You are not your own...

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God" You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore Honour God with your body."
     - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I've come to love the community at Door Of Hope. This sunday we've started a new series on the Babylonian Empire, looking at what God had done with His people during this time. The first sermon of the series was more of an overview of the themes for the events of the time period, and we had a good little history lecture for some context.

The big theme from the sermon was that "God is God and He is sovereign; We are not God."

The above verse from 1 Corinthians in context of its passage refers to sexual immorality/impurity with our bodies, but I especially like the reasoning for putting off such behaviours. It is about submission.

We have a God who has chosen us. He has planted the Holy Spirit in us. Now that we have given our lives back over to God (for they have really always been His), the sins that we struggle with are all the little thoughts/feelings/parts within us that want to make ourselves the focus of our lives; to take control of our lives away from God and into our hands.

YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN; you were bought at a PRICE....

That price was the life of Jesus. He died on the cross. Although I was already God's property, when I eventually made the choice to follow God, the choice He gave me to make, I relinquished any right I had to preserve my will, instead submitting to God's will for my life. This was, and still is my act of worship to Him.

Submit to God, for He is God. I am HIS! I need to give to God what is God's...

Amen?

RE: Manifestation of the Spirit

Near Wilson's Promontory, Victorian Coastline, Alex Archer 2012

[In a particular charismatic service] There's a lot of space for "worship" which is a great opportunity to bring praise to God, but we are to worship God by giving over the entirety of our lives, everyday, all the time (Check out Romans 12:1-5)..

I'm not entirely sure that "worship" has a time period, and what i mean is "we're going to worship god now because we're singing" - although it is good to have a time specifically focussed on God, I wish there was more time like that in our lives. But isnt that the whole "fan into flame (2 Tim 1:6)" aspect of faith? That we are untrained in worshipping God (since the fall of man) and throughout our lives He will transform and lead us to holiness?

This is something I'm concerned about in many churches, but it seems to be specifically in the charismatic services... the presence of the spirit is not based on our feelings. There is an experiential aspect to the Spirit, because He manifests Himself in the life of his people to empower them, teach them, comfort them etc etc. BUT if you are in Christ you have the Spirit, and this is not based on human emotion; if you aren't crying on your knees or jumping for joy during "worship" time, it doesnt mean you're any more connected with the Spirit, it just means at that exact point in time, you're not reacting in an openly viewable way to any particular aspect of God's character (His goodness, faithfullness, sovereignty etc).

If the presence of the spirit is based on feelings and emotions, we can say when we dont "feel" God, that He's left us.. but He hasn't, He can't have, otherwise how can we say that God is faithful to his people?

So I find in charismatic services, its a little odd to ask "Spirit, descend on us," when we already have it inside us. It seems like a redundant question... what is a more worthy question could be "Lord, I give myself to you; please use me for your will" - we have the Spirit, but instead pray that the Spirit would work in and on and through us.. but we can't hold expectations of what that will look like because God may have the intention to miraculously heal someone before your eyes or maybe make a certain passage of scripture challenge your heart. This is all the work of that SAME spirit...

Sorry for the rambling. I hope this is edifying and not discouraging.

Peace and Blessings