When Heaven Moves In, Your Humanity Finds Its Home
A quiet song inside a noisy world, a simple picture of the Spirit’s life bringing harmony to ordinary humanity.
Devotional Credit: In Christ, E. Stanley Jones, reflecting on Colossians 2:11-12 and Galatians 6:15
Photo Credit: Unsplash
E. Stanley Jones helps us relax into the good news that God is not at war with our created humanity. The clash is not natural versus supernatural. The clash is both of those against the unnatural twist of sin. In Jesus, something decisive happened. The old false center, what Paul calls the flesh, was cut away in a circumcision not done by hands. The Spirit baptized us into the one body of the Messiah. We were buried and raised with Him into an entirely new creation.
Jones will not let us treat our bodies like the enemy. He is honest about leftover pulls and hangovers from old patterns, but he keeps pointing to the deeper work. The Spirit has given us a new nature in union with Jesus. That new nature is the most natural thing about us now. It is supernaturally natural. It makes us at home with God, which in turn makes us at home with ourselves.
He also clears up confusion about ritual and reality. Water baptism is beautiful, but it cannot do what only the Spirit does. By one Spirit we were all placed into the body of Christ. That placement is the life. The sign can accompany it, but the sign is not the source. The Source is the Lord Himself, present and active.
I am grateful for the way Jones refuses divided living. We do not need to splice our days into sacred parts and secular parts. Jesus, alive in us by the Spirit, re-centers mind, body, and relationships. The supernatural life of God does not squash your humanity. It heals it. It tunes you to what is truly good, and you begin to find that good to be good for you.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am the Holy Spirit, and I dwell in you. In the Anointed One you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of the Messiah. You were buried with Him in baptism and raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God. I baptized you into one body. I made you a new creation.
I bear witness that your old person was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be brought to nothing. Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to God in the Messiah. Present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. You were bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body.
Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. Set your mind on the things of the Spirit, and life and peace will rise in you. Put off the old self with its practices and put on the new self, created after God in true righteousness and holiness. Let the peace of the Anointed rule in your heart. Let the word of the Messiah dwell in you richly.
I lead you into holy participation with others. From Christ the whole body grows as each part works properly. I distribute gifts for the common good. I produce fruit that looks like Jesus, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. I keep you, guide you, and make the way of obedience a joy.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of noise-canceling headphones on a busy train. The city is still humming, the rails still clatter, but a quiet signal fills your ears and the chaos loses power. You hear the song more than the noise, and your body relaxes into the rhythm.
The life of Jesus in you works like that. The Spirit sets a new signal at your center, and old static loses its pull. If you feel irritation rising during a household chore, you might say, Lord, I trust You to play Your patience through me as I fold this laundry. Then move at a calm pace, match socks without hurry, and speak gently to the person who walks in. Let the Lord supply the music while you live in step with Him.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus my false center was cut away and I was raised into new life. Thank You that Your Spirit placed me into the body of Christ and now lives in me. Thank You that my humanity is not Your enemy, it is Your dwelling place. I receive Your peace ruling my heart. I offer my body to You as Yours. I rejoice that today Your life will express itself through my words, my work, and my care for others.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Colossians 2:11-13. 1 Corinthians 12:13. Galatians 6:15. Romans 6:6-13. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. Galatians 5:16-25. Romans 8:5-6. Ephesians 4:22-24. Colossians 3:15-16. Ephesians 4:15-16. 1 Corinthians 12:7. Galatians 5:22-23. 2 Corinthians 5:17. Romans 12:1-2. Philippians 2:13.