• Prayer and faith understand that the unseen things, that is God and His kingdom, are the things that will last, while the seen things are temporary and are fading away.  The Apostle Paul in II Corinthians 4:18 challenges us this way, "look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."


  • The Holy Spirit first changes our standing  before God.  He "baptizes us" into the body of Christ, meaning that before Christ we were "not a people of God" (I Peter 2:10), but now in Christ we are "immersed" (literal meaning of baptism) into the family of God.  (I Cor 12:13)  The Holy Spirit also "seals" us for the day of redemption, meaning we have a guarantee that we will be with God forever.  (Eph 1:13)  This new position  before God enables us to call God our Father and have access to Him by faith, meaning that now in Christ I have a personal relationship with Him. (Rom 5:1-2; 8:15)


  • Our identity changes everything about us.   A good example of this is the way a child’s status changes before and after adoption.   Before adoption, a child does not have a home or a legal right to be part of one.  Before becoming part of a family, an orphaned child may be a ward of the state or part of some group home without parents.  But after adoption, that child’s identity so radically changes that now legally they have a right to live within a home and be part of that family.  Assuming there is no abuse in that home, those ‘rights’ guarantee provision, parents, and even a future inheritance.