July 4- Freedom

Happy Fourth of July! Do you have a big celebration planned for today? We are going to grill and eat and grill and eat and shoot fireworks then...maybe eat once more! This is one of my family’s favorite days of the year. We love summer and we love to celebrate. 


A few weeks ago, my nephew sent me a response to my devotion and I have thought about what he said ever since. I was going to re-write it for you, but he just says it very well so I want to share it with you. 


“As I reading your devotional this morning, it made me think of how we often forget that God in the Holy Spirit is present with us in other believers as well.  We are pretty good about acknowledging the Spirit as an internal, mystical presence, but we don't always take seriously the fact that the Spirit has "flesh and blood" because he inhabits God's people around us.


“So, if we want more of the presence of God, part of how we accomplish that is to be around Spirit-filled people.  The Spirit in our hearts may not be able to give us a hug when we're grieving, but the Spirit in another believer certainly can.  We may not always hear the Spirit speaking to us inwardly, but we might hear the Spirit when a Spirit-filled believer is encouraging us or helping us to see an area of life where we might improve.


“And I think this is a nice balance to a very "me centered" spiritual walk.  Yes, my private time and private experiences are good, but the Spirit may have a lot to share with me and may come to my aid very directly in the hearts of other believers who can speak and act with me directly.  And while I might not like a particular Christian very much, I can still appreciate that they are carrying the Holy Spirit inside them who may still have things to say to me.”


Hearing the Spirit through other believers...I sometimes forget that very important lesson. 


“For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:17-18‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12:6-7‬ ‭NLT‬‬


Today, enjoy your freedom in the Spirit and be blessed knowing there others around you have that same, precious Spirit and in them, you can more fully realize our God. 


Father in Heaven, thank you for our freedom in you and the Spirit within us that guides our lives. We praise you for the Spirit in other believers who walk with us through this life and how they can lift us up and help guide us. Teach us to yield to the Spirit more each day and to be fully transformed. Renew our minds and mold us to be what you’d have us to be. Help us to see others around us and to reach out to them with your spirit, freedom and love. Without you, there is no life, there is no hope. We ask for your blessings on our friends and family who are fighting illnesses of all kinds this day—touch them with your healing hand and bring them through their battle. Hallelujah for the Great Three in One. We praise you for all the mighty things we have seen you do and for all those unseen things we will never know about. Yes you are great. Amen and amen. 


In the Spirit of the Lord, love you dear friend,

Pam




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

January 17, 2020

Happy Friday. It’s the end of another week and we have had more opportunities to share the love of Christ with those around us and sometimes that takes quite a bit of effort. I don’t know about you, but I’m not always anxious to embrace others and really listen to them or share with them (especially those who I don’t know well). Sometimes, I just look at them and think “Are you for real?” I don’t always agree with people over politics, sports or of course, religion. And let’s face it, we’d rather spend time with people we like and mostly agree.  And then I read my Bible. God hasn’t called us to sit in our little groups with only those we naturally gravitate towards, but to love people—all people, even those who aren’t necessarily loveable. In this passage, Paul writing to the people of Colosse remarks on how wonderful it is that they truly love others. That love must have really been something over and above the normal and he tells them that it is evident that it comes from the Holy Sp
Read more

January 15, 2020

Happy Wednesday to you. I hope your week is going well. Yesterday, I went to Sams. I was out of things like trash bags, toilet paper, and chicken, so off I went. I like going to Sams because there is always lots to look at and the isles are nice and wide. Everytime I’m there, I am amazed at how much stuff and everything from diapers to TVs to mangos to beds. It just seems incredible that so many things in such quantities are all under one roof.  King David never saw a store with as much stuff aa Sams of course, but he did see countless miracles and understand that God has plans. He knew from creation and history that he was serving a God of miracles and he know that God loved him and his people and would take care of them. He was amazed and awe-struck by the fact that a God who had done such great and mighty things not only cared about his people but that He loved them with such a great love.  “Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can co
Read more

January 9, 2020

It’s Thursday and I woke up to the blowing wind! Lots of it—I’m dreading Boomer waking up and having to go outside with him. That harsh, bitter wind seems cruel and almost evil. But I’ll wrap myself up with a fe layers and boots and brave it all.  Sometimes I think we try to do that with things we know aren’t right—things that are evil. We try to wrap ourselves up and just wade into it, but Paul tells us we should reject it—stay away from it. “Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:20-24‬ NIV When he wrote this he’d been in Berea and the Christians there diligently searched the scriptures to make sure everything Paul said was in line. Paul here is encouraging the Thessalonians to
Read more