1 John 4:13-16

¹³This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

1 John 4:13-16

I enjoy computer games, especially the really hard ones that force you to replay them again and again to learn how to beat the level. There is something about the growth required and the thrill of overcoming a challenge that I am drawn to. My kids play games differently, they want to find the cheat codes or short cuts. They love the experience of being OP (overpowered) and walking through games with ease. They want it all to be easy.

In Romans 8:11 it says that the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is alive in you. You have the full power of God living inside you, which raises the question: why do you need so much power? I think it is because life is hard and God wants you to do hard things. He wants you to live a bigger life. If you have been waiting for faith to get easy, then I have bad news: it is hard and it stays hard. It never gets easy to forgive. It never gets easy to love your enemy. It never gets easy.

However, we have a cheat code that allows us to do hard things that would have been impossible for us otherwise: the Holy Spirit. He guides us when we need direction, he transforms us to become more life Christ, he empowers us to live a supernatural life and he assures us that our souls are safe with God. Life is hard, following Jesus is hard but God calls us to do hard things with the power of the Holy Spirit. What confidence we have through him.