Born Again

The True Meaning of Christmas

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

In the USA, as well as in some other countries around the world, we have the freedom to celebrate Christmas and other holidays in our homes pretty much as we choose to… But, because I’ve been hearing quite a bit of rhetoric lately about “the real meaning of Christmas”…I thought it good to share both some thoughts – and some facts on that subject…

First of all… In a standard dictionary, “Christmas” is composed of two words – “Christ” and “mas”… “Christ” being defined as “the anointed Messiah”… and “mas” refers to “a specified festival or celebration.”  The two words together – “Christmas”- obviously means “a CELEBRATION of Christ, the anointed Messiah.”… It has meant that since the first time Christmas was celebrated… And it still means that today.

So, why would people who do not even believe the gospel of Jesus Christ enjoy celebrating Christmas?… It’s really not that hard to understand… Most people like to give…because giving feels good!  It is good!  And who among us does not like to be on the receiving end of that giving?… We all do!  Giving is good and receiving is fun!… Maybe that is why in Luke chapter 2, the angelic host proclaimed “Tidings of great joy to all people”.. Peace on earth and good will toward men”- as they announced the birth of the Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”

God gave us this Savior for a reason…. He loved..so He gave.. He gave His only begotten Son – Jesus Christ- to be the “mediator between God and men” (I Timothy 2:5).  God so loved that He made a way for man to be reconciled to right relationship with Him.  God gave this gift of love to all men.. but to those who receive this gift of God – Jesus Christ the Anointed One/Savior/Messiah, there is a very special joy as we celebrate Christmas!  For truly knowing Jesus has never been a disappointment to anyone… He is the ultimate gift – the one that truly “keeps on giving”….

He came to give you a new birth in Him (John 3:1-8) – and life eternal!.. And God made it simple… You look to Jesus and ask for this new life in Him… It is the gift of God to you.”

The “bottom line” is this:  We can all celebrate Christmas the way that we choose to – but,  NOTHING.. can change the true meaning of “Christmas.”

Borne Out of the Fire

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

Borne Out of the Fire

We desire to go on with God… But what we do not see is that we are carrying things that cannot go with us – things we cannot take with us to walk in the next level of His glory… But because we do not see all of this in proper perspective.. (there is so much right now that we do not understand)… Indeed it does seem as though “we look through a glass darkly”… And thus we urgently plead, “Lord help me!”

And of course He is always there to lead us… (He can’t take us unless we ask – because in His sovereignty, God gave man authority on the earth – so that as James 4:2 tells us “…you have not because you ask not.”)  So – ask, we do – not seeing or knowing that between where we walk now and the place we desire to be – is “the FIRE or the RAGING waters!” But we ask, and so he leads us out… But before long, we began to think… “This must surely be a mistake!” I mean.. we were wanting to go upward, to get better!… But instead, here we are in a frightening place!

Now, water and fire can both destroy and wreak havoc… But carefully tended and directed, they cleanse and ready the ground for new growth – so that in the time that follows, out comes a thing for God’s use and our “beauty.”

Then through tears of joy, and with strengthened devotion – we look back – and our understanding is lightened!… Now I see!… There is no other way, else He would surely bring us… But should we come another way – I mean that He would just “zap” us – we would be “there” all right… And “there” would be “perfect!”… But who would He be?… Would we even know Him??

You see, there is so much “distance” between who He is and who we are – a world of difference – that it takes a lifetime just to begin to understand that difference… So that, how could we ever have a proper view of Him… if we had not seen the things that “fill up the way” between our mortality and Him??

Sure, now we see through a glass darkly… But each new level we press to brings us closer to His light, and we grow in our personal knowledge of Jesus Christ… Then from this new place of glory, I see Him more clearly, and do better understand the futility of the unregenerate man…

Indeed later, I shall see Him as He is – but for now I’m just learning and growing – so that I simply see Him in the best way that I can… I see him now through the eyes of my fellowship with Him, and as the word of God reveals…. Indeed that is God’s plan!

Thus He brings us through the fire.. or through the “raging waters.”… And frightening indeed it seems – until we come to the place of understanding.. THAT WE CAN TRUST HIM!  And that those hurtful things are brought along our path by our adversary (I Peter 5:8) who is seeking to devour any closeness of relationship we try to form with God… But God our Savior seeks to bring us safely to the other side… And thus you and I who seek Him, are “borne out of the fire.”

 

 

“Spirit” and “Soul” – Are We Talking About the Same Thing?..

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

I used to think that the “spirit and soul” of a person was one and the same… but are they truly the same thing?  I Thessalonians 5:23 informs us that we are “spirit, soul, and body” – three parts to our being…. and in line with that.. we see in Hebrews 4:12 that the soul and the spirit are two different parts of our being – and – can be separated to distinguish between the two…

The spirit and the soul of a man are indeed two separate parts….For the soul of a man is “home to his mind or intellect,  plus his will and his emotions….. The spirit is the part of a person in which the spiritual rebirth takes place when he or she chooses to receive Jesus as their Savior… In John 3:1-8 Jesus attempts to explain being “born again”.. telling us in verses 5 -7 ..that.. “except a man be born of water and the spirit – he or she cannot enter into the Kingdom of God… (Because) “that which is born of the flesh is flesh.. and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit… Therefore I say unto you … you must be born again.”

(This spiritual rebirth is necessary for man to be in right relationship with God again – because when Adam partook of the forbidden tree in the Garden, he did not die physically but spiritually.  You may read in more detail about this in Romans 5:12-21).

My purpose in writing this is not to “split hairs” – but to share what helped me tremendously once I saw and understood..that.. indeed there is a difference between the soul and the spirit… As I mentioned earlier,  I Thessalonians 5:23 informs us that – as an individual – you and I are spirit, soul, and body… That’s three different “parts” to our being… The “body” we can see and comprehend.. But many people wrestle with understanding the difference between the “soul” and the “spirit” of a man….

What IS the difference between the spirit and the soul?….

  • With my body… I contact the natural/physical realm.
  • With my spirit… I contact the spiritual realm….  John 4:24 tells us that “God is a Spirit”… and that “true worshippers will worship Him “in spirit and in truth”… He seeks those to worship Him.. who have been born of the Spirit/aka born again (or “saved” as some prefer to say).. Being Himself.. a Spirit .. God seeks this Spirit to spirit relationship..
  • With my soul… I contact the emotional and intellectual realm – and relate to them in conjunction with my 5 physical senses… i.e. what I see, hear, feel, smell, and can touch.
When we do not understand the difference in our soul and our spirit – we will try to figure God out through our mind/intellect and what we are “feeling”/our emotions…  And thus we have a much more difficult time understanding His Word… and often wonder why we don’t hear Him speaking to us – as John 10 tells us that we will…. “My sheep hear My voice.. and they follow Me because they know My voice”.. verses 3 & 4…. But it is with our spirit (not the soul/mind) that we “hear” His voice…

As Proverbs 20:27 tells us.. “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord”… and in I Corinthians 2:9-14… we see clearly this Spirit to spirit relationship which God designed to use to reveal things to us by His Spirit…. It is necessary that our spirit first be born again as Jesus said in John 3:1-8 ….  because as verse 14 in I Corinthians 2.. says.. “The natural man  (referring to our mind/soul) – receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God.. for those things are foolishness unto him… neither can he (the natural man) know them because they are SPIRITUALLY DISCERNED”…

Though we “walk in the flesh”… we began our relationship with Him in the spirit (Galatians 3:2,3)… It is a Spirit to spirit relationship… And because God designed it that way.. you and I should not ignore those verses in His word that speak of spiritual things….

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More to come in Part 2 about distinguishing the soul from the spirit of man.

 

 

The Capacity of the Born Again Spirit to Know God

~ kathrynspen ~ Leave a comment

News Flash…. You and I can not “MAKE” God do anything….But the “good news” is…. that because He loves you and me – He made a way for us to come to Him..and to connect with Him – if we choose to….

In John 3, we see a man who DID choose to…. Indeed, Nicodemus did want to know….He wanted to know so badly – that he risked losing his standing as a ruler among the religious crowd of his day – by coming to Jesus to inquire “Who” Jesus was –  and about the connection Jesus had with God….. (To be honest with you, there are many people today that ought to take a little bit of a risk – in order to inquire “Who Jesus Is” and about His connection to God….!)  It’s worth everything in the world to know the real answer to that…

But then – as it would be now – Jesus wasted no time in answering Nicodemus’s questions about the Kingdom of God and who He was….He began by letting Nicodemus (as well as you and me) – know that the natural man cannot understand the Kingdom of God…. “You must be born again,”  Jesus explained…” Except a man be born again, he cannot see/have knowledge of the Kingdom of God.”  (John 3:3)

When Jesus told Nicodemus “You must be born again” – Jesus was speaking of a SPIRITUAL BIRTH…. And until you and I can understand that, we will continue to equate “religion” in it’s various forms with “knowing God” – but yet not understanding God’s Kingdom or being born again into the family of God…..i.e. Being born of the Spirit – as Jesus told Nicodemus in the discourse between the two there in John 3:1-16 …. And as surely as Nicodemus had trouble seeing (v9-12) just what it was that Jesus was trying to tell him – so it always is with the natural mind of man… there is not in him the “capacity” to understand the things of the Kingdom of God –  because they are “spiritually discerned”…

The natural man neither sees or knows the things of the spirit….Those things are actually foolishness unto him…..Indeed,  the things of God knoweth no man  (I Corinthians 2:11-14)- But the moment we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are born again – a spiritual rebirth into the Kingdom of God…. And from that moment, we have the “capacity” to see and be taught the things of the Kingdom of God – and to truly  get to know who He is and what He has done for us to bring us into right relationship with Him……

That- in a nutshell- is what happens to us when we get born again….But that’s just the beginning…..We have our birth/ our beginning in the Kingdom of God in the spirit…. But as the Apostle Paul asked of and explained to the Christians in Galatians 3:3….”Having begun in the spirit, do you now think that you can fulfill your place and walk in the things of God by the flesh”?… The answer to that is obviously “no”…. But the born again spirit of a man is .. READY.. is WILLING… and even PREDISPOSED  to follow after God to know Him.  Indeed, that born again spirit cries after God the Father to know Him….. But as long as you’re still living in your “earth suit” – you WILL have choices to make.  Your born again spirit was designed by God to feed on the things of God – His Word, time apart from other things to worship God and taste His presence so that you can grow strong in the spirit.

The born again spirit  (YOUR born again spirit!) – has an amazing CAPACITY  to fellowship with and grow in knowing God – and in understanding the things of the spirit….

 

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