<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Romans 8;26&amp;27<div><br></div><div><b>26. &nbsp;Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercede for us with sighs&nbsp;too deep for words.</b><br><b>27. &nbsp;And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according to the will&nbsp;of God.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>In our text today in Greek the word&nbsp;is <i>“pneuma,” </i>meaning ‘the very breath of God.’ &nbsp;He is “<u>the Spirit</u><i>&nbsp;who helps us&nbsp;in our weaknesses.” &nbsp;</i><span>&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>This kind of </span><i>“weakness” </i><span>should be understood as ‘utter&nbsp;</span>helplessness.’ &nbsp;Even as forgiven and baptized Believers we remain helpless in and of our own newness life, we find strength to resist temptation and obey the will of the Father,&nbsp;only by the presence of&nbsp;Christ abiding in and with us by the Spirit. &nbsp; The Spirit&nbsp;is the One who is the presence of&nbsp;<span>Christ within</span><span> us. &nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>It is our <i>“old self” </i>who temps us to believe, that we, of ourselves and&nbsp;from our flesh, are the ones doing the good works. &nbsp;It is a lie. (see, Philippians 2;13)</span></div><div><br></div><div>This is mind-bending, I know. &nbsp;But, the truth is:&nbsp;ever since our baptism,&nbsp;Christ <u>is</u>&nbsp;with us and within us, by/through the gift of the&nbsp;Holy Spirit.</div><div>(see, Colossians 1;27,&nbsp;3;3, Ephesians 3;18-21, John 17;22&amp;22) &nbsp;He, the Holy Spirit,&nbsp;was given us as a gift in our baptism into Christ. &nbsp;(Acts 2;37&amp;28) &nbsp;This is meta-physical stuff, don’t try to understand it mechanically or rationally. &nbsp;This truth of God is supernatural, it transcends human understanding. &nbsp;It can only be received by faith.</div><div><br></div><div>(Note: We do not receive the Holy Spirit in part, but in full. &nbsp;Just as we received the full <i>“mind of Christ” </i>not just a piece of it. &nbsp; &nbsp;Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1;4-8, &nbsp;<i>“ I give thanks to God, always for you because of the grace of God, which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in <u>every way</u>&nbsp;you were enriched in him with all speech and in all knowledge— even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you— so that <u>you are not lacking in any spiritual gift</u>&nbsp;as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”</i>&nbsp;)&nbsp;<i></i></div><div><br></div><div>All the riches of heaven have been given to us in baptism. &nbsp;But, we come to know of them only&nbsp;through teaching and by faith which believes the Word of Truth taught to us.</div><div><br></div><div>Jesus taught His disciples that the Holy Spirit is the&nbsp;<i>“Helper.” &nbsp;</i>(John 15;26&amp;27 ESV) &nbsp;The RSV translates,</div><div>the <i>“Counselor, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth.” &nbsp;</i>The KJV translates it, the</div><div><i>“Comforter.” &nbsp;</i></div><div><i><br></i></div><div>The Greek word is&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>“paraklatos” &nbsp;</i>literally meaning, ‘the one who stands beside,’ like a lawyer who speaks for us before the Judge. &nbsp;He is the One who makes intercession for us when we in our weaknesses as children of God are still unable to perfectly know the Father and His will, much less express it in words. &nbsp;We who have, <i>“the spirit of sonship” </i>do desire the Father’s will to be done in and through us, yet, because of our weaknesses we do not know how to pray.</div><div><br></div><div>From all of this our Father desires us to believe&nbsp;we are never alone. &nbsp;This comforts us, He the Spirit&nbsp;comforts us in the midst of our struggles to understand our own&nbsp;sufferings. &nbsp;&nbsp;He knows&nbsp;and&nbsp;understands<span>&nbsp;the&nbsp;yearnings which come from&nbsp;</span><span>the spirit of Sonship at work in us; (our&nbsp;desire&nbsp;to do the Father’s will, but not always being&nbsp;sure just what that is).</span><span>&nbsp; Be assured, our Father fully understands what is so deep within us that&nbsp;we ourselves cannot put it into words, &nbsp;AND He is answering in His own perfect way and timing. &nbsp;Be comforted, all is well, even though we struggle to understand&nbsp;our own&nbsp;sufferings. &nbsp;No place or thing&nbsp;in our forgiven, cleansed, yearning&nbsp;hearts is hidden from God.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, what peace we have, it is the very peace of Jesus,&nbsp;we are not alone, You Father Son and Holy Spirit, are with us in our present weaknesses. &nbsp;Your <i>“good work” </i>of perfectly conforming us to the image of Christ, &nbsp;</span><span>(see, Romans 8;28&amp;29) is ongoing, our&nbsp;</span><span>&nbsp;present state of imperfection and incomplete knowledge&nbsp;does not offend You, for You have joined Yourself to us in the most personal</span><span>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</span><span>intimate way,</span><span> and have promised to </span><i>“bring to completion” </i><span>this Your perfect work, </span><i>“at the day of Jesus Christ.” &nbsp;</i><span>Alleluia! &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><i><br></i></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, indwelt believing children, are His.”</span><i>&nbsp;</i></div><div><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Romans 8;26&27
26.  Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercede for us with sighs too deep for words.
27.  And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according to the will of God.
In our text today in Greek the word is “pneuma,” meaning ‘the very breath of God.’  He is “the Spirit who helps us in our weaknesses.”   
This kind of “weakness” should be understood as ‘utter helplessness.’  Even as forgiven and baptized Believers we remain helpless in and of our own newness life, we find strength to resist temptation and obey the will of the Father, only by the presence of Christ abiding in and with us by the Spirit.   The Spirit is the One who is the presence of Christ within us.  
It is our “old self” who temps us to believe, that we, of ourselves and from our flesh, are the ones doing the good works.  It is a lie. (see, Philippians 2;13)
This is mind-bending, I know.  But, the truth is: ever since our baptism, Christ is with us and within us, by/through the gift of the Holy Spirit.(see, Colossians 1;27, 3;3, Ephesians 3;18-21, John 17;22&22)  He, the Holy Spirit, was given us as a gift in our baptism into Christ.  (Acts 2;37&28)  This is meta-physical stuff, don’t try to understand it mechanically or rationally.  This truth of God is supernatural, it transcends human understanding.  It can only be received by faith.
(Note: We do not receive the Holy Spirit in part, but in full.  Just as we received the full “mind of Christ” not just a piece of it.    Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1;4-8,  “ I give thanks to God, always for you because of the grace of God, which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him with all speech and in all knowledge— even as the testimony to Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ; who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.” ) 
All the riches of heaven have been given to us in baptism.  But, we come to know of them only through teaching and by faith which believes the Word of Truth taught to us.
Jesus taught His disciples that the Holy Spirit is the “Helper.”  (John 15;26&27 ESV)  The RSV translates,the “Counselor, whom I shall send to you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth.”  The KJV translates it, the“Comforter.”  
The Greek word is  “paraklatos”  literally meaning, ‘the one who stands beside,’ like a lawyer who speaks for us before the Judge.  He is the One who makes intercession for us when we in our weaknesses as children of God are still unable to perfectly know the Father and His will, much less express it in words.  We who have, “the spirit of sonship” do desire the Father’s will to be done in and through us, yet, because of our weaknesses we do not know how to pray.
From all of this our Father desires us to believe we are never alone.  This comforts us, He the Spirit comforts us in the midst of our struggles to understand our own sufferings.   He knows and understands the yearnings which come from the spirit of Sonship at work in us; (our desire to do the Father’s will, but not always being sure just what that is).  Be assured, our Father fully understands what is so deep within us that we ourselves cannot put it into words,  AND He is answering in His own perfect way and timing.  Be comforted, all is well, even though we struggle to understand our own sufferings.  No place or thing in our forgiven, cleansed, yearning hearts is hidden from God.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, what peace we have, it is the very peace of Jesus, we are not alone, You Father Son and Holy Spirit, are with us in our present weaknesses.  Your “good work” of perfectly conforming us to the image of Christ,  (see, Romans 8;28&29) is ongoing, our  present state of imperfection and incomplete knowledge does not offend You, for You have joined Yourself to us in the most personal and intimate way, and have promised to “bring to completion” this Your perfect work, “at the day of Jesus Christ.”  Alleluia!  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/Eric/Grandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we, broken-hearted, contrite, forgiven, indwelt believing children, are His.” 
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