Reflecting the Image (by Carla Sunberg)

The love of my dad encouraged me to  embrace the love of my Heavenly Father.  This is a fun meal with him -- about a year before he passed away.  Scripture: Rom. 8:12   So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— 13 for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. Observation: The “So then” stands out, as Paul is reaffirming the Romans as “brothers and sisters.” This is the fourth t...

Just some parrots at the Cincinnati zoo. They know how to rest and enjoy their perch in life! Scripture: Rom. 8:9   But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. Observation: Followers of Jesus are born again into the Spirit of God. This Spirit drives our lives, not our flesh, because it is the Spirit of Christ that creates new life in and through us. We are connected to the Triune God through the Spirit. Sometimes we fail to see the power in the Spirit, but this is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that gives us life. We are empowered for dail...