The Indwelling Spirit of God

Rom 8:9 “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.”

The Holy Spirit lives in us, indwells us.  What a glorious way to look at life.  The God of the Universe is so close that He lives in my heart.  It is that personal of a relationship.  He is not a guest.

While He is there He is directing, guiding and influencing my thoughts, my choices and as a result my actions.  This in turn causes a change in me that is so deep rooted that it fundamentally causes me to cease to exist in one realm and to be born again into another realm, the kingdom of God.

Because He has fundamentally changed who I am at the core, it also means that the fruit that I bear reflects who He is.

Gal 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

While the gifts of the Spirit are given according to His good pleasure and different members of the body receive different gifts so that when we come together we reflect the fullness of what He has for us, the fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of not just His visitation, but His indwelling.

So much are we transformed by His living in our heart that our very life blood carries His presence as it courses through our veins to the point that we even smell different.

2 Cor 2:15-16 “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.  To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life.”

To God we smell like His son.  It is a recognizable aroma.  But to the world it is a stench that offends them because it reminds them of their falling condition.  The world does not want to be reminded of their sin.  They live in opposite world, not us.  They have convinced themselves that the stench of their rotting flesh is the way we all should smell.

Comments

  1. K. Michael FergusonMarch 2, 2011 at 6:07 AM

    Hey Jay, This is an awesome post my friend.

    So, yesterday at Starbucks a young man (21yrs old) approached me to compliment my pipe. He is a pipe collector and excitedly wanted to take a picture of my pipe and send it to a friend. It wasn't long before he had left his friends, gone to his van to get one of his pipes, and sat down with me for almost three hours to talk about everything from his band, to how the Lord was impacting his life.

    I'm watching an incredible transformation take place right before my eyes. It's amazing to me that not more than a year ago these types of events never happened to me, nor did I believe that I wanted them to happen to me. I had been told to me that I "looked" unapproachable and spoke in a condescending manor... and I did. I wore a mask of superiority to hide my many weaknesses and would rarely, intentionally make time for a stranger.

    I am a witness to Gal 5:22. The holy spirit in you creates and interesting attraction and curiosity in others. I'm really enjoying my walk with my God and what He's doing in and through me.

    K. Michael Ferguson
    www.retirementplayground.com

    ReplyDelete

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