THE HOLY BIBLE – New International Version (NIV) ~ 2 Corinthians 7:1 ~ Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

THOUGHTS: I believe that every believer in Jesus Christ would probably have as a primary objective in 2016 to surrender ourselves so fully to Christ that He might perfect in us His holiness. And there poses an awesome challenge for you and I friends, for we already know from the Word of God that He will not allow His Holy Spirit to reside in any earthen vessel where sin abides. Now before you piously think that you are clearing the mark, I want to open your eyes to one fact that might put you on a level playing field with myself, and others like me, who are also striving to be holy. In this subject verse, Paul declares that this refers to contamination of the body and the spirit. In the verses leading up to the one highlighted, we are told that God’s Holy Spirit resides inside of us. This is exciting, because we never have to worry about Him always being present to meet our needs. However, I want us to also remember that if you have sinned in your mind, you have contaminated the temple of God also. Friends, this is a major problem for us, because Satan does his very best to bother with our minds in order to distract us away from God. Remember those times that you’ve thought to yourself that it was good the other person couldn’t read your mind, otherwise they would know how corrupt you really are? As we consider what we might do to be more like Jesus in the upcoming year, may I suggest that you flood your mind with the Word of God? May I implore you to stay in touch with the Master on a very frequent basis so that as He floods your soul, only those things that He approves of, will spew out of your mouth and call you to action for the benefit of others? I believe that ‘purify’ means that we cleanse our minds of anything that would distract our minds (our spirit) away from truly Christ-like actions and/or words. Are you there yet? If not, please consider joining me in rededicating our lives, and especially our minds, to the lordship of Jesus Christ. Ships stay in the port when contaminants are found on board, and hospital rooms are closed until all contaminants are properly cleaned up. Let’s get some quality time alone with God so we can clear the contaminants of our lives before we enter a brand new year. Let’s strive to be the kind of Christian that will reflect Jesus in everything we say or do, because of His mighty presence inside of our purified bodies. Let’s allow Him to fill our spirit with Himself.

PRAYER: Dear God, You are more wonderful than anyone or anything we can describe, and we will say all day long that it’s You that we desire to imitate here on this earth. However, we are very easily distracted by all that appears to be better, or more joyful, or pleasing on ‘the other side’. Lord, we know that this is Satan’s desire for all of Your chosen people, yet we cave in and allow him control. Being reminded today that our weakness leads to us actually contaminating the temple of our precious Lord, makes us sad, and we are reminded of how important it is for us to purify ourselves and protect at all costs the temple in which you reside. Lord, I pray for Your forgiveness. I pray for your strength that can easily overpower our will, if we are willing to surrender ourselves to you. Only You can impact our minds and our soul so that we might rededicate ourselves fully to you. Please have Your will and Your way in our lives today, beginning with me. May we end this year with a re-enforced determination to protect Your temple and seek Your boldness daily so that we might stand firm in our faith and in sharing our faith with other. I ask these things in and through the name of Jesus, the Christ, AMEN!

FOOTNOTE: If you have been challenged to make a decision today after reading this devotional, please speak with a local Bible Teaching Pastor, or contact me at NuggetsFromGodsWord@outlook.com. Allow someone to pray with you and give you help and/or encouragement as you begin, or continue your walk with Jesus. Words underlined in my blog could indicate a link to a song that came to mind as I wrote the devotional. Feel free to click on the link and listen as you continue to read or pray. If this devotional was forwarded to you and you would like to see more, please go to www.nuggetsfromgodsword.org and read more, or you may freely subscribe for a daily email conveniently containing each day’s devotional. If you are anywhere near the Highlands County, Florida area and do not have a church home, I would be thrilled to welcome you at Bible Fellowship Church, located at 3750 Hammock Rd, Sebring, FL 33872! Click the link to check out service times and/or other special activities. God is at work among us! Please consider coming to worship with us!