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Every person of infinitevalueThere's a verse in ProverbsI've always found verysearching:

Paul says something similar in Romans:

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed ishe who is kind to the needy (Proverbs 14:21 NIV)

Do not by your eating destroy your brother [orsister] for whom Christ died. (Romans 14:15)

Every person is someone of infinite importancebecause that person is purchased by the blood of Christ.Unless I recognize that in my dealings with everybody,I am not Christian. I am to deal with each person asthough that person were Christ.

How demanding! But if I'm going to be led of theSpirit, that is what the Spirit is asking for.

(Ephesians 4:30 NIV).A little boy often played with a pet dove. One day when

the dove came to light on his hand, the boy took his handaway The dove came again and again, and the book tookhis hand away Later that afternoon, when the boy called

the dove, it didn't come atall.

So we can resist theSpirit. The Spirit is verysensitive, very tender.

If we are going to beled by God's Spirit, wemust have that same sen-sitivity. We must beleadable, we must beteachable. That is onlypossible as we begin tovalue people as Christ val-ues them.

Bondage and sonshipThe world is a place of bondage. Worldly culturereally consists of bondage, fear, and deception. Thegospel offers us glory, liberty, and truth.

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~J' " w"",', ~ ' Romans 8 affirms that God's SpIrit leads}", " }. the Christian belIever. Therefore, we are:J . :) defined, not by the popular culture, but by

!'j: :; the Spirit. The Spirit teaches us that each! . I person is of infinite value, and we are.::I : j children of God. If children, we are also heirs.'I' II' The Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, and

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Our study of Romans 8 continues:

For prophecy neverhad its origin in the willof man, but men spokefrom God as they werecarried along by the HolySpirit. (2 Peter 1:21 NIV)

All who are being led by the Spirit of God, these aresons [children] of God. (Romans 8: 14 NASV)

Two words for ledThe Bible has two wordstranslated "led."

One is a tumultuousword: "like a great mass ofwater rushing onward." Thatis the word Peter used whenhe said that the prophets weremotivated or led by the Spiritto utter their prophecies.

But the word Paul uses inRomans 8: 14 is a word thatmeans" gentle leading." This is the gentle leading of a shep-herd for his sheep. This is the leading of a mother with herlittle child. This is the leading of a guide for a traveler. Thisis the leading of a teacher for a student. This is the leadingof a captain for his unit. This is a gentle going ahead.

Why do I need gentle leading? Because life is perilousand I am weak. That's why I need gentle leading. And theless I think I need it, the more I need it. This is what Paulmeant when he said, "When I am weak, then I am strong"(2 Corinthians 12:10).

Popular culture and the Holy SpiritHollywood and popular philosophy give us all the wrongimages.

Pop culture tells us, "You've got to be beautiful, to beclever, to be strong, to be 'with it,' to be happy and suc-ceed."

The fact is, none of us fits these categories in realityBecause we don't fit them, we need the Spirit. "Allwho arebeing led by the Spirit of God." That is why the Bible givesus the warnings: "Do not quench the Spirit"(l Thessalonians 5: 19 NRSV). "Do not resist the Spirit" (seeActs 7: 51). "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God"

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You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slaveagain to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.(Romans 8:15)

Paul is saying, "See the contrast. Your old life was oneof bondage and fear, but we are freed from that as we lookto jesus, and only as we look to jesus."

Verse 15 goes on to say that we receive the Spirit ofsonship when we cry, "Abba, Father." You've heard manytimes that "Abba" was the Aramaic word that

little chil-dren used for "Daddy" You find "Abba" three times in theBible. jesus used it once, in Gethsemane (Mark 14:36).Paul used it twice, once in Galatians 4:6, and once here inRomans 8:15.

When the Spirit comes into your life, and you becomeconscious of how much you are loved by God, the Spiritleads you to pray the prayer of a trusting and confidentchild. You can call God, your Father, "Daddy, Daddy"

Prayer and the inner witnessThe evidence that we are being born from above (or bornagain) is that we find it instinctive to pray confidingly Theperson who doesn't pray has never been born again. Wecry, "Abba, Father!" It is God's Spirit himself bearing wit-ness with our spirit that we are children of God. Whenyou pray like that, that is the evidence that the Spirit ofGod has come to you.

When Samuel Wesley, father of the Wesley brotherswas dying, he said, ''The inner witness, the inner witness.Boys, the inner witness."

Samuel Wesley was referring to the fact that everyChristian is ministered to by the Holy Spirit, who bringsus the conviction of the love of God. Though that witness,or conviction, is in us, it is not always an overwhelmingconviction. There are times when we don't hear it at all.

It is like the difference between the moon and the sun.If the witness were up in heaven, it would be like the sun.But because it is in me, therefore, it's more like the moon.But the witness of the Spirit is a reality for every Christian.It is the conviction that I am loved despite what I am.

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The Spirit helps us with our weaknessesThis chapter talks further about how the Spirit helps ourinfirmities.

Many people think they couldn't possibly have the HolySpirit. "Look at all my weaknesses," they cry. Here is a glo-rious text that says:

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weak-ness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, butthe Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans thatwords cannot express. (Romans 8:26)

"The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities" (KJV). Ro-mans is taking it for granted that God loves, and God dwellsin people with plenty of problems and weaknesses. Godhelps us in our infirmities.

The verse does not say God helps us out of our infir-mities. It would be terrible if you and I were so smart, sostrong, that we felt we could manage without God. There'snot really much chance of that if we are at all honest. Lifeis continually bigger than we are. We can't even do all wewant for the people nearest to us, let alone for the peoplein the mission fields.

What parent can decide for a child) None. It doesn'tmatter how eloquent you may be or how great your bi-ceps. You can't decide for a child. But the Spirit dwells inthose who have infirmities. That's a very, very comfortingpassage.

We are God's children and heirsNotice the illustration in the next verse:

Now if we are children, then we are heirs-heirsof God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share inhis sufferings in order that we may also share in hisglory (Romans 8: 17 NIV)

This verse depicts us as children, and, therefore, heirs.You can't be an heir unless you're first of all a child. Obvi-ously, that means being born.

We cannot be born without Christ, and we cannot beborn even through Christ without faith. Thus, the sequenceis: Faith in Christ, rebirth as children, then heirs.

Heirs to what? There's an Old Testament verse that says,"The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance" (Psalm 16:5KJV).You and I think of things. But a wise man once said,"Without things, we cannot live. But he who lives for thingsalone is not a person."

Our main inheritance is God himself. With God comeseverything we need.

Imagine what it is to have God. It means to have God'swisdom to direct us; God's power to protect us; God's loveto comfort us; God's home, the universe and eternity, forour abiding place.

God, our heavenly Father, is the author of music, ofsong, of laughter, of flavor, of fragrance-all good things.God is the author of it all. To have God is to have every-thing. To have everything without him is to have nothing.

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