Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

Ten days ago, I shared the fact that the Holy Spirit inspired me to write about our spiritual body. My initial goal was to spend a week writing about our spiritual bodies, needless to say I didn’t. Yet, there is one thought that the Holy Spirit still wants me to share, which is about being born again.

In Today’s scripture, John 3:3-7 (NLT), we read…
[3] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” [4] “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” [5] Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. [6] Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. [7] So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

Consider…
Usually references to spiritual bodies are intellectual, ethereal and hypothetical discussions. They are expositions of our imaginations more than expectations of our realities. However, in today’s scripture we read Jesus’ unequivocal expectations to be born again spiritually.

As I wrote that, the Holy Spirit corrected my understanding from ethereal to eternal. Jesus said we must be birthed by the Holy Spirit, not become more spiritual. I was shown that critical distinction because according to Oxford Languages, spiritually is an adverb is defined as in a way that relates to or affects the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.

God doesn’t want to have an affect on us, rather He wants His Spirit to control our lives.

Romans 8:9 (NLT) explains…
[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.)

Notice, we can only be controlled by the Holy Spirit if He is living in us.

That made me think of Jesus’ birth origin shared in Luke 1:34-35 (NLT)…
[34] Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” [35] The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

We know that Jesus was sinless during His life here on earth, but I think we overlook the fact that the Holy Spirit was living in, and guiding Him from birth.

For example, we remember the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness, but may overlook how it begins in Luke 4:1-2 (NLT)…
[1] Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River. He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, [2] where he was tempted by the devil for forty days. Jesus ate nothing all that time and became very hungry.

This is significant because Jesus was being led by the Holy Spirit before He was tempted. That means He was under the Holy Spirit’s control ahead of and throughout the devil’s tempting.

That’s why the Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 5:16 (NLT)…
[16] So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

There’s nothing magical or mythical about being Holy like Jesus, it’s simply a matter of being led by the Holy Spirit like Him.

Also, it’s not a coincidence that Jesus quoted scripture to resist the devil, during His wilderness temptation, because we read that He was full of the Holy Spirit before the temptation began.

I humbly submit, our struggles with sin stem from us being empty within. Because we are not full of the Holy Spirit, we try to fight spiritual battles proudly powerless, rather than following the strategy James 4:7 (NLT) tells us…
[7] So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Just like it was with Jesus, it’s in our humble submission to God, and His Spirit, that we are able to resist the devil, and not give in to our sinful cravings.

As I was searching scripture to better grasp this submission lifestyle, I came across Hebrews 5:7-8 (NLT)…
[7] While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. [8] Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

That floored me, God the Father heard Jesus the Son’s prayer and let Him learn obedience from suffering! 🤯

That means sometimes God allows us to suffer to learn obedience too.

That also gives me a greater appreciation of why the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He was tempted. I believe Jesus needed to survive the wilderness before He could endure the cross. You see it’s in the wilderness that Jesus practiced prioritizing spiritual and sacrificial obedience to God over His physical needs, comforts and desires.

Let me explain, Jesus was physically hungry, but He sacrificed using His God given power to address His need, because it wasn’t within the Father’s will. In the same way, Jesus allowed Himself to be crucified in obedience to His Father’s will.

Let me remind you, Philippians 2:6-8 (NLT) says…
[6] Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. [7] Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, [8] he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

The Holy Spirit is showing me that being Spirit born is about living submitted and obedient to God, no matter what it costs, like Jesus.

In fact Philippians 2:5 (NLT) tells us…
[5] You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

As I saw that, the Holy Spirit flashed Romans 8:14-16 (NLT) in my mind. It declares…
[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.

God says that all of HIS children have, and obey, His Spirit.

While writing this post, one of my favorite hymns is on repeat, specifically the lyrics…

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine
Heir of salvation, purchase of God
Born of his Spirit, washed in His blood

That just reminded me that the Spirit of Christ must be living in us.

Galatians 4:6 (NLT) affirms…
[6] And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.”

Not only that, but we are made alive by God’s resurrection Spirit. Romans 8:11 (NLT)…
[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.

As I read the two proceeding scriptures, the Holy Spirit reminded me Genesis 1:26a (NLT) said…
[26] Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us…”

It’s God’s Spirit in us that makes us like Him.

That means we must recognize the fact we have a responsibility to be like Him

1 Peter 1:14-16 (NLT) admonishes…
[14] So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. [15] But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. [16] For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”

And 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) exhorts…
[19] Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, [20] for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.

Here’s the good news, God knew it would be impossible for us to live up to His standard, so Titus 3:4-6 (NLT) explains…
[4] But, When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, [5] he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. [6] He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior.

You see the Holy Spirit is the person in the Godhead that empowers us to live for, and with God, while we’re here on earth. But we must submit to, and obey Him.

Thus, we’ll end with Galatians 5:25 (NLT) exhortation…
[25] Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

The Holy Spirit is telling us to choose spiritual obedience over physical obsessions. And, stop chasing our temporal feelings and let Him lead us in eternal obedience.

Today’s song is…
Spirit Lead Me

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)