Living Repositories of the Treasures of God

1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

We are vessels of the living water that dwells within us. We are not the the stream or the rain shower that brings the precious water. We are only the collecting places where the thirsty can come to be quenched.

We are the lanterns of the Light of the World. We are not the sun or the moon that brings the precious light. We are only the beacons that allow the light to shine into the darkness of the world around us.

We are the temples of Jesus Christ. We produce nothing on our own, but we are the repositories of the gifts of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We are conduits of the perfect love and forgiveness of Our Heavenly Father. Nothing that flows from us is of ourselves. It is all the perfection of Jesus Christ within us. God could have chosen angels to deliver His message, but He chose weaker vessels so that His power might be glorified and His treasures might be shared with all men.

Let us prepare ourselves to receive and pass along every good thing that the Father has set aside for us. Let us seek to be living founts of the goodness and loving kindness of Almighty God. Let us be good stewards of His presence in our lives.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to deliver Your treasures to the world. We rejoice in knowing that You have pulled us from the pit, cleansed us with the blood of Your Son, Jesus, and made us worthy to be lamps upon a hill. We pray, Lord, that You will reveal to us everything in our lives that hinders the flow of Your gifts. May we live in the fullness of Our Savior. May all the glory be Yours. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Water and the Everlasting Light, Jesus Christ.

Messengers of Hope

Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God. All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become.

From this passage, we learn that for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that we become new men and women in Christ, just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul. As new men and women in Christ, the Holy Spirit is given to us to reveal the lies of this world. The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God’s love.

But do not miss the second message of this passage. There would have been no conversion for Paul without the obedience of Ananias to got out and deliver the message of God, even though He questioned the righteousness of the one that he was called to minister to. We must be careful not to withhold the message of hope from anyone because we feel they are not worthy.

Let us make ourselves seekers of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Let us learn to overcome the world through the power of Our Wonderful Counselor. Let us make ourselves deliverers of the truth to others who God places around us.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ. We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them. We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us. We pray that our hearts are prepared to view every person as worthy to receive the Good News that we possess. We ask all these things in the name of the One who rescues those whose spirits are crushed, Jesus Christ.