“Power in the Spirit”

Scripture:

Romans 8:6-7
If your sinful nature controls your mind, there is death.
But if the Holy Spirit controls your mind, there is life and peace.
For the sinful nature is always hostile to God.
It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. (NLT)

Observation:

The only way that anyone, who walks on the face of this earth and breathes its air, can refrain from following their sinful nature is through the awesome Power of God’s Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:16). For the uncanny evil nature to sin (that is a part of who we are) has the power to lead us away from the only One who is able to save us from certain death and punishment that all unrepentant sinners deserve and receive. It is understandable and undeniable that we had no choice in the matter of our birth and the sin nature attached to our lives, but from the moment we begin to think for ourselves—reasoning with life experiences—we are faced with many choices and critical decisions to make.

Application:

The Lord God not only created into every living person the sense of right and wrong, but He has also given us the freedom to make those choices (good or bad) that will determine how well we live this life that will ultimately lead us to our eternal destiny. It matters not what family we are born into, or how good we consider ourselves to be; we are all borne to sin (Ephesians 2:3), and will die a sinner’s death without the Lord’s intervention and power. The human flesh is weak and is easily persuaded to follow the sinful nature that seeks self-gratifying pleasures even though we know the consequences can be deadly. The curse that sin holds over the entire creation is indeed, a mighty invisible force to be reckoned with—one that is much too powerful for any human being to stand against on their own without the sovereign power of our Creator, the Author of Life. We should never take for granted the love that the Lord our God has for us sinners (a love we will never comprehend this side of heaven), for He has so graciously offered everyone His Holy and all powerful Spirit, which takes up residence in our hearts when we make that life-changing decision to give God control over our lives and ask Him to help us successfully fight the sin that holds us captive. When we truly belong to God our lives are no longer our own. For the Lord paid the ultimate price for all our rebellion and sin. We all owe Him dearly, my friends, we owe Him our very lives—lives that were too precious for Him to lose!

Prayer:

O LORD, thank You for loving us as You do. Even though we don’t fully understand the full extent of Your love, You can be sure that many of us will give You our lives in return. Thank You for sending us the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts and give us what we need in order to persevere the persecution that is closing in on Your people. With You, there is peace no matter what!

Amen