Rom 8:16-17 (NIV) The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now IF we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, IF indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. If we don’t allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us, then we can’t hear His important messages. If He is allowed to speak to us, but we also listen to ourselves or the devil, it will interfere with His vital messages. The Holy Spirit is your direct contact with truth.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit: Your spirit is the real you; the Holy Spirit is your direct line to all God has to offer. Everything from God and to God passes through Him. If Jesus has something to say to you, He speaks it into your spirit through the Holy Spirit that lives inside you. If you want to say anything to God, He will hear it through the Holy Spirit. That is why the Holy Spirit being in you is so important. Without Him, there is no contact with God. Jesus is inside you to give you His life; He will be the One Who provides you with the power to succeed, win, change, and be transformed.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children: What an important message! Without the Holy Spirit being inside you, you would pray Matthew 6:9-13 and obey Romans 10:8-10 and nothing would happen. Even if it did happen, you would never know that it did. The reason you KNOW you are a child of God and a citizen in His Kingdom is because the Holy Spirit is confirming it to you as a spirit being. No matter what opposing thoughts come to you from yourself, other people, Satan, and circumstance, the Holy Spirit keeps bringing you back to the honesty of the Bible and God; they are telling you the truth and these other voices aren’t.

Now IF we are children: The Holy Spirit has been helping you keep your eyes on the honesty and integrity of God and His Word, the Bible. Every time anything tried to tell you that you aren’t a child of God, He has been helping you KNOW how honest the Bible and God are. And, He has been helping you to feel it in your heart. Now it is your responsibility to change this “if” into the word “since.” You must confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that SINCE you ARE a child of God, THEN the next words in Romans 8:17 apply to you.

As you go through the Bible, you will be reading truths that are readily available to you. They become yours, as you read them, allow Jesus to explain them to you, confess with your mouth that they are true, and believe in your heart that they are TRUE OF YOU. Then, once you have done that you are ready to take faith-action and start living on the basis of the fact that the Holy Spirit, Jesus, your heavenly Father, and the Bible have produced that truth in you. If you do this with each verse you read, then the previous verse transforms you and gets you ready for the next verse so it can add to what you already have.

As you allow the truths of the Bible to transform your life through confessing with your mouth that each Scripture is true and believing in your heart that each verse is true of you, you get more and more power to force your body to yield to the truths of God and His Word. All the “if’s” in the Bible become “since” for you; all the promises in the Bible become true of you; all the provisions of God flow into you through miraculous power; and, all of this spiritual growth empowers you to become a mature child of God.

After Biblical truth are put into your life and you start going back through your Bible and reading the same books, chapters, and verses, you will be reading about truths you already have. But, they will be talking to you as if this is your first time through the Bible. This is because every person must go through it for the first time. It must address these first time issues with each new or untrained Christian. Since it isn’t your first time through, you must read them as things Jesus has already done in your life. This time through the Bible is a time for you to read each verse and thank God for doing all these things in you and through you.

IF we are children, then we are heirs: Jesus left a will or testament; that is why the Bible is divided into two testaments. There is the Old Testament and the New Testament. We will have to consider the Old Will or Testament at another time. The New Will or Testament is from Jesus to you. When He died on the cross, He left a Will or Testament for you to learn what your inheritance is. As you read Jesus’ Will, you are being introduced into the fact that you have inherited some very important things.

Now IF we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God: By being born again, you were made a child of God; by being made a child of God, you were made a part of Jesus’ Will; by being made a part of Jesus’ Will, you inherited God as YOUR heavenly Father; by inheriting God as your heavenly Father, you inherited direct access to Him; by inheriting direct access to Him, you can ask for everything in Jesus’ Will, the Bible. All of the promises, blessings, miracles, gifts, and provisions are a part of your inheritance through Jesus.

Now IF we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ: There are times when you will read things in the Bible, pray for them, and God answers your prayer with a “no.” Why? James 1:17 (NIV) Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, Who does not change like shifting shadows. The rules will never change; God will only give you those things that He knows are good for you and those around you. If it is in the Bible, you pray for it, you try to believe for it, but God sees it as either not being good for you or someone around you, His answer will always be “no.” It is the same thing for every child He has; He loves us all the same.

Now IF we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, IF indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory: If you are studying for a career, trying to get an education, learning a trade, working on a marriage, leading a group, learning a sport, or doing just about anything in life, you will have to do some suffering. If you are on a diet, trying to develop your muscles, trying to stay in shape, trying to eat healthy foods, or trying to recover from an illness, there will be physical pain. We must understand that this is the same with our spiritual growth and our reaching out to help others.

John 15:18 (NIV) If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. Jesus isn’t saying that everyone is going to hate you. He is only talking about a certain group of people; He isn’t talking about everyone. There are people who don’t want to join Jesus and don’t care what anyone else decides. BUT, there are some people who don’t want to join Him, AND, they don’t want anyone else to join Him either. These are the ones Jesus is talking about.

John 15:19 (NIV) If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. These people who don’t want anyone to become a Christian will try to form a wall around all those who want Jesus. They will try every kind of abuse, resistance, argument, reason, tactic, and persecution they can direct against you. ALL OF THEIR EFFORTS will be to try to discourage you and keep you from going past them to those who will accept your help.

We are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, IF indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. Doctors, nurses, firemen, policemen, soldiers, emergency medical teams, hazardous waste personnel, and Christians put their lives in danger so they can help those in need. If these people refuse to face danger, then the weak, the innocent, the needy, the helpless, the hopeless, and lost won’t be helped.