The Holy Spirit can clean even the most filthy house on the block!

“It’s Not In There!” Pt.1

THE HOLY SPIRIT CAN CLEAN EVEN THE MOST FILTHY HOUSE ON THE BLOCK

What’s up ya’ll,

People always ask me what made me fall in love with studying my Bible as intensely as I do. To be honest with you, it began several years ago while attempting to find a popular phrase that people swore was in the Bible and to this day still believe is in the there… but IS NOT. I asked most of the ministers in the church I grew up in where I could find it and only a few of them were honest enough to admit they didn’t know. Yet many of them were “quoting” it in their lessons or sermons even though it was a phantom text. That’s when I purchased my first Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. I soon found that not only was I misquoting several scriptures but that many things I had once thought were in the Bible were not.
                I guess by now you’re wondering what that phantom passage is. It’s this: “The Holy Ghost won’t dwell in an unclean temple.” Not only is this not a biblical passage but is actually not even theologically accurate. I’ll explain why in a second. But first, allow me to explain to you why I am even writing on this subject. You see, I am finding that like myself, many Believers have been inadvertently (for lack of a better word) taught many unbiblical principles that have kept us in bondage from living authentic Christian lives as blood-bought Believers who received salvation based solely by Christ’s act on the cross thereby bringing us into a right relationship with the Father. My goal is to help people rethink and Bereanize. That being said, here are some of the things many of us have heard was in the Bible but are not. Have fun!

#1 “The Holy Ghost won’t/can’t dwell in an unclean temple.”

Okay this is a little tricky because of other passages that at a quick glance would kind of feels as if they support the idea. When taken out of context, passages such as “…what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness.” (2 Cor.6:14), would seem to convey the idea that nothing holy would have anything to do with unholy things. And to some degree that is true. But that has nothing to do with the Spirit of God. David said of the presence of God; “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I go from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.” (Ps.139:7,8). Certainly if the Holy Ghost can stand to be in hell He is God enough to stand the hell that’s in me!
                I assume that the idea behind this phantom quote is that since our bodies are the temple of God that if there is any darkness or unholy thing in us that it would repel His presence. But here’s a question to ponder: What exactly is the Holy Spirit living in us to do if not to cleanse us through the power of the Word by the Spirit. The idea that we have to prepare a clean temple for the Holy Spirit to dwell in before He actually takes up residence in us is not only unbiblical but under minds the work of the Holy Spirit in us. If I was able to clean myself up via my own power I wouldn’t need the Spirit… nor would I need Jesus to atone for my sins if I was able to take care of my sin problem on my own. No! We need the Spirit to live in us to “guide [us] into all truth” (Jn.16:13).
                Look at what Paul, who penned this passage of text as a Spirit-filled Believer, had to say about the sinful nature inside of him. “I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.” (Rom.7:22-25 NLT).
                Paul made it clear that even though he was saved and Spirit-indwelt, that he was able to pinpoint the reason for his struggle. It was attributed to the sin nature that was still living inside of his temple even though he was saved through Christ. Now, there is no doubt that sin is unclean. And the apostle admitted that though he was in Christ he still had sin dwelling in him as well.
So then how does the Spirit of God work inside of us with all this mess? Paul continues in the beginning of the next chapter: “So now the there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death… you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you… Since Christ lives within you, even though your body will die because of sin, your spirit is alive because you have been made right with God.” (Rom.8:1-2,9-10 NLT).
              Since Spirit is capable of living in our unclean temples, He has the ability to clean us. He makes Himself available to us to be led by Him so that we don’t become slaves to the sin nature that dwells in us. I am grateful that God is not intimidated by the sin that’s still resides in me. I know very well how powerless I am apart from His Spirit to change this mess inside of me. Praise God that your walk with God does not depend on your ability to walk righteously on every occasion. And thanks be to God that He doesn’t bounce on us every time we fall short of holy living. I need him to dwell in this temple BECAUSE I am unclean apart from Him.

GOD: Director and Editor

GOD: DIRECTOR AND EDITOR

What’s up ya’ll,

Strange title I know, but it’ll make sense in the end I hope. It came about as I was thinking of the first time I was involved in making a movie. When I was about 15 years old, me and bus load of kids from the youth centers of Norton Air Force Base and March Airfield spent a few days working as extras on a low budget film called “Body Slam”. It starred Dirk Benedict (the dude that played “Faceman” on the T.V. series the “A-Team”) and WWE’s Rowdy Rod Piper. The movie was about a poor excuse for a music manager (played by Dirk) who through a turn of events began managing a pro wrestler (Rod) who he initially mistakes for a musician. Needless to say the flick ended up going straight to video.  But taping the movie was the highlight of my summer.

                You see, coming up I had dreams of being in the entertainment industry either on the big screen or behind the mic… perfected my autograph signature and everything! While I was on the set I was a sponge watching every move of the director, bugging the key grips and audio crew with tons of questions, and interrupting the lunch of whatever actor I saw trying to grab a bite at the catering table. We taped the first two days in a hole-in-the-wall amateur wrestling club in downtime San Bernardino and the last day of taping in the old gym of what was then known as California Baptist College. By the end of each day I knew every line and every que of every take.

                When I finally got a hold of the video a few years later I noticed something odd. The storyline didn’t match the sequence in which it was filmed. It was backwards. All of the footage that was filmed at Cal Baptist was placed towards the beginning of the movie and the stuff we filmed first at the San Bernardino location was placed later on in the film. That was when I had my first introduction to movie production, specifically, the editing process. What didn’t occur to me was that movies are usually filmed from the end first. The director is so acquainted with the script that he doesn’t have to film in terms of sequence of events. Instead he deals with each sequence as pockets or segments of time that will be placed in the order that best tells the story.

The job of placing these segments of time in order belongs to the editor. He meticulously filters through every inch of tape to determine which portions are going to best tell the story. It’s in the editing room that all of the bad takes, audio glitches, bloopers and technical problems are deleted and truncated out of the film. During this process they can determine what’s needed to enhance the story and where to place these enhancements. Every segment of film has a purpose and is placed in order by the editor for the best interest of the film. In other words, the editor does what’s best for the film so that the vision of director can be captured.

As I reflected on this a few days ago I couldn’t help but think of the words that the Holy Spirit penned through the Apostle Paul in this famous passage: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Rom.8:28 NLT. It’s such a stress relief to understand that whatever you’re going through, no matter how insanely difficult it is, that it was edited into the film of your life before you were ever born. As it relates to those who love Him and are purposefully called by Him, the fact is God ultimately edited this segment of your life to work for the best interest of the picture He created for your life. He is well aware of your history’s blooper-reel and technical glitches. When you repent He forgives and deletes the bad takes out of your life. And even when the Lord allows those difficult segments to make it in the final cut, isn’t it reassuring to know that He worked out your happily ever after from the beginning of the film?

             Paul is inviting us to remember—in every situation, even the most painful ones—the final result of our lifes’ film. The promise is not that things will always work the way we want them to. Our lives are just the tapes onto which He prints His masterpiece. In many cases, we find that God’s script is quite different than what we hoped, dreamed or even contemplated. But God is a better editor than we are!