TREM Devotional 24 August 2026 By Bishop Mike Okonkwo

TOPIC: You Are The Church.

For we are labourers together with God; you are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” – 1 Corinthians 3:9 (KJV)

THE MESSAGE

During the pandemic in 2020, many argued that the church was locked down. I beg to differ. The church cannot be locked down. It is true that the church building was closed, but the church itself was never locked down. This misunderstanding that the church is a building has caused many to live carelessly outside the walls of the physical structure.

The church of Jesus Christ is far greater than any building. Yes, we construct places where we gather to be instructed and edified, but the building itself does not make the church. When God’s people gather there, that is what brings life and purpose to the structure. Without the people, it is merely an ordinary building. Understanding this truth will reorient the way you see yourself and your role in God’s work.

Beloved, you are the church. You are the light of the world and the salt of the earth. You are God’s building. Notice that the Bible does not say that structures made of mortar, blocks, or iron are God’s building; it says God’s people are His building. In 1 Corinthians 3:17 it says, “If any man defiles the temple of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.” You are the temple of God.

The scripture also declares, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” – 1 Corinthians 3:16 KJV

Anyone who is joined with the Lord becomes one spirit with Him. As it is written, “Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? Know ye not that he which is joined to a harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” – 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 KJV

You are God’s building, His dwelling place, and His instrument on earth. Guard your body, your spirit, and your actions, for the church is alive in you, and the glory of God resides within you.

Further Reading
1 Corinthians 3:9-17, 1 Corinthians 12:27.

Wisdom For The Day Devotional was written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.