Tag: A Word for Wednesday

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“Do You Not Know?”

A friend was recalling the time when his mother-in-law plopped down an edition of Reader’s Digest in front of him and urged him to take the abbreviated intelligence test featured inside. He went along with her suggestion and was greatly surprised when his final score indicated his intelligence to be of Mensa-caliber. He had done OK in school, but had no idea of the innate ability that resided within him. Had he known, he reflected, he would have applied himself more diligently in school and positioned himself better for life. He consoled himself by approaching his work with a newfound confidence in a once-latent capability.

The church in Corinth likewise had no idea of that which lived inside of them, and it took the passion of Paul to awaken them to one irrefutable truth: the Holy Spirit of God lives within every member of the body of Christ. So important to the bold apostle that they understand this that three times in two letters he pleaded with them: Do you now know? “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?”1 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”2 “Do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?”3 What can we conclude but that 1) Christ in them was indeed true; 2) His Spirit in them was vitally important; 3) these believers apparently did not know the truth of Who lived inside of them; and 4) their lack of awareness made Christ in them no less factual.

“Do you not know?” Paul’s passion of yesterday resounds to us today, and not one bit diminished. Let us receive today this glorious truth: Christ lives in me, His child; Christ lives in us, His body. Then with “Christ in you, the hope of glory,”4 let us like Paul “strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in [us].”5 For God has put His Spirit in us for a reason—that we would live in Him, and He in us, forever, and that He would work His Kingdom will through us. This we now know. Of this we can be certain. For this we give praise.

Father, by Your grace and through our faith in Christ, Your Spirit lives in us. Grace us to receive this for ourselves and to understand what it means for us. Then lead us today in the power of Your Spirit, so that Your will may be done through Your people, and that You will be glorified in your church. In Christ we pray. Amen.

1 1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV
2 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV
3 2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV
4 Colossians 1:27
5 Colossians 1:19

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Every Facet of Christ

Have you ever noticed that different people draw out different character qualities from you? Some elicit a keener sense of humor perhaps, and others stimulate you to conversations of greater depths. One offers you a safe place for vulnerability and honesty, while another stirs your intellect. This one makes you laugh along life’s journey, and that one looks back on it with you through the nostalgic lens of friendship. It takes many people to put all of our facets on display. In turn, we do the same for others—calling forth a part of them like no one else can. This is a marvelous aspect of life.

The apostle Paul once wrote, “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”1 We all have our own role in the body, for “God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.”2 Then here is the amazing thing: each one of us shines forth a facet of Christ’s being like no one else can, for we are each uniquely made, uniquely gifted, and uniquely positioned to display Jesus wherever we are. From one gleams the joy and peace of Christ to a seeker; through another, patience and kindness flow in affirmation for the downtrodden. God’s goodness and faithfulness find voice through the witness who has experienced the same, and Christlike gentleness and self-control declare personal worth to those who question their own.

There is no need to doubt our Kingdom impact in the world, nor to envy that of another. Each of us displays a facet of Christ, and collectively His body is seen through all of us. Be you—your newly created you3—for Christ shines uniquely through you.

Father, thank You for creating me exactly the way you did, and for redeeming me in Christ and making me new. Be glorified—every facet of Yourself—through the body of Christ, to which you have so graciously made me a part. In His name and by the power of the Spirit I pray. Amen.

1 1 Corinthians 12:27
2 1 Corinthians 12:18
3 2 Corinthians 5:17

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The Person We Long To Be

Last week I shared with you some wisdom a friend offers from time to time: “Give up all hope of a better past.” It makes so much sense, for we waste a lot of life reliving, regretting or resenting that which is now gone and forever unchangeable. We can learn from our past and apply life’s lessons—indeed we should—but we do well to engage life as it comes, with well-placed hope and confidence. “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,” wrote David, “for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.”1

This week, I offer a corollary to my friend’s maxim: “Give up all hope of a better flesh.” In a Biblical sense, “flesh” can mean our sin nature, or more relatably it is that self-willed part of us that wants to live life on our terms and not God’s. It presents itself in many ways: greed, manipulation, apathy, arrogance, infidelity, fear, unforgiveness, dishonesty, self-righteousness . . . we know this all too well. We try so hard, day after day, to remove our flaws, but they are deeply rooted; on our own we can only prune them for appearances’ sake. We can modify our behavior to an extent or for a time, but we cannot by our own effort change our flesh.

And this is good news! For God has provided a better way: we do not change our old self and its sinful nature; we exchange it for a new self, created to be like Jesus.2 Wrote Paul, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!”3 Our sin no longer disparagingly defines us, nor must our sin nature callously control us, for God has given us the means to live a renewed life in Him. Long ago He foretold, “I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”4 And in Christ, God has done so, for through faith, the Spirit of Christ lives in us,5 just as God promised He would. The life of the Christian, then, is not the fruitless toil of self-help; rather it is believing who God is in us, receiving what He is doing in us, and submitting to His call in us. We will become the person we long to be, for He makes us so.

Father, thank You for making me new and for changing who I am. “I put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life.” In Christ and by the power of the Spirit I pray. Amen.

1 Psalm 143:8
2 Ephesians 4:22-24
3 2 Corinthians 5:17
4 Ezekiel 36:27
5 Romans 8:9-10