Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-

True Piety 

Dr. Julie Vinod

Salem MTC, New York

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

The passage from 1 Corinthians 3:10-19, is about Paul’s conversation with the Church of Corinth. In Verse 16, where Paul refers to the body as a temple, he was referring to the Corinthian Church as a whole, and as the temple of God, the Holy Spirit rested on every one of us. Paul makes a strong appeal to these worldly believers to remember the serious truth, “you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you”. We are God’s temples where God wants us to be His agents of change. In order to fulfill God’s will, we need to have the power of Holy Spirit.

God is our refuge and strength and we need a firm foundation to build that temple in our lives, and this is possible only through Jesus Christ. Our foundation must be solid and strong in faith and God’s Word. This leads to discipleship as God lives in us. Building God’s temple is an ongoing process that must be nourished with prayer and God’s Word.  We sometimes don’t realize the peril until the damage has been done. Hasty devotions make weak faith, feeble convictions and questionable piety. The foundation of the temple is to be united through prayer with Jesus as the Cornerstone. There will be no boundaries to when God’s temple is built within us. We are to work together and preach the Gospel not only through our words but also with our deeds. We are called to imitate God’s love by surrendering ourselves into His hands. Paul tells the Corinthians in the end, “you are of Christ and Christ is of God”

The key to God’s temple is our faith. It keeps us close to God because the Holy Spirit lives in us and assures us that in our relationship with Jesus we can do many things to glorify God. We are to be generous to the needy, pray for those who persecute us, and forgive our enemies. The only way we can do this is by making sure that God’s temple within us is filled with love, especially the love Christ.

PRAYER


Dear God, we pray that we may live worthy of the calling to which You have called us. May  Your Word  take root in our bodies and produce true piety. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

“Blessed is he who believes in the unseen and maintains his body as God’s temple where the spirit dwells”

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
  Constant, patient and welcoming love of God   St. Luke 15: 11-32  V.21: And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ The parable of the ‘Prodigal son’ is one of the most frequently quoted parables that Jesus told His disciples. The parable contains the rich mine of human virtues and emotions. This parable is lived and re-lived in progressing civilizations from time immemorial and continuing. It brings out in vivid detail the pathetic depth of human sinfulness and the glorious heights of God’s forgiveness.      As a story of human nature, fathers are generally merciful to their children in any circumstance. They are very protective and are eager to provide for and secure the lives of their offspring. Jesus is telling this parable to underscore the superlative love of God to His children. The nature of such love is reiterated by Jesus in Matthew 7:11. Humankind who are evil by nature, give good gifts t
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
PRIESTHOOD: THE ANOINTED MINISTRY Exodus 40:12-16 Bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting... wash them with water. Then dress Aaron in the sacred garments, anoint him and consecrate him so he may serve me as priest (Exodus 40: 12-13). Priesthood among the people of God was a divine command and initiation. God wanted some people to be separated for the special ministry among his people. God appointed Aaron and his descendants to take up this kind of ministry among the people of God. Priests are always separated and appointed as channels that connect God with his people. All throughout the history of Israel, priests played an important role in connecting people with God and to lead and guide them in the statutes of God. But there are incidents in the Bible where the priests failed in their duties and that led the people to go away from God. So the priests have a special and significant ministry to perform in this world among his people. Two important things
Read more

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

-
Revelation for Liberation Acts 27:18-26 Sherine Thomas Long Island MTC, NY 20  When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest raged, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. “After winter comes the summer.  After night comes the dawn.  And after every storm, there comes clear open skies” so said a Scottish clergyman from the 1600s. It’s been said, that hope can sometimes be the most dangerous weapon.  However, it’s sometimes the hardest weapon to carry when you’re living with the loss of a loved one, something that almost feels like a terrible nightmare that’ll never go away.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry when day in and day out no one seems to hear or see those tears that are shed or silent cries that are made during a heartfelt prayer. It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you see your loved one lying on that hospital bed.  It’s a weapon difficult to carry as you search and seek out answers to tell a child as to why they’ve been a
Read more