Bible Study – Born Again

The Tactics That Satan Uses to Deceive Us

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

I Peter 5:8… “Be sober, be vigilant – for your adversary the devil – walketh about, seeking whom he may devour!”…. And we can take note here that the very name of what he is (the devil – which means “false accuser, slanderer”).. tells us what he does so well .. Indeed – in John 8:44 – Jesus identified the devil as “a liar.. and the father of lies.”…

Okay.. the devil (aka Satan) is a deceiver… and realizing that – shouldn’t we then always be able to recognize him “at work”?  We could…. except that the problem with deception is.. that it is so “DECEPTIVE”!!  And since Satan is a being from the spirit realm, that makes it easier for him to carry out his deceptions generally undetected…. And that is even greater reason for us to identify and learn to understand the tactics he uses to get in to our thinking.

I have often heard it said that “Satan’s ONLY weapon against us is deception” – but did God give us any info in His Word to shed some light on “HOW” to recognize when we are being deceived?  Yes, He did… Because He wants us to LEARN how to recognize deception.. and to understand the tactics  that Satan uses to get into our lives with this deception.

The first piece of information that I would like to share about this is in Romans 8:14-16 & I John 2:27.. which tell us about the “witness of the truth” that God gave us in our born again spirit… And.. how the Spirit of God (aka the Spirit of Truth/The Holy Spirit ) has been sent to lead and guide us into all truth..(John 14:16,17 & John 16:13,14) ….He is the One who bares witness in our born again spirit.. He bares witness of truth.. and of error…. This “witness” in our spirit – along  with the information which we are given about “our adversary the devil” in the Word of God – is our greatest ally as we.. LEARN.. to recognize that witness in our spirit – and these “tactics”which Satan uses to gain entrance into our thinking.   

We can find a lot of information concerning those tactics in the Parable of the Sower – which Jesus used to teach the multitudes the “mysteries of the Kingdom of God.” In that parable in Mark 4, Jesus informs us of several very important things we need to  know IF we are to truly understand how the Kingdom of God operates…

( FYI – A parable is.. a short simple story of comparing one thing that we are familiar with.. with another thing which we are trying  to understand…. In the case of the Parable of the Sower..in Mark 4.. we see the operation of the Kingdom of God.. compared to the familiar subject of the planting of a seed to produce a harvest…. In other words.. the Kingdom of God operates like the planting of seeds works in the natural..to grow and produce a harvest!)

  • The “seed” that the sower in this parable sows – is the Word of God – v. 14
  • People receive (or not) in different ways (verses 15-20)…. but one thing is the same for all of them – which is this – “Satan/aka the devil – comes immediately to snatch away the Word which had been sown in their heart”/spirit… v. 15
  • He comes to take away the seed (aka the Word of God)  BEFORE  we understand the value of that Word – i.e. – That, as we RECEIVE and KEEP that word.. it imparts into us the very “life” that is in every word which God speaks (Hebrews 4:12)… The life that is in that spoken word  produces “fruit” – fruit according to the thing which God spoke to us about in that Word. (v. 20.)…. It is helpful to recall…that God spoke, and the worlds were created by His Word (Hebrews 11:3 and John 1:1-3)…. No word that He speaks is without power to come to pass – including the words that He speaks to us – which come to us as “a seed”…We don’t have to understand altogether “HOW” this works…. only that it does (v. 26-28!!)
  • Satan comes immediately to snatch away the Word we hear…and these are the 5 tactics that he uses to get into our life to do that…..:
  1. Persecution (v.17) – to pursue to harass or injure
  2. Afflictions  (v.17)…i.e. pressures, anguish, trouble
  3. Cares of this world  (v.18,19) ..Cares produce in us one or more of these things:  anxiety and disquieting of the mind by worry & fear,  grief,  weighed down by responsibilities (which can be either “genuine” – or false ones we’ve taken on)
  4. Deceitfulness of Riches  (v. 19)…is woven around the line of thinking that having wealth will solve all things
  5. Lusts of other things  (v. 19)….revolves around an excessive desire to gratify the senses or bodily appetites

Those are the tactics which the devil uses to bring deception and thus some form of defeat in an area of our lives….The ultimate goal of the devil being what we see in John 10:10… which is that the devil/aka our adversary – only comes to kill, steal, or destroy…Everything he does is aimed at accomplishing  something from one of those three categories….

BUT.. The good news is that we have been redeemed out of the hand of this our enemy.. .Psalm 107:2 and Colossians 1:12-14 express that very well…. And being AWARE of that – and of the tactics that the devil endeavors to use to get into our thinking and thus into our lives…is our best guard against living in some form of deception….So would it not be good to take some time to thoughtfully and honestly …Go over the list of those 5 tactics that he uses – to see if any of those tactics are things that he regularly uses to get into your life.. to bring in deception… Because as it is often said.. “Forewarned is forearmed.”… We are not to be ignorant of the devil’s tactics!

Daily Bread – What Will You Choose to Pursue?

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

The spirit of a born again individual….. is READY, is WILLING, and even “predisposed” to follow after and worship God… That simply means that it is inherent – in the new nature of your born again spirit – to cry out to God….. and to seek to know Him.  God designed it that way…. and He birthed it so in your spirit the moment you received Jesus as your personal Savior… In the time it takes to “blink an eye” you were transferred out of darkness into the Kingdom of God/light when you received Jesus Christ into your life  (Colossians 1:13,14).

You entered into “newness of life”… still flesh and blood – a human being – but you’ve had a “new dimension” added to your life… even life in the spirit….

“If any man be in Christ he is a new creature/creation…. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new” (II Corinthians 5:17,18) … It is right here at this “starting point” that it is good and very helpful for you to understand that this monumental change took place in your spirit – NOT in your mind or emotions nor in your physical being.. (all three of which the bible refers to as “the flesh”).

If you read John 3:1-8, you will see that there is the natural birth that brings every man into this world…. AND…. there is the “regeneration” (Webster’s defines this as a spiritual rebirth) – which immediately ushers the brand new believer in Christ into the Kingdom of God…. You’ve just been “born again” (the spiritual rebirth into God’s Kingdom)

….But if you expect to immediately see great change in your life – and nothing remaining of your old self/the old man of the flesh – you will likely suffer some bewilderment and disappointment….(Because)… You do have a new life in Christ… but you still have a choice…. the choice to walk after the demands of the old flesh man who is still very much alive …OR… you can choose to follow after the cry of your born again spirit which has the capacity to begin to understand the things of the Kingdom of God – and to follow after Him…. The choice is yours – and mine – to make!  God designed it this way…. because He desires fellowship and kinship with you and me – not robotic relationship!

So…. He gave us the choice – to walk after the old flesh man – or to pursue after the pull in our born again spirit to follow after Him…. and learn of Him, be taught and led by His Spirit.  It is first a choice .. and then a pursuit….

 

 

The Word and the Spirit – Awakening Your Ear to Hear

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

In this beginning post  (and the ones to follow) about the value of the Word of God in developing the ear of your spirit to hear, I will be sharing both the practical side of this issue and the spiritual aspects ……. because it requires some of both in order to live a victorious Christian’s life.

You and I can set and listen to,  or read the Word of God – that’s practical –  it’s “our part,”  but because it is “spirit and life” (John 6:63) you will need to hear what the Spirit of God is saying even as you read – in order for faith to come.  That is because faith is a gift and even “a part of God” that is  resident in His word.  With a careful reading or study of John 14 and John 16 you will easily see that God intended our primary teacher of His word to be the Holy Spirit (aka the Spirit of Truth). Without Him as our teacher, we have dry letter of the law…. but Jesus came to give us something much better – a new covenant – a living word – “full of grace and truth”  (John 1:1-17).  What we hear may bring a much needed miracle to our life – or it may simply be instruction about which way to go with something.  One is supernatural….one is practical.  Sometimes we need both!

Do you recall the account of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus – which I shared with you in the March 26 post?  (Developing Your Capacity to Hear and Recognize God’s Voice)…..  When was it  that those two realized that it was Jesus Himself who had joined them as they walked and wondered aloud about all the things that had come to pass since they had seen Jesus taken and crucified?  When did they realize it was indeed Jesus whom they listened to as He walked with them and opened the scriptures to them?

Verses 30-32 (Luke 24) tell us that it was in the”breaking of bread together” that their eyes were opened and they knew Him. The “breaking of bread” represents the Word of God broken for them……  Several times in John 6:47-51 Jesus refers to Himself as the “bread of life”….. ” I am that bread of life……. which come down from Heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die”  (spirit food for spirit life) …..  I am the living bread which came down from Heaven”…..  And their hearts “burned” they said – as He shared the scriptures concerning Himself to them….. and then as He “brake the bread” and gave of it to them – that was when they realized who Jesus was…..  A quickening took place in their hearts – and revelation came as they were finally quiet enough to get past their own reasonings about seeing Jesus die -and now to listen to what was in their hearts as they had spent time listening to Him.

…… And so it is much the same with you and I as we draw aside to spend time in the Word of God with Him…..  We have His Word – and God is eager to speak to us – to show and tell us the things that we need to hear.  He gave us the Spirit of Truth to quicken the words to us that He wants us to hear – and with that quickening we “hear” and we see (by revelation) what we did not see  before.  This “quickening” of the Word has to do with “life” – for when the Spirit of God quickens something from God’s Word to us there is an “imparting” of the life that is in God’s Word into our spirit – and with that quickening there is revelation – a revealing of things in our spirit.

The revealing of these things brings in God’s light on the matter…… Does not Proverbs 20:27 tell us that “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord” – through which He intends to give us light to see by…….  and  Psalm 112:4 says  “Unto the upright there arises  light in the darkness – because God is gracious and full of compassion for us.”    He wants us to hear what He has to say – so we can see what we need to see.

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In the next posts about the value of God’s Word, I would like to share some things concerning the character and the supernatural effects of God’s Word in the ordinary affairs of life as we come to understand the practical application of what He has given us.

“Recapping” of Some Things Important to Hearing in the Spirit

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If you and I are going to learn to hear His voice – as Jesus, “the Good Shepherd” told us we could  in John 10:4,11,14  – then it is important that we understand some things about what happened to us when we received Jesus as our Savior….as we see in this recap of some things from my January 15 & 22 posts about our beginnings in Him …..

The first important thing that you must understand is that new life came into your spirit – in the form of a spiritual rebirth which the bible refers to as being “born again” (John 3:1-8).  In that spiritual rebirth you and I received eternal life and a new nature in our spirit. ….. Inherent within that new nature is the desire to know and follow after God – the father of our born again spirit… and Jesus His son, who paid the price to redeem us back to God. John 17:3  explicitly tells us that …….” this is life eternal – that they might know You, the only true God,  and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”  Now we can come to know Him because He gave us that capacity with the new birth that took place in our spirit.the moment we received Jesus.

All of this adds up to the fact that we had a new dimension added to our life when we received Jesus –  giving you and I the capacity to begin to see and understand the things of the Kingdom of God – including “an ear to hear” in our born again spirit – so that we can learn to hear and recognize the “voice of God” – and be led by the Spirit of God.   Being born again is the start of this Spirit to spirit relationship with God – the beginning of our capacity to hear and know “His voice.”

We need to hear the voice of God – His Spirit  speaking to us (He is the One that Jesus promised to send to us to be our teacher and guide –  and to bring to our remembrance the things that He has already said to us (John 14:16,17,26)  Also in John 16:12-15  Jesus tells us: “I have many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now – but when He, the Spirit of Truth is come, He will guide you into all truth. He will take what He hears from God the Father and show it unto you.  All things that the Father has are Mine – these things He will show unto you that I may be glorified ….. and He will show you things to come.”  These are things we need to hear!  And…….

To recap what I have just shared, I would say this – God gave us ears to hear in our born again spirit – and in His word,  He tells us clearly that He wants us to hear – hear what the Spirit is saying!….And these few things that I have spoken to you about today are some things important to that hearing in the spirit…. (Matthew 13:9;  Luke 14:35;  Revelation 2:7,  11, 17, 29 & Revelation 3:6, 13, 20, 22.)

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On March 7th, I began sharing about the things I have found to be most helpful in developing our ability to hear in the spirit – and pertaining to that I shared several posts about the value of personal worship – and now in the next posts I purpose to begin sharing some things about understanding the true value of God’s word and how that very much plays a  part in developing our hearing in the spirit.

 

Learning to Hear and to Recognize the Voice of God

~ kathrynspen ~ 1 Comment

“Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures”? !

Such was the hindsight of the two disciples after they had met and conversed with the risen Jesus along their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:1-13-32) …… And now – after the fact – it was like “ohhh man…. He was right there with us … talking to us as we walked – and we did not even recognize Him!

They didn’t recognize Jesus because they were so filled with their own thoughts and reasonings that they “couldn’t see the forest for the trees” – as we often say when we have had something right in front of our face and yet failed to see it ….. Why?…..Because their reasonings – ie. both the “possiblilities” and the “impossiblilities”  of the circumstances  (see the March 26 post) that filled their minds and thinking this day – blinded them to the same thing that often blinds us to the truth –  the fact of who God”IS” – that He operates on a higher level than we do….. &  that when God is involved,  we just might be confronted with some things that are wonderful – but “difficult” for us to understand …… that is unless we learn to consider – even in the midst of our reasonings – that God lives in the supernatural!! …. And if He says it ,  He can do it!!

Our hearing God by the hearing ear of our spirit is also a supernatural thing… . It is a Spirit to spirit hearing – a hearing that belongs to the spirit of a man that has been born again…. Yes – God can – and He has spoken (in certain times and for specific purposes) to men who were not born again – but after receiving Jesus, we were “born again” – and with that new birth that took place in our spirit,  we were  given the capacity to hear God speaking to us.  But it is like all our human capacities to learn and grow in different ways – in that it has to be developed!  

But let’s get back to the two that had met the risen Jesus on the road to Emmaus ….. and to what they shared with each other about that experience – ie .”Didn’t our heart burn within us – while He talked with us by the way,  and while He opened to us the scriptures”?

When God speaks to us, it is not at all uncommon to “feel” something “alive” with that hearing – and even though we learn to recognize His voice in much the same way that we learned to recognize that special voice of our mother or our father from the voice of any other – so we can learn to recognize the “voice” of God as well.  But understand, that there is “the recognizing” – AND – there is “the hearing” – so that we can  recognize who it is that we are hearing.

This is important because at times, even as we are maturing in that hearing by our spirit – we can be in the midst of deep thoughts about something – and have to question if we heard God speak a word to us.  That too is not uncommon – but at times when we have laid a question “about what to do” before the Lord – we must learn to quiet our mind – with its “reasonings” about that matter…..note that those “reasonings” of their minds was why  the two who walked with Jesus did not recognize Him …… So – we must learn to quiet our mind so that it is not so busy trying “to solve the problem” that we are hearing so many “answers” that they tend to get all tangled together!   When that is happening with your mind – it’s really kind of like trying to hear someone talking to you over the phone – all the while, someone beside you is talking to you (90 miles an hour ) at the same time – get the picture?

So, how do you quiet a “busy mind”?  I can share with you here some things that helped me when I was first learning this – all of which involve getting your mind to focus on something else.  One –  Isaiah 26:3 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace – whose mind is stayed on Thee.”  You can do this by meditating on a verse of scripture – or by focusing on memorizing that scripture.  Another thing I used to do when the focus on the problem was “eating my lunch” was that I would actually call a friend and ask them to give me something to pray about for someone in need.  Listening to and singing along with good music will also divert your mind from its insistence on solving a problem that only God knows the real way out of.

Now days I do not have a major problem with quieting my mind – but when I do have the least inclination in that direction , I usually do one of these three things: I begin deliberately giving thanks to God – or I will slip over into personal worship – or I set myself to begin praying in the spirit – any of these never fail to bring me into His presence where – as the Psalmist shares in Psalm 16:7-11  that “setting the Lord before you causes your heart to be glad, your tongue to rejoice, and your flesh also to rest.

The problem is not  that God does not want to communicate with His children, but the problem is that we aren’t hearing as we should…. but that is a problem with a solution – which is to LEARN to hear.  If that is a desire of your heart, know that God is ready to teach you and take you to that place of hearing – better and better – that is so greatly desired by those who know Him.  You CAN learn to hear and recognize the voice of God!  I did – after many years of longing for that….. and now in these posts starting with March 11 and going until ??  I will be sharing with you the things that have helped (and are helping) me!….those things are straight from the Word of God!  and by the way  I write because I hear –  to me that is so exciting!

Part II – How’s Your Hearing? …. More About the Born Again Spirit

~ kathrynspen ~ 2 Comments

Did God equip us to hear Him?….  There are a good number of verses in the bible that indicate clearly that this is so.   We find just some of these scriptures in the first three gospels of the bible:    Matthew 13:9,43     Mark 4:9,23 & 7:16      Luke 8:8   “If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”  (Note that in Matthew 13:16  a “blessing” is pronounced for the ones whose ears do hear – and I would add that it is indeed a blessing to hear a word in our spirit when we’re searching for the right way to go!)  “He that has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Is this only a “natural” hearing – or does God equip us with ears that have the capacity to hear in the spirit?

Just hours before Jesus went to the cross for us, He had some very special last words  to share with His disciples – for them and for us – words which we find in John 14 – 17.  Now last words are often very important – especially when they are spoken to and for those that you love.  It is good to read all of those four chapters, but for our purposes today, we will only look at some verses that pertain particularly to our hearing – and the provision that God made for us through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The first and very beautiful thing to remember  that Jesus tells us in John 14:1 is “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God – believe also in Me.” Jesus then proceeded to tell them that He would be going away – but (v 16-17) “I will pray to the Father and He shall give you another Comforter that He may abide with you forever – even the Spirit of Truth – whom the world cannot receive because it seeth Him not, neither knows Him; but you know Him – for He dwells with you – and shall be in you.” …. + (v 25,26) These things have I spoken to you while I am yet present with you – but the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit),  whom the Father will send in My name – He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance – even whatsoever  I have said unto you.”  Obviously, to be taught – you must hear! And it is clear in these verses that this is a Spirit to spirit communication.

In John 16:12-15  Jesus continues speaking to those who have chosen to follow Him –  “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now – however, when He, the Spirit of Truth (aka the Spirit of God/Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost/Comforter) is come, He will guide you into all truth.”

Seeing then that the Spirit of God purposes to “teach us all things, remind us of the things that He has already shown us, show us things to come  -and  guide us into all truth” – we need to learn to hear  with those ears that He gave us.  God has ways of getting things across to His own, but He purposed for each one of us to hear and be led by His Spirit. (Romans 8:14)   This is a part of the capacity in our born again spirit that God provided for us.  (John 1:12 and John 3:1-8)

I just mentioned that “we need to learn to hear” with the ears of our born again spirit….  But seeing that there are many voices  out there to be heard ….  and the bible says that every one of those voices have some kind of meaning – the question then becomes “How will I know the difference between hearing in my mind (ie. with the natural man’s hearing) – and actually hearing with the ear of my spirit?  This is very important because “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them  – because they are “spiritually discerned.”  (I Corinthians 2:14).

How then will you know the difference between what comes to your mind versus the hearing by your spirit?  The quick answer to that would be to tell you that you will come to know the difference between the two the same way that a baby learns to recognize his mother’s or his father’s voice from that of any other.  And that is true, but there are a number of things given us in  the Word of God that you and I can do that will “lend” to developing that God given capacity to hear Him.

There are three very foundational things that I can look back to and say that those are the things that most helped me along the way to notably increase the hearing in my spirit.  There are also a few others which I would call “supporting factors” that I will touch on as well – but to just “throw these out there” would be like handing you a box containing something that needed to be assembled without giving you any instructions with it…. So I will just name the three major things that helped me (and I would tell you here that these are the things which I have observed and therefore come to believe – that without these three foundational things in our relationship with the Lord – we are not going to get the development of our spirit to Spirit relationship that is needed to hear well.  That’s you, me or anybody else – it has nothing to do with our salvation – but is strictly an observation that I have seen in my own spiritual growth and that of others.)

The three major things I will be sharing with you about in coming posts concern:  Personal Worship, Understanding and placing the value on God’s Word that is truly there – and Praying in the spirit  (not necessarily in order here).  I would like to share some things about each of these three major “gifts from God” that have been such a help and blessing to me as I learned about them.  I also want to stress before hand that this is not an exhaustive study – because “I DON’T KNOW THAT MUCH” – but I am called to teach in the Body of Christ and these things are strong within me to share because I know how much they have helped me.

Hope you are “hungry enough” to check out these short studies in some coming posts on this blog.

I just now “felt” God’s love for you – and want you to know that.  See you later!

How’s Your Hearing?…. More about the Born Again Spirit

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Are you able to hear the voice  of the Spirit when you have a decision to make? You really want to know what God would say – the direction He would tell you to go – but oftentimes it is not a lack of desire to hear Him, but a lack of knowing how  that thwarts us in our pursuit to hear.  That can be very frustrating – believe me, I understand that – I’ve been there and still have some times that it is harder for me than I would like; but I have come a long way in that area so that I can share some things about that with you.

First of all, our years in being born again or by virtue of growing up going to church – are not – the best measuring stick for determining how well we will hear God.  Before I start sharing what the scripture does say about hearing God, let me voice a couple of things that will affect your hearing negatively “right off the bat.” Which are these …..

Sometimes we have been taught that God does not speak to His people today – and even though that is totally unfounded by scripture – if we have grown up with that mindset, we tend to think  that is  what the Word of God actually says ….  And unless we are willing to ask God to show us as we search it out for ourselves in His Word – then the premise that  “God does not talk to us today”  becomes what we “believe.”

Another  fallacy we need to see for what it is – is that we necessarily know more about God than the person beside us because we have been born again longer …. or we have family ties or “closer connections” inside the church – these things making us to be more spiritually advanced than most others! Indeed we can learn some good things from any of those three things that I just mentioned – but the best “yardstick” to use in measuring how well you are hearing and experiencing the leadership of God is this … “How well and how often – do you hear an answer that you KNOW is from Him – when you have needed help and asked for His input?

Also, you should be – at least occasionally – hearing His voice giving some kind of input as you read His Word.  By and large we get to know God for who He is by actually spending time with Him and in His word – for ourselves!  – and then we need to go on and follow any instructions that He gave as we spent that time with Him.  (The Holy Spirit is a very good teacher – actually He’s the best! )  And learning to hear God speak to us personally comes the very same way – spend time with Him and in His word  – and then do anything that He has shown you to do!  And yes, we do need good teachers – God particularly gifted some to teach others in the Body of Christ  (Ephesians 4:11,12) – but we need to follow up on that teaching by doing what the Apostle Paul said of the Berean Christians in Acts 17:11 … that they “received the teaching of God’s word with all readiness of mind, then searched the scriptures daily to see whether those things they had heard were so.”

Can you and I hear the voice  of God?                                                                                   ….. and should we be hearing Him for important decisions that arise in our day to day living?  The answer to both those questions is unequivocally – YES!  But you and I need to go with what the word of God has to say – so let’ s begin to look at that.

First of all, we are all on an “equal footing” with God when we are born again – in that He gives to every person who receives Jesus the capacity  to begin to see and understand the things of the Kingdom of God (John 1:12; John 3:3-6).   And when the Spirit of God speaks to us/reveals something to us, it will be from His Spirit to our spirit…..  because the things of God are “spiritually discerned.” And “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord” (Proverbs 20:27)  God “lights our candle” (Psalm 18:28)  in order to illuminate us with the understanding of things He wants us to know –  because “the natural man (our flesh man) is not equipped to receive and understand  the things of the spirit.”  See I Corinthians 2:9-14.  (Note that it is not talking strictly about the things God has for us in the afterlife/Heaven – for we will not need Him to reveal them to us there – but right here is where we need that revelation of what belongs to us.)

In John 10:3,4 Jesus – our Good Shepherd – tells us that as we grow from babes into more mature ones – we will know His voice so that we can follow His leading.  It is normal for those who know Jesus to begin to hear His voice….  And there are some things we can do – according to God’s word that will lend to more hearing.

I will begin to share about some of those things in another post.  Until then, if you have not already read the posts that I put on this site about what happens to you when you are born again,  they are titled “A Post About Beginnings”  Jan.15 and “The Best Beginning of All” on Jan 22.  You can find them the most quickly by going to the right side of this post – at the top right – just under the picture of the sunrise –  and listed under “Recent Posts.”

THE BEST BEGINNING OF ALL (1/15/15 Posts Continued)

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As I ended the 2nd January 15 post, I told you that I would continue the subject of our beginning in Jesus by sharing some scriptures that “relate to or describe” what happened to you that moment you were born again.  There are more of those scriptures than most people would think – so I can’t bring in all of them on this post today, but I will try to make a good start on it – okay?

When you were born again – a new dimension was added to your life.  That new dimension being the capacity  to know and fellowship with God.  This fellowship is the desire of His heart for you and I – and the reason we were created.  In this new birth that took place when you received Jesus – His life, even that same life that came from God the Father – overshadowed and enveloped you, came into your spirit – producing the new birth.  That’s what the bible calls being “born again.”  (I Peter 1:23;  John 3:1-8).  This brought you into a “living relationship” with God.  That is why Jesus (in I Timothy 2:5) is  called “the mediator between God and men.”   Thank you Jesus!

Our interaction/relationship/fellowship with God and His Son Jesus Christ began in the spirit – and that is where God tells us in Galatians 3:3 that it not only started there, but we are foolish to think we can continue by just obtaining head knowledge of Him.   WHY?  Man’s head knowledge is in the flesh (natural) man as opposed to what we can hear and know by what God shows us by the Spirit.  In addition to that,  I Corinthians 2:14 tells us that “the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God because those things are foolishness to him/his understanding – neither can he know them because they are “spiritually discerned.”

Our relationship with God began in the spirit and that is where it will continue – and “flow out into our natural mind from.” And, YES, it will have effect on the whole of our being  – because we are a triune being – spirit, soul, and body  (I Thessalonians 5:23); and just like what happens to one of your body parts , such as a broken leg or back will have some effect on the other members of your body – even so, the rest of our being beyond just our spirit will be affected somewhat by our new relationship with God when we are born again.  But the degree to which you or I will be overall affected by this new relationship will  depend on what we choose to do  with this incredible thing that has happened to us.  Please don’t be offended – but it’s going to take more than just sitting on a church pew to go on with God. We have been given the privilege, right, and capacity  – John 1:12 says –  to go on and progressively get to know  God the Father, our Creator and Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. That privelege comes with being born again – and although I could have done better with what has been given to me in this, yet I can honestly tell you that – there is no amount of money or earthly prestige that I would trade this relationship for!.  Now you decide what it’s worth to you – because that is  what each one of us will sooner or later do.

Even before you or I received Jesus, we were already spirit, soul, and physical body – but there was nothing “alive” or “working” in our spirit that we could know God – until we “bowed the knee” and asked Jesus to forgive our sins and come into our life. Then we were born again.  That was the whole point in His coming to earth – to give all men the opportunity to get reconnected to God – get that light back on in man’s spirit!

Proverbs 20:27 says that “the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord” …  Psalm 18:28  goes on to say that God will light our candle – and in so doing, He lights up the darkness that has been there.

The more that we understand these things that pertain to the new birth, the more we will be able to begin to understand many other things about God – and about our relationship with Him while we live on the earth.  I hope you will return to check out the next post and in the meantime that you will be looking in God’s word and asking questions yourself to God – as He loves to share and interact with us.

THE BEST BEGINNING OF ALL (Part 2 of Jan 15, 2015 Post)

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We’ve been talking about what it means to be “born again” – and in this post, I will continue sharing where I left off in my January 15 post which I named “A Post About Beginnings.” It is pretty important that you read that before going further into this.

I would like to start here by addressing “an unspoken question” that some of you that read my January 15 post likely already are asking – at least to yourself. I know that – because I used to ask the same question myself after I read John 3.  The Question:  Does being “born again” mean the same thing as “being saved”? Yes,  yes it does refer to the same thing.  So, why then did I not use the term “be saved” in the post yesterday – seeing that the word “saved” is used many times in the New Testament while the words (or the term) “born again” appears in only two places in the New Testament.   First in John 3:1-8, which we looked at in my last post – and once in I Peter 1:23 we see the term “born again” where it obviously speaks of a supernatural birth of the spirit as well – and not a physical birth.  Yes, this amounts to the same thing as “being saved”- but the importance in making a distinction between the two terms is this:  both are one and the same in the end result – but the term “born again” IS WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED  TO YOU  the moment that you believed and invited Jesus into your life.  It sheds a very descriptive light on what actually took place in me and in you when we received Jesus as Savior.  That we see this – and so understand that we generally speaking, need to understand the things of the spirit  more than we do  – is important to our personal growth in the things of God’s Kingdom.  It is equally important to the increase of God’s Kingdom as well,  because people do not generally advance very far in things that they do not understand very well.

After I was born again, I sure knew that something “way out of the ordinary” had happened to me – but what it was, I couldn”t tell you,  and no one around me had a real answer either – so I continued to ask God what it was that happened to me and to others when we are born again.  You can’t teach a baby that is still in diapers about “trigonometry,” but even so, He did answer me and  I grew enough to begin to understand the beginnings of things of the spirit over the years.  And of course, this learning involved God’s word and taking a little time aside to spend time with Him regularly – praying and listening when the Holy Spirit quickened something to me.  Then over time, these things begin to unfold in meaning together as He shined light on one scripture with another the more explaining.  This is a major way that the Holy Spirit teaches us – and when this is taking place in your life, there will  be “a change” – a transformation of your life from the inside out that takes place – but like renovating a house, it isn’t done in one afternoon!  The plans can be drawn up and the contract signed, but the process that lies ahead takes some time!  After all, we’re talking about “the best beginning of all!”

I will finish this on my next post where I have a number of scriptures to share with you that specifically relate to or describe what happens to you at the moment  you are born again.  Have a great evening and I hope to visit with you here again.

A POST ABOUT BEGINNINGS

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In this beginning post, what shall I say?  Should I tell the people who come here – that tomorrow is my spiritual birthday?  It has been 37 years tomorrow since I was “born again.”  I would like to share that with them – because it’s a very special day to me – but even more importantly, I want each one of them to know what it means to be “born again”….. Such were my thoughts as I started this day.

Well, you  can see what won out in my thinking – for here I am writing to share with you about being born again.  The main thrust of this blog is to share with people who are already born again, but hungry for more help and information on how to go deeper in this life with Jesus Christ which they have begun; but there is nothing more important than mentioning to everyone that for one and all there is that beginning – a starting place – when our heart begins to want to “know Jesus” and we know  that we are in need of this Savior.  We’ve deeply realized that we’re not perfect – our faults, our “imperfections,” and some things even worse -* the word of God, the bible, calls these things “sin.” And it tells us that this applies to all men.  But the “invitation” is also to all – for the call goes out to us “Come, whosoever will”….. and “No one that comes to Me will I cast out,” *Jesus says.

What you do with this invitation is your choice, but I implore you to open your heart, and ask Him to come in – because I can assure you  that Jesus is who the bible says that He is.  For me, these 37 years (tomorrow!) of getting to know Him and God the Father, have more than sufficiently borne that out!  I’ll leave this part now about how to have your beginning in Him with these scriptures : Romans 6:23;  John 3:16,17;  John 6:37  to refer to for the things I mentioned from the bible between the two *  (in the last paragraph).

There are many things said in the  scriptures that can help you and I to better understand what the bible means when it says “you must be born again.”  Jesus said that to Nicodemus when Nicodemus came seeking Jesus one evening to inquire of Jesus who He was.  (John 3:1-8)  The explanation that followed Nicodemus’ question is so beautiful that it quiets our fears that anything and everything from the spirit realm is eerie and spooky, dark and haunting. Not so!  For Jesus made it clear that a man/human  must also be “born of the spirit” to enter into the Kingdom of God, or for that matter to even “see” the Kingdom of God (verse 3-5). He went on to further explain that there is the natural birth by which every man comes into this world – and there is a spiritual birth that comes to a person when they receive God’s plan of redemption in Jesus Christ.  “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit (of God) is spirit “ ( verse 6)– making a clear distinction between the two births a man can experience and the fact that “You must be born again ” to enter into the Kingdom of God!

I have more to share about this –  and I will take it up again in a post tomorrow. I hope to see you here then.