He Remains In Us

God’s name is hallowed when He remains in us.

How do we know that God remains in us?  John answers, ” The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him.  And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us.”  (1 Jn 3:24)  But how can you recognize His Spirit in yourself?

There are many, many possibilities.  Here are just a few:

• When your response to someone who has caused you pain is to want to forgive and help that person rather than hurt them back, that is the Spirit of God.  He is abiding in you, and you in Him. (Jn 15:7)  Where once you were reactive, you have become responsive.
• When you find yourself in circumstances that formerly produced anxiety, but you are are now calm, turning to God for guidance, it is because you have a new spirit – God’s Spirit.  You are walking in Jesus’ footsteps as He calmly walked on the waves in the midst of a storm-tossed sea.  He is now guiding your actions, because the “old man” (Eph 4:22-24) who once controlled, has been crucified.  Gal 2:20
• James wrote (1:2-3)  “Consider it all joy my brothers when you meet with various trials, knowing as you do that this tested quality of your faith works out endurance.  But let endurance have its work complete that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.”  So, rather than procrastinating when faced with a seemingly overwhelming challenge, you now pray, “How do you want me to handle this, Father?  Give me the wisdom and strength to hallow Your name here.”  That’s God’s Spirit at work in you.

These are just a few ways in which God’s Spirit might be working in you.  You are abiding in Him rather than the world, and He is abiding in you.  According to Col 1:13, you are demonstrating that “He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves.”

Or, as Paul puts it at Eph 4:22-24, “You took off your former way of life, the old self (old man) that is corrupted by deceitful desires; you are being renewed in the spirit of your mind; you put on the new self (new man,) the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.”

This is how we Christians know that we remain in Christ, and He in us.  This is how God is glorified.  This is how His name is hallowed.   Jn 15: 5, 7-8; Mt 6:9