Worship
As you begin your quiet time today, I encourage you to listen to “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” by Katy Kinard. You can find the playlist of all the music from our daily devotional with the links to your preferred platform here.
Scripture
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Devotional
When it comes to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, our first thought is not usually an overflowing of hope. And yet we read in scripture that one of the beautiful benefits of the ministry of the Spirit in us is the filling of all joy and peace - that we might even overflow with hope, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
This is such good news to us for a number of reasons. One is that as we’ve learned in this course - habitual sexual sin is a way to deal with negative emotions. We turn the the idol of pornea when we are experiencing stress, fatigue, anger, hurt, or simply having our unhealed wounds triggered. What we need in this moment is joy, peace and hope! It’s so obvious when we consider it! For all of our turning to sin to find an antidote to our pain, or fulfilling of our desires, what we’ve needed all along is the sweet ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The second reason this is such good news is how prevalent mental health struggles are now for so many people. I myself struggled with crippling anxiety for a couple of years when I was 19-21. I would throw up from nausea when I went to work, and for quite some time I was only able to be in a room alone by myself. To this day it was the most acute suffering I’ve ever experienced. It’s often in these seasons of life when we are suffering with our mental health that we need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and maybe that’s you today. In order to distract yourself from the pain you might be tempted to turn to pornography, alchohol or other forms of distraction - but the Lord Jesus is giving you the promise of a beautiful gift today, the power of his Spirit - that can fill you to the point of overflowing with hope. Is that not what we cry out for in the dark nights of our souls - hope. Hope that God does indeed love us, hope that he will not abandon us, hope that the suffering will end and that God has a good future for us. Hope.
Often those struggling with addictions such as pornography are also battling bad mental health, this is in part because pornography addiction directly contributes to poor mental health. If you are struggling today in this sharp prison of sin and mental sickness then come to the Lord, trusting in him, for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit. And “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Prayer
Lord Jesus - I need a fresh outpouring of your Spirit today, I long to be filled with all joy and peace, to overflow with hope. I need you Lord!