Daily Devotional October 18 - Don't Be Afraid To Be Holy

"Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." Ephesians 2:19-22

I love this description of the believer. First of all we are no more strangers. That means that we read the Bible. We have come to know God through an understanding given to us by God of Himself. We have come to Christ and we know it. We have gone further than being born into a Christian family. We have made a conscious choice to join up with Jesus.

We are fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God. We are not above nor are we below, we are fellow-citizens with those who have gone before us and those who are here doing the work of a believer. A fellow-citizen comes with the rights afforded all citizens. These rights are given from heaven and adopted on earth. These are the rights to blessings, power in the spirit, enlightenment in the mind, supernatural intervention into our daily affairs, answered prayer and protection and action on our behalf from the heavenly hosts.

Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Everything to do with our faith is built upon the men and women that have gone before us; those who believed and trusted God and gave us the scriptures. The apostles and prophets have disclosed the mind of God as they experienced the hand of God throughout their lives. This is the best way to communicate to multiple generations; that which happened to you personally. That's why the scriptures are true to each generation, because they were written in real time, by real people who had real experiences, recorded for our benefit.

Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone. Jesus Himself is the head of the Church, the body of Christ. It is Jesus that the scriptures point to and it is Jesus that we trust. Jesus is the rock of our salvation. Jesus is the cornerstone of our faith. No Jesus, no God. It's that simple.

All the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord. The building is your body. Your body and my body house the Holy Spirit. It is all those people from all denominations and non-denominations who trust in Christ as their saviour that make up the building, Christ is the cornerstone of that building. Fitly joined together means that everyone who has come to Christ has something to offer the body. I wish we would stop making one person higher than another. It is not that way with God.

In whom ye are also builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. We are the abode where God takes residence in the person of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. An habitation is for the living. Today, if you are a believer that Jesus Christ is your Saviour, you have within you the unlimited power of Almighty God, housed inside your inner man. You should live as if you were housing the holy oracles of God. We have the eternal word available for use as we need it supplied by the power of the Holy Spirit within. You really do have the answers. You really do have the ability. You really can live holy. You really are holy.

So much of this type of teaching is foreign to the body of Christ. God's Word goes deep and the mine of spiritual truths is laced with gems from God. But so many people have been so busy that as they walk along, even though God has dug up the gems for them and laid them on top of the ground, they are so busy they don't even see them. Keep your spiritual eyes open and let God live in you, because you are the habitation of God.