Habitation or Visitation?

God's Message For Today...

When we come to God, we are to present our body as a living SACRIFICE....a surrender to God.

Romans 12:1 says,
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

It is interesting that self-sacrifice is considered by God to be our reasonable service. To do that, we must humble ourselves, and lay it on the altar. A surrender to God. The only problem with living sacrifices is that they tend to crawl off the altar. Even if we make this commitment in our hearts right now, we’ll have to renew it again and again because as long as we are here on earth, we will have to make the decision to love Jesus more than self, every day.

Notice that we are the ones who have to make this presentation of our bodies to God. He won't do it for us. It's a sacrifice on our part. We can't have someone lay hands on us and impart this to us. We can't rebuke the flesh and expect it to disappear. We have to give our bodies to God as living sacrifices daily. Offering ourselves to God is not just a one-time deal. We have to die to our own desires daily and not be conformed to the world but let a transformation happen by renewing our mind through His Word and the working of the Holy Spirit through prayer.

Romans 12:2 says,

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God"

Surrendering to God is letting Him INHABIT all our moments --- gracing our thoughts, our words and our behavior. We have become His vessel for His purpose and His Glory.

I Corinthians 6:19 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

You're not your own. He dwells in you.  Is your temple where God can feel at home in?

Ephesians 2:22 "And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit."

Let me ask you this: 

Would you let somebody into your home that you do not trust? Some say that they TRUST God, yet their thoughts, words and behavior show that they actually only have their temple for God as a place of visitation instead of habitation. It's like they welcome Him when it's convenient for them. They'll let Him in, yet He's only allowed in certain “rooms” (areas of their life) as like they would for a visitor, instead of letting Him inhabit their temple as a permanent residence.

Where does God stand in your life? What is your temple for Him? Is it a place of Habitation or of Visitation for Him?

Let your body be a habitation for the Lord, a place of settled residence. Let Him inhabit every room. It is only when we make the total sacrifice of every area of our lives that we begin to see God's perfect will manifest through our lives.

I trust God and present my body a living sacrifice unto Him that he may inhabit it as a place of settled residence. Amen!

MOVE IN TO STAY, GOD!

Connie Schmoll