Gift from the Gift Giver: New Birth and Beyond

by Cheryl Williams
Winter 2014/15

New Birth

This winter season we remember and celebrate again the birth of Christ. To welcome Him in Bethlehem were His parents, angels, shepherds, the wisemen and many lowly animals. What a great gift His new birth is for us too in our modern age, as we get to participate in new birth ourselves through Christ! And I am so thankful that, while I was reborn once and forever into eternity with Him upon my first acceptance of His new birth, I have continued to receive a renewing of this new birth again and again — a continual gift of refreshing and refilling.

As an evangelical, I use the expression ‘Born again, again!’ The act of being born again sounds as impossible to me as it did to Nicodemus so many years ago (John 3:4, “How can a man be born when he is old?”).

Practicing a Daily Walk in the New Birth

New birth comes from listening to the Lord, continually soaking in teachings on our identity in Christ, and practicing walking in newness of life in many areas: relationships, communication, and decision–making. Ranging from baby steps to giant leaps, I personally am enjoying more freedom, more joy and more peace as I practice this new life. Most recently, I have been learning to live free from my former self–talk full of legalism, limitation, and lack!! Christian Healing Ministries teaches us to listen to God and ask the Holy Spirit to filter the lies of the enemy. None of those three L’s that dominated my former life are from Christ Jesus. I am truly experiencing resurrection life. Sometimes I find my new birth through the sudden healing of old wounds that are still with me even though I have grown closer to Christ. These healing times, while hard and painful, are just as much a part of my new birth as my times of joy and peace.

Making it Through Storms and Enemy Opposition

At CHM, we teach about the true self and the false self. This concept was recently illustrated in my own life through one particular circumstance. I was able to receive two lavish gifts that were offered to me. Previously, this would have been impossible, as I was not able to receive gifts. My false self would have convinced me that “I am not worthy,” or “you must have intended this for someone else,” or even “there surely must be conditions that come with the gift that are impossible for me to meet.”

As I pondered whether or not I was able to receive these extraordinary gifts, I found myself once again reverting to my former behavior: fear, cynicism, criticism, and pessimism. Needless to say, it was a miserable day for me as I slid backwards. I felt all alone; I was suddenly without awareness of my normally ever–present companion, the Holy Spirit. When I discussed my situation with a close friend that evening while sitting in my car, she heard my angst and began to question its source. As she prayed, I recognized her strong love as she forced me to listen to my own self–talk and really got in my face. She urged me to really look at the situation and ask myself, “Who is running this show — the enemy or the Lord?”

As we prayed together in my car, it took only a few moments for the Lord to highlight to both of us the source of my hidden irritation. It was fear of rejection. The Holy Spirit took me back to a memory of when I was 16 years old. My grandmother, my only remaining caregiver, had died, and it was decided that I would relocate from my tiny Pennsylvania coal mining town to the home of my maternal uncle and his family in Washington, D.C. In my mind, I was suddenly catapulted from my present automobile to the car we had used to move my few belongings from Pennsylvania to our nation’s capital. Eyes closed in prayer, I saw myself as a wide–eyed sixteen–year–old girl, peering from the window at hundreds of people who were Negro (at that time Negro is what people my color were called) as we drove through the D.C. area. This was a shock for me, as I had seen perhaps only one hundred people of African descent in my entire life, having come from an almost entirely Anglo area in western Pennsylvania.

My uncle in Washington was the first college graduate in our family, and, prior to her death, my grandmother had requested that I be adopted into his family (which included his wife and two sons, ages 5 and 8 at the time). My grandmother wanted me to follow in my uncle’s footsteps and attend Howard University. After settling into my new home, my sense was that my uncle’s family had really “made it.” They were living a charmed life compared to my life in Pennsylvania! Everything was new and modern. I felt as though I was a young child again, born into a new family with unlimited resources. But the problem was, I didn’t know how to behave or what to say or do to make myself fit into my new surroundings and the accompanying new culture. I felt a huge fear of being rejected. And that was the feeling my friend had put her finger on in our conversation in my car. As a struggling 16–year–old teenager from the hills of Pennsylvania, I thought I had to prove myself to my new family and make myself fit into my new surroundings. In truth, I was required to undergo various forms of transformation in order to fit in, some of which included buying a new wardrobe, learning how to speak “the King’s English” and even extensive dental work.

During the gentle time of prayer with my Lord and my friend inside my car that day (forty some odd years after the actual event), I began for the first time to accept the gift that my new life in my uncle’s home had represented, and through my new identity in Christ, I walked into the positive reality of my physical adoption at last. My life experience had previously made me think of my adoption, and adoption in general, as overwhelmingly frightening. Amazingly, it only took a few moments for the Spirit of Truth to come and reveal the lie and for me to accept a new birth in this life–shaping memory. No performance on my part was necessary! My “Yes” to His offer of healing was sufficient. The Lord doesn’t have strings attached to His healing gifts that He gives us.

My fear of adoption was thus translated from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light, and I once again perceived the Holy Spirit. In Him, I have everything tailor made for my needs, and there is no spirit of fear that can overcome Him. I can cry out, “Abba, Father,” knowing my Heavenly Father is with me! (2 Timothy 1:7)

Parenting with Christ in Prayer

Adoption into the Lord’s family, a relationship with Jesus Christ, is our foundation and is available to everyone. Some of us come to know Him through church, some through friends, some through families. As we grow in our walk with Christ, we learn that Jesus joins with his Father and the Holy Spirit to make intercession on our behalf. We actually have all three persons of the Trinity aiding us as we learn to pray. Let us ponder new birth in Christ as we celebrate His birth this season!

Cheryl Williams is a former CHM staff member. She continues to teach at CHM's schools and is an active prayer minister.