WHO LIVES IN YOU?

WHO LIVES IN YOU?

I brought in a boxing glove as a visual aid. I dangled the glove and showed how ineffective it was without a hand in it. Then I put my hand in the glove, made a fist and punched the air so that everyone could see the difference it made to the power of the glove.

I was speaking at a prison for teenagers in Oxford. I was a theological student at the time and was given the opportunity to speak in a chapel service. The prison chaplain at the detention Centre, who was helping with my training, pointed out that it was an inappropriate illustration for a prison, since it might suggest that Jesus and violence were closely associated! Apart from that, he agreed that it was a good analogy.

What I was trying to illustrate was the difference it makes when Jesus Christ comes to live in you by his Spirit. Without him we are weak (2 Corinthians 13:4), like the glove without the hand in it. But when Jesus Christ comes to live within you, you have God’s power in your life (vv.4–5). If you ‘realise’ (v.5) this, it will transform the way you live your life.

Proverbs 22:17-27

Fill your heart with God’s wisdom

How healthy is your heart? Have you filled it with God’s wisdom? Just as what you put in your mouth affects the health of your body, what you put in your heart really matters.

The writer urges you to keep the wisdom of God’s Word in your heart, to ‘treasure its sweetness deep within’ and to have it ready on your lips, so that your ‘foundation is trust in God…’ (vv.17–19a, MSG). As you learn the wisdom of Scripture (for example, by memorizing Bible verses), your trust in the Lord is deepened (v.19).

 There are thirty ‘truths that work’ (v.21, MSG), the first few of which are stated below:

How you treat the poor and needy. Be kind. Don’t exploit them. Don’t crush them (vv.22–23).

How to avoid becoming ensnared by anger and a bad temper: ‘Bad temper is contagious – don’t get infected’ (vv.24–25, MSG).

Warning against gambling and practical advice on how to avoid getting into debt. Don’t put up security for other people’s debts (vv.26–27).

These sayings are wise principles that help you to live well. The heart of wisdom is more than good advice. It is about putting ‘your trust… in the LORD’ (v.19).

In the New Testament, we learn that Jesus is ‘the Wisdom’ of God (1 Corinthians 1:30). Because Jesus lives in you, you have the wisdom of God in your heart.

Lord, thank you that you live in my heart by your Spirit. Thank you for the power of the Word of God. Help me to read it, learn it, meditate on it and have your words ready on my lips that my trust may be in you, the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 13:1-14

Realize that Christ Jesus is in you!

Do you realize that Christ Jesus lives within you? The apostle Paul had no doubt that Jesus Christ was living in him. He realized that in the words he spoke to the Corinthians, ‘Christ is speaking through me’ (v.3).

Paul had the advantage of meeting the risen Jesus. He was able to write with great confidence, ‘for to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you’ (v.4).

Self-examination is important and is totally different from self-condemnation. He urged them to ‘examine and test and evaluate your own selves to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it’ (v.5a, AMP). The purpose of self-examination is so that we can see what is wrong in our lives, admit it, turn from it and be set free by Jesus.

Paul urged the Corinthians to realize that just as Jesus Christ lived in him, so too ‘Jesus Christ is in you’ (v.5). Paul talks far more often about us being in Christ than Christ in us. Nevertheless, the passages in which he puts it the other way round are remarkable.

In Colossians 1:27 Paul writes, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’, and here too he writes about Christ being in you, and the difference it makes: ‘Do you not realise that Christ Jesus is in you…?’ (2 Corinthians 13:5).

This is what turns our weakness into strength (v.9). This is why he prayed for their perfection (v.9) and was able to urge them to ‘aim for perfection’ (v.11).

Of course, none of us will reach perfection in this life. Being a perfectionist is unhealthy. But we can all aim to live in a perfect relationship with God and with one another. He appealed to them, ‘be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you’ (v.11).

How is this possible? Paul ends with the words of ‘the grace’: ‘May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all’ (v.14).

The whole Trinity is involved. It is the ‘amazing grace’ (v.14a, MSG) of Jesus that enables you to be constantly forgiven and cleansed. It is ‘the extravagant love of God’ (the Father) (v.14b, MSG) filling your hearts that enables you to aim for perfect love. It is ‘the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit’ (v.14c, MSG) of Jesus living in you that enables imperfect people to grow into maturity and one day see him face to face. Only then will you reach perfection.

Lord, thank you that you live within me. May your amazing grace flow out of everything I do. Fill me today with the knowledge of your extravagant love and the intimate friendship of your Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 30:19-32:20

Know God’s love poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit

It is the result of Pentecost that the Spirit of Christ comes to live within you. God’s love for you is poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit of Jesus (Romans 5:5). It is his Spirit who gives you the realization that you are a child of God, and that Christ lives in you.

In this passage, Isaiah sees six pictures of God:

Teacher

The Lord is your teacher. He teaches you through ‘the bread of adversity and the water of affliction’ (Isaiah 30:20). It is often through the hard times in our lives that we learn the most. Jesus described himself as your ‘Lord’ and ‘Teacher’ (John 13:14).

Guide

‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it’ (Isaiah 30:21). The Holy Spirit will lead and guide you along the narrow road that leads to life.

Healer

‘The Lord binds up the bruises of his people and heals the wounds’ (v.26). So often when people meet Jesus for the first time, they experience healing of hurt and pain from the past. This healing is a lifelong process.

King

Jesus is the King who ‘will rule in the right way, and his leaders will carry out justice’ (32:1, MSG). He rules our lives through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

Wisdom

He is the source of our wisdom (31:1–3). Isaiah warns against trusting in our own strength rather than looking to the Holy One of Israel and seeking help from the Lord (v.1). The Holy Spirit is the source of wisdom in our lives.

Mother

He is like a mother bird, who will shield Jerusalem and deliver it (31:5; see Luke 13:34). God is both a Father and a Mother to us. The Holy Spirit is often associated with the feminine side of God’s nature.

The Holy Spirit is the ‘Spirit of Jesus’ (Acts 16:7). Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus comes to live within you.

The prophet Isaiah seems to have caught a glimpse of the day of Pentecost when ‘the Spirit is poured down on us from above’ (Isaiah 32:15a, MSG).

‘The Spirit is poured upon us from on high… justice… righteousness… peace… quietness and confidence forever… secure… undisturbed places of rest… how blessed you will be’ (vv.15–20).

The outpouring of the Spirit leads to great fruitfulness, righteousness and peace (quietness, confidence, security and rest). It leads to generous sowing and freedom. God promises that if you walk by the Holy Spirit, you will enjoy great blessings in this life and into eternity.

Lord, thank you for the privilege of living in the age of the Spirit – an age that the prophet Isaiah only glimpsed. Thank you that now I can experience it to the full – as Jesus Christ lives within me by his Spirit.

Isaiah 30:21

‘Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”’

I am always interested that the voice is ‘behind you’ and not ahead of you. You have to take that step of faith, not necessarily knowing where you are going. You may be stepping out into the unknown, but as you do so, you’re listening very carefully to that voice just behind you whispering in your ear saying, ‘keep going – this is the way’.