Tag Archive for Romans 8:22-25

The Holy Spirit: Power to Be

2015-05-28 Devotional with Hymn, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Ephesians 3:14-21

What part does God’s Holy Spirit play in our lives? What part can He play as we learn to rely on Him more? Realize this: the Spirit is the constant presence of the Almighty, all-wise, all-loving God in the innermost part of our being.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you? (1 Corinthians 6:19, NIV) 

God’s Holy Spirit brings us the power to be all our holy, loving Father wants us to be. He doesn’t paint a thin layer of holiness over our evil hearts. He transforms us from the inside out, from our very core, freeing us from our slavery to sin.

Now that you have been set free from sin…the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:22, NIV)

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:1-2, NASB)

Through the Spirit, Christ’s own character grows within us daily, naturally.

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23, NIV)

The Holy Spirit teaches us and reminds us of the truth.

Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21, NIV)

“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
“He will guide you into all truth.” (John 14:26; 16:13, NIV)

As we trust Him, the Holy Spirit wraps us in God’s perfect peace.

The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:6, NIV)

Through His Spirit, God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3, NIV). He has given us the Jesus’ own Spirit, always within us.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Holy, Holy, Holy God
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Wisdom in Our Ignorance

2015-02-22 Devotional with Hymn No comments

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33, NIV)

We human beings are inherently ignorant. Physically we live a fraction of a second on a grain of sand in a universe that is ancient and vast beyond all imagining. Our perspective and objectivity are minuscule. Our view of truth is highly tainted by our personal prejudices and selfish desires. To claim that we understand reality, or that our minds and limited senses are an accurate gauge of reality, is laughable. Ignorance is common to each and every one of us.

God in His greatness has chosen to reveal Himself to us. And by degree He graciously helps us understand reality as we understand Him. He has given us His own Spirit to enlighten and guide us.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay (2 Corinthians 4:7, NIV). As we trust His revealed Truth and faithfully speak the Truth and live the Truth, we need to remember our limitations and the weakness of the vessel in which we hold His treasure. Our understanding of our great and boundless God is always only partial.

Yet God’s promise to us is this:

  • God, who through the millennia has spoken to us in many different ways, has spoken fully and finally in Jesus Christ, His own Son (Hebrews 1:1-2).
  • In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10a, NIV).

All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3). If you desire wisdom, if you want understanding, seek Him.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Truth of God Is Greater Far
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We Wait

2013-11-17 Devotional with Hymn No comments

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:22-25, NIV)

We wait.
Basking in the joy and freedom of all You’ve given us in Jesus Christ,
we eagerly await His return and
the completion of all Your love has planned.

We wait.
Immersed in disappointments and delays,
weakness and uncertainty,
decay and death,
we keep our faith focused on You.
Though we cannot see,
we cling to the strong and certain hope that is ours in Christ Jesus.
Day by day, in the noise and in the silence, our hearts forever cry,
“Father, may Kingdom come and
Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven!”

We wait.
So many are deluded,
lost in the darkness of the small and temporary.
In You we glimpse bigger realities.
Our physical world seems so lasting and all-encompassing,
but it will burn away like a morning mist.
Father, don’t let it seduce us.
You are truth.
You are unchanging.
You are forever.

In this false world, keep us faithful in proclaiming the ultimate things:
the return of Jesus,
the judgment, and
the world to come.
Whether He returns today or in ten thousand years is not the point.
The truth of His return shapes the entire reality in which we live.

Our Father, we look forward to the day when all creation rings with
the music and the beautiful silence of all You are.

As we believers wait together,
enduring these last hours of pain, darkness, grief, and death,
we’ll encourage one another to the hope and joy that are ours in You.
We’ll share songs, stories, and acts of kindness that remind us of
Your eternal, unfailing love.

Listen…and sing if you want:
Hymn: Waiting on Our Lord
Recording
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