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 Corinthians 6:19-20 NKJV)
My independence as a blind woman almost culminated in a trip I took to Gatlinburg Tennessee with my guide dog, Iva. Notice I said it almost culminated. Have you ever come down too hard on yourself? I discovered I couldn’t do it all myself, and I needed help from someone else. I marked that as a failure in my ability to be self-reliant.
But God doesn’t desire self-reliance. God wants us relying on Him, not self.
I just returned from a writers and speakers conference, Proclaim, and I relied on God rather than self. When God helps us, it comes in a multitude of faces. I praised God when I did it and I praised Him when someone did it for me.
What’s all that got to do with the abundant life? I’m glad you asked.
As our focal Scriptures tell us, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes, that temple needs a good cleansing.
In John 2:11-12, Jesus found some price gouging happening in the temple. He drove the sellers out of the temple with a whip of cords.
Friend, I had to drive out my self-reliance before I could walk in the abundant life. I had to overturn some wrong attitudes, and I had to pour out any sin.
In the same manner that Jesus cleansed the temple in Jerusalem, we must cleanse our temples for the Holy Spirit who dwells there. We operate by the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot walk in that abundant life where blessings overflow and prayers are answered, if our temple is a mess.
Once we stop grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit, and we provide a holy atmosphere for Him to dwell in, we will see the difference in our lives.
Friend, ask God what you need to drive out of your temple. Maybe you already know. When you overturn the sin and wrong attitudes, you will walk in His abundance.
Heavenly Father, show me the selfish attitudes that dirty up my temple. Cleanse me from sin, and enable me to walk in holiness. In Jesus’s name. Amen.
DIG DEEPER
HIKING THE TRAIL
What do you need to drive out of your temple? Seek God’s help, but also determine the steps you must take. How can you begin today?
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Originally posted on March 4, 2022 @ 3:00 am
Good word! Fear of the unknown is what needs to be cleansed from my temple.