INDWELT BY DEITY

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14:23, NKJV).

Devotion 9 of 9

CONCLUSION

I have labored to proclaim and confirm that the people of God are a dwelling place for Deity. This occurs on both the individual and collective basis. Each believer is an individual temple in which the Spirit of God dwells. As it is written, "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?" (1 Cor 6:19). Conversely, believers also "are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit" (Eph 2:22). How precious and challenging is this truth! It is not to be denied that there are many abuses of this doctrine. But we must not allow corruptions of the truth to hinder us embracing the truth itself. In Christ, God and man come together. It is a very real union, begun in salvation and soon to be consummated when our Lord comes again. Our identity with God in the world to come will be but an enhancement of what has been experienced in His salvation by grace, through faith. This indwelling is not intended to simply make us feel good. It is not a mere novelty about which we talk, and which promotes hope of enlarging our religious borders. We demean the truth, dishonor Jesus, and blaspheme the God of heaven when we attempt to use truth for self-gain. Israel pursued this goal, leaving us an example of its futility. They crucified Christ because He was perceived as a threat to their self-conceived religious system. Do not think for one moment that men are not tempted to take the same course today. Deity comes to dwell within us in order that divine purpose might be realized in and through us. This is the means God has chosen to implement His "eternal purpose." This is how He works in us to will and to do of His own good pleasure (Phil 2:12-13). Let every child of God begin to rely upon this rich resource of divine power. "I am with you always" is not just rhetoric--it is a present reality for all willing to take the Lord at His word. PRAYER POINT: Father, give me grace to be a suitable dwelling place for Your Spirit, Your Son, and Yourself. I desire to walk with You, and experience the sweetness and invigorating effects of your fellowship. Prepare me now to dwell with you then! Fill me here, that I may fit in THERE.

-- TOMORROW: New Series, -- THE RELATION OF THOSE IN CHRIST TO THE FATHER