Happy Monday!
As you may recall, sometimes I hear something that just sticks to my heart and soul and won’t let go. When that happens, I am generally going to share it because if God put it there for me to reach some
This particular rambling is based on Romans 8:9-23. We have been touching on this in our Sunday school class and then it was expanded on in one who needs to hear it, I don’t want to miss that opportunity!a devotion by Brian Harding of Daily Audio Bible. The main verses that stuck with me are 8-11 and 17-18. Pay particular attention to verse 11.
“8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that very same Spirit, lives in you. It is hard for me to even comprehend that reality! How can that not be a game changer? When you embrace that reality, what would it change? It changes everything!
I have heard people say, and it may have even been me at a particularly bad time in my life, that God has abandoned them (me). Now we know, of course, that if anyone walks away, it is NOT God. We may walk away, but God doesn’t. How can God abandon you if He lives within you??
Following that, Paul talks about how we will die if we live after the flesh, but if we live through the Spirit, we will live. There is no obligation to do wrong. It is a choice. If you live that way, you will die, BUT the Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the Spirit of the living God, if by that Spirit we put our sinful nature to death, we will live!
All who are led by the spirit of God are children of God. Since we are His children, we are His heirs. Think about that. An heir of God. I can’t even comprehend what we are set up to inherit. If you are an heir of God, that makes us heirs of God’s glory! Joint heirs with Jesus. That is so huge that it’s hard to understand!
That also brings us to another point though. Read verses 17 and 18.
“17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”
If we are going to share in the glory, Paul says we must also share in Jesus’ suffering. He was speaking of the oppression and persecution of that time. I don’t believe there is anything that we suffer through now, that can begin to compare to the glory we will encounter later.
If you apply this to your own life, you will encounter some very difficult times. These very difficulties will help perfect us though. We need to grow in strength and loyalty.
Are you ready to receive the all- consuming fire of God’s glory? Are you ready for this? What would our lives look like if we walked around in that kind of humble authority, walking through life and seeing it through God’s eyes?
If this is all true, and scripture says it is, are we living up to the full potential that is available? Or are we living less? If the church of Jesus Christ lives into what the scriptures tell us, it could change the world. Are we living less, or are we living more? Are we the hands and feet of Jesus?
Rise up and live the more! Rise up and use the authority given us through Jesus. Invite the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us through making the decisions we must make.
Pray Unceasingly!!
In His light,
Lois