Surrendering to the Holy Spirit: A Journey from Addiction to Healing | Romans 8

Do you know the profound transformation the Holy Spirit can breathe into your life when you truly surrender to its guidance? It's amazing what the Spirit will do in our lives if we let Him.

Listen along as I share my personal journey of recovery, discussing how nurturing a deeper relationship with God sparked an internal revolution that continues to shape my life today. We'll also explore the promise of freedom that Romans 8: 9-14 extends to us, underlining how surrendering to the Spirit can guide us towards a path of healing and renewal. So, gear up for this spiritual journey as we tread the path towards wholeness together, reminding you that your battles are never fought alone, God is forever by your side, ready to drive out anything obstructing your journey to recovery.

Thanks so much for listening in today!

New episodes drop every Wednesday. Subscribe wherever you listen to yours so you don't miss a thing!

Let's Connect!!

Visit our website at Holy Recovery at https://holyrecovery.com

Join the conversation on Facebook at Holy Recovery.

I'm always just an email away too. Drop me a line at [e-mail]. I'd love to hear from you!

I'd be honored if you left a review, rate and subscribe. This really helps get the podcast out to others and hopefully reach someone who really needs it.

If you know someone who might benefit from the podcast, please share! No one should struggle alone.

See you next time!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
Welcome to the Recovered Christian.
This is Suzanne, and todaywe're going to be talking about
the Holy Spirit and immersingourselves in the wisdom of
Romans 8, verses 9 through 14.
But you are not controlled byyour sinful nature.
You are controlled by theSpirit if you have the Spirit of
God living in you.
And remember that those who donot have the Spirit of Christ

(00:40):
living in them do not belong toHim at all.
And Christ lives within you.
So, even though your body willdie because of sin, the Spirit
gives you life because you havemade right with God.
The Spirit of God, who raisedJesus from the dead, lives in
you and just as God raised JesusChrist from the dead, he will

(01:00):
give life to your mortal bodiesby the same Spirit living within
you.
Therefore, dear brothers andsisters, you have no obligation
to do what your sinful natureurges you to do, for if you live
by his dictates, you will die,but if, through the power of the
Spirit, you put to death thedeeds of your sinful nature, you

(01:21):
will live, for all who are ledby the Spirit of God are
children of God.
Our sinful natures get the bestof us.
They sure did me Throughout thetwo decades I lived in active
addiction.
I always loved God.
I loved Him the best I could,considering my life was focused
on something other than Him,which means I really didn't love

(01:43):
Him anywhere near as much or inthe way that I should.
I just couldn't.
I was too consumed withsurviving and getting through
each day.
I was not praying like I shouldhave been.
I was not talking to God aboutwhat was going on in my life.
Honestly, I thought I washiding it from Him, which is
ridiculous, because he knows ourevery thought.
Indeed, he knew exactly what Iwas living through, going

(02:06):
through and was waiting for meto give it up to Him.
And when I didn't, he did itfor me.
You can go listen to episode 5,where I tell my story and how
he did that.
Once I laid down my life andsurrendered it to Him,
addictions and all my lifetransformed.
It didn't happen overnight.

(02:27):
It took me prayingintentionally, spending time
with Him every day and puttingHim first in my life.
I got very serious about myrelationship with God and when I
did that, the Holy Spirit tookover, like verse 9 says.
And that's pretty amazing,isn't it?

(03:24):
So, as a follower of Christ,you've already received the Holy
Spirit, but that doesn't meanyou have given the Holy Spirit
control of your life.
Once you do that, you won'twant to give in to your sinful
nature.
You will want to do what isright and pleasing to the Lord.
It's a process, but the Spiritwill begin to convict you in

(03:45):
your heart about things that youdidn't think twice about before
, truly changes your life fromthe inside out.
It'll change what you watch,what you listen to, who you hang
around, what you say.
The Holy Spirit started pushingHis way into my heart and
pushing out a bunch of stuffthat didn't belong there and,
wow, I cannot tell you howdifferent, how wonderful it is

(04:09):
to have Him there.
I'll talk in upcoming episodesabout times in my life when the
Holy Spirit spoke in powerfulways that completely changed the
direction of my life, and morethan once it's been quite the
journey and all good.
These verses from Romans remindus that our identity isn't
rooted in our past struggles,our mistakes or the patterns of

(04:32):
our old life.
Once we receive the Spirit, weare fundamentally changed and we
become His.
The Spirit gives us lifeforever.
Recovery is so often aninternal struggle, a battle
between the yearning for a newlife and the relentless pull of
familiar, damaging habits, abattle between the sickness we

(04:56):
know all too well and a lifehealed and whole.
I want the sight of healing andwholeness to win in my life and
yours.
Here in Romans, we find thepromise of freedom through the
Spirit within us.
Relinquish control to theSpirit, allowing Him to lead you
towards renewal.
He will, and then the battle isall but one.

(05:19):
God will draw His sword of lifeand drive everything out, but
His goodness stitching you backtogether healthy and new.
The power of the Holy Spiritwill put to death the deeds of
your sinful nature.
I'm so glad it does.
My sinful nature was leading mestraight to death.
The Holy Spirit rescued me.

(05:41):
It rescued me.
He was right there, waiting forme to let Him, and he's waiting
for you too.
Let's pray, heavenly Father.
We humbly come before yougrateful for the gift of your
Spirit that resides within us.
Grant us the courage tosurrender our struggles to your
power.
Fill us with the Spirit.

(06:01):
Grow our dependence on theSpirit each day and give us
hearts to hear His words.
Help us discern the voice ofthe Spirit amidst the chaos of
our lives, empowering us toovercome our struggles and
bringing us eternal life.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Your journey to a recoveredlife is a testament to the

(06:24):
Spirit's work within you.
Embrace the guidance of theSpirit and walk confidently in
the freedom offered throughChrist.
Your past doesn't define you.
Your addiction doesn't defineyou.
You are not those things.
Your identity as a belovedchild of God defines you.
He loves you, he sees you andhe longs to make you whole again

(06:48):
.
I pray you let Him.
Thanks so much for being heretoday.
May the Spirit of Christ filleach of us today and every day.
I'll see you next time.
Thank you so much for listening.
I hope your bite-sized devotiontoday was very satisfying.
If you enjoyed this episode,I'd be honored if you'd leave a

(07:10):
review or a rating.
We are new, so every little bithelps me bring the word to the
world.
I'd love to get to know youbetter at our Facebook group,
the Recovered Christian.
I'll put a link to it in theshow notes.
So thanks again for being hereand I will see you next time.