Before the New Covenant days, it was common knowledge as to where God lived: “in the temple down on the square.” He told the people very clearly that this would be His “house.”

Then Christ came and walked the narrow streets of Jerusalem, climbed the hills of Israel, and went fishing on the Sea of Galilee. On that catastrophic day when He was crucified, the veil in the temple — behind which God resided — was ripped down the middle from top to bottom!

And everyone could see where God had lived.

But He wasn’t “homeless” very long. He moved in with me . . . and He moved in with you.

Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
1 Corinthians 3:16

“But Anabel, that’s so . . . well, so . . . ethereal. I can’t seem to grasp it . . . it eludes me.”

Do you know why? It’s because you want to feel something that would validate it for you. You want to see a difference. But Truth is Truth. God cannot lie. And He has said to us, “My Spirit now lives in you. This makes you holy ground, a temple of the living God.”

“Wait a minute, Anabel. You’re saying I’m ‘holy ground’? the ‘temple of God’ “?

Oh no, I’m not, God is. You need evidence? All right. Let’s look at some verses and discover who you are as a Christian and what Christ is in your life.

I’ve written down what each of the following verses says about you. Read it out loud so you can hear what God is saying. And remember, we are not talking about feelings; we’re talking about your true identity.

John 1:12I am a child of God (Romans 8:16).

John 15:1,5I am a part of the true vine, a channel (branch) of His Life.

John 15:15I am Christ’s friend.

John 15:16I am chosen and appointed by Christ to bear His fruit.

Acts 1:8I am a personal witness of Christ for Christ.

Romans 3:24I have been justified and redeemed.

Romans 5:1I have been justified (completely forgiven and made righteous) and am at peace with God.

Romans 6:1-6I died with Christ and died to the power of sin’s rule in my life.

Romans 6:7I have been freed from sin’s power over me.

Romans 6:18I am a slave of righteousness.

Romans 6:22I am enslaved to God.

Romans 8:1I am forever free from condemnation.

Romans 8:14,15I am a son of God (God is literally my “Papa”) (Galatians 3:26; 4:6).

Romans 8:17I am an heir of God and fellow heir with Christ.

Romans 11:16 I am holy.

Romans 15:7Christ has accepted me.

1 Corinthians 1:2I have been sanctified.

1 Corinthians 1:30I have been placed in Christ by God’s doing; Christ is now my wisdom from God, my righteousness, my sanctification, and my redemption.

1 Corinthians 2:12I have received the Spirit of God into my life that I might know the things freely given to me by God.

1 Corinthians 2:16I have been given the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19I am a temple (home) of God; His Spirit (His life) dwells in me.

1 Corinthians 6:17I am joined to the Lord and am one spirit with Him.

1 Corinthians 6:19,20I have been bought with a price; I am not my own; I belong to God.

1 Corinthians 12:27I am a member of Christ’s body (Ephesians 5:30).

2 Corinthians 1:21I have been established in Christ and anointed by God.

2 Corinthians 2:14He always leads me in His triumph in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14,15Since I have died, I no longer live for myself, but for Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:17I am a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:18,19I am reconciled to God and am a minister of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:21I am the righteousness of God in Christ.

Galatians 2:4I have liberty in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 2:20I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I am now living is Christ’s life.

Galatians 3:26,28I am a child of God and one in Christ.

Galatians 4:6,7I am a child of God and an heir through God.

Ephesians 1:1I am a saint (1 Corinthians 1:2; Philippians 1:1; Colossians 1:2).

Ephesians 1:3I am blessed with every spiritual blessing.

Ephesians 1:4I was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blame before Him.

Ephesians 1:7,8I have been redeemed and forgiven, and am a recipient of His lavish grace.

Ephesians 2:5I have been made alive together with Christ.

Ephesians 2:6I have been raised up and seated with Christ in heaven.

Ephesians 2:10I am God’s workmanship, created in Christ to do His work that He planned beforehand that I should do.

Ephesians 2:13I have been brought near to God.

Ephesians 2:18I have direct access to God through the Spirit.

Ephesians 2:19I am a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of God’s household.

Ephesians 3:6I am a fellow heir, a fellow member of the body, and a fellow partaker of the promise in Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:12I may approach God with boldness and confidence.

Ephesians 4:24I am righteous and holy.

Philippians 3:20I am a citizen of heaven.

Philippians 4:7His peace guards my heart and my mind.

Philippians 4:19God will supply all my needs.

Colossians 1:13I have been delivered from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ.

Colossians 1:14I have been redeemed and forgiven of all my sins. The debt against me has been canceled (Colossians 2:13,14).

Colossians 1:27Christ Himself is in me.

Colossians 2:7I have been firmly rooted in Christ and am now being built up and established in Him.

Colossians 2:10I have been made complete in Christ.

Colossians 2:12,13I have been buried, raised, and made alive with Christ, and totally forgiven.

Colossians 3:1I have been raised with Christ.

Colossians 3:3I have died, and my life is now hidden with Christ in God.

Colossians 3:4Christ is now my life.

Colossians 3:12I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved (1 Thessalonians 1:4).

1 Thessalonians 5:5I am a child of light and not of darkness.

2 Timothy 1:7I have been given a spirit of power, love, and discipline.

2 Timothy 1:9I have been saved and called (set apart) according to God’s purpose and grace (Titus 3:5).

Hebrews 2:11Because I am sanctified and am one with Christ, He is not ashamed to call me His.

Hebrews 3:1I am a holy partaker of a heavenly calling.

Hebrews 3:14I am a partaker of Christ.

Hebrews 4:16I may come boldly before the throne of God to receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Peter 2:5I am one of God’s living stones and am being built up as a spiritual house.

1 Peter 2:9,10I am a part of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of God’s own possession.

1 Peter 2:11I am an alien and stranger to this world that I temporarily live in.

1 Peter 5:8I am an enemy of the devil. He is my adversary.

2 Peter 1:4I have been given God’s precious and magnificent promises by which I am a partaker of the divine nature.

1 John 3:1God has bestowed a great love on me and called me His child.

1 John 4:15God is in me and I am in God.

Now, even though you may not “feel” like these verses are true, are they in fact true? Yes. Why? Because God said so. You, then, must accept His Word and act like what He has called you: a wonderful new creation! The very dwelling place of God!

* * *

We are so uninhibited as children. How well I remember dancing on my front porch, pretending I was Ginger Rogers. It didn’t matter how many people went by. As far as I was concerned, when they looked at me they were seeing Ginger: long blonde hair(pageboy style), willowy, graceful, and beautiful. But I was just “pretending.”

When we “act out” Jesus living through us — in us — we are notpretending. It is truth! But the people who are watching will see the grace and beauty ofHim “dancing” through us. How we cheat ourselves every day when we say,”This is too difficult for me to understand . . . too mystical. I just can’t doit.”

Come on. Let’s go out on the front porch and dance!

This chart is taken from Anabel Gillham, The Confident Woman (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1993)

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