DCLM Higher Everyday 18 March 2023 — Destroying God’s Temple?
DCLM Higher Everyday 18 March 2023 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Destroying God’s Temple?
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TOPIC: DESTROYING GOD’S TEMPLE?
TEXT: 1 CORINTHIANS 3:16-19
16Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
18Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
KEY VERSE: “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 CORINTHIANS 3:17).
MESSAGE:
“Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God’s new Temple. They are, individually and corporately, places where heaven and earth meet,” says N.T. Wright. Scripturally, the temple is the centerpiece where God dwells among His people. When Solomon dedicated the temple he built for God, the glory of God filled it (1 Kings 8:10, 11). As God’s child, you are also His dwelling place for the manifestation of His glory.
In the New Covenant, the temple refers not to a building of stones but to the human body, especially the body of every child of God. Today’s Scripture is warning you to desist from destroying that temple. How do you destroy the temple of God, which is your body? Some youth do so by yielding themselves to occult powers, sexual immorality, tattooing, abortion, and involvement in hard drugs.
In addition, many are copying worldly fashions which tend to be nudity. God cannot share His temple (your body) with Satan. If indeed you are born again, keep yourself pure for God’s habitation.
QUOTE: Keep yourself pure
CHALLENGE: Do not allow dark powers to destroy God’s temple.
PRAYER FOR TODAY: Oh Lord, help me to preserve Your temple.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
