In the last post Holy Spirit had me write a post entitled, “Who Do You Say I am?” (See post below).
In this post, I’d like to share that it’s not enough to know who Jesus is. We have to BELIEVE it. And as we submit ourselves, our thoughts, our will over to God, we have to BELIEVE that He will transform our hearts and minds. Listen, being in Christ, growing in Christ, living in Christ is not a “one and done” deal, throughout the course of our lives, God (through Holy Spirit) transforms us.
I made Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior 34 years ago. I am 55 years old and God CONTINUES to transform my mind. Show me the things that I need to submit to Him that need a touch from Him. He shows me areas of me that need spiritual healing. He reveals Himself to me so that the “Who Do I Say HE is” is one of constant discovery… Areas that I was not aware of that I NEED His touch. Revelations of WHO I AM IN CHRIST. This is something that I believe will never end. Even when our lives end. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:12:
“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.”
We not only have to determine, who we say HE is, but also to ask Him to grow us and SHOW us, who WE are in Him.
I’m not going to lie to you, spiritual growth can be painful. We live in a fallen world, this is not the type of environment that God intended us originally to be in. There are things that God will show you, reveal to you, bring into the light was buried in the darkness that you may fight against Him showing you. LET HIM. Like a wound that needs cleaning out in order to heal we NEED Holy Spirit to clean up the “mess” inside of us. He knows what He is doing, this is where trust comes in. The relief of allowing Holy Spirit to clean up those hurting wounds is one that stings and hurts as He cleans it – but it is freeing and it is SO worth the pain (even if it doesn’t feel that way at the time, we aren’t suppose to go by our feelings, remember? We are to be led by our faith! :)) We can trust that Holy Spirit knows what He is doing. He is REFINING you for God’s purpose and sometimes even has He is doing it, He is explaining what He is doing so that you can see and after the pain (and sometimes even during) glorify and praise God. Suffering comes so that God can be glorified for Who He is and what He is doing, and if He has revealed something painful about you to you, you can BET there is a purpose to His revealing it.
Let me make this more personal – use an example to show you what I mean:
One of the things Holy Spirit has revealed to me at this time in my life is that because I am a compassionate person, my heart feels deeply for people. I am an intercessor in prayer and I feel my spirit groaning for those I am interceding on behalf of those I am lifting up in prayer. Holy Spirit had to show me that intercessors are called to pray, but it is GOD who answers prayer. We CANNOT fix people’s choices. Our duty as intercessors is to pray and BELIEVE that through our prayers that flood the gates of Heaven, GOD WILL answer. It is NOT up to us to change people – we are not God, we CANNOT do that. Our responsibility is to believe that as God changed OUR hearts and removed the spiritual scales from OUR eyes, He will do the same for those we are praying will come to know Jesus and walk in the salvation that He purchased on the cross for forgiveness of their sins. We are called to intercede BUT it is GOD who answers prayers. I had to ask myself as I am being obedient to what it is God has called me to do, am I TRUSTING in HIM to answer my prayers in whatever capacity He sees fit? This has gone to be a deeper lesson for me, because I have had to ask myself – DO I TRUST GOD? The answer Holy Spirit showed me, is that I don’t always trust that God will answer my prayers. OUCH. Can I tell you that when Holy Spirit shed light on the fact that I have “God trust issues” that it caused me to wince in pain. He showed me this because I have “trust issues” that I need Holy Spirit to come in and clean out so they can heal. I had to ask God for forgiveness of something I didn’t know was wrong with me. I had to submit this area of me to Him so that He could provide me with His Word to show me that GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY. What did He show me? He showed me this:
Hebrews 13:8 says:
“He is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 says:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make straight your path.”
Lamentations 3:22-23 says:
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”
These are just a few scriptures among many attesting to God’s faithfulness, but because Holy Spirit showed me one of the things I need to work on, it is now up to me to work on it, allow God to heal those areas of trust within me that need healing so that I can continue to grow in my trust in Him. My responsibility now that Holy Spirit has brought this front and center (and He does it gently, in love), kind of like a gentle hand on the shoulder that says, “Hey Kelly, I want to show you this, we’ve come to a little rock in our path that we need to remove. Look, this is what it is, I’m showing it to you so that you can see what I need to heal in order for us to move forward.” My role is to say, “oh wow… Yeah, that’s a very tender place, in fact it hurts when you touch it… Okay, what do I need to do to allow You to heal this area of me?” And then allow Holy Spirit to go from there. THAT is spiritual growth.
That’s a personal example, I pray as you read these words that you hear what Holy Spirit is showing YOU about YOU. For you it may be something different. Discovering who you are in Christ is a life-long, maybe even an eternal lesson. We can embrace it. We can trust that we WILL grow in Him as we allow ourselves to be sensitive to what it is Holy Spirit reveals to us. Please pray with me:
“Father, I thank You for using Holy Spirit to refine me. I thank You for renewing my mind. I ask that You forgive me for sometimes wanting to “stuff” back down in the darkness what Your light reveals. I know that ignorance is not bliss. I do not want my growth in You to be stunted. Help me to allow Holy Spirit to change and refine whatever it is that needs changing and refining so that I can continue to grow in You. I trust You Father, You have never failed me. Be glorified in my life that I have given over to You. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. AMEN.
Don’t be afraid to pray about and study scriptures that show who YOU are in Christ. Holy Spirit will reveal it to you – but you have to be open to receiving it. Growth in Christ is a lifelong process, a lifelong discovery – but it is SO worth it. There is unspeakable joy and love and revelation in knowing who it is you belong to – Jesus. And the beauty of it is that GOD IS WITH YOU. He is WITH you through it all. There is not ONE thing that you go through that He is not right there beside you. He said that He would never leave nor forsake you… You need to believe it and trust it and know that God is with you and He sent His Holy Spirit to guide you, to grow you and to reveal to you who YOU are in Him. He’s wrapping His love, His forgiveness, His healing and His purpose for you ALL around you. Receive it.
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