It's All In You!

On Wednesday, my pastor’s wife was delivered of a beautiful baby girl. OK. I don’t mean the kind of newborn that you don’t think is really cute, but you just have to say something nice; and then you go something like, “Awww. She looks adorable,” Or “Oh, doesn’t he look so peaceful?!” NO, I mean a really really cute, adorable, peaceful looking baby – For real!!!...

Anyway, while I was with them in the hospital hours after her birth, waiting for her & momma to be discharged, I sorta mentioned to my pastor that I’d never held a newborn before, out of fear of dropping the little angel. So, after they were discharged, as we got set to take her home, he insisted that I be the one to hold her in the car all the way home. Trust me, carrying a newborn isn’t that easy, but it’s marvelous. I just kept staring at her all the way home. I looked at her shut eyes, her slender and long fingers, and it amazed me as she moved her tiny body and stretched herself for comfort – this little wonder marveled me. Looking at her reminded me of something my Sunday School teacher told us back when I was still a teenager. She said that when she had her male child, she looked at him and saw that God had put in him all that he needed to grow into a full adult man. They weren’t fully developed at the time of birth, but they were all there. He had eyes, ears, legs, a brain, a heart, liver, kidneys, etc. – it was all in him. If you think about this a little deeper, wouldn’t you agree that at the time of our New Birth, God also put in us all we need to grow from baby believers into ground-shaking, continent-moving, world-changing believers? It’s all in us. 2 Peter 1:3 says, “According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.” What makes the difference between a stagnant, ever-remaining-a-baby kinda believer and a mature one is, just as a physical person, what we feed on, how much we are cared for, who will interact with, etc.

So, going a bit deeper, let’s take a look at some of the things that God put in or gave us at the time of our new birth:

1.      The Holy Spirit: – The moment you accepted Christ into your heart, the Spirit of God came in to be resident in your life. Your body became His temple – 1 Corinthians 6:19. And His presence in your life is to make you live a Christ-like, holy life. Unfortunately, many believers who have the Holy Spirit in them have refused to tap into His limitless abilities, thereby living in carnality, as if they were never saved. God has given us the Holy Spirit. It is left to us to yield to Him so that we are instruments of righteousness unto God, and not instruments of unrighteousness unto death – Romans 6:13.

Another important truth in us having the Holy Spirit of God available to us is that He helps us to serve. What I mean is that the Holy Spirit within us is for our own self-character and personal Christian living. But the Holy Spirit can do beyond that. He can come upon us too. We can yield ourselves to Him completely – in and out – so that He works in and through us for His good pleasure – Philippians 2:13; so that our lives won’t be just for us anymore, but for others as well. The Lord Jesus makes this distinction of the Holy Spirit’s dual work in us clearly in the book of John. When Jesus told the Samaritan woman by the well that He can give her a well of water that will make her never thirst again, and that springs up into everlasting life, He was talking about the Holy Spirit at work IN us – John 4:14. But when he spoke out on the last day of the feast, in John 7:37-39, about rivers of living water that flows out of one’s belly, He was referring to the Holy Spirit at work THROUGH us. A well of water can’t serve many, but rivers of water can. A Christian’s goal should be to become a vessel by which Christ’s rivers of living water can flow to serve the whole world. We have the Holy Spirit of the Most High God available to us. How much of Him do you drink in (Ephesians 5:18) everyday to produce God-like characters, and to reach the world for Him? It’s all in you. It depends on you!

2.      The Fruit of the Regenerated Spirit: – It shouldn’t be hard to figure that when the Holy Spirit came into us at the moment of conversion, He deposited His own characters in us as well. These characters that we now possess are referred to in Galatians 5:22-23 as the fruit of the spirit. They are the fruit of man’s regenerated spirit. Meaning that as believers, if God’s Spirit dwells in us (and He does), we undoubtedly have love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and temperance in us. As we outwardly express these God-characters in us, we become identified with Christ and we grow into the mature adults that God intends for us to be. Just as a child experiences retarded growth if he/she isn’t given the proper vitamins in their right proportions, a believer who refuses to express these characters will not grow right; because the more you express it, the more you grow.

3.     Spiritual & Physical Blessings: – A believer is blessed. Simple! Ephesians 1:3; 2^nd Peter 1:3; Proverbs 10:22. If you’re not experiencing blessings (of all kinds) as a believer, my advice to you is this: start claiming them! Believe God for His word, and enjoy your blessings. This is important because through His blessings upon your life, you can enjoy a more fulfilled Christian life, and reach out to others for Him. Spiritual blessings make you meet the spiritual needs of others, and physical blessings make you meet the physical needs of others. Although, apart from believing God for your blessings, other things are important. If you are a carnally-minded, carnally-behaved Christian, you automatically give the devil access into your life – to tamper with your spiritual, as well as, physical blessings. So, before you begin claiming what’s rightfully yours, check yourself. Please, see Psalm 24:3-5; Deuteronomy 28:1-14; Malachi 3:8-12; Proverbs 3:9; Luke 6:38. I can sense some of you will grunt at this point. The truth is a bitter pill. Take it anyway; it’ll heal you.

4.    The Word: – The phrase, “You are what you eat,” is a valid point even in a spiritual context. My goodness! I cannot overemphasize with words the importance of studying & meditating on God’s Word. It is awesome beyond belief. Trust me; I’ve never being able to express it enough. It’s liberating. It makes you grow into a sturdy Christian so quickly that you begin to wonder, “How come?” I was born again for twelve whole years before I began taking God’s word very seriously; and after I did, it’s not even close to two years yet, and I can’t believe the difference. You are indeed what you eat. Feed on God’s word and have life unimaginable, or feed on the world’s garbage, and anticipate death that’d surely come. God’s given it to you. It all depends on you!

5.      Our Church Family: – This is the truth – Your church family is as important as your biological family. You cannot do without the other. I know there are some folks out there who say, “What’s the use of going to church? As long as your relationship with God is alright, who needs to listen to somebody’s boring preaching?” I getcha! I used to say that before – before I understood that not having a church family is like living in an uncompleted house without a roof over your head. Although, the church family is not instilled inside of us at new birth, it is an essential part of our spiritual growth. If you do not have a “specific” church where you worship and fellowship, please, prayerfully seek one. It is very important. As a newborn isn’t just left alone to care for him/herself – but enjoys the nourishment and love from a mother, the guidance of a father, and the friendship of siblings; so should spiritual babes not be left alone. Even the Bible tells us not to forsake the gathering together of our brethren – Hebrews 10:25. Of course, like every normal family, our spiritual families will hurt us sometimes. But those hurts don’t kill us. They make us stronger and help us to grow. For the first time in my life, I am super active in a church where my mom or dad aren’t the head pastors; and I can tell you for certain that I have grown tremendously in the nine months since I’ve been there. Not because all has been rosy rosy. In fact, there were sometimes when there were more thorns than roses. But even in those times, I sought God, and in seeking God, I found new truths about myself, prayed/worked to deal with the unpleasant parts of me, and I grew. My church family show me who I really am, and each time, remind me of my need for God. To those who are already spiritually strong, you need to nurture your young converts so they can grow healthy and be spiritually mature too.

There are definitely more things God has deposited in us or given to us that will help us grow into maturity. But something to note here before I close is that as even properly nourished/cared-for babies don’t grow into adults in a day, so won’t spiritual babes grow into maturity at once. Constantly feeding on the word, tapping into the Holy Spirit, accessing spiritual blessings, expressing the fruit of the spirit, and fellowshipping with the saints will eventually accrue to produce a strong, well-grounded man or woman of God.

Welcome Baby Orungbe. You’ve come into a great home; and I know you’ll grow to be an amazing, strong woman of God someday. Aunt Temi Loves You.