"Got Spirit?"

" Got Spirit?"
Romans 8:5, 8:14,15,16, 8:26,27,28

I read a few chapters this morning in Romans and 1Corinthians trying to figure out how to put so much knowledge into a small devotional. There is so much to understand and comprehend that I am beginning to realize why pastors often say,"Well, I'm going to have to cut this short to get finished in time!" Allot of times they were live on a radio broadcast and felt pressured to close their message.

I often felt like it would have been great to have gotten that full version of what they had been studying all week long after the broadcast was over! After all, that was what we all had dedicated our day to or maybe some of us did? It might be true that most of the people would have laughed hilariously had the pastor said," We'll close for the broadcast but I'd like all to stay for the full message that I want to give you on this passage. I'll probably be completely finished by two o'clock!" Sometimes I wondered how we got to be so scheduled with worship that people would literally leave angry if the pastor closed his service just ten minutes later than normal. What were those people there for anyways? Maybe appearance or to say they went and feel safe in saying that they were part of the family of God. Maybe socializing and business networking was the real purpose they came so faithfully or maybe it was the persistent determination of the wife that kept the family in church!

If I could go back and find all of those people, I'd love to ask them, "Do you have Spirit? Is your life centered around a schedule of events so much that you may have actually totally missed getting the Spirit that God wants to give all people?

Let's begin in Romans 8:5,

Rom 8:5 For they that are according to the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

This is talking about living according to the rules,standards and control of either the body or the spirit. Which one do you live by? Do you know how to tell the difference? It's ok if it's somewhat confusing to you! I was too at first a bit confused.

You see, Jesus was our sacrifice on the cross as we all know in this day of modern technology and when He died and rose again His Spirit was made available by God to dwell in us. There had to be a death of His body to justify us so that we could be made children of God also. We are the body parts so to speak and He is the spirit. We each have a spirit but we all are given specific gifts to perform as a part of the body of Christ. Every part is necessary and cared for by the Spirit of Christ!

This verse means we mind the things of our body or the things of the Spirit of God depending on what we live our lives for!

Let's jump to verse 14 now,

Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Rom 8:15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father.

Rom 8:16 The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

The first thing that I noticed here was that the word spirit is capitalized when referring to the Spirit of God and mot when it refers to our spirit or the flesh. The second thing is that it is very clear that we can know if we are being led by our spirit or the Spirit of God! The Spirit of God doesn't leave us with the same bondage we were under before when living according to the flesh, does it? That's where fear comes from due to our living in sin! I've heard many preachers tell people that they are so sinful and that they need to always be ready to drop to their knees ad repent throughout their day!

But what does this verse say? It says we are not to fear of being in bondage but rather we will have RECEIVED the Spirit of adoption that allows us to cry out Abba, Father. "Abba" originated in Chaldee and is the term used for someone to address their real father.

In verse 16 it says that the Spirit(of God) testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God.

What does it mean to testify?

If you went to court to testify in a case to prove that your friends baby was truly her baby what would you say? Maybe, "Your honor I'd like to say that I was there in the delivery room and I witnessed the birth of this child. This is her baby your honor! She came as close to death as you possibly can without dying to give this child a life free of her womb! She gave of herself for 9 months to carry this child as it grew and was ready for birth and she longed for this child even when she was a child holding her dolls and waiting patiently for the day she could have her own! This is her child because her DNA matches this child's DNA!"

The Bible says that the Spirit of God testifies with our spirit (before God) that we are the children of God: and heirs.

What did I inherit when I became a child of God by the witness of the Holy Spirit of my birth? I inherited what Christ is entitled to as Gods Son! Wow! I won the lottery! But wait! What does it say in the last part of verse 17?

If we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together.

This is talking about the suffering of the body. It may even be referring to the suffering that we feel when we do what's right and we get ridiculed by the crowd or our best friend. Have you ever not gone to a party or social because you knew it was going to get wild and people would be sowing their wild oats(flesh desires) so to speak?

Some of you might not appreciate what I'm getting ready to say, but it's true!

When we allow our minds to become clouded by the exceptions and compromises we make when we choose our activities; those we associate with; what we put into our bodies; the kind of movements & dance we do with our bodies and how we think about relationships outside of marriage; we cannot have the Spirit of God testifying for us before God!

If we are joint heirs with Him, our spirit will become alive and our flesh will be made dead. The thing is that our flesh isn't going to be dead as long as we continue to feed it and choose to live in the bondage of it! (vs. 5-8)

Rom 8:5 For they that are according to the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh: but they that are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace:
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

So the question of the day is "Got Spirit?" and the answer is really something that only you can know! Neither I nor anybody else can tell you if you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you but there is a way you can identify evidence of the Spirit dwelling in you!

Let's look at the final verses and see,

Rom 8:25 But if we hope for what we see not, then with patience we wait for it.
Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we should: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
Rom 8:27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit(of God), because he maketh intercession for the saints, according to the will of God.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

In verse 27 it says that "he searches the hearts" because our spirit is the heart of our being. The spirit is where our thoughts originate! Did you possibly think as I once did that our thoughts started in our brains? That mass of grey strange looking flesh that holds the information stored there based on education and experiences, good and bad. The brain is incredible and medical studies are finding out a little about how it works but the part they can't seem to put their finger on is what makes it operate and why?

You see, God made our bodies to work with our spirits but your spirit is who you really are and your thoughts originate there.

It says in verse 25 and 26 that the Spirit of God knows the thoughts of our spirit in our infirmities or troubles here on earth and speaks to God on our behalf to request the will of God in our lives. If all of that is taking place in your spirit today, you WILL know it!

Verse 28 will be showing it's evidence in your life and you will be telling others about the things that God has done in your life! It may not have been the things you had wanted or planned but it will be for GOOD to those who love God and are called according to His purpose!

If you have reason to believe today that the Spirit of God is not dwelling in your spirit and testifying for you, it's not anything to be embarrassed about or feel awful for. We all have the same body as you do. Everyone lives in this flesh and everyone has a spirit so you're no different than the rest of us!

Guess what though! God has done everything for you that is necessary to have His Spirit!

He justified you with His sacrifice! He has requested your adoption into Gods family already for you and the paperwork is done. All you have to do is show up and decide that you want the blessings that come with accepting the grace and mercy of God by acknowledging that you live in the flesh but you desire to live in the spirit together with the Spirit of God! You will never regret making the choice to accept what God has to give you!

Trust Him today and have new life and experience the love that God wants to give to you!

That's right, God really does love you!

Here is a verse as testimony of what I have just said taken from John 3:17. It says,

John 3:17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him may be saved.