I don’t profess to have ALL the answers, but I know the One Who does… I will say that in the 35 (almost 36) years that I have come to know Jesus, accepted Him as Savior, made Him Lord OVER my life I have learned SO much more than anything “the world” could educate me on… Once you enter into a relationship with Jesus, He is with you EVERY step of the way. The Bible says in Luke 16:10:
“In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The moment that you make a decision for Christ, Holy Spirit enters in (as Jesus’ promised He would) and the transformation of your mind begins. Oh my goodness! If I could JUST right about how REAL that transformation is! That it is an ongoing thing! And it is GOOOOD!!! Holy Spirit is the Third part of the Trinity and the older I get in Christ, the more appreciative I am of the work He does within me.
HOLY SPIRIT IS RIGHT THERE INSIDE OF YOU, DEALING WITH THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY!
When we, of our own free will decide to accept Jesus as Savior, determine to make Him Lord OVER our lives – we are choosing to die to ourselves. We are giving the One Who died on the cross for forgiveness of OUR sins the authority to live through us. We are basically saying:
“Jesus, thank You for giving Your life for me. Thank You for loving ME enough to die for ME. I give You MY life. My greatest desire is that YOU be glorified through this life I have been blessed with – Here I am Jesus! I belong to YOU.”
It may seem like a passionate small prayer (and it is) but the ramifications of such a prayer reverberate throughout your WHOLE life! Holy Spirit settles into the heart of you and begins to “move things around” or “toss things out” – with your permission of course. Holy Spirit is our Guide, our Teacher, our Comforter and He is an EVER-present help in time of trouble. You can’t really wrap your brain around this fully, but you CAN see within yourself the changes and transformation of the work He is doing with you in how you go about life. Very often spiritual growth can be similar to physical growth – we experience “growing pains.” And it can be painful. 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
Becoming part of God’s “Called Remnant” does not mean that life will get easier for you. No indeed! I would be lying to you if I told you that I accepted Jesus as my Savior and made Him Lord OVER my life and then ran off skipping into the sunset and “lived happily ever after.” The Bible tells us in Matthew 5:45:
“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
We do not become excluded from living in a fallen, sinful world, but here is the thing:
GOD IS GREATER THAN ANYTHING OR SITUATION YOU ARE GOING THROUGH IN LIFE. AND HE HAS PROMISED THAT HE WILL NEVER LEAVE NOR FORSAKE YOU.
Listen, God IS greater than anything that comes your way. And once you make a decision for Him, you belong to the Great Shepherd.
YOU ARE HIS
And knowing Who you belong to and that He will NEVER let you go brings about the “peace that passes ALL understanding” that only God can give. The Bible tells us in Psalm 37:23:
“The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him.”
As you allow Holy Spirit to grow you in Christ, God gives you understanding, He gives you wisdom. You will begin to develop and walk in discernment. Holy Spirit teaches you how to pray and what to pray. You become more and more aware of how dependent we TRULY are upon the Father. As you grow in Christ, you start to see things from God’s perspective. You develop a deeper love and heart for God. Your desire becomes one where you WANT the good and perfect will of the Father to occur in your life and the desire to share God’s beautiful, compassionate, healing, grace-filled love and mercy with others! So, they can experience how truly GOOD the Father is!
You learn how to keep your eyes focused on God and not on people. You learn that God can work THROUGH people to bless you, but it is important to not put your eyes on “the vessel” but on the One Who created the vessel. Blessings come from God and God alone. There is SO much that Holy Spirit will show you as you grow in Christ. There is NO greater joy than to walk in the purpose God has called you and to recognize that you are His. Your journey with Christ is YOUR journey alone. Just like a fingerprint your journey is not the same as someone else’s – it is yours. It is personal and it is between you and God. Holy Spirit will bring other believers into your life – but their stories are THEIR stories – not yours. They will be at all different spiritual levels, and sometimes it will shock you because we only see outwardly, but Holy Spirit sees inwardly – and sometimes spiritual growth involves remembering that we are not to walk in judgement of someone else. You don’t know what God is doing in the life of Sister-so-and-So over there. The Bible tells us in Matthew 7:1-6:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”
We have no authority or right to judge someone else. You don’t know where they are in their walk with the Lord, what God is dealing with them on – or if they are even allowing Holy Spirit to change what needs changing within them! (That is between them and God). We need to be more concerned with what God is doing within our OWN lives. What is it Holy Spirit is pointing out to you that YOU need changing? And are you working on it? It has been my personal experience that when there is something within me that Holy Spirit whispers gently that needs changing, I cannot get beyond that point until I take a good hard look at whatever it is Holy Spirit is pinpointing and to deal with it, face it – confess it, identify it, admit it, bring it before the Father for help if I must! But once I allow the transformation of my mind to occur – I am filled with the sweetest of peace and wisdom and knowledge and discernment and Holy Spirit is able to take me on to the next level. And let me tell you, I am still a work in progress (and no one knows that better than I 😉 ) but I can look back on the 35 years I’ve been in Christ and I can SEE the changes that Holy Spirit has made in me. I can see the areas where He led me (dragging) through certain life situations, I can see where He has carried me and I can trust that whatever I face in life, Holy Spirit goes before me. I have learned NOT to trust in myself but to trust in Him.
God is SUCH a good Father, learning to trust in Him, live in Him, move in Him is a life-long process, submission is the key. There is no greater a fulfilled life than one where you are depending upon the One Who created you in the first place. There is joy there! There is peace there! There is mercy and forgiveness there! And most of all – there is the MOST unexplainable, incredible love – like none you will EVER know until you let God in and allow Him to love you. Everything else is up to Him.
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