August 21: Romans 8:14-17

Key Verse: Romans 8:16
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

Devotion:
It may sound such a simple thing: if we are led by the Spirit of God, then we are children of God! But, as with so many things in life, it doesn’t always turn out to be so easy… Yes, we are children of God, but we live in a world surrounded by sin and by strange and divisive things. But, no matter how much we think of ourselves as being humans living in a sinful world, we are still children of God and can live as such!

It is not what we have done or how we have behaved which has brought us to the point where we can be called children of God; it is because of what Jesus has done and the Holy Spirit convincing us that this is ultimately true! If we had never had the Spirit convince us Jesus was real and died for our sakes, then we would never accept the fact He died for our sins… we would be eternally trapped in the sinful world with seemingly no way out!

But because we have been convicted by the Spirit, we can now cry out “Father!” to God and know He is listening and will answer our prayers just as He has promised us! The Spirit does not stop there and go onto the next person; He continues to convince us and guide us and will allow us to grow as long as we are willing to listen.

If we turn our back against the Spirit, then we will not learn any more than we know. Just like we will not learn anything from School if we never turn up for school! God has given us free access to Him through Christ and the the Holy Spirit. It is time we started to use that free access for the purpose it was intended – to have a relationship with God!

Points to Ponder:
Do you ignore God?

Do you try to listen to the Holy Spirit every day?