Advent Devo #23

Verse: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15)

Meditation: What a privilege it is to be called a child of God! More, what grace God has for us to confirm our sonship by his Spirit? And yet, resisting the Spirit, we give heed to the flesh and conform ourselves to its desires. So is the temptation for all children, who have not learned self-control and the regulation of their desires.

Prayer: Father, have mercy on us who, though having your very Spirit within us, still give ourselves over to the desires of the flesh. We long for our children to escape this, but we know too well the realities of being human. So we pray, have mercy on us and on our children, that they may walk according to the Spirit, in love and not in fear. Amen.