As a child of God you will now inherit His kingdom after the judgement. You have become a brother or sister to Jesus, and His blood has cleansed your soul. All of your sins are forgiven and you are starting from this moment forward with a clean slate. God no longer sees your sin when He looks down upon you, so your relationship with Him has been re-established and you can now communicate directly with Him again through Jesus Christ.

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:25-27

After Jesus ascended into heaven God sent the Holy Spirit to us, to comfort us and to guide us. When you accepted Christ as your Savior, you opened your heart and your soul, allowing the Holy Spirit to enter. He is a part of you now, and you will never be alone again. You do not have to be afraid anymore, for God is with you, and He has promised to never leave you. The Bible says "If God is for us, who can be against us?" There is nothing the world can do to you now to take away your salvation. They can kill your body, but they cannot touch your soul. Your spirit belongs to God, and no one, not even Satan or his minions, can take that away. You have found true peace and happiness forever.

"You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." Romans 8:9

You will no longer be ruled by your sin. The servant has become the master, because you have overcome your sin, and with the help of the Holy Spirit you can now defeat Satan and his temptations. But does this mean that you will no longer have any struggles or hardships? Of course not, in fact it will be quite the opposite at times. The Bible says, "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." This is very important, because it gets to the very heart of what being a Child of God is really all about.

"Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." Colossians 3:5-10

The Bible says that God created man in His image. But when sin entered the world, man took on the image, or characteristics, of sin. This was not the character that God originally intended for us to have. We were supposed to have His character, and now as His children, we must begin to develop that character. We need to shed the characteristics of sin and begin to model ourselves after God. And what better example of this perfect character could we ask for than God himself? Jesus was the perfect image of God. When we know Jesus, we know God, and hence, we know what we are meant to be like.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

While growing to imitate Jesus you'll find that it isn't easy being a Christian. Christians all over the world are persecuted, and many are killed for their beliefs. You may never have to face such severe persecution, but you must understand that the world oppresses Christians because they fear us. You may wonder what it is they fear. Why be afraid of a religion that promotes loving one another and advocates high moral standards? What's scary about that? Nonbelievers fear us because their world is unknowingly in league with, and controlled by, Satan. Christianity is a constant reminder of what is wrong in sinner's lives, and they do not want to have their sinful ways disturbed. They're afraid, because when they see us they have to face the truth: the truth of Jesus, the truth of sin, and most frightening of all, the truth of death. But you do not have to fear, because you have the peace of the Holy Spirit, and the confidence of knowing that your future is secure. You have Jesus on your side, and He is more powerful than anything in this world is, and He will never leave you. You will never, ever, have to face anything alone again, and you can look forward to His triumphant return with anticipation and joy in your heart. Jesus said, "I have overcome the world". It's been 2000 years since He uttered those words, and everyday their truth becomes even more evident.

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