As a child we bear and exhibit the attributes of our parents. I’m discovering more and more that we as children of God have the capacity spiritually to walk in the attributes of God our Father. Just as before when we were slaves to a nature not containing the life of God and opposite to God, now we have a nature containing the life of God.
My birth into this family did not come promiscuously, nor did it come by accident I was not unplanned, for my birth into this family was deliberate. Not only in the mind God, but, eons ago my life and yours came up as the parenting God head sat down and discussed our birth into this family. And they began to prepare for all the generations who would be birthed into the family of God. They even provided a full time nursery worker and teacher the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is in your human born again spirit. No matter how your first birth turned out or what natural parents you had it may have not been equal to all. When you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, your equality did not lie in what you were by your natural birth anymore, but, who you are and have become as a child of God.
“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
We were orphans left destitute and abandoned by the death passed to us by Adam. The statement, “I will not leave you orphans”, carries such love and compassion, which equals mercy. This is what was bestowed on us before our birth. Now being born-again you abide in grace. In grace you have been given a nature that is free from sin. Which means if you are free from sin you don’t have to serve it unless you choose to. The life of God in you is the very nature of God. You could have been a Christian for fifteen years and still not graduated kinder-garden. God does not equate our spiritual growth by the amount of possessions we have or the amount of money coming and going from our bank accounts. He is more concerned with our fellowshipping with Him in that new nature we received. After all, he created us in His image to have a relationship with Him.
In John 1:13 it says, “we were born again and received the right to become or be-becoming a child”, (Greek teknon: One who resembles their parents, a child by birth). How do we resemble God in the new birth? We received the nature of our Father, and this is the only avenue He can work through to change your life. That change only comes through a fellowship with Him. If you never talked to your earthly father, you would not know Him. This is parallel with your spiritual father. All the keys we look for and have been looking for are found through Him in fellowship and in the word. We do not have to grope around in the dark or be in ignorance of the word of God.
When Jesus said, “I will not leave you orphans, I will come to you”, how is He to come to us if He is seated at the right hand of the father? Jesus does not come and live in your heart physically. But the same nature that is in Him does. That same life that quickened Jesus from death to life also quickened your human spirit from death to life when you were born from above or born again. Now you have that resurrection life abiding in you, in your human spirit. Romans 6: 4 now we should walk in that newness of life. To know that the same force that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is in you, is something else. Many Christians never get a hold of this truth. It wasn’t that He was just resurrected from the dead, but that when He was that same life was made available to us. The word of God would not make a statement if it were not so.
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
This life is given by the Holy Spirit at regeneration (Titus 3:5), but, this is not the promise of the Holy Spirit. The promise as in Acts 1:8 is an endowment of power that opens the door to Gods best. The new birth is simply the well of living water (John 4). In John 7: 37-39 we get to the promise. Those wells of living water become rivers of living water when you receive the promise. This is just the beginning of a deeper walk with Jesus Christ and understanding who you are in the family of God. Many people teach that the gifts and manifestations of God ceased. This is not so. If it were than salvation, which is authored by the Holy Spirit passed away too, and therefore salvation is in vain. But thank God, Jesus Christ never changes and the operations of God are still in order. When that which is perfect comes, the catching away of the church, these gifts will cease. Until then the church and the world are in dyer need of a God who is alive. He is willing to heal, deliver and fill a person with the Holy Spirit, who is the power house of God. This includes speaking in tongues.
Remembering that Jesus Said, “I will come to you”, the Holy Spirit is the voice of Jesus Christ in this earth today. He is now not only the regenerator of all those who call on Jesus Christ, but He is also the teacher of the church, to the individual believer and also universally as the body of Christ. Jesus gave place to the teacher, comforter, advocate and guide the Holy Spirit (John 16: 5-16). He speaks only what is spoken to Him by Jesus Christ. He also is to glorify Jesus Christ in your life here. His work in your life will always point to the reality of Jesus Christ, the power of the cross, and resurrection.
Romans 8:16
For the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God
The Holy Spirit comes to bear witness (agree) with your new nature and by that He begins to get behind that new nature and as you agree with Him and the Word change begins to happen. Not because someone said, you have to, but because you have an inbuilt nature that delights in doing what pleases the father. Now everyone has hard areas in their life, that they just do not want to give up, this is part of the purging process mentioned in John 15. If you bear fruit, He will purge you. Some regretfully will never enter into the acceptable or the perfect will of God or be able to prove it because they will not allow the purging to take place. Some of those hard areas need to be watered by the word and time in His presence to bring softening. It’s hard to work with a stony hard indifferent heart. With repentance comes refreshing. Repentance is where you hate sin like God hates sin and therefore change comes. To change from dwelling in depression to being full of peace and joy could be a product of repentance. For one reason Gods not depressed and we are so blessed and full of His nature there is no need to serve depression consistently. I’ am not talking about having a bad day everybody has those. I’ am talking about being controlled by depression and negative thinking consistently which in turn causes fault in fellowship with one another. This is where the walk of the Spirit begins and mortification to the deeds of flesh brings to a standstill its operation. The real change takes up permanent residency and emerges in peace. When everything fights your emotions and your want to for the kingdom of God, know one thing it’s not time to give up or give in. At these times it is better for you to go back to your bible and prayer. This will reinforce who you are in Him, and let Him reinforce who He is in you.
Because He is our Father now and Jesus Christ is our older brother and intercessor and Lord. These times of purging are for one thing.
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren.
He fore knew all by the cross. He died for the sins of the world that includes ages to come and ages past. Salvation is open to all because He foreknew all. After you pick up salvation, your right is to be conformed into His image. That change only comes through that new nature. Not from the outside in, not by sickness, not by disease, not by people dying and certainly not loved ones going to hell. The Word has been sent to you as a blue print of the nature of God, and you have the nature of God for the word to contact. So in short God will not manipulate you by circumstances to teach you something. Change comes by the Holy Spirit, the word and prayer. So many people accept defeat and depression as the will of God, when it is not. It is the will of God, that you being a son or daughter of God, that you display His character through everything and apply the promises. This is maturity. No one has arrived. People still throw fits, people still judge and people still operate out of strife and jealousy. This is carnality and growing out of it is called maturity. In Romans 8:14 the mature sons and daughters of God walk after the spirit. This purging comes by revelation, transformation and manifestation in your life. Where the word of God is so alive, that it judges and discerns the thoughts and intents proceeding from the heart. This should be our goal Jesus has set the standard. The word says, “those who compare themselves among themselves are not wise”. Why? Jesus is our standard, not our brother or other ministries. If we compared our walk to Jesus’, this would result in wisdom and maturity. 1 John 2:6 says, “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Jesus walked”. What a challenge. But we have been equipped by a nature from God and the Holy Spirit to do just that. Walk as He walked. We all fall short in this area. And it will be a battle, but, its one we can win, if we do not quit or think we have arrived. God is not looking for perfection, but spiritual maturity in His people. If the cry of your heart is to love Him more, know Him in a intimate way and walk with Him. This is the path to maturity. This is also where peace and His still small voice dwells and all the character to support the gifts exists. This is also walking in the light and truth. Since your spirit is lit by God, you now can understand Him. The will of God individually in your life should not be a mystery anymore.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Proverbs 20: 27
The spirit of a man is the lamp (candle) of the Lord…
In the Old Testament this points to the new nature of a born again person being lit by God to receive the things of God in the New Testament. Your spirit is where all direction comes from. But direction is never apart from the word of God. He causes you to understand in your spirit not your mind. The Holy Spirit births truth in your spirit from the word to produce change in you. Given all these promises and realities we have no excuse not to understand who we are and who we have become. The light is given to show those things in darkness, so you can remove them from your life. Then the character and life of God becomes evident to all around you.