Feeling a little cramp Christians, not comfortable in your own spirit? It reminds me of how one felt back in the day when wearing hand-me-downs was just a normal part of life. It wasn’t a big deal back then because everyone was under legal and moral pressure to leave home dressed, therefore you put on what was provided for you. I wouldn’t suggest trying that today to some of you brave parents. You may be handed over to authorities for subjecting your child to cruel and unusual social, and peer pressure punishment: mom, everyone knows that Cheryl wore that top once all year to the ninth grade Gala. lol. Anyway, that was fun for a minute. It was, and still is at times a necessity to wear clothes that an older sibling has outgrown, and left in pretend mint condition. Now here’s the funny thing about wearing the clothes worn by other people, it’s all about the knowledge of the clothes’ good and evil. A daughter, sister, brother, friend, or whoever will go into your closet in a heartbeat, and grab your “favorite” top or “lucky” shirt to wear no matter how many times you have worn it. And they would cherish it with all their heart with the best of attitudes if you insisted that they keep it as their own. Do you want to know the difference between hand-me-downs vs hand-me-overs? The hand-me-over has brought great value to its owner, and you want that value to be handed over to you: hand-me-over the way it looks on you to look on me. The hand-me-down has lost its value to its owner, and the owner does not desire it anymore because it brings no more value: hand-me down my lost value to be of new value to someone else. Although the hand-me-down does bring value to its new owner, the knowledge that it is no longer of value to its owner for whatever reasons makes it less desired.

So how about the hand-me-down vs the hand-me-over effect on us Christians? I’ll asked again the earlier question that I used to open up this post; feeling a little cramp Christians, not comfortable in your own spirit? I listen to us talk to the rest of the world, and then to each other. It made me address the thought of how comfortable are we in our own spirit? When we talk to each other on Sunday morning, it can be a good talk about being blessed with a new car or home; I’ve given that talk a couple of times myself. However, when we are talking to certain co-workers during the week, that talk doesn’t seem to carry the same sparkle as it does in the midst of the Sunday morning congregation; I’ve given that talk also a couple of times myself. Then it hit me, just like the hand-me-downs never brought the same joy as the hand-me-overs, the talk by Christians do not bring the same joy as the talk that comes from certain other people not members of the congregation or members of the Body of Christ period. You know, most of those people do not want or desire to put on our “favorite” top or our “lucky” shirt: they don’t really see our results as the ideal hand-me-overs to dress in with great joy. They are definitely more comfortable in their skin, then we are in our spirit. Do you know why it is this way? We are trying much harder to get the results that they have then they are trying to get the results that we have as a whole. You know, I don’t want any other man putting his hands on my wife in a disrespectful way, but I don’t want to be the only man on the planet that thinks she looks good. Suppose that you were the only person that thought you would bring any value to an employer: yeah, you would have to be self-employed to be employed. How do you think the Father feels when your talk about His Kingdom does not turn heads of non-Christians with some excitement and joy?

It’s hard to feel comfortable in your own spirit if you can’t go to battle, and win sometimes. Father wants you to drop the bondage to the hand-me-downs, and win the battle of the hand-me-overs. We need to at least be in the game, and have things that others may want even if they can’t put their hand on them. I know that it’s not about the water cooler talk. Who cares that when we testify to each other about that new house that the heads are being turned by the other people who are bragging about their three houses, and a yacht. Father doesn’t care about that stuff, but we do: drop the bondage of trying to get that stuff, and let Father make you so desirable in His own way that the other people will just want to give you that stuff to live in your midst. Listen, Father is here on earth to make sure that we win our battles because JESUS has already paid the price for the victory. It is yours, just win your personal battles, and we win the rest: the victories flow from one to another, then above all others. Remember how Pharaoh did the same first few miracles as Moses, until: until Moses stepped up to something that the world couldn’t do. It is time to drop the bondage of the hand-me-down spirit, and let Father give you something to step up to that the world can’t do. It’s time to change the knowledge of our personal world concerning the value that we each have in Christ: It’s Fathertime!!!

Stay Tune,

Adopted Son.