I need to get back in the practice of actively engaging the Holy Spirit to live in me moment by moment so my mind will be at peace.
Verse 15 tells us how close we should keep God with us, we have access to our Father at all times so we should be seeking him like a toddler seeks its earthly dad. If we seek Him, he will give us our share of the riches of Christ. I believe that the treasure is greater than we can comprehend. I can't wait to see what that will look like when we reign with Jesus someday.
The last verse of the passage promises suffering. No one wants it, but God has never hidden trouble from his people. He doesn't give it, but he will bear with us through the suffering we have in this world. God will also cultivate th suffering it if we let Him into more fruit of the Spirit: gentleness, peace, patience, gentleness, humility and self control.
If you are going through suffering, remember it takes a lot of compost and scarred hands to produce a garden, but when you are done, the beauty of it speaks for itself.
Romans 8:1-17
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. 8 That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12 Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13 For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.Now we call him, "Abba, Father."16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Kimberly
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