There is no one greater than the Lord God. He is all powerful. He is mighty to save. He is brilliant in all His ways. No battle is strong enough to take Him down. Those that are on the Lord’s side are made strong. The enemy can do nothing against God’s people. For the Lord is their God. He fights their battles with them. The saints of God are not alone for He dwells within them. 4Paul said the mystery of the gospel is that Christ can live inside of us. What a wonderful gift from God. To think that the almighty God of the heavens can have a place inside of us is amazing. 1“Great is the Lord” and we have the privilege to know Him. He is 1“greatly to be praised”. Give Him honor in everything you do. Rejoice for you are saved. You have been brought out of darkness and are placed into His glorious light. 3Temptations have no more power over you for the armor of God is upon You. You are girded up in Your faith in Christ. Your belief in the Lord God is what leads and guides you. The loving kindness of God dwells 1“in the midst of thy temple.” 2You are the temple of the living God. Make yourself holy in the Lord that He may always dwell within you. Where sin abides there lies temptation of the evil one. God cannot dwell in unholy temples. If you are not cleansed by the blood of Jesus then repent. Let the Lord cast out all addiction and demons in your lives. Anything that possesses us, besides the Lord, is evil. Let Jesus cast it out. You don’t have this ability to be redeemed from your faults but only through Jesus. Trust in Him for deliverance.
5Submit your lives to God. No longer let the members of your body fight inside of you. There is nothing good that can come from this. If The Lord is not with you, then you will, more easily, fall into the lusts of the flesh. Because your shield is down, there is no power to resist sin. Only with the Lord can we withstand any temptations of the devil. His presence makes us holy. If He is your fortress, then you can do no evil. If any of you are being afflicted, even now, it is not the fault of God. It was your decision to forget your King. Even prayers can fall upon deaf ears if it is not heartfelt. James taught, 5“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” If you have gone astray from God, repent! Confess Your sins openly to God. Tell the Lord sorry and ask for forgiveness. Humble yourself and ask these things from the bottom of your heart. Speaking of God, James taught, 5“But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” In humility, God will come and set you free from bondage. Come to the feet of Jesus and 5“cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Through Christ the Lord, we are made new. We were once dead but are now alive. We were once blind but can now see. Our body was once full of darkness but it is now full light. Your temple was spotted but it is now clean. Because our life is for God, He can now dwell within us.
Let us pray:
Oh Lord, give me clean hands and a pure heart. My heart is unclean when You aren’t around. The lusts of my flesh are evident when I have left You. When I am far from You then I am so lost. There is no light but only darkness. This type of life is difficult and trying. I am unable to bear the temptations without You. My flesh is too weak when I am on my own. Lord, I cannot live this life alone. I need You to bear me up. I need You to lead and guide me. I am sorry for walking away from You, so often. Forgive me, my Lord. I no longer wish to walk in unholy temples. I wish to walk in Your ways. Come and dwell within me. You are welcome here. My life is Yours. Fill me with Your love, all my days. I rejoice just to know You. I praise Your holy Name. I love You. Amen.
Let us read the Bible:
Note: Any Numbered References, found above, are listed below.
1Psalm 48:1,2,9-14 (KJV)
1 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness.
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King.
9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple.
10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness.
11 Let mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad, because of thy judgments.
12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following.
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.
21 Corinthians 6:15-20 (KJV)
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
3Ephesians 6:10-18 (KJV)
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
4Colossians 1:25-29 (KJV)
25 Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;
26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
5James 4:1-10 (KJV)
1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?
2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
