Good afternoon!
Are you ready to live in a world where peace reigns and hostility has ended?
Christ has made that happen! You are, through faith, living in that world already.
Your mailing address might be Renville, Sacred Heart, Danube, Willmar, Olivia, or some other town in America or the United Kingdom. But your spiritual locale is the Kingdom of God! And you don’t need to own a home or lease an apartment to be a holy dwelling place for God!
Yesterday I told you that you weren’t what you used to be, because of Jesus Christ. And I am saying that again today through a different scripture. Ephesians 2:11-22 tells us we are no longer: strangers, aliens, far off, people without hope, people burdened by the law of God that we cannot keep, without God in the world, or separated from God’s people Israel by a dividing wall of hostility.
For, in Christ Jesus, we who were “once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The law is abolished so that Christ might “create in himself one new humanity in place of two, thus making peace” and reconciling Jews and Christians to God “in one body through the cross, thus putting to death” all hostility between us. We have the same access to God the Father in “one Spirit.”
We are no longer “strangers and aliens” but are “citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” Jews and Christians are now one structure in Christ, joined together as a “holy temple in the Lord.” We are “built together into a dwelling place for God.”
So when you are driving along your normal route today and going home from work or school or some other place with a mailing address, remind yourself that only your flesh is here. Your soul is already home in the most loving place you can ever imagine!
And when you are tempted to grumble about something you can’t change in this world, seek God, instead, and praise Him for making you into a Holy Temple for the Lord, one new human being in Christ’s body, given for you for the forgiveness of sins and new life with Him.
Go in peace and serve the Lord!
Let us pray.
Holy God, help us to live as people who are united in Christ’s body—Jews and Christians. Help us to love one another as we love members of our own families. For you have broken down the walls of hostility that divided us. You have reconciled us with yourself through the cross. Thank you for forgiving us for all our sins and giving to us new life here on earth and eternal life with You in your Kingdom of Heaven. Guide our steps so that we walk in your will, turning away from sin and selfishness. Stop us when we are tempted to grumble about something in this world we cannot change. Fill our hearts with peace and joy as we remember that we are a Holy Temple, a new human being—and not what we used to be even one day ago. In Christ we pray. Amen!
Blessings in Him,
Pastor Karen
Are you ready to live in a world where peace reigns and hostility has ended?
Christ has made that happen! You are, through faith, living in that world already.
Your mailing address might be Renville, Sacred Heart, Danube, Willmar, Olivia, or some other town in America or the United Kingdom. But your spiritual locale is the Kingdom of God! And you don’t need to own a home or lease an apartment to be a holy dwelling place for God!
Yesterday I told you that you weren’t what you used to be, because of Jesus Christ. And I am saying that again today through a different scripture. Ephesians 2:11-22 tells us we are no longer: strangers, aliens, far off, people without hope, people burdened by the law of God that we cannot keep, without God in the world, or separated from God’s people Israel by a dividing wall of hostility.
For, in Christ Jesus, we who were “once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The law is abolished so that Christ might “create in himself one new humanity in place of two, thus making peace” and reconciling Jews and Christians to God “in one body through the cross, thus putting to death” all hostility between us. We have the same access to God the Father in “one Spirit.”
We are no longer “strangers and aliens” but are “citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” Jews and Christians are now one structure in Christ, joined together as a “holy temple in the Lord.” We are “built together into a dwelling place for God.”
So when you are driving along your normal route today and going home from work or school or some other place with a mailing address, remind yourself that only your flesh is here. Your soul is already home in the most loving place you can ever imagine!
And when you are tempted to grumble about something you can’t change in this world, seek God, instead, and praise Him for making you into a Holy Temple for the Lord, one new human being in Christ’s body, given for you for the forgiveness of sins and new life with Him.
Go in peace and serve the Lord!
Let us pray.
Holy God, help us to live as people who are united in Christ’s body—Jews and Christians. Help us to love one another as we love members of our own families. For you have broken down the walls of hostility that divided us. You have reconciled us with yourself through the cross. Thank you for forgiving us for all our sins and giving to us new life here on earth and eternal life with You in your Kingdom of Heaven. Guide our steps so that we walk in your will, turning away from sin and selfishness. Stop us when we are tempted to grumble about something in this world we cannot change. Fill our hearts with peace and joy as we remember that we are a Holy Temple, a new human being—and not what we used to be even one day ago. In Christ we pray. Amen!
Blessings in Him,
Pastor Karen
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