Are You a Spiritual Saver or Spender?

"And you also were included in Christ, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a DEPOSIT guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory." Ephesians 1:13-14

When reading this verse the other morning, the word DEPOSIT jumped off of the page at me. I began to meditate on the concept of the Holy Spirit being a deposit from God. When thinking in terms of monetary deposits, we know that when we put money into a bank account, it can increase, remain stagnant, or decrease. Our deposits can increase through saving and investing, which lead to an abundance. If we do nothing more to our deposit, we will see little growth in it. And if we spend all of our money, there will be nothing left.

The Word of God tells us that the Holy Spirit is a deposit from God. We receive this deposit through being justified through Jesus Christ. When we confess our sins and receive Jesus as our Savior, we are declared not guilty and are credited with Christ's righteousness. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus to all who believe. I am a sinner who continually falls short, but as a child, I was justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented His Son as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in His blood. (Romans 3:21-24) From the moment we are saved, we become a child of God and are adopted into His family. His word tells us that we received a spirit of sonship and the Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children, heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. (Romans 8:14-17). Through justification and adoption, the Lord blesses us with the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

THE OLD ME: SPENDER

Just like a monetary deposit can increase, remain stagnant, or decrease, so can this precious spiritual gift. I am a testimony to this because for years I was a spiritual spender. I remained stagnant in my walk with Christ. I didn't put Him first. Instead, I selfishly pursued my own desires. I didn't pursue sanctification, the process of growing in a love relationship with the Heavenly Father and learning to live more and more like Jesus. My priorities were all out of the Godly order that He desires. While I believed I was saved, I wasn’t allowing the power of God to work change in my heart. I wasn’t zealously pursuing a relationship with my Savior, my Redeemer.

While I still am not perfect (as none of us will ever be until that day of glorification), I will admit I was living in the flesh, not walking in the Spirit. I was grieving the Holy Spirit. I was a spender. There was a separation, a wedge putting distance between my Heavenly Father and myself. The Holy Spirit isn't comfortable dwelling in a flesh-controlled temple. Our bodies are His temple. Romans 13:13-14 tells us to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. My lack of prayer and desire to be reading the Word of God, yielded a stagnant, spent relationship with the Holy Spirit. This is not what God desires for us. He wants more for us. He wants us to increase our deposit. He wants us to grow.

As you may have read in my very first Transformation to Adoration post, He used our infertility battle to bring me back to Him, to transform my heart, to grow my deposit. I slowly began to re-align my priorities and pursue sanctification. At first, I will admit, I had to pray for a hunger and thirst for the Word. I preferred to be watching one of my favorite shows than reading my Bible. Not that there is anything wrong with watching a show or having hobbies, but I wasn't seeking Him first. I was doing what I wanted with my time. Again, pursuing selfish desires. But I began to pray for God to align my desires with His and to change my heart and renew a right Spirit within me. And prayer is powerful. He began to transform me and now I cannot get enough of His Word!

THE NEW ME: DEPOSITOR

So how can we invest in our deposit and grow in our relationship with the Holy Spirit? How can He become greater and we become less? For me, making God my top priority has enabled me to experience God more fully, more abundantly. Loving Him with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30) and "seeking first the kingdom of God above all else, and living righteously" has lead to Him giving me everything I need (Matthew 6:33). He has grown my deposit in bounty and is continuing to do so! Being in the Word daily, praying continually, and worshiping with fellow believers every week have all helped me to flourish in my relationship with the Holy Spirit and fill me with unspeakable joy. The Word of God is alive, active, and has the power to transform hearts and minds. It trains us in righteousness and equips us for every good work. Soak it up daily, and watch it grow your deposit! 

Another spiritual investment that has helped nurture my relationship with the Holy Spirit is to humbly and consistently look at my own heart. I continually pray for God to search my heart and point out any way offensive in me. I love my pastor, Scott Luck's, wisdom from a recent sermon, "The Word of God acts as a light and shows me what is true about myself. God can't melt us if the Word doesn't crush us first. None of us are perfect, but we have an innate awareness that we should be. Why? Because he created us to perfectly glorify Him." That is my heart's desire. To glorify and honor Him in all I do and say, for Him to lead me on the path to everlasting life. 

RESULTS OF DEPOSITING

Just as consistently depositing money into a bank account yields bounty, investing in your relationship with the Lord leads to an abundant life. A dear friend shared this Joyce Meyer quote with me, "I'm not where I need to be, but I'm not where I was! I'm on my way." God wants to sanctify us. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:11-15)

Walking with and being led by the Holy Spirit, wisdom, revelation, discernment, and power are all results of a growing "deposit". "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 1:17-20). We have access to the same power that raised Jesus from the grave! Grow in the richness of His power through investing in your relationship with Him! 

Another by-product of a growing "deposit" is experiencing the fullness of God in our lives. Paul's prayer in Ephesians has become my own prayer for spiritual growth. "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." Ephesians 3:16-19 The more you grow your "deposit" and experience the fullness of God, the more the fruits of the Spirit will be evident in your life, and they will overflow out of you. Cultivate these fruits through growing in your relationship with your Savior! 

Jesus didn't pay the ultimate sacrifice just so that we could be saved, our sins forgiven, and to reserve a place for us in our heavenly home. He was crucified for more than that. He wants us to experience a new life in Him so that we can celebrate His presence every day while we are here on earth. To have a relationship with Him through the Holy Spirit. That love relationship brings glory and honor to His name. Praise Him, trust Him, thank Him, pursue Him, prioritize Him, surrender to Him, and watch your "deposit" grow. He came so that we could have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10) Enjoy the abundant life God purposed for you!