God's Holy Fire: 'Freedom!'

Sunday, March 10, 2024

A Year with Jesus - Holy Week

Spend some time with Jesus this week preparing for Resurrection Sunday.

Read More
Whenever, though, [people] turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are — face to face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
— 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MESSAGE

Key Thought

Eugene Peterson's "The Message" powerfully captures the sentiment of 2 Corinthians 3 and the way of the Spirit in the New Covenant. We are free! Free to become what we could never accomplish on our own by the power of rules, laws, or written code (Romans 8:1-4). Free to be transformed to be like God; remade to "participate in the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) as one created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27). When we come to Christ in conversion, we are given the Holy Spirit to live in us, to make God personally present in us, and to set God's creative power at work in us. The Spirit transforms us to be ever more like the glorious Father who made us and the Son who redeemed us.

Today's Prayer

O Father, words can't capture the wonder and awe that I feel when I try to gather in all that your Spirit does for me and in me. Father, I want not only to know Jesus but also to have the Holy Spirit help make Jesus' holy character and his gracious compassion more and more real to me and through me. I ask this, not for my glory, but for your glory, praying in the name of Jesus, my Lord. Amen.

Comments

Archived Facebook Comments

Other Devotionals from Heartlight for Sunday, March 10, 2024

Features the apostle Paul's writings turned into daily, powerful prayers.
"Dear Father, to whom I owe full obedience, Let my attitude be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who made himself nothing and obeyed you, even in the...."
A daily dose of Christian quotes to inspire and encourage.
"This is the true nature of home - it is the place of peace; the shelter, not only from injury, but from all terror, doubt and division."
A daily guide from the gospels that challenges readers to live for Jesus.
"Jesus said, "How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is....."
A devotional to help reclaim Jesus as the daily Lord of our lives.
"Dear Child of God, How precious is a child? What is the value of a human life? What is one person worth? If you want to know the true answer to..."

Illustration

Illustration of 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 MESSAGE —  And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.

About This Devotional

God's Holy Fire is a daily devotional about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The Thoughts and Prayer for God's Holy Fire are written by Phil Ware.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked MESSAGE are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.