March 5 - 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31
Lesson: He is the Baptizer of Hearts
Dear Lord, bless our time with you today. Meet us where we are at, guide our minds, and hold our hearts as we search for Your truth.
First, do your own quiet time and 4R journaling. When you are completed, come back here for the lesson.
Request Gods’ help
Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
Record a verse that stands out to you
Respond to God
Out with the old, in with the new! Have you noticed the path we have been walking so far? First we learned about the conviction of the Spirit, then how our belief regenerates and now, the next step is baptism. There’s an upwards motion going on here! We can’t have eternal life without Jesus until we die as He did and rise again as He did. Our old self must be cast aside and our new self clothed afresh and anew. Why? Because our old self was a sinful, graceless bag of clothes, not fit to house the Spirit. But our new self, covered by grace, is the new tabernacle. A vessel ready to live a life wholly for the Lord, a vessel who belongs to the one God only. Impossible without radical change. Our old body was holding us back from all that God wants to use us for. We must intentionally cast it aside and clothe ourselves with a new life that can carry the weight of armor ready for spiritual battle.
Great words to say and hear, but how is this accomplished? What are the steps, the mission, the plan, the work…? It must be huge and complex! Oh, dear one, no. It’s simply baptism. And not the sprinkle water on baby’s head or the dunk out in the river kinda baptism.
Let’s take a moment to read Romans 6:1-6 and Ephesians 2:13-18 to learn more about the Spiritual Baptism. The baptism we are focusing on is the spiritual kind that only the Holy Spirit can do; the baptism of our heart. This baptism is private with no audience except for our God. This is a life changing event, one that is holy and pure. It’s of us telling God, “I need You, take my life, it is Yours, do with me what You will. My heart is Yours.”
Once we were a long ways off and now we are near. After the baptism of the Holy Spirit we have access to our inheritance: the kingdom of God. Life eternal with the God who created us! Through the Holy Spirit we have access to Jesus, to God Himself. At any time, any place. What a loaded passage of scripture!
Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You for You are the giver of life. We thank You for You have given us that life! Because of You we can live a life never again apart from You. Our adoption is sealed, we have been guaranteed. And we are Yours.
What’s next?
As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.
Then join us again tomorrow to learn about the ministry of indwelling.
"But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit." 1 Corinthians 12:13b
I love that no matter how diverse we might be as believers, what keeps us one is the one Spirit who baptized us into Your family and kingdom, Lord! People from every tribe and nation - shy or bold, wealthy or poor, healthy or sick - all of us united because Your Spirit is within each of us. Thank You for making me a part of this huge beautiful mosaic of a family. Yours for all eternity!