Strength to become a true child of God comes from His grace

John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” Last night in prayer I was seeking the Lord, just seeking Him that we would experience a new victory in Him; during this time the Holy Spirit impressed upon me this verse: "...to them gave he power to become the sons of God" To them gave He the power to be produced into a son or daughter of God; this power is the same word used in John 19:10-11 where Pilate said to Christ I have power to crucify you and power to set you free and Jesus replied that he had no power at all except it had been given him from God!  This power is the strength, ability and the authority to become a true son of God. It is the strength and the ability to shake off the power and trappings of the world; the ability and the power to put to death the old man and his deeds.

 Do not take this power for granted; it is only by His power (“ex-oo-see'-ah” – ability, mastery, authority, right, strength.) that this is attainable.  God works in us by the Holy Spirit and by faith to produce that son or daughter of God; seek Him for it and yield to the drawings and dealings of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 9:25 - "And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things..." This is what we are talking about, striving for the mastery; this means a global temperance in every area. When John 1:12 says "...to them gave he power to become the sons of God." one of the truths contained is; to them gave He power to      be temperate in all things

John 1:13 “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. This verse, for clarity sake can be reduced to this "Which were born of God", this is the privilege we have when we believe on His name and are born again! Being born of God is Christ and the Holy Spirit coming to be born in us. This is where the power to become the son's of God comes from.

John 1:14-16 “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.  John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me. And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace”. When we are born of God, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit come to live in us and if we are baptized in the Holy Spirit He comes into us in an even greater measure... That is true but the work they seek to complete when they come in is to completely "Fill us up" which is what this statement "of his fullness have all we received" means. It is the idea of "displacement". In other words it would be as if one had a glass of water that was black from dye, undrinkable. Then one would begin to pour in clean fresh water and as they continued to pour in that clean fresh water it would displace the black dyed water; if one continued to pour in the clean it would eventually displace the black until it was clear and drinkable. This is the idea of being filled with His fullness; it is to displace what is already there (the dark characteristic of the old Adam and our former lifestyle). The one's who receive this work of 'displacement' are the one's who receive power to become the son's of God.

"Grace for grace" Grace an element as important as faith itself - (Grace, “khar'-ece” The divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life, being acceptable, finding favor, being made worthy). This 'grace for grace' is the thought of an abundance of grace (Rom 5:17). Grace begets grace but what is the secret of receiving the abundant grace? The secret of this growing grace is to appropriate what God has already given; do not prefer the bondages of the old Adam over the drawings of the new. That is like preferring the water dyed black (using our illustration from the above paragraph) over the crystal clear water Christ can bring. One of the great secrets to going on in God is hating the former deeds and former lifestyle. Let us spend time in God's presence asking Him to make us like Job "One who fears God and esheweth evil"  (Escheweth, “soor, soor” - A primitive root; to turn off (literally or figuratively), to depart from, to put (away, down), to rebel against, to revolt, to turn away, to withdraw) and God in His mercy will bestow His grace upon us.