Satan fights against the teachings about the Holy Spirit in the earth today. I'll tell you why. Because the Holy Spirit is the part of the Godhead that is here today ministering to the saints. When Jesus went to be with the Father, He told His disciples, "When I go to be with the Father, He will send His Spirit in My Name to be here on the earth."

You can read in John 14 where Jesus said He was coming back again. We know that the return of Jesus is imminent. But the reality of the situation is this. He has gone to be with the Father, but He has not come back yet. He has not appeared in the clouds as it says in 1 Thessalonians. That hasn't happened yet.

According to the Word of God, we know that between the time He left and the time He comes back, He is sitting at the right hand of the Father, according to the Word of God. Remember when Stephen was stoned how he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.

Someone may say, "I thought God was here on the earth. I thought God was everywhere. I thought God was omnipresent." Well, He is, in the form of His Holy Spirit. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive Christ's anointing within us by way of the Holy Spirit.

We know that the devil attacks the Holy Spirit every chance he gets because the Holy Spirit is the part of the Godhead that is here today ministering to the saints. The Holy Spirit is our Comforter. He is our Counselor. He is our Helper. He is the One who helps us. We pray to the Father in the Name of Jesus, but it is the Holy Spirit Who is here on the earth doing the work and commanding the things of God and it is the Holy Spirit Who resides within you. He is the One who lives within us.

If the Holy Spirit does live within us as Christians, and He does, then what kind of temple do we keep for Him? God wants us to be holy before Him. The temple should be holy.

There is a little nugget that is stuck in that verse that is so often overlooked. We are to pursue peace. Will you be at peace with all people all of the time? Maybe you will be and you should be, but there will be people who will not be at peace with you. Nevertheless, you are to pursue peace with all people. You are to also pursue holiness.

The interesting thing about holiness is you can attain it, because you are the one who is in control of your body. You may not think you are. You may think you are out of control, but the reality is you are in control of you. God has given you authority over yourself.

When we talk about the fruit of the Spirit in the Word of God, it says love, joy, peace, gentleness…these are the things that are a byproduct of being a Christian. This is the seed that is placed within you when you become a Christian. The result of having the Spirit of God living in you is love, joy, peace, gentleness…but at the end of that list is self-control. What does that mean? That means you have been given the ability to control yourself.

For years ministers have been preaching about how Jesus would be coming back for a church that would be spotless and without blemish. It's pretty easy when you're talking about someday the church is going to be spotless and without blemish.

Let me tell you something, Church. We are that church. The responsibility is on our shoulders. The time is here. We are to be that holy church, without spot, without blemish. We are to be ready for the coming of the Lord.

We are made righteous when we accept Jesus. We become holy as we walk in willing obedience to His Word. "Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14)

Devotion 0124