Daily Devotional

A Ministry of the Kerwin Baptist Church

November 8, 2018

by Pastor Hawtree

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO GIVE ME FELLOWSHIP WITH THE SPIRIT

Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

I’ve been doing a series in the youth ministry on The Holy Spirit, the role He plays in our lives, and in return how we should respond to Him. I knew we had a young, and transitioning youth ministry, and I thought “This will be good information for them to have as they grow in the Lord.” I didn’t realize how much I needed this as well. I haven’t used the passage that I’m writing about in the devotion to teach from, but I think it is one of the most practical passages in Scripture about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and how we can respond to him.

One of the most important things we need to know about the Holy Spirit is that He is not just merely an extension of God, He is God! It’s not a lesser form of God we have inside of us, it is the Holy, Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient spirit of God living in us, and He craves a relationship with us.

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

That word communion means; “fellowship, intimacy, joint participation.” The Holy Spirit wants to fellowship with us.

While reading through Romans 8 this past week I wrote down a few ways we can fellowship with the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to get your Bible and read the verses along with this devotional.

1. Walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:4) This is a pretty simple thought, but if we are going to fellowship with the Spirit, it takes action on our part. This simply means living our life the way the Holy Spirit would like us to. Making life choices by embracing what the Holy Spirit values, and by refusing what the Holy Spirit is grieved by.

2. Think in the Spirit (Romans 8:5-6) The mind is the battlefield for Spiritual warfare, and it’s important that we submit our minds, and our thought life to the Holy Spirit. How does a person overcome the pull of the flesh? How can you extract all the air out of a drinking glass? The easiest way to do that is to fill the glass with something else. You cannot get rid of all the thoughts in your mind that displease God, but rather we need to replace those thoughts, and even renew our mindset (Romans 12:1) toward the things of the Spirit.

3. Be led by the Spirit (Romans 8:14) Being led by the Spirit is simply us submitting our will to Gods perfect will. We honor, instead of ignore the Spirit’s leadership in the small, as well as the big decisions of our spiritual life. Some areas to think about submitting to the Holy Spirit should be, but is not limited to; Our Actions, Our Speech, Our Finances (ouch) Our Eyes (us men need to pay attention to this one) Our Schedule. Think about just the idea of submitting our schedule to God. How much time did you give the Lord yesterday? How much time have you given Him this week, or even this year? If you’re like me whatever that amount is it isn’t enough.

Determine this week you are going to Walk in the Spirit, Think in the Spirit, and

Be Led by the Spirit.

If you want to do a little extra studying on this some other things I wrote down from this chapter are;

-Put the flesh to death by the Spirit (Romans 8:13)

-Adoption of the Spirit (Romans 8:15-17)

-Hope in the Spirit (Romans 8:22-25)

-Pray in the Spirit (Romans 8:26-27)

Frank Newsome Jr