A man lived among the tombs, and no chain could restrain him. He cried day and night, and he cut himself with stones. Nobody needed to announce that something lived in him; his life announced it.
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.”
Romans 8:11, KJV
Mark tells us unclean spirits dwelt in that man, then shows us what their presence looked like. His entire life bore the evidence that another power was at work within him.
The town had tried to hold him. He had been often bound with fetters and chains, Mark says, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him. Whatever lived in that man was stronger than everything they had.
Paul writes to believers about a different indwelling, and he opens it with a condition. If the Spirit dwells in you, then the Spirit who raised Christ out of the grave lives where you live, and He will one day quicken your mortal body by that same power.
If unclean spirits could leave such visible evidence of their presence in one man, how much more the Holy Spirit? The power that emptied the tomb of Jesus Christ has taken up residence in you, and it has come to stay.
The Holy Spirit came into you to make you more like Christ, and He has never been idle about it.
He quickens. He convicts. He comforts. He leads.
His fruit grows where He lives, and Christ is formed in you. The Christian life is not merely the story of a forgiven sinner trying harder. It is the story of the Spirit of God living in redeemed men and women.
You are often more conscious of your weaknesses than of the One who dwells within you. You know your failures and your temptations, and you could name your fears this morning without pausing to think. Those things feel like the truest facts about you, and they are the ones you rehearse.
Paul sets a greater reality against all of it. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead has made His home in you, and He is not a lodger. Forgive us, Lord, that we have lived so long beside something this great and felt so little of it.
Today, do not merely ask God to help you from outside. Remember who already dwells within you. That truth should humble you and strengthen you at once, and it should change the next thing you do: the way you pray this morning, the way you meet the temptation you already know is coming, the way you carry what is heavy this week.
The proof that the Spirit lives in you is a life that is starting to look like Christ.
Prayer
Father, thank You for the indescribable gift of the Holy Spirit, and forgive me for the many times I have lived with so little awareness of His presence. Open my eyes to the greatness of the One who dwells within me.
May I never grieve Him, but gladly yield to His leading. Quicken my heart to obey You, strengthen me where I am weak, and form the character of Christ in me until my life bears clear evidence that Your Spirit lives within me.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Today’s Challenge
Read Romans 8:1-17, Mark 5:1-20, and Galatians 5:16-25 prayerfully. As you read, watch for:
- Romans 8:1-17: watch what Paul makes conditional in verse 11, and what rests on it
- Mark 5:1-20: watch how the presence of unclean spirits showed itself in one man’s life
- Galatians 5:16-25: watch which items on the list you could not manufacture by effort
Then ask yourself:
- If someone observed your life closely this week, what evidence would they see that the Holy Spirit dwells in you?
Where are you more conscious of your limitations than of the Spirit who lives within you?
Key Takeaway
The proof that the Spirit lives in you is a life that is starting to look like Christ.
Start your morning with God.
Daily Breakthrough Bread delivered to your inbox every day. Free.
Missed a day?
Browse the full Daily Breakthrough Bread archive and catch up at your own pace.
