Weekly Devotion

Let us continue with our guidelines from last week on how to grow in our new creation and lead a flourishing life:

1. Speak life-giving words over yourself every day out loud. Your old sinful nature needs to hear it and give way to the life-changing truths within you. I have found this to really work. My spirit seems to lift, and I can truly say that I start to believe these truths about myself. Slowly but surely, I start to live it. It truly makes a very big difference. I am going to give you examples to get your thoughts going, but this is by no means a complete list. The Holy Spirit will lead you to various new ones.
   1. I am a child of the living God.
   2. I am a citizen of heaven with all the privileges and blessings in the heavenly realm.
   3. I am a priest, ready to serve my King.
   4. I am the Bride of Christ, perfect and holy, awaiting my Bridegroom.
   5. I will share in the glory and victory of Christ because of His work on the cross.
   6. I have eternal life pulsating through my veins.
   7. I have the power of God within me.
   8. A life-giving fountain is bubbling within me, giving me new life.
   9. The Holy Spirit in His fullness is dwelling inside of me, changing me from glory to glory.
2. Stay in the present moment. When you feel yourself drifting off and worrying about the future or reliving the past, stop and acknowledge your thought. Breathe in deeply ten times, and focus on your breathing. Imagine that you are breathing in the air in the new creation now. Focus on the new creation and who you are in Christ, and force yourself to concentrate on the now. Be in the present moment and feel the Spirit's presence within you. Don't allow yourself the luxury of dwelling on thoughts that are detrimental. It also helps to recite some of the truths listed above. It helps you to focus again on who you really are and what your true purpose in life is.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

I would like to give you with a few practical guidelines that I felt helped me along my journey of growing in my new creation. May this help you and lead you to life everlasting:

1. Get a time that suits you best to spend regular time with God and stick to that time. Be dedicated in spending the time with Him. Speak to Him as you would to someone close to you. Share everything that is on your heart, and make time to listen to what He has to say to you. It is a very important principle to also listen. Prayer is never a one-way street. Give Him the opportunity to speak to your heart as well. During your time spent with Him, ask Him to lead you into His place of rest. I can tell you that that is an amazing experience. I have had the privilege of entering into it, and I can confirm that the love and the rest that you find there is unequal to anything else. Ask Him to take you there. I don't want to say much more than that, as I know the experience for each person will be unique. Each person is totally distinctive, and God will know exactly what you need as you enter into His presence to rest. I cannot say how your experience will be because I am not God. But one thing I know for certain is you will look forward to your time spent with God; it is special beyond measure. Learn about His heart for you and for the world and pray about it. Your new creation was created to influence this dark world all around you.

2. Read your Bible every day, it is truly your daily bread. You will struggle to grow without it, just like you will struggle to survive without food. I once left my Bible at home when we went on holiday for a week, and that was a big mistake! I could literally feel the new life starving within me. God's Word has power without measure, and we should never underestimate it. Take it in, read it, confess it, and thank God for it. Learn from it and grow from it. Each word written there is God breathed and will breathe new life into your new creation. Crave it like a newborn baby craves milk. Never be too busy to pick up your Bible. As Christians, we should be warriors with our sword, the Bible. Without the Bible, we are in a war without weapons. Don't be caught without it. I will never go anywhere again without my Bible. I've learned my lesson.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

We should follow the "easy route" and find love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in the presence of God. Through spending time in God's presence in the present moment, His good work will produce fruit in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) will reach maturity if we allow ourselves to be in His presence in the present moment. When we rest in His presence, He will consume us with His Spirit, and fill us with all the treasures that are ours for the taking.

Let's think about it for a moment. When we add the "present moment" to our thinking, a whole new dimension in the fruit of the Spirit opens up. Just ponder the concept. We will have so much more patience if we just focus on now and not on everything we still need to do. We will have more peace if we don't have to worry about tomorrow. We will have more joy if we don't live in the past and relive all the horrible things done to us. We will display more kindness and goodness if we only focus on now, what we can do to help someone in need right now, and not focus on the multitudes that also need help. We will exercise more self-control if our focus is on Him, and how we can glorify His Name in this specific situation. We will display more love if we forget about how people have disappointed us in the past. We will be more faithful in the presence of God if we do what He has placed in our hearts right now and not extend it to some future date. In fact, everything will be easier for us if we can control our minds and stay focused on our wonderful God in the present moment.

The fruit of the Spirit is inherent to God, and if we allow Him to consume us, it will automatically be part of us too. God is the great I AM; He is here right now. And we are part of Jesus' Body (Ephesians 1:23) right now. Not at some future date, but now. The new creation within us is part of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and they are eternal. Jesus Himself said that He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (Revelation 22:13). He is forever eternal, and, therefore, we are too. We are connected to the One Who is present everywhere and Who lives forevermore. So we can be filled with His presence even more and display His fruit for all to see. There are no more places for regrets, being unforgiving and the old creation in Him. In Him, all things become new. All things are eternal and never ending. There is no more sorrow or pain, just unspeakable joy.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

In order to live in the new, we need to reprogram our minds. Our minds should be renewed by allowing only godly thoughts to enter and, in turn, restricting the enemy's wrong thinking. If only godly thoughts are allowed to enter in, it will build us up and help us to live supernaturally, above the calamities of this world. One of the secrets to help us do that is to retrain our minds by being in the present moment.

Live in the here and now. It is a very important principle and one that the Bible clearly talks about. If we live for the now, and if we are present in the moment, we are connected to God Who is the great "I AM." If we are conscious in the moment, we can connect on a much deeper level to the wondrous great and powerful I AM. If our minds are not cluttered with irrelevant thoughts concerning the past or the future, we are free to focus on Him. Notice that God is not the great "I was" or "I will be" because God is outside of time. He lives in eternity, and in the new creation there is no time. There is no sun or moon in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:23) to indicate time because God is there illuminating it all, and He is timeless, eternal. There will be no clocks, no rushing to and fro, and no deadlines to meet. There will only be the present moment, the present moment to be beheld and enjoyed.

If you think about it, it is true for all of us already. Christians are part of the Body of Christ, Who dwells in eternity, and therefore we already have eternal life (John 11:26). As a result, the present moment is all we really have. The past is gone, the future is still a mystery, and to dwell in either will cause us endless misery. Now is all that is important, and if we learn to appreciate the present moment and learn to enjoy it for what it is, we will feel the connectedness with the new creation so much more intensely, and we will start to learn to breathe it in. We will learn to live above life's troubles and to focus our energy on what is truly important.

Buddhists and spiritualists have learned the secret to be in the present moment through meditation. Therefore, they are experiencing the power of being in the present moment even though they are not born again. Of course, they don't have the full revelation of what it truly means, like we do now, but they have grasped an understanding of something that few Christians have. That is why they seem more peaceful and relaxed than most Christians do. They have learned the secret most Christians are striving to find.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

We are all being prepared for the most wonderful wedding ceremony the world has ever seen.

"Let us be glad and rejoice and honor Him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and His bride has prepared herself. She is permitted to wear the finest white linen" (Revelation 19:7-8).

We receive the highest honor of all. We were chosen to be His Bride, adorned in white. Think of it again. We are His Bride, the closest a person can get in an earthly context. We are not His cousin, His acquaintance, His far-off aunt. No, we are His Bride. And this is true of every believer today. Because we are His Bride, we are righteous, holy, and true, just like He is. That is true of us in the new person inside of us. We are permitted to wear the finest white linen only reserved for the righteous. And God declares that we are righteous, all because of what Jesus had done for us. All glory to Him. We can be His wife for all eternity to come. We will be in unity with Him, one with Him, living in the New Jerusalem. There is no higher honor in the entire universe, and it is bestowed upon us. Breathe it in and allow this knowledge to envelop your soul and enhance the beauty of the new you. You are admired and lifted up high, along with Jesus. Allow that piece of the truth to soak into your soul and grow into a lovely diamond for all to see.

We are so much more in our new person than we can ever dream of. I am going to repeat the headings of what we have discussed in the past few weeks, but while I do, repeat it softly in your head and think about it. Even more, meditate on it and claim it for yourself because this is the true you. This is how God sees you.

You are His child, you will share in His glory, you have God's power inside, you have direct access to the Father, you will share in His incomprehensible riches and treasures, you are victorious, you have His bountiful Spirit within you, you are His priest, you are royalty, you are a citizen of heaven, and you are the Bride of Christ.

Stop for a moment and breathe it all in. You are destined for so much more than you can ever dream or hope for. Take a good look at your life and know that you were made for more than this. You were made to soar with the eagles. You were meant to reach the heavens and to settle your home there. You were not meant to poke around in the dust all day with the chickens down below. You need to get a heavenly perspective on your life. You will never be the same again. Walk with your head held high knowing that you are royalty, a priest, a child of the living God, His own Bride, and don't let anyone convince you otherwise. None of their comments ever matter. All that matters is what God says about you. And He claims you as His own and no one can pluck you from His hand.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

We are all citizens of heaven:

"We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives" (Philippians 3:20).

I have read this verse a number of times, but it was only recently that I truly realized the significance of it. We are citizens of heaven, which means that legally we are the rightful heirs. Think about the difference here on earth between citizens and foreigners in a country. Foreigners need to apply for visa's, and in order to obtain one, they need to be good enough or rich enough to be successful. And even if they obtain a visa, they don't have all the privileges in the country like the citizens have. For example, they can't vote, they can only live and work in certain areas, etc. Then after their visa expires, they need to leave the country or apply for a new one. Citizens, on the other hand, get everything as their birthright. They don't need to prove themselves or buy their way in; they are automatically part of it all. They never have to leave their country, plus they have all the rights and privileges that their government offers.

Here, God declares that we are citizens of heaven. We are not foreigners who have to be good enough or rich enough or have to prove ourselves to enter, but we are citizens that can share in all the glorious benefits heaven has to offer. It is our birthright, never to be taken away. We can have a sense of belonging. Even if we feel on this earth as if we don't belong anywhere, we can know that we do belong in the New Jerusalem, the city where we all will live one day. We don't need to prove ourselves, and we don't need to go through an intense process to obtain a visa. No, we belong automatically. The new person within us was specifically created for the New Jerusalem, and that is our home. We are part and parcel of what is to come.

We are also priests, God's holy nation, and His very own possession:

We are not just anybody roaming this earth; we have status.

"But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are a kingdom of priests, God's holy nation, His very own possession. This is so you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9).

"He has made us His kingdom and His priests who serve before God His Father. Give to Him everlasting glory!" (Revelation 1:6).

You see, we are royalty, priests, ready to serve and glorify our God. We are the pinnacle of His creation. We need to stand tall and walk around this earth as royalty and the priests that we are, not with pride but with compassion for the lost people aimlessly roaming this earth. We need to be royalty that cares, royalty that gives, royalty that never gets angry over trivial matters, royalty that serves and royalty that represents the King in all aspects. We need to show a lost world what God's kingdom is all about. We need to attract them to a world that is much better than the present one. We need to give them a glimpse of His love and His affection. We cannot walk around defeated and demoralized because then we are not representing the King. We are like a preview of coming attractions, and we need to show the best to this lost world. We are like representatives selling products, portraying the best of the best to those around us. We need to walk tall as royalty. We need to bring God's smile to people's faces.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

We have overwhelming victory:

"Overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us" (Romans 8:37).

"For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory" (1 John 5:4).

The victory Jesus won on the cross is ours too. We have overwhelming victory over every circumstance because we don't belong to this world anymore. We have victory because we are part of the new. We are walking above the waters of this troubled world in the newfound authority given to us by Jesus. Therefore, we are victorious over the realm of darkness too because they are still trapped inside this world. They can never escape. But we can, and we already have. Hallelujah in the highest heavens! We have escaped this world because Jesus died for the old and created the new within us all. We are now victorious over this creation and all it entails. We can live as conquerors in the new creation, victors over all that is evil.

And God gave us His Spirit to guide us in our walk and to help us while still physically living in this fallen creation. God blessed every child of His with the presence of the Holy Spirit, and He is full of power, love, and self-discipline, strong enough to assist us in any manner necessary.

"And God has actually given us His Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us" (1 Corinthians 2:12).

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self-discipline" (2 Timothy 1:7).

The mighty Spirit of God lives inside all Christians. I'd like to repeat that. The mighty, awesome, life-giving, powerful, loving, caring, awe-inspiring Spirit is living inside each of us. I am convinced that if we truly have a revelation of what this actually means, we will never be the same again. Sit back for a moment and just contemplate the truth about yourself. God, in all His fullness, is living inside of you. You are filled with power, love, and self-discipline, and if God has a task for you, there is nothing you cannot do. You will be unstoppable within His perfect will. You have all the ingredients you need. Allow this truth about you to alter your heart and your thoughts.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

We have God's power:

"I pray that you begin to understand the incredible greatness of His power for us who believe Him" (Ephesians 1:19).

"We too are weak, but we live in Him and have God's power" (2 Corinthians 13:4).

We have God's power . . . just think about it for a minute. God's immeasurable power is inside of us all. It is incomprehensible and feels unreal, and yet it is the truth. His incredible power is at our fingertips; we just need to realize it and grab onto the full potential. Imagine what we can accomplish for the furtherance of the Kingdom of God if we do just that. Jesus Himself said that we will do the same works that He had done and even greater works, and that would only be possible if we have God's power inside. We just simply need to tap into it. We need to stand up for who we are in Him and start living in the truth of it. We are the children of the Almighty God with authority over the heavenly realm. We are part of the new creation; therefore, the system of the old creation doesn't apply to us anymore. And when we stand up for the new while being part of the old in our earthly bodies, we will see the power of God manifest like we haven't seen before.

Not only do we have His power, but we will also share in all the riches and treasures as God's children:

"And since we are His children, we will share His treasures-for everything God gives to His Son, Christ, is ours too" (Romans 8:17).

"Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child. And since you are His child, everything He has belongs to you" (Galatians 4:7).

"For God has reserved a priceless inheritance for His children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay" (1 Peter 1:4).

Everything God has belongs to us as well. What a wonderful amazing revelation and a revelation to meditate on. Earthly riches and the desire for it will dissolve into the dust it is made of. Only the treasures stored for us in heaven will last and have significance. God keeps it safe for His children, and we should desire only that. Nothing else is worthwhile. We should praise God daily for His provision and grace. It is all grace. Nothing we can ever do makes us worthy to earn this wonderful treatment, and yet He decided to bless us with it. None of us deserves it, but therein lies the wonderful love of our Creator for His children.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God" (1 John 5:1).

"Now you are no longer a slave, but God's own child" (Galatians 4:7).

We were "created" anew as His child. God is now our Father. He will look after us from now on. He has wonderful dreams and visions for us, and He is always there for us if we need a shoulder to cry on. He is there to carry us in our deepest times of trouble, and He is there to share in our most wonderful joys. He is our Rock and the only constant in our lives. He never changes and will be loving and caring for all eternity.

As His children, we have also inherited all of His characteristics. Just pause and think about the magnitude of this statement. We are liberated from the characteristics we inherited from our earthly parents, and from now on we can move forward in His. We don't have to continue as the person we were but rather as the new we've become. We don't have to stay the quick tempered, jealous, depressed, lustful, manipulative person that we were. No, we can now become like our Father-loving, patient, and kind. All that He is, is imparted onto us, to free us to become more like Him and to allow us to delve into the depths of His wisdom. We are liberated and freed from this world and only His praise should concern us from now on. We will be with Him for all eternity to come, a tight-knit family, and enjoy the magnificent place that He has prepared for each of us.

We will also share in His glory:

"And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you will also share in all His glory" (Colossians 3:4).

Our new person will share in His glory and how wonderful it will be. I don't think we can even begin to imagine it. I searched for synonyms of the word glory, and the following came up: splendor, greatness, honor, praise, triumph, majesty, etc. It filled me with wonder to think that we will share in all of that because He obtained the victory and not because we did anything worthwhile. We will enjoy His success with Him and be admired. What a privilege! With this in mind, the praises sung by the world fades into a distant memory. All that matters is the splendor and beauty emanating from His glorious presence, of which we are all part.

(Excerpt from The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)

The wonderful Word of God tells us that we are born again the moment we acknowledge that we are sinners and we accept Jesus Christ into our lives as our personal Savior. A physical new person is created inside of us and born as a child of God. The creation of this new person inside of us is no less miraculous than the creation of the world. Actually, it is even more so because it now belongs to another world, more glorious than we can ever imagine.

God created Adam and Eve just perfect. He lovingly made them, and He was so proud of them. They were the pinnacle of His creation. They were the reason He made it all. They were more precious and beautiful to Him than all the dazzling galaxies above. They were the apple of His eye.

Now when He created the new person inside of us as part of the second creation, it was by no means less special than when He created Adam and Eve. Now we are His valuable children never to leave His side again. The Word says that there is immense joy in the presence of the angels when one new person is born again. And who is in the presence of the angels? Well, God the Father of course. He is so happy. Have you ever seen a doting father over his newborn child? God is the same, even more so. He has new children in His home, and they are, once again, the pinnacle of His creation. To top it all off, He made this new person perfect in every way-sinless, holy, and full of love.

Let me show you a couple of Scriptures out of the Word of God that clearly reveal to us that we as Christians are truly a new creation.

"For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago" (Ephesians 2:10).

"You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness-righteous, holy and true" (Ephesians 4:24).

"What this means is that those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! All this newness of life is from God, who brought us back to Himself through what Christ did" (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

"For you have been born again. Your new life did not come from your earthly parents because the life they gave you will end in death. But this new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living Word of God" (1 Peter 1:23).

"What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people" (Galatians 6:15).

(If you want to read more verses on this topic, please read 1 Corinthians 15:22; Titus 3:5-7; Colossians 3:1-3; Hebrews 10:19-20; Galatians 5:16; Romans 6:4, 12:2.)

What an amazing truth about us all. We are newly created, God's masterpiece, His work of art. O what joy must have reigned in heaven when the new creation started to manifest here on earth. O what unspeakable joy! The choice has been made, and no one can lay his hands on this new person ever again. The devil and his army are not part of this, and they never will be. There is nothing they can do to your new creation ever again. They have lost and are not part of the new. What an exciting prospect. Discover who you are in this new creation, walk this exciting journey with God, claim His promises concerning this new creation and make it your own. It is truly a remarkable journey and a thrilling one at that. Give over to God and go walk in the new.

(Excerpt from the book: The Second Creation - Ilze Henderson)