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"God Is Looking for Available Vessels - Tag You're It!"
By John Belt
Hello Friends,
How many times in my life have I just had to "get away" from the noise going on around me? The answer
is...many! Early on in my walk with God, I found out just how important it was to have alone time with the Lord. It's just not an option if you really want to walk in the experiential reality of His presence. This is where His glory is more than a thought;
it's tangible and a place you can return to at any time. Is that possible? Absolutely! God has created us to be "vessels" that are to be filled with His Spirit.
"Or do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, who you have from God? And you are not your own..." (1 Corinthians 6:19)
The Temple of God
God calls you
a temple. How amazing, profound and powerful is that? Why is that powerful? If you look into the history of how God inhabited the temple in the Old Testament, even the "Holiest of All" as referred to in the book of Hebrews, you see that God is drawing a parallel
here between that and us.
In Christ, we are now the temples that God dwells in; just as Jesus told His disciples that He was with them but would be in them in the presence and power of the Holy Spirit
– even saying it was better that He went away. Why better? Because the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, would come to indwell His people.
Imagine the Old Testament picture and type, when God's presence
would rest on the Ark of the Covenant and fill the Holy of Holies – even the Tabernacle. Then comes Jesus, the living, breathing Tabernacle of God, Who dwelt among His disciples. They saw His glory as the Word become flesh, dwelling among them.
Today, we are living after the example of Jesus, as He was the Man indwelt and anointed by the Holy Spirit as a living tabernacle of God. We are now all made worthy by the Blood of Christ to be indwelled by the Spirit
as temples of God.
This brings us to the purpose of spending time with God. You see in Acts 2 that the 120 were filled in the upper room. Later in the book of Acts, they were continually "re-filled" with
the Spirit. We need to see this pattern as it is important for us to understand how this works. We continually need to receive a "refreshing and refilling" of the Holy Spirit daily.
Living in the Overflow
of His Glory
"And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)
We are told to be "filled with
the Spirit." This clearly shows our need to continually pursue the Lord that we may be overflowing with His presence in our lives. We need times alone with God, having communion with His Spirit, and we need unified times of engagement with the Lord together.
Both of these contribute to living in an overflow of His glory.
Personal engagement in our communion with God, and corporate fellowship in God's presence – Christ in us as the common bond and denominator
in our gatherings – result in greater glory and impact in our spheres of influence in the geographical areas where we live.
There is no overestimating what God will do as we give ourselves
over to living wholly devoted to the Lord – even in the most intimate fellowship with His Spirit.
The good news is that He has qualified you for this! Maybe that seems distant to you today, but all
God looks for are willing and available vessels to be used for His most extraordinary purposes! TAG... You're it!
Have a great day and enjoy His presence always!
By John and Brandi Belt
Belt Ministries
Email: hello@beltministries.com
Website: www.beltministries.com
ElijahList Publications
528 Ellsworth St. SW
Albany, OR 97321
www.elijahlist.com
email: info@elijahlist.net
Phone 1-541-926-3250