I Am the Hizzouse

 "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?
(1 Corinthians 6:19)

What is it about the Christian religion that makes it different than any other religion in the world? What makes a Christian different from a non-believer? What changes someone’s life from that of darkness to that of light, from a drunkard or drug addict to a clean and sober man or woman of God? What is it that continues to change lives today just as it has since the beginning? First off, "It"...isn't an "It", it is the Holy Spirit, a He. He is part of the God-head, the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Helper that Jesus promised to us, the Helper that would be with us forever (John 14:16).

Now the role of the Holy Spirit is vital to not only our salvation, but to the effect we have on this world. In his book "Forgotten God" Francis Chan says, “The world is not moved by love or actions that are of human creation. And the church is not empowered to live differently from any other gathering of people without the Holy Spirit. But when believers live in the power of the Spirit, the evidence in their lives is supernatural. The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.”  When the Holy Spirit lives in you when you accept Christ, you will be different, you will be set apart. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is what (as it grows in your life), sets you apart from this world. It makes us standout like a piece of white lint on a black table cloth, a  city on a hill, that can not be hidden (Matthew 5:14). We should standout and not be afraid to standout. It's not saying, "Look at me I'm better than you!"  it's saying, "Look how God took a person in the shape that I was in and began to change him to be more like Jesus."  Not a better man, because their is no "better man". I don't want to become another man at all, I want to become like the Son of Man, Jesus.

Men can standout and be different on their own, the fruit of the Spirit, can be falsely shown. Ever see some wax fruit or plastic fruit? some of it looks so real that you could eat it. Try that. Take a bite. See false fruit and true fruit are easy to tell apart, when it comes down to being tested. Think about this. The fruit of the Spirit is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control...know people like that? I know unsaved people like that. But when it comes down to it, when they are tested, that wax fruit... starts to rot. The Fruit growing in our lives, because of the Holy Spirit at work in us, is the proof to the world, of the Jesus that we proclaim.

We are His temple, we are to live as though we are. Ever noticed that the outside of a home usually reflects the kind of person that lives in it. You take two HEALTHY people. One lazy and none caring. The other one who is not. Normally you look at their homes on the outside and the lazy person's grass is high, weeds in the flower beds, bushes untrimmed. But then you see the other man's yard. Fresh cut grass, trimmed up bushes and  weed free. It usually depends on who lives on the inside.  Our outward appearance isn't what we need it to be, unless Jesus lives in us. Now when I say outward appearance, I don't mean that you must wear a suit or Christian T-shirt, etc... I'm talking about your attitude and actions. But don't hear this as legalism, remember the wax fruit. The scribes and Pharisees produced wax fruit, not Spirit fruit. Jesus told them that they looked good on the outside, but on the inside they were dead (Matthew 12:27). He said  "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also" (Matthew 23:26). Now that is what we need to do, clean the inside first and the outside will become clean also. In other words, accept Christ, when you do, He will live inside of you, never to leave you (Romans 11:29). He will change you from the inside out when you allow Him to control your life. Relax in Jesus, allow Him to change you. Stop trying to become godly on your own and allow Jesus to live through you so that people don't see you doing good, but Christ doing good through you. 

We are the temple of God, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and like Francis Chan said, "The church cannot help but be different, and the world cannot help but notice.” When we allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to reach this world for Christ. We should be different, we should stand out, but for the reasons that the Holy Spirit can only bring into a human beings  life, we should be overflowing with, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. If we are, trust me, we will stand out and this world will notice. 

Vern