Romans 8:16 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,(ESV)
God has made us three part beings: body, soul, and spirit. Our body is the physical house in which we live. Our soul is comprised of our mind, emotions, and will. The soul may seem more abstract than the body, yet it is deeply integrated with our physiology. The intellect, emotions, and volition are all part of the amazing functionality of the human brain.
The human spirit is perhaps the most difficult part of us to define. My spirit is me – me at a deeper level than what I think, feel, and want. Thinking, feeling, and wanting are all things I do. There must be a me doing those things. Thinking, feeling and wanting are all experiences. There is an underlying me experiencing these experiences. My spirit is the deepest part of who I am.
I believe the human spirit is also functional. God is a Spirit and we were designed to be one with Him. We were designed to be connected to God as our source of life and identity. My spirit is my capacity to be joined to God. In this sense, the human spirit is like an electrical plug designed to connect to an external source of power and thereby receive what is needed to fulfill purpose. I was made to live by His life. Spirit to spirit connection with the Almighty is what makes me truly alive. Disconnection with God would truly be death. Disconnected, my spirit would be about as useful as a disconnected electric chord of some appliance in my home. Of course there are other spiritual realities to which humans can choose to connect. Dangerous indeed.
In this marvelous passage from Romans 8 Paul is talking about the role of the Holy Spirit in bringing us into an experience of Sonship. His Spirit talks to our spirit and tells us that we are His sons. We belong. We are connected. We are safe and secure. We are loved and valued for who we are. We are all longing for this kind of connection. We were made for it. A human spirit that doesn’t experientially know this kind of Father to Son connection is what some refer to as an “orphan” spirit, a spirit that is fatherless. I believe the orphan spirit is rampant in our generation.
God wants to heal the orphan spirit. The Holy Spirit wants to talk to your spirit. Picture your spirit like a branch attached to a vine (see John 15), receiving from the vine everything you need. The Holy Spirit wants to impart love to you, belonging, security, identity, provision, and value – everything a good father gives to his children. The only thing that will heal the orphan spirit is the experience of the Father’s love.
He is speaking. Can you hear Him?
22 Comments
2010-03-10 10:25:03
Great, provocative, post…helps me to find and dig into these places in me a little bit more. I hope this is the beginning of a series. I agree it is a great hunger in our world….it is a great hunger in me.
2010-04-07 20:21:06
And me too.
Looking forward to traveling this week. What shall we share on our iPods this time?
2010-03-10 11:23:02
I will be sharing this with one of my sisters that was talking about this very thing this past week. Thank you, Alan…
2010-04-07 20:21:29
Anna,
Thanks for reading and sharing!
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-10 16:27:01
I need this healing in my life. I feel so alone and disconnected like never before in my life. I’ve been looking for love or something to fill the void only God could fill everywhere else except in Him and I didn’t even know it. I don’t know where I lost my focus or when I looked to the world for my identity. I didn’t find it in the world only my selfish nature and pride to satisfy myself.
2010-04-07 20:22:44
jGT,
Wow. I love that God has given you this kind of insight on what you need and what you don’t need any more of.
I’m praying for God to show himself in your life in a big way!
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-10 22:40:56
Great post Alan. Have you ever listened to any of Sam Soleyn’s stuff on adoption as Sons of God? It’s not an easy listen, but quite good. This is a far reaching subject into the lives of most everyone I know. I look forward to reading more if you continue down this topic. I’ve been off-line for a while, so I’ll have to go read some of your back-blogs.
Blessings brother. Keep writing.
2010-04-07 20:23:45
Bryan,
I haven’t listened to Sam, but I’ve sure heard a lot about him recently. All good too.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-10 23:58:27
Great reminder of who we are. I love walking as a daughter, listening to the voice of my Father. I am always blessed and challenged by your teaching.
2010-04-07 20:24:26
Karen,
I love seeing you walking as a daughter. You bring a lot of joy.
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-11 08:01:09
At the end of reading your post, Dad told me that He valued me. Thanks.
2010-04-07 20:25:18
Jeff,
Wow. That’s the best comment I’ve read in a long time. Couldn’t think of a better experience for one of my posts to facilitate.
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-11 09:05:45
great post! passing it on!
2010-04-07 20:25:43
AP,
Thanks for reading and sharing!
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-11 10:17:45
Precious, Post! So dear to see the Father’s stamp so on you! He told me He enjoyed this post so much!!!! He looks forward to the fellowship He will enjoy with His Sons because of this!!!!!
Love to you and your family from one of His Daughters- Janene
2010-04-07 20:26:20
Janene,
So great to hear from you. You’re such an encouragement to me. I appreciate you reading and commenting. It means a lot!
Blessings,
Alan
2010-03-15 12:49:37
Great post, Alan. I love this subject because as others before have already said, this orphan spirit is rampant within the Church, as well as in the world. Come Lord Jesus! Come Holy Spirit and heal your children from this orphan spirit as they learn their identity is in you alone. Thank you for loving us, adopting us, having a plan and purpose for our lives to be called your sons and daughter. I am so thankful.
Blessings, Alan. Enjoy your writings.
laura
2010-04-07 20:27:44
Hi Laura!
Thanks for reading and sharing your heart. It was so great to see you and Dennis at NRH this past weekend.
Keep praying my friend. I’m feeling it.
Much love,
Alan
2011-04-14 14:19:48
This is such a healing truth. Many of us born into church going families and raised in Christian homes seem to be afflicted with the orphan spirit. I’ve dealt with it for years. After reading “The Shack” a couple of years ago, I began to hunger for a real relationship with “Papa” and He has been faithful to respond to me desire and hunger. You are 100% right in that experiencing the Father’s love is the healing balm for this. Thanks for a great post.
2012-07-10 08:04:31
Great post it is not an easy path to change how I have viewed myself for so many years. Thank you
2013-05-02 10:26:07
This was absolutely amongst the legion I once housed. It was a couple of years ago that I had a pure heart revelation that I had a Heavenly Daddy that held the universe, galaxies and very existence in His hands and yet He loved me as a precious daughter near to His heart. My life went to new heights after that sweet revelation. I am still learning one experience at a time though how deep the Father’s love is and how His parenting is perfect oppose to parenting in the natural. Thanks for sharing this Alan! Everyone needs to hear it! Even if they don’t have an orphan spirit chances are they know someone who does.
2013-05-02 11:44:17
Orphan Spirit + iPod Playlist = Pearl Jam’s “Release”
Amen.
Leave a Comment