This morning as I awakened, these thoughts were on my
mind. Because they are coming from the
Scriptures, I can't help but believe the Lord is underscoring my need to go
deeper in the reality of His Truth in His Word concerning "Christ in You,
the hope of glory." I really need
Jesus more than ever!
The analogy (I've thought of this before) came to mind of
one of the glasses in our kitchen and water.
Is the glass the same as the water or are they separate? That's an easy one to answer: they are different.
But the water goes inside the glass and we say "glass
of water." The cup then is a
container and has the privilege of the water being poured out into someone's
mouth!
When Christ came in our hearts, we have been now called by
God "temples of the Holy Spirit."
Last week the verse was quoted "We have this TREASURE in earthen
vessels."
So Who He is? God
went to great lengths to describe WHO it is that now lives in us: Rivers of Living Waters, the Spirit Who bears
fruit (Galatians 5), Christ, our Life and hope of glory, Love (God is Love),
Gifts of His Spirit, Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge, the Power of God, and
so forth.
This is so simple to think about but its reality I believe,
could be more profound in our lives. The
question then is what does this look like in my life as His vessel? So I decided to make a list of the things I
could think of from God's Word of Truth to further drive home the preciousness
of Christ living inside of us by His Spirit - and this priceless HOPE of Glory:
(1) He is
indeed the power over sin. Sin does not
have to have dominion over us. Romans 6
(2) He wants
me (us) to discover the Spirit's gifting in and through me for others. And to employ by His leading, the preciousness
of His ability to edify, strengthen, and encourage others. Is this different from talents? I think so.
The Holy Spirit can be reflected through talents as well, but coupled
with the gift of God's Spirit He Himself
placed within us. But it's all still Him
flowing out through us. We're just
containers. Most importantly, Christ Jesus in us in NOT in a competition match. He simply wants us to be our true
selves. He only wants us to be the
person HE wants us to be, and show us how HE wants to live through us. What a relief! I spent YEARS not being my true self always
"picking on me!"
(3) God says
we can be strengthened in our inner man by His Holy Spirit within our
hearts. The strength is for apprehending
the deep knowledge of Christ , apprehending the deep love of Christ and God, and
for service. God's wisdom is available
to our hearts and minds 24/7 in all things pertaining to living on this planet
and relating with one another. I've
discovered that unless we rely on Christ, people do not really relate rightly
to each other some of the time.
(4) God's
Spirit in us is a sound mind. We do not
have to be tossed to and fro by Satanic implications, impressions, lies,
accusations, and all that he does. We
can lean upon God 24/7 - His Spirit is inside of us to guide us into all Truth
and in all things. God wants to show us
the wonderful words of His life so that our hearts "burn with us" as
He teaches us. Luke 24
(5) We can
pray by the Spirit's power and ability.
"The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails
much." I can't think of any more of
a Righteous Man than Jesus Christ - He's
the ONLY righteous man and He lives in us!
Therefore I can lean on Him in my heart to learn how to pray effectively
for others and all the situations of this life.
(6) It would
be God's greatest joy for us to discover in FULLNESS, WHO it is WHO lives in us
and HOW He says He has overcome the world (though we still have
tribulation). We are to keep our eyes on
Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith!
He is able to take us where we have not been before and keep us in those
things He has already perfected in us! "That
we may be filled with ALL the fullness of God."
Now on Thursday, I'd like to share why I believe it is
important to lean upon Jesus Christ in our hearts and not have dependence on our
vessels. Kind of touched on that last
week with Paul describing his not having any confidence in his flesh. But
there's a good reason. And mostly, God
wants us to discover the JOY of Christ's life within - and there's a good
reason for this too!
He in us, Us in Him,
Sue Gaither
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