How God Causes Us To Grow.

1Cor 2:9-12

The real you…

· Anyone in Christ is a new creation… a being that never existed before. (2Cor 5:17)

o Real you is a new creation… righteous, holy, blameless, & beloved.

· To understand who you are, you must focus on God’s Word (“above line” Truth), not your thoughts based on “below line” observations.

· Satan wants you to focus on how you are acting & to identity yourself based on behavior.

· You have died w/Christ (Gal 2:20)… evil was erased from heart, but it remains in soul.

· Your soul must be renewed (Rm 12:2) because spirit is only expressed thru soul & body.

· Below the line there are two possibilities… we can do good or evil. However, our identity comes from our spirit union with Christ & we are who God says we are… righteous.

· Spirit wants to build you up & increase your understanding of the life of Christ in you.

o He wants you to see how God already sees you… holy & blameless.

· The real you is who you are at the spirit level… holy, righteous, & blameless. Only by accepting the real you by faith can you begin to experience its reality.

You are not a liability to God… you are an asset.

· Knowing who you are means there is now no condemnation (Rm 8:1)… you are not a liability to God... you are an asset.

· If you view yourself as a liability, you’ll focus on trying to get better. (self-focused)

· Having been raised with Christ (Rm 6:4-5)… you can no longer be a liability.

· We are vessels… we cannot produce His life, we can only express it. (2Cor 4:7)

· Vessels must not try to become the contents… but let His life /love flow thru you.

· We are to become the image of Christ, not the essence...a mirror that reflects His glory.

· We are being transformed into His image as we behold Him. (2Cor 3:18)

· The imperfections in our outer man will be used by God to attract others to Himself.

· Let H Spirit show you that it pleases God to live in you. You need to be satisfied with yourself… you are His wonderful, beautiful, & necessary vessel thru which the world sees the love & life of Christ.

How God causes you to grow into “Christ in you” reality. (1Cor 2:9-12)

· Brain understanding is not spiritual understanding… it is possible to know about & talk about Christ in us & our union with Him, & not really know or experience Him.

· Our culture processes everything mentally… we grasp it with our mind & tell it to our heart… instead of waiting for H Spirit to tell it to our heart.

· Knowing about something is not the same as knowing.

· Everything we truly know of God comes by revelation of H Spirit. (1Cor 2:12)

· Work of H Spirit is to reveal to us the reality of the mysteries of God. (v.10)

· There is no correlation between amount of info & ability to live spiritual life.

· No amount of knowing about gives you the ability to do… the only one who can live the Christian life is Christ. (Col 1:27)

· We are meant to be frustrated when trying to produce what we are incapable of producing.

· When you have exhausted your library on how to be spiritual, & come to your end… you are ready to be taught by H Spirit. (2Cor 12:9-10)

· Our failures force us to look for answers within… to know Him as our life.

o It is essential that we fail in our self-efforts apart from H Spirit.

· The real answer to our desperate questions is Jesus Christ who lives within you… we must learn to experience Him & live out of Him in our daily lives.

· Just as you know that your sins are forgiven… so the Father wants you to know that you were crucified with Christ & that you no longer live, but Christ lives in you.

Growth is expanding your awareness of Christ in you. (Gal 2:20)

· Growth in spirit life is really expanding your awareness… more aware of Christ in you.

· When we see that Christ is our life… we learn we are not becoming… we are.

· Our life experiences are what H Spirit uses to teach us… & He is in control.

· H Spirit’s work is to declare the Father & Son within us. (Jn 16:13-15)

· Only H Spirit can teach us & make us one with deep things of God. (1Cor 2:10; Jn 16:13)

· We cooperate with God’s revelation to us by believing… believing even when it doesn’t look true in your life.

· I purpose to agree/believe the following four truths God has revealed to me:

(1) God has said there is no condemnation (Rm 8:1)… since I am in Christ, there is now no condemnation for me & I purpose to take captive condemning thoughts.

(2) God has said there is no separation (Mt 28:20)… I’ve only known varying degrees of nearness, but I agree that we are one & nothing can separate me from God.

(3) God has said that He works all things together for good (Rm 8:28)… there are some that don’t appear to have produced good, but I agree all things work for my good.

(4) God has said that I am crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20)… it seems like I’m very much alive, but I agree that my heart is dead to sin.

· H Spirit gives us revelation & then gives us experiential teaching so we can know it.

· Thru noise & chaos of seen & temporal realm & our flesh, He teaches us & we become more aware of whom we really are… it is not I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.

· That’s real life… Christ expressing Himself thru us, as us. Then His word’s concerning us becomes present reality… we are a well of water springing up to eternal life. (Jn 14:4)