NT25 FASTSample

Day 17: 2 Corinthians 12-Ephesians 2

Jane Spring, Elder at UPPERROOM

After reading what Paul wrote to the Corinthians, who were unable to deal with impurity and quarreling in their midst, the main takeaway for me is the same as Paul’s words to the Galatians and Ephesians. It is what God has proved true in my life over 79 years: every person must learn to depend on the Holy Spirit—“God in us”—for revelation and power to get along, love, and forgive.

Religion is not enough! I must depend on Jesus and His sacrifice to be “good enough” for God. Paul says we cannot “be cheerful,” “repair what is broken,” or “unify with each other” without God in us! Paul encourages them and us to enjoy “the precious communion that we share in the Holy Spirit that is ours continually.”

God can live in us because Jesus cleanses us as a “pot to hold the good wine” or as a “stone in God’s temple” here on earth. Jesus is the first human stone, the cornerstone! When Jesus cleansed the temple in Jerusalem, that was a “sign” of what He does for us—makes us clean and a place for God to dwell.

We are no longer Jew or Gentile but “one new man” in whom the Holy Spirit dwells. Our Father chose us before creation to be a display of God’s mercy!