The self-centered life will always be fearful, and in control; but the Holy Ghost filled life will always be peaceful, and flow. It's quite a different life. It's a daily thing, a daily choice. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Adoption.
Romans 8:14-16 - "As many as are led by the spirit, these are the sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but receive the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father'. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the Children of God".
He's called the Spirit of Adoption. That doesn't mean you find a person who's got no dad, and put them in your family, and make them your own. That word adoption is the word whoithesia, to place into full sonship, authority and responsibility. That's one of the things the Holy Ghost does. One of his key things, He's called the Spirit of Adoption. That means, when you invite the Holy Spirit in, one of the key things He wants to do with you, is grow you up. God wants mature sons and daughters, who can care for others, invest in others, help others, and be a blessing to others. The older kids look after the younger ones. The older kids take on some responsibilities in the home, when they grow up. If you're grown up, presumably you've taken on a bit of responsibility; but if you're not taking on responsibility for anything, you're immature.
Let's talk a little bit about the Holy Spirit's Assignment, and then I'll show you how he guides us.
One of the first things he wants to do is of course, establish your identity: who you are, and your relationship with God as your father.
Without God, we are spiritual orphans. He said: the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God.
We should be able to answer the question: who am I? We attach our identities to many other things. We attach it to possessions, to positions, to power, to all kinds of things; but our identity needs to be established very clearly from the person within us: I am a child of the living God. I am a son and daughter of the living God - that's who I am.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with your spirit. It's an internal adjustment. When your life has been attached to other things, you've got to be willing to yield, and let the Holy Spirit show you where you've built your identity, and establish it on what God says about you, which is always internal. People build their identity on things external; but the Holy Spirit will want to convict you where you've done that, and shift you from that idolatry to where it's now internal. Your life is not about the things you possess - you're going to leave them all behind. Your life is not about the position; when you die, it's all handed over. When Queen Elizabeth was buried, they took away from the coffin, every evidence or symbol of the power and authority she had as the queen. Everything was removed, including the title queen. She was buried as an individual person. That's actually Godly, because its origins are in the Bible.
Whatever status and possessions you've got in the world, you don't leave carrying any of it; you have to leave it all behind, so it's not really that important. There must be something more important; it's being established in your identity. We have to establish our identity as a child of God, and repent, and abandon other sources. My role, position, title; none of that stuff. Who am I? I'm a child of God. I'm in love with him, and he loves me.
The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit. That means He confirms inside who you are. The devil will always get you to shift away from the word of God, and the spirit of God. He will try to get you to think: I must be bad, because I did this. No, you're just a child of God who had a slip. See the difference? Perhaps its, I can't really worship because there's all these things I've done; but they don't define who you are. They're just things you did. Separate your behavior from you. You are a child of God. You slip up from time to time.