What if you had limitless power to shift the atmosphere around you? In your home, at your workplace, from the stage as you’re playing/leading in worship? What if you could walk through a global pandemic without anxiety, release peace over your grieving friend, bring joy into the room to counteract the toxic interaction standing grumpily in front of you. What if you could banish offense with one word? What if you could bring healing to hearts, break chains of bondage, shine light on lies and raise the dead (literally and figuratively)?
Nothing seems more unattainable in this current cultural climate where life seems explosively out of control, but contrary to how it feels…
You can.
Rather, the limitless spirit of God living inside of you can.
But when the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, [Or “makes his home in you.”] you are not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit. And if you are not joined to the Spirit of the Anointed One, you are not of him. Now Christ lives his life in you! And even though your body may be dead because of the effects of sin, his life-giving Spirit imparts life to you because you are fully accepted by God. Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you!
Romans 8:9-10 TPT
BACKSTORY
I was raised in a Christian home, pretty much from birth. My parents got saved and began a personal relationship with Jesus when I was a small child. My musician dad served as worship leader for my entire childhood and I grew up loving the house of God and passionate about worship and pursuit of His face. I’ve read my Bible countless times, knew all the stories, won the contests in Kids Church, served in worship band and worship dance in high school, and went directly into ministry after graduating high school early with a call to serve God vocationally. I was the consummate “church girl.” I’d read this verse many many times, heard sermons about it, TAUGHT on it, evangelized with it, sang songs about it, and led worship with it…
But the limitless power spoken of in this verse eluded me. I never quite understood the full impact of this relationship I’d entered into until much later. Until I’d walked through a thick, black season of suffocating loss, pain and death. The kind that sets out to annihilate your dreams and destroy your future.
Walking through that season, I had to hold on to Jesus with a ferocity that I’d not known was possible. Relearning to breathe (literally… had to set a timer to remind myself to take deep breaths every hour), grieving alone in the dark, trusting Him that His promises were still in effect even though my life had taken such a drastic turn that they were no longer in sight. Fighting against hopelessness when it was quite realistic to accept that I’d never see the future I’d planned. Or have a future with anything left that I loved. Although I’d spent years seeking His face, it was through this season that I discovered His heart.
And this changed everything.
FACE VS HEART
The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,”[spirit of slavery] leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,”[the spirit of consecrated children] enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!”
For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!” And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own.
Romans 8:14-17 TPT
When I discovered His heart for me and began to walk in full acceptance with the spirit of a consecrated, or set apart, child of my Father, I began to understand my identity, and most importantly, my inheritance. You see, when Christ died on the cross for me, He actually died AS me. Which means he was resurrected AS me. I was joined to Him in death and am now joined to Him in life, making me eligible for ALL THAT HE IS AND ALL THAT HE HAS. All of it. No exceptions, no clarifications, no equivocations. I get what Jesus gets and I am what He is.
Guys… THAT IS CRAZY!!!
This realization alone is a game 👏🏻 changer 👏🏻. This puts me in an entirely different frame of mind for… well, everything.
First, if I qualify for Jesus’ inheritance, suddenly I’ve got swagger. Like legit, limitless swagger. When the enemy attacks and I walk through the valley, I feast at the table He prepares for me and I fear NOTHING (Ps 23). I walk in constant peace because the literal Person of Peace is inside me; peace emanates through my very pores. I don’t need to find my joy when an attempt to steal it is mounted… I already HAVE joy… always. When something or someone offensive comes at me, kindness and love is a natural response because I see with the eyes of the Father. Anger dissipates, patience abounds, self-control spontaneously manifests. It’s a natural outflow of proper alignment with who I am in Him, it’s not something I have to strive for. Any attack aimed at me simply bounces off because, newsflash, I win.
Secondly, if I am His true child, joined to Christ in resurrection and he was resurrected AS me, then when God looks at me, He sees Jesus. And friend… there is no greater power than understanding that truth. Walking in our true identity and understanding our inheritance brings with it a deep reverence and gratefulness for what we’ve been given. This is the nature of grace. Walking in grace unleashes unimaginable Holy Spirit power in and over our lives, calling and ministry. It is the greatest gift we’ve been given (Eph 2:8). We cannot earn it and intimacy unleashes it. This is why we have one job. Intimacy with God. To know His heart and seek a deeper relationship with Him.
How ridiculously obtuse I felt to discover that all He wants is our hearts and to share His heart with us. We literally have ONE JOB. Get closer to His heart. Everything else is secondary. So simple, and so powerful.
It’s the whole purpose for this entire life. Limitless relationship is why we were created in the beginning and in turn it’s the single thing that brings favor, power, fulfillment, purpose and ridiculous adventure to our every day. Seeking his heart and walking as a son and daughter of the King brings unimaginable fruit as we wield our inheritance. Intimacy gives birth to fruitfulness.
FRUITFUL INHERITANCE
So what exactly is that fruitful inheritance?
For years I’ve been taught about “the fruit of the spirit” and they all center around these fruits as virtures we need to strive to implement in our character. An ideal to be grasped. “Have patience,” “Be kind,” “Find your joy,” ”Feel peace.” While I understand the point of well-meaning teachers, it just misses the mark on so many levels. These aren’t little laminated apple cut-outs velcroed to a bright paper tree hung on the wall of a Sunday School wall. These aren’t behavior traits we try to apply to less-than-ideal circumstances to prove we are Christians. These are a natural part of an active and living harvest gleaned from walking in our Spirit-breathed identity as co-heirs with Christ. There is a proximity to the heart of the Father that burns away the dross of self-centeredness and produces Spirit fruit. It’s a harvest, a byproduct of closeness to the Father’s heart and walking in our identity as co-heirs and sons/daughters.
But the fruit [The Greek word here can be translated “harvest.”] produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine love in all its varied expressions, joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of virtue, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.
Galatians 5:22-23 TPT
Did you catch that last line? They are meant to be LIMITLESS…
Friend, nothing is more important in current times than to understand our identity and wield the power that is our inheritance. The world needs it. Romans also talks about how the earth is literally groaning with intense desire to see the sons and daughters of God glorified – to bring victory from darkness back to the earth. (Romans 8:19)
This is what will change our lives.
This is what will change the lives of the people we touch.
This is what will change our worship, corporately and individually.
This is what will change our ministry.
This is what will change our churches and awaken the Bride of Christ.
This is what will change the world.
How true this is today in this global climate. It is time for the Bride to arise and send the powers of darkness cowering in terror. There is a powerful awakening taking place and I want to be on the forefront of this next great move birthing right now.
LOOKING FORWARD
Join me as we journey through this path toward intimacy and grace. As we unlock the power of our inheritance and the Holy Spirit breathed harvest produced in us through relationship with the Father. Let’s learn to wield worship as a weapon and to walk in the Spirit and release harvest in our sphere of influence. We will also be digging into a lot of technical resources to help you grow not only spiritually, but musically as well.
As it states in Galatians 5:23, we are meant to live limitless and I refuse to be satisfied with anything less.
Does this resonate with you? Are you currently walking in YOUR identity or is this a daily struggle? Drop me a comment below and JOIN OUR LIST below! I’d love to get to know you better! 🙂
