Saturday after the Fourth Sunday after Easter, 5/19/01Romans 8:9 However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. --NASB In the name of the One Who makes us belong to Christ, amen.
We aren't big on Tupperware at our house. If you open our refrigerator, you are likely to see a lot of sour cream and cottage cheese containers. If you in turn open those, you will find a variety of leftovers. It might say "sour cream" on the outside, but if there are green beans on the inside, it isn't a dairy product.
When you look at Christians and non-Christians, they look the same. For the most part their actions are even the same. But there is a major difference: Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. If you don't have the Holy Spirit, you are not a Christian. It is the Holy Spirit Who gives us faith and keeps us in it. He brings us into a very close relationship with God, and gives us understanding of His word. Through that understanding and relationship, He changes our behavior so that we are not like the children of the world. Amen.
Prayer: Dear Holy Spirit, thank you for bringing us to faith in our Savior, Jesus, and for making Your home with us. Even though it isn't always obvious who is a Christian, increase our faith so much that people will see by our behavior that we have been born again in Christ. We ask this to the glory of our heavenly Father, amen.
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