Spirit

What do you do when you can’t pray? When the words won’t come. When your soul is exhausted. The great missionary J. Hudson Taylor came to that point. When anxiety filled his heart, he said, “I can’t read. I can’t think. I can’t pray. But I can trust.” We can all trust and know that the Holy Spirit is praying for us at a level we cannot comprehend.

The Spirit of God lives in you. That’s the amazing truth for every true believer. And when the Spirit of Christ lives in us, that changes everything.

The greatest weapon in the spiritual battle is prayer—talking with God. We can only be strong in the strength of his might. And that strength comes when we are in conversation with the One in charge of the battle. Even when we are all buckled up in our battle gear, we must hear the voice of the Sovereign Commander. He is the only One who brings the victory.

The Bible is a book about God, his love, sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption. Satan is part of the story, but he is not the focus. He is a defeated foe—but a foe, nonetheless. He is out to destroy us; we are no match for him. Let’s spend some time considering our enemy.

In our passage today, Peter likens these sinful snares to soldiers coming to make war. Equipped with the tanks of anger, missiles of greed, swords of lust, and automatic weapons of pride, these “soldiers” come to attack your soul. These soldiers of sin seek to destroy us or render us useless and ineffective. A broken and wounded follower of Jesus is just as useless as one who has been wrecked.

Immanuel. God with us. What a powerful name! What a comforting name! At one point in history, Immanuel walked planet Earth and lived with man. Now, for the rest of history, he reigns from heaven, and his Spirit lives in us.

God places his seal of ownership on us and gives us his Spirit as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. In Christ, we will always stand firm.

The Spirit of truth reveals to the believer the truths of God’s Word.

How about you? Are you still trying to work your way to God? Still trying to be good enough for him? Our only hope depends on what Jesus did for us.