By Thine Own Eternal Spirit Rule in Our Hearts Alone Day 32
Open Your Bible
Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Ezekiel 36:25-36, John 3:1-8, John 16:7-15, Ephesians 1:11-19, 2 Corinthians 3:3
BY Hannah Little
I’m moving soon, and I’m thriving just thinking about the hustle and bustle of organizing and decorating while making a new place home. Most people might grit their teeth at the thought of the spreadsheets and spackle that accompany moving. But me? I’m having a blast. And as much as I’d love to only focus on what’s to come, I also have to tie up all the loose ends at my current place. At the very front of mind is how to get my security deposit back. My level of concern is almost comical, because truly, it’s such a small amount. Not to mention, I haven’t had it for nearly two and a half years. But for this apartment-moving rookie, I want to get it right. I want the victory of reclaiming my dormant deposit.
Amid today’s passages about the Holy Spirit, we come to the book of Ephesians where we find similar financial language to help us understand the reality of the Spirit for followers of Christ. As I read this passage, I couldn’t help but to compare this down payment (which the NIV translation refers to as a “deposit”) with my own.
In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…
The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance,
until the redemption of the possession…
—Ephesians 1:13–14
Unlike the deposit I gave my landlord, our deposit—the Holy Spirit—is actively at work within us. The Spirit’s work in us is not a single moment we can only look back on, hoping it’s enough to carry us forward. Scripture reveals how this Third Person of the Trinity is always at work in those who follow Christ. The Spirit convicts (John 16:8), leads us to obey God’s life-giving Word (Ezekiel 36:27), and guides us “into all truth” (John 16:13), just to name a few.
Even Jesus said it was better for us to have the Spirit walking alongside us (John 16:7). Jesus was active in this world to secure our forgiveness on the cross, and is active today interceding on our behalf before the Father. The Spirit is active in our very hearts today, reminding us that God is the One worthy of ruling in our hearts alone. The seal of the Spirit is our secure deposit, reminding us what is true of God and our identity in Him both now and forever.
By the time you’ll be reading this, I’ll be all moved into my new apartment with two of my best friends—maybe we’ll be taking down our Christmas tree and decor, or maybe we’ll be soaking up all we can of Christmas before the new year. Maybe I will have gotten my security deposit back, or maybe not. And, we’ll have put a new security deposit down. Just like that, the cycle continues. I’m thankful for the chaos of moving and uncertain security deposits. They remind me of what is certain—the Spirit ruling in my heart.
48 thoughts on "By Thine Own Eternal Spirit Rule in Our Hearts Alone Day 32"
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I am thankful for the secure down payment of the Holy Spirit. Having that certainty in an uncertain world is so comforting!
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Thankful that “God is the One worthy of ruling in our hearts alone.” ❤️
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I couldn’t totally wrap my head around the Holy Spirit being a down payment but I found some sermon notes from calvarryfullerton.org that say “the down payment is a promise that the rest is coming and you intend to make the full purchase.” The “full purchase” being when God brings us home to heaven to be with him. So when we experience the Holy Spirit working in our lives, it is just a glimpse of what we’ll experience when we get to heaven.
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26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 36:26
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Woah! May we never take this passage from Ezekiel 36 lightly! That He would remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh, so that we could be tender to His Word and calling. That we would be washed and cleansed, changed, and hate our sin! That we could be filled with His Holy Spirit and have help to walk in the ways we should go! That the Sovereign, All Powerful, Omnipresent, Omniscient God would be our God and we could be His people! Salvation for time and eternity is the only thing that will matter!
I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within youv and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine on you 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine.
31 “ ‘You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good,aa and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices. 32 It is not for your sake that I will actac—this is the declaration of the Lord God—let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel!
33 “ ‘This is what the Lord God says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.ad 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.” 36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it.af PM p.m. -
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Amen
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