Lifetime Daily DevotionsSample

The Dwelling Place of God

Before the New Covenant days, it was common knowledge as to where God lived: "in the temple down on the square." He told the people very clearly that this would be His "house."

Then Christ came and walked the narrow streets of Jerusalem, climbed the hills of Israel, and went fishing on the Sea of Galilee. On that catastrophic day when He was crucified, the veil in the temple -- behind which God resided -- was ripped down the middle from top to bottom!

And everyone could see where God had lived.

But He wasn't "homeless" very long. He moved in with me . . . and He moved in with you.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

"But Anabel, that's so . . . well, so . . . ethereal. I can't seem to grasp it . . . it eludes me."

Do you know why? It's because you want to feel something that would validate it for you. You want to see a difference. But Truth is Truth. God cannot lie. And He has said to us, "My Spirit now lives in you. This makes you holy ground, a temple of the living God."

"Wait a minute, Anabel. You're saying I'm 'holy ground'? the 'temple of God' "?

Oh no, I'm not, God is. You need evidence? All right. Let's look at some verses and discover who you are as a Christian and what Christ is in your life.

I've written down what each of the following verses says about you. Read it out loud so you can hear what God is saying. And remember, we are not talking about feelings; we're talking about your true identity.

John 1:12 I am a child of God (Romans 8:16).

John 15:1,5 I am a part of the true vine, a channel (branch) of His Life.

John 15:15 I am Christ's friend.

John 15:16 I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit.

Acts 1:8 I am a personal witness of Christ for Christ.

Romans 3:24 I have been justified and redeemed.

Romans 5:1 I have been justified (completely forgiven and made righteous) and am at peace with God.

Romans 6:1-6 I died with Christ and died to the power of sin's rule in my life.

Romans 6:7 I have been freed from sin's power over me.

Romans 6:18 I am a slave of righteousness.

Romans 6:22 I am enslaved to God.

Romans 8:1 I am forever free from condemnation.

Romans 8:14,15 I am a son of God (God is literally my "Papa") (Galatians 3:26; 4:6).

Romans 8:17 I am an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ.

Romans 11:16 I am holy.

Romans 15:7 Christ has accepted me.

1 Corinthians 1:2 I have been sanctified.

1 Corinthians 1:30 I have been placed in Christ by God's doing; Christ is now my wisdom from God, my righteousness, my sanctification, and my redemption.

1 Corinthians 2:12 I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God.

1 Corinthians 2:16 I have been given the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19 I am a temple (home) of God; His Spirit (His life) dwells in me.

1 Corinthians 6:17 I am joined to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:19,20 I have been bought with a price; I am not my own; I belong to God.

1 Corinthians 12:27 I am a member of Christ's body (Ephesians 5:30).

2 Corinthians 1:21 I have been established in Christ and anointed by God.

2 Corinthians 2:14 He always leads me in His triumph in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14,15 Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17 I am a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:18,19 I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:21 I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

Galatians 2:4 I have liberty in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ's life.

Galatians 3:26,28 I am a child of God and one in Christ.

Galatians 4:6,7 I am a child of God and an heir through God.

Ephesians 1:1 I am a saint (1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2).

Ephesians 1:3 I am blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Ephesians 1:4 I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him.

Ephesians 1:7,8 I have been redeemed and forgiven, and am a recipient of His lavish grace.

Ephesians 2:5 I have been made alive together with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6 I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven.

Ephesians 2:10 I am God's workmanship, created in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that I should do.

Ephesians 2:13 I have been brought near to God.

Ephesians 2:18 I have direct access to God through the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19 I am a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of God's household.

Ephesians 3:6 I am a fellow heir, a fellow member of the body, and a fellow partaker of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:12 I may approach God with boldness and confidence.

Ephesians 4:24 I am righteous and holy.

Philippians 3:20 I am a citizen of heaven.

Philippians 4:7 His peace guards my heart and my mind.

Philippians 4:19 God will supply all my needs.

Colossians 1:13 I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ.

Colossians 1:14 I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled (Colossians 2:13,14).

Colossians 1:27 Christ Himself is in me.

Colossians 2:7 I have been firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built up and established in Him.

Colossians 2:10 I have been made complete in Christ.

Colossians 2:12,13 I have been buried, raised, and made alive with Christ, and totally forgiven.

Colossians 3:1 I have been raised with Christ.

Colossians 3:3 I have died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:4 Christ is now my life.

Colossians 3:12 I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (1 Thessalonians 1:4).

1 Thessalonians 5:5 I am a child of light and not of darkness.

2 Timothy 1:7 I have been given a spirit of power, love, and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:9 I have been saved and called (set apart) according to God's purpose and grace (Titus 3:5).

Hebrews 2:11 Because I am sanctified and am one with Christ, He is not ashamed to call me His.

Hebrews 3:1 I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling.

Hebrews 3:14 I am a partaker of Christ.

Hebrews 4:16 I may come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Peter 2:5 I am one of God's living stones and am being built up as a spiritual house.

1 Peter 2:9,10 I am a part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession.

1 Peter 2:11 I am an alien and stranger to this world that I temporarily live in.

1 Peter 5:8 I am an enemy of the devil. He is my adversary.

2 Peter 1:4 I have been given God's precious and magnificent promises by which I am a partaker of the divine nature.

1 John 3:1 God has bestowed a great love on me and called me His child.

1 John 4:15 God is in me and I am in God.

Now, even though you may not "feel" like these verses are true, are they in fact true? Yes. Why? Because God said so. You, then, must accept His Word and act like what He has called you: a wonderful new creation! The very dwelling place of God!

* * *

We are so uninhibited as children. How well I remember dancing on my front porch, pretending I was Ginger Rogers. It didn't matter how many people went by. As far as I was concerned, when they looked at me they were seeing Ginger: long blonde hair(pageboy style), willowy, graceful, and beautiful. But I was just "pretending."

When we "act out" Jesus living through us -- in us -- we are notpretending. It is truth! But the people who are watching will see the grace and beauty ofHim "dancing" through us. How we cheat ourselves every day when we say,"This is too difficult for me to understand . . . too mystical. I just can't doit."

Come on. Let's go out on the front porch and dance!

This chart is taken from Anabel Gillham, The Confident Woman (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993)