Overview of: RomansToday's Reading:
Romans 8:1-27
"Life through the Spirit"
Focus Verses: Romans 8:5-11
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Insight:
When we surrender our lives to Christ, the Spirit of God lives in us. Belonging to Christ and the indwelling of the Spirit go hand in hand. The Spirit who indwells the mortal bodies of believers is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. That same resurrection power of the Spirit is directed toward the believer's life.
Response and Action:
It's an amazing thought that the same Spirit who raised Christ Jesus from the dead is living inside my mortal body. If the Spirit has power to raise the dead, he surely has the power to give new life to the living. My mouth, my mind, my habits, my choices, my weaknesses, my strengths can now be raised to new life by the power and grace of the Holy Spirit.
O God, raise me to newness of life through the resurrection power of your Spirit who lives in me. Help me to yield fully to the guidance and influence of your Holy Spirit in my life. Help me to understand your direction, and strengthen me to follow. Apply your resurrection power to every aspect of my life, that I might be raised to live as Christ. Amen.
Old Testament for Today: Psalm 49:15
15 But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.
In Context: Psalm 49
Proverb for Today: Prov. 8:35
"For whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and receives favor from the LORD."
Recommended Reading:
Living the Resurrection: The Risen Christ in an Everyday Life
by Eugene Peterson
