Last Sunday morning, I issued a challenge in Crossroads to each of us for our Christmas break, and I wanted to follow-up to remind you of that challenge and to invite you to join in! As we saw Sunday, Romans 8 is a chapter exploding with description of the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we’re plugged into the Spirit “by definition,” since he comes to live within us at the moment our hearts are changed by the gospel (Rom. 8:9). However, many of us live like a lamp plugged in, but not turned on. How do we access the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we look like a lamp not only plugged in to the socket but shining brightly?
There’s no easy answer to this question, but I suggest two things that are a good starting point:
1. We must realize the presence of the Holy Spirit – the first step is simply to comprehend that if you are truly a Christian, “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11)! I believe that if we could only begin to realize the fact that Christ dwells in us by his Spirit, we would start to see profound changes in how we live. This means each day we get up and remind ourselves, “Christ is in me!!” This means each time we feel the “normalness” of our lives overwhelming us, we simply stop and think about the amazing reality that the Spirit of God has taken up residence in our lives. This means that in the heat of temptation, we stop and think, the Holy Spirit is in me right now…would I fall if I really comprehended his presence here with me? Bottom line: this is a moment by moment discipline of “practicing the presence of God-in-us.”
2. We must lean into the power of the Holy Spirit – in this point, I do not suggest that we need to “let go and let God” as though the Christian life were a passive spectator sport, or a lazy-boy chair we just sit in. Rather, I believe the Christian life is about working, striving, and running the race before us, but all the while leaning and depending on the Sprit’s power, rather than our own strength. This is why Paul can say “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” but then qualify “for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). Likewise, Paul can say “I beat my body and make it a slave” in the race of the Christian life, but he can also say “not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God” (2 Cor. 3:5) and “I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). God himself said to Paul “My strength is made perfect in your weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9) Jesus taught the same concepts. He said we should come to him for “rest” because his “yoke” (an image of toil) is “easy and light” (Matt. 11:28-30). The consistent picture in Scripture is one of simultaneous striving and resting, hard work and dependence. We need a power source outside of our own resources. That power source is the Spirit of God within us! So, each day, this means recognizing the various ways in which we do things in our own strength. Stop in those moments, and ask Christ to be your strength, by the power of his Spirit! Then move forward depending on him! Say to Christ “I can’t…but you-in-me can!” For more on this, see a great sermon by Loui Giglio
SO HERE’S THE CHALLENGE: over the holiday break, will you read Romans 8 regularly (maybe even daily?) and put into practice the two suggestions above. Then, watch what God does! Please email me at eric.naus@moodychurch.org with any thoughts and experiences that come out of this, I would love to pool the results!!
May the Lord grant you his powerful presence throughout this joyous Christmas season!
