Spirit Life


Romans 8:9-11
9You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
10But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

“You, however, are not in the flesh…”

I love this phrase; if you are a believer then the Spirit is there inside of you. This is a statement of fact, not a supposition or a theory. The Holy Spirit didn’t come to you because you are a believer. You are a believer because the Holy Spirit came to you. Paul is assuming that He is there. In my mind’s eye there’s even a finger point and special emphasis to “You, however…”

The presence of the Holy Spirit is indeed mysterious and amazing. And there can be no mistaking Paul’s words here. The Spirit is there working in your life on a moment by moment basis. Years ago I learned this truth in a rather odd way. A friend and I were regularly going to the home of a woman who was dying of brain cancer to pray with her, read the Bible to her, and sing for her. As the cancer progressed she eventually passed into a place where she didn’t really even know that we were there. But before she became comatose she was acknowledging the presence of Someone – and it wasn’t us. She would look past us, over our shoulders to something we could not see. And she would reach out to that “something” and smile. Words and reality were gone from her mind. But I am certain that she could see into the spiritual because her Spirit was still strong. Her body may have been broken beyond repair, but the Spirit was alive and well. Do I have Scriptural support for my beliefs about these events? Nope. But you’ll never shake my belief that God was there with her and she knew it. I couldn’t see what was going on, but she could. I have witnessed the same thing at other bedsides over the years. Our bodies may fail, but the Spirit does not.

These words bring great comfort and strength as I read them. “You, however, are not in the flesh…” No, my real self is in the Spirit, completely and totally. When God looks upon me He sees Jesus and this broken, sinful body is not in His eye-line. These Words make me want to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh. That desire is the work of the Spirit as well. It’s a reading of great encouragement!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv
Read more

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl
Read more