind, and soul. Therefore I would like to ask you all to pray for me during this journey. My heartfelt cry out to God is that I will be healthy to serve Him the way I should, serve and be with and around for my family, and serve my church the way God calls me to. The only way this will happen is if consecrate all of me to God. This isn't a "New Year's resolution" this is a "Sold out for Jesus solution." I am anxious to watch God work a miracle in my life and transform me into the man of God I was called to be. If you are going out to ring in the new year please be careful, have a safe, fun, and God honoring time and make God your solution for 2008, because He is a Mighty God! God bless you!