Holy Spirit

Verse
But for you who welcome him [the Spirit of Christ], in whom he dwells — even though you still experience all the limitations of sin — you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that...

 

Verse
But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about.

— Romans 8:9 msg

Thought
God's children have the Spirit of Christ living in them. But more than just a visiting guest, those who follow Jesus want to welcome the Holy Spirit to his home in their heart. More than thinking about...

 

Verse
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.

— Galatians 5:25 msg

Thought
The followers of Jesus have chosen to live life in the Spirit — not of God's commands written in stone or on pages, but God's will written on their hearts and shown in their lives by the transforming work of the Spirit...

 

Verse
Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are — face to face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives...

 

Verse
Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant — not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

— 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 tniv

Thought
God's words in Scripture remind us of both his holiness and his holy standards for us. The letter kills, because it makes us aware of the deadly...

 

Verse
"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I...

 

Verse
'I'll give you a new heart. I'll put a new Spirit in you. I'll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you'll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!'

— Ezekiel 11:19-20 msg

Thought
God had to deal with a rebellious and stubborn people in Ezekiel's day — I guess that's not so much different than many times in history. Yet God was promising a day that their hard-hearts would be...

 

Verse
Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon me, and he told me to say, "This is what the LORD says to the people of Israel: I know what you are saying, for I know every thought that comes into your minds."

— Ezekiel 11:5 nlt

Thought
We can scheme and plan and plot quietly, telling no one, yet the Spirit of God knows. The Spirit knows what we are thinking and what we are saying behind closed doors. So while part of the power of the Spirit's work in bringing God's message is found in...

 

Verse
The Spirit said to me, "Son of man, these are the men who are planning evil and giving wicked counsel in this city. They say to the people, 'Is it not a good time to build houses? This city is like an iron pot. We are safe inside it like meat in a pot.' Therefore, son of man, prophesy against them loudly and clearly."

— Ezekiel 11:2-3 nlt

Thought
We are family with Op-Ed pieces in the editorials. We often need them to counter-balance the leaning of culture which tends to put...

 

Verse
Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me to the east gateway of the LORD's Temple, where I saw twenty-five prominent men of the city. Among them were Jaazaniah son of Azzur and Pelatiah son of Benaiah, who were leaders among the people.

— Ezekiel 11:1 nlt

Thought
Ezekiel's ministry will be hard, but he is to do the job he has been called to do. He will not be alone in this very difficult task. The Spirit of God will not only speak to him and through him, but the Spirit of God...