You Must Be Born Again

John 3:6,7  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

A new chance at life. Born again is a new beginning with a new heart. The old heart was dead in trespasses and sin, it was sold under sin and a servant to the nature of sin. The old life has been put to rest with its deeds of unrighteousness. The old life was burden down with guilt and shame, but the Spirit of God through Christ has removed the load of sin and it has been cast into the sea of God’s forgetfulness to be remember against us no longer. His blood now cleanses us from all sin and we have been born again through His grace and mercy. Born again and there has been a change in me, old things have past away, and all things have become new. We now see life through different lens, our world view and what is important in life is now set on things above and not on things of this world. Being born again is not turning over a new leaf, but having the experience of growing new from the branch, a new leaf in the vine of God’s love. Being born again is more than just believing that Jesus is God and came to the world to save sinners, it is allowing His Spirit to make us what we ought to be, a new creature in Christ Jesus. If eternal life is your desire, Jesus said, you must be born again!

Putting On The Garments of God

Colossians 3:12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;

In many cultures, the clothes you wear reflect something about your position in life. Those who have the means and wear buy more expensive clothing that speaks to their station in life. Putting on clothes to impress or reflect social status in any society is at the very least superficial. What we wear does not speak to who we really are. Character of person cannot be dressed up on the outside. That is why God said, man looks on the outside, but God looks on the inside. Aside from being appropriately modest in our dress, I seriously doubt that God really cares about the style, or the customs of what we put on. The clothing God desire for us to put on is the garment of mercy, kindness, humility, patience, joy, peacemaker, endurance, and most of all the garment of holiness which is the love of God. As we get dress each day, let us not forget what really matter. Dressing for success in the kingdom of God goes deeper than looking good. May we dress each day by putting the garments that reflect the life of Christ.

She Poured Out The Oil

2 kings 4:5 So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.

The insights to this passage of scripture has many applications to life. Our dependance on God to supply our needs, Faith to believe that God can do the impossible. Prayer and petitioning God to grant the desires of our heart. The oil being symbolic of the Holy Spirit in our lives. God wants to pour out His Spirit on us until we are full of love and grace. The Holy Spirt is able to set us free from being sold into the bondage of sin. To some, this is just a story of a women who was down to her last penny, and some how a miracle happen and she was able to continue on with life with her two sons. We seek for hidden messages in the stories of old, and to what purpose they have been reserves to this day is the answer we seek. God used stories like these to help us realize that life happens and we might find ourselves someday like the widow and her pot of oil. What will we do? Will we continue to believe God in spite of the circumstance? Will we have enough oil, that God can use it to continue to feed our soul? Is our vessel full and ready to be used for God?

Praying Always

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Does praying make a difference? Does prayer move the hand of God? Why is it important for Christians to Pray? Why pray, won’t a God who controls all thing do what needs to be done? So many questions about prayer that cross our thoughts. Prayer is part of man’s nature to seek a higher power and to worship a being that controls the destiny of fate. Jesus obviously thought it important to pray. He often petition the Father in prayer requesting the Father to show love, grace, and mercy to humanity. He prayed for His followers, and for those who sought to destroy Him. Did Jesus pray in vain if prayer did not matter? I think not. Prayer is an essential part of being a Christian. One does not survive spiritually if prayer in not a daily priority. There are numerous books written on prayer that address many of the questions I pose here in this writing, so I probably won’t say anything that is profound. Whatever you think of prayer, this one thing I know, God does hear and answer prayer. 

Helping Each Other

Ecclesiastes 4:9 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.

10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.

The journey we travel was not meant to travel alone. There may be times that we walk the valley and it appears that we are all alone. But if we open our eyes, God has a way of bringing someone by our side to walk along with us. It is the plan of God for us to hold on together, supporting each other, and caring for the needs of those who falter. “Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ”… If we think we can make it on are own, we are fooling ourselves. We have a responsibility to do our share of the labour, but must realize that we can’t always do it on our own. The burden becomes lighter when two are working together. Let us labour together in the spirit of unity, holding each other up in the most holy faith.

Doing Good.

Psalm 73:28 But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

“If you know what is good for you”… The world is full of good things and bad things. We are told what foods are good for us to eat, and what foods are not good for us, or bad for us. There are good places to go, and there are bad places to go. It is good when we treat others with love, respect and kindness, it is bad when we gossip and speak ill of others, and treat them harshly. It is good to come into the presence of God and bask in His presences. It is good to wholly depend on God for the things we need. Doing what is good brings pleasure to the heart of God. He delights in those who desire to do good. Good things come from God, from the Father of light, bad things come from Satan, the father of liars. Daily we make choices to do good or to do bad. Making the choice to draw near to God will help us to make other choices that will also be good. We do not earn our way to heaven, but doing good things, but those who draw near to God will manifest a life of good deeds. 

Running the Race

Hebrew.12:1,2…let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus…

Living the Christian life is compared to running a race. We start out realizing that Christ can save to the uttermost and He can change the direction of our life. We have made a new start and the race has begun. Our goal is to make it to the finish line. It is not who can run the fastest, but who can endure to the end. Many have started out in this race and have succumb to the pitfalls along the way. They have quit running the race. They have taken their eyes off of Jesus, the One who put them on the starting line. They have become weary in well doing, or the attractions along the way have caused them to take another path. They are weigh down with the cares of this world, or refuse to let go of sin. But to those who keep running, they are encouraged by the cloud of witnesses that have gone before them. Many who have endured temptation, held on to God no matter what came, and kept their eyes of Jesus. The end is close, we have come too far to turn back or quit running. Heaven is on the horizon, the finish line is near. 

They Forsook God

Judges 2:12 …they forsook the Lord God of their fathers…

People are so fickle. As soon as things start going bad, they are ready to jump ship. The Israelites witness a mighty deliverance from their enemies by the hand of God. God wanted to do more for them, but their obedience came short. They were satisfied with the victories they had won and just wanted to kick back and take it easy. They started compromising with the life style of those they refuse to drive out. That is the way sin works in our lives. If we fail to fully conquer the sin in our lives, it will start to take control of the way we live. As Christians, we must let Christ crucify the flesh of our self will, and submit ourselves wholly unto the Lord. Sin will cause us to forsake the ways of God and turn to a life of serving self. Let us not stop short of letting the Holy Spirit complete drive out that sinful self. Let God sit on the throne of our life, making Him the King of kings, and Lord of Lord of our life.

We Are Reconciled

2 Corinth 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
There was a day when my life was separated from God. I acknowledge Him as the creator of the earth and some cosmic power out there in the vast universe. I even attempted to win His favor by being a good human being and attending the means of grace by going to church and saying ritual prayers that had very little meaning to me. I did not know that there was a God who desired to dwell within me. But there was this gulf between us that kept us apart. Sin separates us from being fit to be in His presence. The plan of God was to bridge the gap between God and man. Because Christ, the God man, came to earth to take our sin upon Himself, we can now be reconciled, and be made right to have fellowship with God. We now see the world through different eyes, our life now has a new purpose and meaning. We are reconciled, all is now right.

Spread it Before the Lord

2 Kings 19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.

Finding a solution to our problems is not always easy. Every day we are faced with obstacles, some bigger than others. Some have easy solutions and just require us to use our brain to think it through. Solving problems using our human ability that God gave us is often all we need. But then, there are problems that come that are beyond our human strategies and solutions. In times like these, we take our problem and spread it before the Lord. We lay it out there for God to see and we pray. We either pray for direction to do what needs to be done, or we pray that God would perform a miracle. Jesus is all we need and He is often the answer to many problems. We spread our need before Him and He sees the earnestness of our prayer. When things happen that are beyond our control, let us spread it out before the Lord and let Him have His way. 

Seeking the Face of God

1 Chron 16:11 Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually.

Seeking the face of God is to pursue after His glory. Finding the face of God is to dwell in His presence. Day and night, and at every opportunity we need to seek the presence of God. In the morning when we rise, in the afternoon as we work, and the evening in the shelter of our homes. When we seek Him with all our heart, He will be found, and we will see His face. The OT says that no man has seen the face of God, but we seek beyond the physical attributes, we seek His love, mercy and grace. Some day we will see Jesus face to face and that will be glory, but until then, we can see through a glass darkly and get a glimpse of His glory and when these bodies are glorified we will see His face as it is. 

Perfect Fatih

1 Thess 3:10 Night and day praying exceedingly that we might see your face, and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith?

Perfection of heart is what the Holy Spirit does when He comes into the heart to abide. It is the teaching found in God’s word that gives us light into the possibility of being perfect in love. Being perfect in heart does not mean we have perfect vessels. We live in earthen vessels made of clay and are subject to marring. But God wants to fill the vessel with His pure love. It is possible to have pure motives with intent to always please our creator, but  total perfection of human error or even of faith is a matter of growing and learning toward perfection. There are times that our faith is weak and we lack the faith to see God move in our lives and in the lives of others. In times like these, we go to prayer asking God to increase our faith. We have not arrived yet, we have not finished our journey. Our faith continues to build, and we stand fast trusting God to help us have greater faith.