The Church is the temple of God

you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:5

In the Old Testament, the temple was God’s habitation and only a few had the privilege of entering the holy of holies. In the New Testament, we become God’s habitation by receiving the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Each of us is called a living stone because the Holy Spirit in us keeps us alive and changing. Together we represent the temple of God where His presence dwells because He doesn’t dwell in buildings made of natural stones any longer but in His people who are the living stones!

It’s important for each of us as a living stone to take our place in the building of God and not fidget or quit!  God wants every one of us to do our part in the temple of the living God. This is where we really need to understand our value to God and to His people regardless of whether we feel like it or not. When we see God’s plan and His purpose for the church, we recognize the importance of doing our part within his spiritual house.

It always surprises me on how people can take it upon themselves and decide to leave a community of believers out of hurt or frustration. If we made a covenant with God to be the Lord of our lives, then how can we take our life back when things get difficult? We need to continue to stay faithful to our commitment to the Lord and not do anything out of our own soulish/carnal desire. If we really believe that we are a living stone used in His hands to build a spiritual house, then we also need to trust Him that He knows best where to place us. It may be that for a while we won’t like it or appreciate what He is doing, but we always know that He is at work in our lives as well as in the lives of others. No pain or frustration is wasted if we allow Him to use it to shape us (the living stones) through it.

The church is the bride of Christ

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,  that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

Jesus is coming back for His bride who is without spot or wrinkle. The bride of Christ is a collection of people who have accepted and received Jesus as the Lord of their lives. Jesus is coming back for all of us, and so we all have an individual and collective responsibility to do our part to help the bride be holy and without blemish.

Just as Esther was prepared by the King’s servants to be presented before the king, Jesus gives us everything we need to prepare us for the awesome day when Jesus returns for His bride. There is no competition in this, but collaboration of His people to make the church ready to meet her bridegroom at the banquet He has prepared for her.

For comments please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

God’s vision for the church is great and His purpose for it is deep and wide! The church has many important functions assigned to it by God. Each and every one of them is significant in our perspective of the church and what our proper expectation and responsibilities are towards it. When we know and understand the different functions of the church, it gives us a balance in our viewpoint, and it keeps us from disillusionment or disappointment.

Jesus is the Cornerstone

True church is first and foremost is established on the work of Christ as our Messiah. Jesus declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The Bible is our guide in all truth; it is the inerrant word of God. If any church or denomination questions the validity of the word of God, they are not the true church and are headed in the wrong direction and away from the truth!

We cannot just worship God and think we are following Christ. We cannot believe in Jesus and at the same time believe in other religions because they do not all lead to the same place. Our own humanism and social work in the community or around the world does not produce a true church as Jesus described it. The church must be built on Jesus. The Bible gives us the full account of creation, God, and His plan of salvation through Jesus Christ. That’s the foundation of a true church.

The church is the family of God

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Galatians 4:6

When we come to salvation every one of us are adopted to the family of God, and we get to call God, “Abba Father”. We join a family along with all the others believers who are now our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Most of us have had dysfunction in our family of origin due to sin and rebellion. Now, God brings us to a new family to relearn how to do life in a new and healthier way. Just as an orphan, we have much to learn by letting go of our self-preservation and becoming a family member.

Our past patterns and selfish behaviors need to be denied, so we can take on a new identity in Christ. This is hard work and many times it’s going to make us feel like running away from the pain of change, but it is a very important part of our development to get established, settled, healed, delivered, and set free in the new life!

Our success in spiritual family will come from not looking to the church for our new identity, but to see the family as one who helps and supports us to establish our identity in Christ. If we don’t get this right, we are bound to have great disappointments down the road because someone or some people will eventually disappoint us. When our identity is established in Christ not in our pastor, elders, or others, then we can navigate through tough times successfully. Otherwise sin or issues in the church can wreak havoc in our spiritual life.

We all assume our identity is established in Christ, but we really don’t know until the tests and the difficulties come. If we have a faulty identity, God in His mercy will orchestrate circumstances in our lives to expose the false identity. While that’s a painful process, but praise God that He addresses false security and deals with it powerfully!

I will continue with this subject in the next devotional.

For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

God’s word is permeated with ways that we can practically live out our spiritual life displaying the fruit of the spirit rather than fruit of the flesh.

A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. Proverbs 15:1

I saw the reality of the above verse lived out before my eyes last week. I was sitting outside of Peet’s Coffee visiting with a friend when we saw a big pick up truck pulling into a temporary (20 min) parking spot. The driver came out of his car and dashed into Peet’s to get his cup of coffee. As soon as he walked inside, we heard a sound of a baby crying in the back seat of his truck. My friend & I  decided just to monitor the situation and take action if/when necessary.

Shortly after, this elderly woman came along walking by the truck, and she heard the baby crying. She got angry and  said, “ I can’t believe the baby is left in the car unattended! I can call the Police on him!” We reassured her that the father will be back soon since he had left his car running. So she decided to walk into Peet’s and find him. In the meantime, I walked to the car, talked to the baby through the window, and reassured him that Daddy was going to be back soon.

In less than five minutes both the man and the elderly lady stepped out of Peet’s yelling at each other. The woman angrily said, “He doesn’t care if I call the Police on Him”. The man hollered, “Call the Police! I’ll stay right here. Just go ahead and call the Police!” Fortunately, the woman walked away shaking her head but didn’t call the police. However, I thought to myself this whole scenario could have looked so different.

If the woman had approached the driver/father with a gentle word rather than a threat, things could have turned out much better. He may even have thanked her for her concern. The reality is that both parties didn’t want to see the baby harmed. They both had the same goal, but the way they handled it, you would have thought they were each other’s enemies.

While our motives could be right, at times our approach is rough, and  it rubs people the wrong way. Then we wonder why they don’t appreciate what we shared with them since after all it was for their good.

Sometimes people feel powerless and insecure about the person/situation, so they compensate for it by being rough, forceful, or loud to get their point across or look powerful!

Lord, help us to be meek especially with those who are challenging to us! Thank you Lord. Amen!

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

Meekness is a required trait for God’s people! We’re called to be mild and fair. God’s people are supposed to be emotionally calm and stable and not have tantrums or outbursts.

And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life. Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 4-7

The solution to this gentleness is found within the above verses. The scripture tells us to rejoice in the Lord always. It doesn’t tell us to rejoice in our circumstances, neither does it tell us to rejoice in people. On the other hand, we always have a reason to rejoice in God! When we choose to rejoice in Him, it changes our attitude and mood. It takes us from a place of defeat, frustration, or sadness, to a place of serenity, calmness, and contentment.

We are admonished to make our gentleness be evident to all. That means we are not only gentle with those we like/need in our lives, but we are also gentle with those that are difficult or rude. We shouldn’t change based on the person we are interacting with.  If God has truly developed meekness in us, then we will continue to exhibit and portray God’s nature regardless of the circumstances around us.

In verse 7 above, it tells us not to be anxious about anything. Sometimes the lack of gentleness comes from being anxious. When we think we can’t control/change something, it can lead us to being rough, edgy, and short with people. The scripture tell us to submit and surrender our anxiety to God and give him thanks for who He is and what He has done in our lives.

Surrendering our anxiety gives us the ability to gain His peace in spite of our circumstances. People and situations may not change right away. We may still not understand why things are happening the way they are, but we can have a peace that goes beyond our understanding. Where in the past we may have blown up on innocent friends, family members, or coworkers, the changed state of mind, spirit, and emotions helps us to be gentle even in tough situations.

Praise God for His word and His grace carrying us through life!

For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com

God bestows upon every believer gifts and abilities to be used for His purpose and glory. It takes a lifetime to see those gifts and abilities unfolded and brought to maturity in our lives. A believer can also receive a special and unique calling from God which becomes their lifelong assignment.

For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. Romans 11:29 (KJV)

I love this scripture!  The Lord declares that he does not regret inviting us to His banquet table, making us part of His family, and bestowing the gifts that He has given us. He is a generous Father who out of His loving kindness has given us all things.

Since God has given us the gifts and the calling, He will ensure that they are utilized in the way He sees fit at the right time. We don’t have to wonder, strive, or push to make something happen. It’s His project, and He is the greatest project manager ever in existence! He doesn’t waste time, gifts, or talents.

The process of building our character takes a long time before we can handle the weight of the gifts we are carrying! Nevertheless when look at it in the light of the fact that God does not regret giving us rich and powerful gifts, it motivates us to stay on the potter’s wheel, so He can develop us to such a level that everything we do represents His excellency!

God called the Biblical characters in different ways. He called Moses by speaking to him through a burning bush, and His assignment was so large that only God could accomplish it. David was anointed to be the future king, but everything that happened after this event went completely opposite of someone getting ready for the throne. Daniel never got a vision or a dream from God about his special calling. He just found himself captive by the Babylonians and then trained in their ways before he entered the kings’ services.

For individuals such as Abraham and Joseph, God’s assignments came years prior to them getting fulfilled. These individuals didn’t seek a calling; God found them and spoke of their calling. At other times, for people such as Ruth and Esther the circumstances dropped them in tough/unique situations. It was through their intimacy and obedience to God and those around them that they were able to fulfill their calling and assignment to God.

The beauty of all of this is that we don’t have to worry or be anxious about our calling or whether our calling is getting fulfilled in the right timeframe. God is the initiator, and He is the one who will fulfill the calling. Our part is to yield to Him, be in tune with Him, and stay connected to His people. This will allow us to hear Him if/when there is a change of direction and respond accordingly.

Because we belong to Him, His DNA flows through us. As a result, we have the privilege and the opportunity to represent Him regardless of whether we know our specific calling or not. Thank you Lord! Let’s represent Him well today!

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

The calling of God is tied to our identity in that we cannot come to full understanding and obedience of our calling until we are saved and renewed in our identity. However, it is different because the calling for the most part is established on the foundation of our identity. The call of God is a three-fold calling.

The Call to himself

First and foremost God calls us to himself. It is an invitation to get to know Him. The more we get to know Him, the more settled we become. The more settled we are, the easier it is to abide in Him and yield to Him. John 3:16 is an invitation to “whosoever”. God sends out the invitation to all who have been destitute, helpless, broken down, and weary. He desires for people to come home, get settled in the Father’s house, and enjoy His banqueting table. This is the place that God changes our nature, so we can identify with Him rather than our past.

The Call to become like Jesus

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29

The call of God is His desire to exhibit the nature of God in us. The fruit of the spirit is the nature of God. He uses people and circumstances over a period of time to form the fruit of the Spirit in us. The more we develop the fruit of the Spirit, the more we look like Jesus. This is the internal fruitfulness, and it is a very important part of the call of God in our lives.

The Call to the Great Commission

The third part of the call of God is the call to the Great Commission. We are called to advance His kingdom by telling others about Jesus, seeing them set free from bondage of sin, and discipling them into obedience and maturity (See Matthew 28:18-20). This is an external fruitfulness where the fruitfulness is helping others change and become more like Jesus.

It is important that we respond to the entire call of God. If we don’t develop intimacy with the Lord when He calls us to Himself, we will operate in our old nature. That’s when people become performance driven because they are not yielded to God’s leading; they just want to do good works because it makes them feel significant and is impressive to others.

We all need to allow the Holy Spirit to develop the fruit of the Spirit in us, so we can truly represent the Lord well. For example, we may be great at sharing the gospel with our co-workers, but we don’t like to work hard at our jobs. This makes one look like a hypocrite because while the person is working on the Great Commission, they are not working on developing the fruit of spirit by becoming faithful in their jobs. That makes one’s words and actions not to match up.

Lord help us to respond to your entire call in our lives. Amen!

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.

And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;  and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble. Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Mark 4:13-20

Jesus, His love, and His work on the cross are the foundation of our identity. Now we we partner with Him to allow the new identity to truly take root in our souls and in our lives. This allows us to get grounded in God’s character and His definition of us and has a stabilizing affect in our attitudes and actions.

The stage of identity development is also a place where the enemy comes in and tries to steal, kill, and destroy the seed of life in a believer’s life. The parable of the seeds given by Jesus to his disciples suggests that not everyone who has received the seed of life will be become fruitful.

Comfort in old lifestyle

There are some people who end up having an arrested development in one or more areas of their lives because Satan has deceived them into believing lies or half-truths. It’s possible that they’ve held on to certain comforts as a counterfeit to true spiritual security and contentment. This causes a believer not to be open to change and nor experience much spiritual progress.

Driven to succeed

Another group of people may try to rush through this stage of development. They attend every church activity and get involved in various ministries in order to hurry their spiritual growth. This leads them to believe that they are more mature than they really are, and it develops a shallow/faulty foundation that becomes their Achilles heal. When pressure arises, they can’t admit they need help because their identity is centered around doing. Additionally, they don’t want to show weakness in fear of losing their ministry. This eventually leads them to a fall or walking away from Christ.

Chaos Oriented believers

There are some believers who because of their past experiences are more comfortable with chaotic life than a peaceful life. As a result there is usually an emergency situation going on in their lives that chokes their time, focus, and attention. They continually hope that when things slow down and become saner, they will focus on making God a priority, but that time never comes. They tend to gravitate towards being busy or feeling overwhelmed. These individuals are comfortable being the rescuer and that makes them think that they growing and maturing. However, they are just using their gifting without allowing themselves to get grounded in the word and become stable spiritually.

Conformity for identification sake

Sometimes individuals have such a great desire to belong that they take on conformity to new rules or a new group as an indication of change of identity. While the change maybe for the better, but their identity is tied to someone/some people rather than the Lord. This may grow the person to a certain level, but they eventually will reach a plateau because they are only willing to change so long as their change is approved by others. Sadly, when someone hurts them or lets them down, they are devastated. They may go back to who they were originally because the change wasn’t motivated for the right reasons. They just conformed for a season.

There are no short cuts to developing a strong and real identity. We maybe older, have impressive degrees, or notable positions, but none of those can speed up what only God’s process and timing can do develop in us. We all need to grow and mature if we are serious about our walk with God.

New believers need to be taught that their faithful obedience, character, and consistent walk is more important than anything they can accomplish for God. The foundation that is built on the rock will sustain them for the long haul. When storms and difficulties of life come, they will not cave in under the pressure because they know whom they are and whose they are. This kind of life will produce the fruitfulness that Jesus described and its effect will be eternal!

How is your identity developing?

For comments, please contact me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com

Our identity is about who we are and whose we are. The identity and calling are tied together, but they are separate from each other. Without true identity we will not know our calling and/or have a desire to pursue it.

Before we knew Christ, our identity was mostly tied to our family of origin and our accomplishments. When we come to know Christ, He rearranges everything in our lives in the line of eternity and His kingdom. We become a new creation and as a result we join a new family; we become a citizen of a new kingdom. This is the family of God, and the kingdom of God.

Our new identity has a two-fold development to it. The first part is receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior and becoming a new creation. We are legally adopted by our heavenly Father into His family, and we are given a legal right to become citizen of heaven. The seed of life is planted in us, and God reveals himself to us as Abba Father.

The second part is to allow the new identity deposited in us to grow, take shape, and become stronger. This is our sanctification process. Over time the new identity should be more visible in us rather than the old nature. This is a very critical part of our development and one that we can’t rush nor can we push to make it happen by doing more spiritual activity.

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 27:24-27

Jesus told us that we must build our foundation on a rock. God is rebuilding our lives from the foundation of sand to foundation of rock who is Jesus Christ. That takes time, patience, and our cooperation.This is an important process and one that can be lengthy because it is changing of one foundation and replacing it with another. The things that were important to our family of origin may not have any significance in the new family. The rules of the heavenly kingdom are very different than the laws of the natural government. As a result, we have a long process to unlearn and relearn new priorities. This process will help us to be shaped according to God’s word rather than by our past experiences or our family of origin. We learn to honor what He values, and love what He loves.

The sanctification is primarily our yielding to God’s promptings and allowing the word of God to wash us and nurture us. The Lord uses the Bible and the counsel of the Holy Spirit to become our teacher and to coach us in this new life. This process is the method God uses to grow the seed of new identity, so hopefully it can bloom someday. This is a critical stage of development that every one of us has to go through, and to some degree we will continue to go through as long as we are in this earthly shell.

I will continue with the subject of identity in the next devotional.

For comment, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com

In the last devotional, I wrote about “True Honor”, one that is established on what the Lord deems important. In this devotional, I’m going to address “False Honor”, the kind of honor that doesn’t please God!

Empty words are a lip service to honor

These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. Matthew 15:8

Many act like they honor God because they have the right words, but their actions don’t follow suit. They have been around church long enough that they have the perfect language. Unfortunately, people can get so good at saying the right things that they start believing their own report. We can’t get distracted with all the religious pump and circumstance. Some think that if they are teaching and preaching the word of God, then they are living it. Sadly, some deceive themselves as to the true condition of their heart!

The above scripture is very revealing because it tells us that we can speak and act right but not necessarily be right with God or with each other. While we can’t change others or try to determine their motives, we have a responsibility to keep our hearts in congruence with our mouths. Otherwise we are in the danger of just growing in religious hypocrisy rather than being transformed by His power! That’s false honor to God.

Being partial to certain people is false honor

You shall do no injustice in judgment. You shall not be partial to the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty. In righteousness you shall judge your neighbor. Leviticus 19:15

When we are drawn to honor those who seem powerful, we become partial in our judgment! We build them up as more important in our minds. We perceive the weak and the poor as less significant and their lives not as important. One can deem the actions and the words of the mighty as more weighty than others and miss out on the great blessing of getting acquainted with someone who doesn’t have the worldly accolades.

God is not pleased with the kind of honor that is based on worldly value system. That’s false honor.  God’s heart for us is to look after the orphans and the widows and be a voice for the voiceless. He commands us not to be partial towards the poor. The poor are those who have very little or no protection/provision.

If we are too busy to fit in with the popular/powerful, we will intentionally or unintentionally dismiss those who are important to the Lord. Potentially, we may have the power to assist in their situation if we gave our ears to listen to their predicament. They may also bless us by their testimony and their ability to overcome hardship.

The media is saturated by the news of the popular and powerful. The world honors the superstars who are perceived to be the heroes and examples to the rest of the population. At the same time, the Lord is not on their list of honor and neither are the elderly (parents) nor the marriage unit. As people of God, we are called to set the example of what truly is worthy of honor and give honor where honor is due according to God’s priority!

For comments, please email me at karlinefischer@yahoo.com.