May your day see resurrection power.

I know, Easter is more than a week away. And if you’re reading this, you aren’t dead, so resurrection is not necessary just yet … Or is it?

Oh, yes. Resurrection power will be necessary for every one of us today.

Jesus talked about a new life for believers, a new birth that comes by the Holy Spirit. Exactly how does that new birth work?

Nicodemus wanted to know, too, but the Spirit is much like the wind, Jesus told him. You can see the effects, but “you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

So I’m not going to try to explain that! But God’s word to us describes many things that the Spirit does (the effects) in our lives. And one of the wonderful things the power of God can do is give us a new life.

I am saying that, literally, the power of the Spirit can change the life you live today.

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

The Scriptures are clear: Satan is constantly trying to control and enslave us through the wants, impulses, and cravings of our sinful nature. If we want to walk in peace and freedom and life, our only hope is to choose to live by the power of the Spirit.

In the above Scripture, the “death” may very well refer to eternal death; but for me, here, today, I hear God saying that the difference between life and death is now. In my job, in my relationships, in my pilgrimage through everything that is life here on earth—living by my sinful nature is the equivalent of dying, even while I’m still breathing.

Many Scriptures describe lives controlled by the sinful nature. Here’s the description from Galatians 5:

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.

I know, you aren’t involved in orgies and witchcraft. But let’s be honest; how many of those dark things listed have you experienced in your life? What is lurking in your day today? Envy? Hostility? Quarreling? Outbursts of anger? Jealousy? Selfishness?

Oh, yeah, I know all about those things. And they bring only darkness and unhappiness and death to my earthly life.

Then compare this description of a life controlled by the power of the Spirit of God:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Which of those words bring a longing to your heart because you know the painful absence of it in your life? Is it peace that your heart cries for? Does self-control seem an impossibility for you? Would you like to be more gentle and kind? Do you wish you could be more loving and patient?

Tell me which list you’d rather live? Isn’t this second description life, as opposed to the death in the first list?

Jesus was emphatic about what He wants to give us:

These life-giving things are produced by one person: the Spirit of God within us.

There is one thing we must do, though. We must choose to live by the Spirit. Making that decision brings a power into your life that cannot be explained, but you will see what it does!

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.

The power that brought Jesus back from the grave will also break death’s hold on you, child of God. Your resurrection happens every day, as the Spirit snatches you from those things that bring death and gives you a new, rich and satisfying life.

I cannot explain how. But the Father promises that His power can do that for His children.

May the power that resurrected Christ give you new life today.

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Scripture: Romans 8:6; Galatians 5:19-21, 22-23; John 10:10; Romans 8:2; (all NLT).