Surrendering to the Holy Spirit: A Journey from Addiction to Healing | Romans 8

Welcome to the Recovered Christian. This is Suzanne, and today we're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit and immersing ourselves in the wisdom of Romans 8, verses 9 through 14. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to Him at all. And Christ lives within you. So, even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you and just as God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by the same Spirit living within you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do, for if you live by his dictates, you will die, but if, through the power of the Spirit, you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live, for all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. Our sinful natures get the best of us. They sure did me Throughout the two decades I lived in active addiction. I always loved God. I loved Him the best I could, considering my life was focused on something other than Him, which means I really didn't love Him anywhere near as much or in the way that I should. I just couldn't. I was too consumed with surviving and getting through each day. I was not praying like I should have been. I was not talking to God about what was going on in my life. Honestly, I thought I was hiding it from Him, which is ridiculous, because he knows our every thought. Indeed, he knew exactly what I was living through, going through and was waiting for me to give it up to Him. And when I didn't, he did it for me. You can go listen to episode 5, where I tell my story and how he did that. Once I laid down my life and surrendered it to Him, addictions and all my life transformed. It didn't happen overnight. It took me praying intentionally, spending time with Him every day and putting Him first in my life. I got very serious about my relationship with God and when I did that, the Holy Spirit took over, like verse 9 says. And that's pretty amazing, isn't it? So, as a follower of Christ, you've already received the Holy Spirit, but that doesn't mean you have given the Holy Spirit control of your life. Once you do that, you won't want to give in to your sinful nature. You will want to do what is right and pleasing to the Lord. It's a process, but the Spirit will begin to convict you in your heart about things that you didn't think twice about before, truly changes your life from the inside out. It'll change what you watch, what you listen to, who you hang around, what you say. The Holy Spirit started pushing His way into my heart and pushing out a bunch of stuff that didn't belong there and, wow, I cannot tell you how different, how wonderful it is to have Him there. I'll talk in upcoming episodes about times in my life when the Holy Spirit spoke in powerful ways that completely changed the direction of my life, and more than once it's been quite the journey and all good. These verses from Romans remind us that our identity isn't rooted in our past struggles, our mistakes or the patterns of our old life. Once we receive the Spirit, we are fundamentally changed and we become His. The Spirit gives us life forever. Recovery is so often an internal struggle, a battle between the yearning for a new life and the relentless pull of familiar, damaging habits, a battle between the sickness we know all too well and a life healed and whole. I want the sight of healing and wholeness to win in my life and yours. Here in Romans, we find the promise of freedom through the Spirit within us. Relinquish control to the Spirit, allowing Him to lead you towards renewal. He will, and then the battle is all but one. God will draw His sword of life and drive everything out, but His goodness stitching you back together healthy and new. The power of the Holy Spirit will put to death the deeds of your sinful nature. I'm so glad it does. My sinful nature was leading me straight to death. The Holy Spirit rescued me. It rescued me. He was right there, waiting for me to let Him, and he's waiting for you too. Let's pray, heavenly Father. We humbly come before you grateful for the gift of your Spirit that resides within us. Grant us the courage to surrender our struggles to your power. Fill us with the Spirit. Grow our dependence on the Spirit each day and give us hearts to hear His words. Help us discern the voice of the Spirit amidst the chaos of our lives, empowering us to overcome our struggles and bringing us eternal life. In Jesus' name, amen. Your journey to a recovered life is a testament to the Spirit's work within you. Embrace the guidance of the Spirit and walk confidently in the freedom offered through Christ. Your past doesn't define you. Your addiction doesn't define you. You are not those things. Your identity as a beloved child of God defines you. He loves you, he sees you and he longs to make you whole again. I pray you let Him. Thanks so much for being here today. May the Spirit of Christ fill each of us today and every day. I'll see you next time. Thank you so much for listening. I hope your bite-sized devotion today was very satisfying. If you enjoyed this episode, I'd be honored if you'd leave a review or a rating. We are new, so every little bit helps me bring the word to the world. I'd love to get to know you better at our Facebook group, the Recovered Christian. I'll put a link to it in the show notes. So thanks again for being here and I will see you next time.