A New Address, Life And Peace In The Indwelling Spirit
Turning from self as source to the Spirit of life, and discovering life and peace in the indwelling presence of Jesus.
Devotional Credit: Rooted in Christ, Episode 7, The Indwelling Spirit: Christ’s Life Expressed
Photo Credit: Unsplash
There are seasons when a believer knows the truth, yet daily experience still sounds like Romans 7. Effort, collapse, guilt, repeat. It is not the language of someone who does not care. It is the weary language of someone who cares deeply, but keeps trying to live the Christian life from the wrong source. Romans 8 is God’s answer, not by handing us more willpower, but by revealing the Spirit of life who now dwells within everyone who belongs to Jesus.
Romans 8:5-13 is one of those passages that quietly resets the whole inner world. Paul is not motivating us to become spiritual. He is revealing two realms, two mindsets, and two outcomes. The flesh produces death. The Spirit produces life and peace. That contrast is not meant to create panic. It is meant to expose where we have been drawing from, and to invite us back to the only Source that can actually supply what God commands.
What steadies me most is how Paul speaks to believers. He does not merely say, try to be different. He says, you are different. You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. That is not a command. That is a declaration. Your address changed. Your realm changed. Your identity changed. The flesh may still clamor for attention, but it is no longer home.
And then Paul adds a truth that glows with hope. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, and He gives life to your mortal body. That includes the future resurrection, and it also speaks to present vitality in the daily walk. This is not hype. It is the quiet power of the indwelling Spirit, expressing the life of Christ in ordinary moments where self effort has always failed. I am grateful for the Apostle Paul, and for the Spirit who carried these words to the church, so weary believers would stop staring at themselves and begin living from the risen Lord within.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I have brought you out of condemnation and into Christ. Your standing is settled because you are in Him. Your life is not held together by your resolve, it is held in the Son.
I want you to see the difference between two ways of living. One sets the mind on the flesh, on self as source, on managing and proving. That road leads to death, because the flesh does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot. Another sets the mind on the things of the Spirit, on the life of Jesus within, on receiving and depending. That road is life and peace.
You belong to Christ, therefore you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit. My presence in you is not a passing visit, it is a new realm. I dwell in you, and because of this you are no longer defined by the old patterns that once ruled you. The flesh is present, but it is not your home.
Christ is in you. Your body still carries weakness in a world marked by sin, yet I am life because of righteousness. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead is in you, and I give life to your mortal body. I am not only preparing you for the resurrection, I am expressing the risen life of Jesus in your daily walk.
So you are not a debtor to the flesh. You do not owe self reliance one more hour. By the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, not by grim striving, but by turning to the Son as your life. As you walk according to the Spirit, the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in you, because My presence supplies what the law could never produce from the flesh.
Stay with Me in this. Set your mind on the Spirit. Keep returning to Christ as your Source. I lead you in truth, I turn you toward Jesus, and I make the life of the Son tangible in real moments, in real choices, in real conversations.
Real-Life Analogy
Think about an old radio with a dial you can turn slowly. You sit at the kitchen counter, coffee nearby, and you twist the knob. One direction gives you static. It is noise, strain, and irritation. The other direction brings in a clear station, music, steady sound, and calm. The radio did not become a different object. The environment changed because the tuning changed.
Romans 8:5-13 reads like that dial. The flesh says, start with yourself, manage yourself, fix yourself, prove yourself. That is static. The Spirit says, start with Jesus, receive from Jesus, depend on Jesus, follow Jesus. That is life and peace.
So in a real moment, maybe you are about to send a sharp text, or you are replaying an old accusation in your mind, or temptation is knocking again, you can quietly turn the dial. Not with a vow, not with self pressure, but with yielded trust. Lord, I entrust my mind and my next step to You. Live Your life through me right here. Then take the next faithful step that fits the light you already have, and let the indwelling Holy Spirit supply what self effort never could.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that You have placed me in Jesus and that my standing is settled in Him. Thank You that the Spirit of God dwells in me, and that I am not in the flesh but in the Spirit.
Lord Jesus, thank You that Your life is my life, and that I live from acceptance, not for acceptance. Thank You that the Spirit of life sets me free from the law of sin and death, and that life and peace are found in You.
Holy Spirit, thank You that You turn my heart toward the Son and supply what the flesh cannot. I present myself to You today and trust You to express the risen life of Jesus through me in the ordinary places where I used to strive.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Romans 8:1-13, Romans 8:2-4, Romans 8:5-11, Romans 8:9-11, Romans 8:13, Romans 6:6-13, Romans 6:11, Romans 7:14-25, Galatians 2:20, Galatians 5:16-25, John 14:20, John 15:4-5, Colossians 3:1-4, 2 Corinthians 3:6, Philippians 2:13