Coventry Vineyard Blog

Romans 8:9-11

But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s! (From the message version)

If you’ve received the holy spirit, the presence of God, then a number of things should be a part of your everyday life. Think and pray about the following statements (remember to think of individual verses in their context within the greater story of God!):

• His presence will help you in difficult situations and enable you to share why you believe in God. (Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12)
• His presence will guide you when you are unsure of what to do and comfort you when all seems lost. (Psalm 143:10; John 14-16; Acts 9:31; Jeremiah 8:18)
• His presence will give you power to do the things of the kingdom. (Acts 1:8; Rom. 8:26)
• His presence will set you free from things that hold you back (Romans 8:2; 2 Corinthians 3:17)
• His presence will enable you to relate to God as Father and will reassure you in your position as God’s child. (Romans 8:15-16)
• His presence will strengthen you to resist sin (John 16:7-11)
• His presence will fill you with hope for the future, joy in the present and peace from your past (Romans 15:13)
• His presence will cause love, joy, peace, patience kindness, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to grow and increase in your life (Gal 5:22-23)
• His presence will transform you and cause you to become more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18)

Do you want more of His Presence? Are you ready to ask for more of HIs Presence today? Are you ready to let the streams of living water well up within you?