He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. (Rom. 8:11)
Expanded Passage: Romans 8:9-11
In pre-COVID days, we were so excited for the opportunity to begin studying the Bible with a new family. They are from a Muslim background and had experienced a great deal of damage to their house during an earthquake. After helping them during relief efforts, we were so pleased to offer them spiritual help, as well.
The wife, however, contracted COVID and like many others, had a lot of difficulty breathing. With each gasping breath, the family was very concerned about her health. She desperately needed life-giving treatment in this poor, small country with many who were sick and few hospital beds. Also, Albanians believed that those who went to the hospital with COVID never came back home. This family did not want their beloved wife and mother sent to die in a local hospital. Thankfully, a home nebulizer was found and was enough to allow her to improve and completely recover in her home. Nebulizers and ventilators saved many lives, including hers, during the worst days of that illness.
While oxygen is no help for our spiritual lives, we do need saving! We cannot go on for eternity as we once were, dead in our sins. Thankfully, though, God’s Spirit offers us just the help we need. The life-giving solution to our state of spiritual death is God’s Spirit living in us.
Daily, ask God to fill you with his life-giving Spirit!
Caryl Aukerman is a wife and mother of three and has served with Global Partners for over seventeen years as a missionary in the country of Albania.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
