We’re using the summer to reflect on how Jesus’ resurrection transforms our lives and what we need to do to enjoy His fullness of life. Here is the fourth devotion that helps us understand where the transforming power is coming from:

IN WORD We’re taught that Jesus lives in the heart of anyone who believes. When we come into His Kingdom by faith, when we accept Him as Lord and Savior, He comes to dwell within us. But here Paul prays an unexpected prayer for those who have already believed: that God would strengthen them with His Spirit in order that Jesus might dwell in their hearts. Is the apostle implying that Jesus isn’t in these people who have already been filled with the Spirit? That somehow they have received the promises of God and tasted the inheritance of Jesus’ glory, but their hearts aren’t yet inhabited by their Savior? No, the prayer is for something more than the simple presence of Jesus.
It’s that these believers would, by faith and the Spirit’s strength, allow Jesus to live out His life within them. Not that He would simply exist within them, but that He would truly live within them—actively and powerfully. There’s a huge difference between being born of the Spirit and living in the Spirit’s power. We often assume that if Jesus is living within us, then we have all we need. And it’s true—in a sense, we do. But we aren’t accessing all we need if Jesus is present but latent within us. Faith and prayer bring Him to the forefront and give Him prominence in our lives. When His Spirit strengthens us with power in our inner being (v. 16), Jesus isn’t just there, He’s alive and active.
IN DEED Don’t be content with the simple fact that Jesus is within you. He is within you for a purpose. He doesn’t want to just sit there; He wants to fill you with His love and power. He wants to work out His life within you, to inspire and empower your works and words. He wants to fill your spirit and your relationships and your activities with Himself. He wants your life to be an exhibition of His presence. Ask Him to fulfill His every desire within you. “One person works upon another person from outside inwards, but God alone comes to us from within outwards.” —Jan van Ruysbroeck (in “God With Us” by Chris Tiegreen)

Many Christians have received Jesus into their heart, and that is wonderful and significant as it changes the course of our lives toward eternity. However, it is only a change of status (what we call “forensic justification by faith”).
But to truly experience the abundant life in Christ, they must turn their lives over to walk “in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16). It is in the Spirit’s power that we are transformed and empowered to live above and beyond life’s circumstances. To be filled with the Spirit is to experience the full power of Christ available to us.
The Christian life is not about “dos and don’ts,” but enjoying the life-giving Presence of the Holy Spirit. John 16, Romans 7-8, and Galatians 5 hold some of the key passages to life in the Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself and His work to you as you reflect on these passages. Have a blessed week! - from Magnolia, Pastor Sam