Romans 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.

This is my wife’s favorite chapter in the whole Bible, and I certainly can’t fault her for that. Every verse is a rich blessing! Just reading it I feel the reality of this verse, and I rejoice. There are those who insist on “objective proof” for everything, but some things are simply not perceptible to the physical senses, or even to the intellect, and so are by definition subjective. That’s what faith is all about. Our spirits cannot be measured or even detected “scientifically,” but that makes them no less real. Jesus a Theography says that we don’t have souls, we are souls, inhabiting bodies, but it really goes a step beyond that. We are souls inhabiting bodies who have spirits, and wholeness involves the integration of the three. It has been pointed out that we mirror the Trinity. Our souls would be analogous to the Father, our bodies to the Son, and our spirits, of course, to the Spirit. God wasn’t kidding when He said that He made mankind in His image! Those who limit their appreciation to the physical world are cutting themselves off from 2/3 of Creation, and that’s sad. At the same time, the Bible is clear that the spirit world isn’t all benign. It speaks of “deceiving spirits,” “evil spirits,” “unclean (defiled and defiling) spirits” and the like. Just because something is “spiritual” doesn’t mean it’s good! That’s why we need to ask God for, and open ourselves to, God’s Holy Spirit. He will never lead us astray, much less defile us, and as this verse says, He gives us the inestimable joy of the assurance that we are God’s children.

Many if not most cultures have at least a history of being aware of the spirit world, but as we get more “scientific” and “sophisticated” we tend to relegate such things to superstition. Japan is no exception to that. Shinto, the traditional religion of Japan, is animistic, which means it imparts “spirits” to all sorts of things, making for a rich tradition of “ghost stories.” A few years ago I was talking with a non-Christian friend and mentioned the Holy Spirit, and she said, “Oh, you believe in that too?” I found out later that there is a category of “familiar spirits” that is pronounced exactly the same as “Holy Spirit!” Ministering here, I have to be very careful in my communication. I am reasonably accused of having “the pun disease,” because I use them a great deal (and Japanese is loaded with them), but I must be careful that people don’t think of the wrong homophone when I say something, as with my friend I mentioned. Beyond that, I want to be filled, guided, and empowered by the Holy Spirit at all times, so that all that God desires of me may be accomplished on His schedule, not to make me feel good but for His glory.

Father, I have no words to thank You enough for Your Spirit, and for Your incredible grace in giving Him to me and to all Your children. May I be fully sensitive and yielded to Him consistently, so that the devil won’t trip me up with his lies, but Your will be manifested through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!