This morning I am continuing my reflection on living in the spiritual realm, and continuing reading from Paul's letter to the Romans. Here the verses I am thinking about this morning - Romans 8:26-30 NIV:
[26] "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. [27] And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God."
[28] "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. [29] For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. [30] And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."
There were two thoughts I had this morning as I read these verses, first, that Holy Spirit helps us (vers 26) and will intercede for us! There are those that take the "wordless groans" to mean speaking in tongues, and while I think that has some merit, I don't know that completely satisfies Paul's meaning here. In other places he writes about speaking in tongues and is very clear in the language he uses (See 1 Cor 12-14), here he could of said the same thing, and he doesn't, so I believe he means something deeper, something that we may not even be aware of - a hear to heart - Holy Spirit to Father to Son intercession. I think Paul must have experienced something more, having caught a glimpse of this deep intercession, as he prayed over churches and peoples. Whatever the experience, the fact is that the Holy Spirit is helping us, and interceding for us, personally, from His vantage point of living within us! Jesus referred to this In John 14-17, and here Paul brings it back to our mind.
We should be greatly encouraged by this fact! The Holy Spirit, One of the Trinity, is bringing our needs, even when we don't know how to even ask, to the very throne room of God and pleading for us with the Father and Son! Wow! Our case and need is being heard in the highest court in all eternity! As I mentioned yesterday, the enemy is trying to convince us that God has forgotten us, or is displeased with us, and here the Truth is that our needs, in our weakness, are being brought to the Throne Room by Holy Spirit! Nothing could be farther from the lies the enemy is proffering!
My second thought was that I would have added one more bit to the end of verses 30. Paul talks about how we as sons and daughters are predestined, called, justified and glorified, which are all the result of God's actions and motivation of love! I would have added, as He did in letter to the Ephesians, that God has also equipped us and will train us, so that we will be able to fulfill the call! Again, this is probably implied, but think its a good addition, at least for my mind! If God, in His great wisdom and love, has done everything else, why would He stop short of equipping us and training us to live up to His calling. Part of that calling for all of us is living in the spiritual realm, and we clearly need help in this area, especially those of us in the Western Church, where our teaching and training in this area (from man) has been lacking.
This thought brings me right back to the Holy Spirit's intercession for us, His help for us in our weakness. He knows we are weak in this area, and I am convinced that He means to help us! He knows the state of our hearts, minds and spirits, and He knows the lack we experience in this area. I believe the reason I am being directed to pursue this, is exactly because the Holy Spirit is directing me and leading me to grow and learn from Him! As I said before, we have in Holy Spirit the greatest expert in this field of knowledge and experience, so we can be assured that He will train us up correctly. However, as in all things, God always allows us to operate in our free-will, and thus what would normally be required classes and training is an elective (hope you follow that school image). In other words, while this is one of the key areas of knowledge and experience all Christians should have, we need to choose this, desire and ask for it!
I am reminded of the many things my earthly Father knew and could have showed me and trained me in, but He didn't force these things upon me, instead he allowed me to express interest and ask, then He would show me! I am sure that there were areas He would have loved for me to take interest in that I didn't pursue or request in my immaturity or selfish focus. In fact, just the other day I was thinking about how I wish I would have had my Dad teach me to paint as an artist. I know I have some ability in this area, but other than the classes I took from him in junior high, I never asked him to teach me more. He had years of experience and had been trained in many different techniques, and now that he is in heaven, that opportunity to be trained by him is lost to me.
The good news is all we need to do is ask, and Holy Spirit will deliver! We, even in our weakness, are not able to interfere in God's plans, for He has been interceding for us all along! He has been preparing and aligning everything for our calling!
This morning I am greatly encouraged that Holy Spirit is personally bringing my needs, even in my weakness to the Throne. God, in His Omnipotence is working all things for my good, for I do love Him! (See verse 28 above). He is personally invested in my success, in my ability to fulfill the calling He has in my life! He hasn't forgotten about me, and is not disappointed in me, in fact He speaks about me in His Throne Room! I am encouraged to choose to enroll in this class, learning to live in the Spiritual Realm, and i have been assigned the best teacher possible! I am encouraged that Holy Spirit is stirring this theme in my life because He wants me to grow and mature in my knowledge and field of experience!
Amen! Come quickly Holy Spirit to teach me and train me!
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