Personal Relationship Leads to Personal Worship

~ kathrynspen ~ 2 Comments

Welcome!  This post today is about the personal fellowship of worship that God wants to have with each one of us – but first let’s take a very brief look at a few of the main reasons that some born again believers feel that they don’t know “how” to worship the Lord on their own.

One reason would be  “church without a personal knowledge of  Jesus”…..  a place only of rules and regulations – apart from a personal knowledge of and fellowship with – the One  that “inhabits” the praises and worship of His people.  Most people that are like that themselves – or – go to a church like that for very long will find nothing there that teaches about – or  lends to personal worship.  But you know what –  even in some churches like that -.the Word of God still has a place – and that word has a way of weaving it’s way into people’s hearts – if they should begin to feel a hunger to know the “Author” more personally!

And when any  heart begins to hunger to touch God – to know and to hear Him, the promise in His word is that these will find Him – for He is very near to every one of us – if just perhaps –  we should decide to call on Him.  It is that way with getting born again – and it is that way afterward – if we will ourselves seek to know Him … and to worship Him.

But a second reason we may think (after being born again) that we do not know how to worship God outside of church – being that we may be looking too much for some kind of “soulish excitement” if I may call it that.  When the fact of the matter is that sometimes we just need to get quiet and still – and set our mind and direct our focus on Jesus.  Personal worship does not have to be loud or even with music.  You can start by just laying everything that would hinder or interrupt aside – go to a quiet place, start thinking of different things He has done or given that you should  be thankful for ….  and the further down that road of giving thanks to God and getting to know Him that you go – the easier it will be to just have a heart full of thanks – and that will lead to adoration and worship as night follows day!  And that is because God is so incredibly good – and great – that it is just natural  – to want to know Him more – as you get to know Him!!

….. But – we can be born again and yet  choose to stay right where we began – but myself (and plenty of others like me) didn’t want to camp there….  because one good taste of what it is like to know Jesus and God the Father. ..and there was no question of not pursuing to have more of the same!  So, I/we kept choosing  to go after Him.  In this scripture,  the Psalmist did the same …. ..

Psalm 91:1,2,9,14,15 …… The Psalmist – or you and I – “choose” to stay close to God;  and thereby we “learn”  to trust Him and make Him our refuge;  you and I choose to “set” our love (the deepest affection of our heart) upon Him – and that is not at all hard to do as you get to know and trust Him! ….  (Did you notice all the choices that He put into our hands to make – or not?!)  and the promise for choosing  those things is this:  “He/she will call upon Me and I will answer them;  I will be with them in trouble; I will set them on high because they “know My name;  I will deliver them and honor them;  and I will show them my salvation!”    There is no money on earth that can buy those things and the peace and gladness that come with them!  Hallelujah what a Savior – and what a Friend He has turned out to be!  !!!!!

Psalm 16:7-11 (paraphrased) …..  I will bless the Lord – for He has given me counsel – which will be there within my heart and mind to instruct me even in the night seasons.  And….. because I have set the Lord always before me – He is at my right hand so that I shall not be moved…..  therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices (in thanksgiving and worship to this One to whom I owe so much) … and my flesh also shall rest in hope …. because He will not leave my soul in those dark places ;  and He will show me and direct me onto the path of life;  and here and now – as I worship Him – I find in His presence there is fulness of joy – and at His right hand are the pleasures of eternal victory – forevermore with Him!

I hope that you received some things here to encourage you to choose to start worshipping the Lord at home in your own one on one time with Him.  And I hope that you will come again to this site to check for the next post about some more things that will lend to your becoming more and more sensitive to hearing His voice!  .

“These Three Things”……. Training Your Spirit to Hear

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Hi!  This is just a little FYI that I am sharing with you about several posts that I will be adding to this blog in the coming days and weeks – the essence of which will  be bible teaching and sharing experiences that have to do with “These Three Things” …..  Personal Worship, Understanding and Placing the Value on God’s Word that is truly there ,  and Praying in the Spirit.  I don’t think that I can over state the value of these three precious things God has brought to my life for how much they have helped develop the sensitivity in my spirit to hear.

I will be starting these posts with a study about  “personal worship” – with teaching and  sharing about having a very personal – “one on one” time of worship between you and God – something He wants from every one of His children.  It’s an open avenue for Him to touch the deepest part of your being.

I’m not starting the study itself in this post, but below I want to share with you one of the many devotional writings and poems that I have received from the Holy Spirit – more often than not – I begin to HEAR these in my spirit at times when I am alone and worshipping God and our Lord Jesus.

THE DREAM OF FREEDOM

 Note: This writing was given to me for a dear friend – in whom I have been blessed to witness a remarkable growth and maturing of gifts into the call that God has for her – but it is also “an invitation”  to any and all who will read it and “believe” that God has more for them too.

The dream of freedom – lifting up as it were on eagle’s wings …..

The dream of healing – oh wonderful marvelous thing…….

Closer to Him who loves me, now I’ll be ……

Free to fly – and free to see – with the vision  that He gives me!

Heavenly dream – I can only imagine …..

What soaring with Him – yet still down here – could be!

(And now – I’m thinking ……   and writing…………….. still held captive by Him  and all that He is doing.)

As I watch you, I think of how incredible all of this is …….

And –  “Why do I not also want to fly?

Is it a laziness in me – or did He put this burning that is within me ……..?

To stay down here and help others as they dream of and aspire to get there

Where they can be free (still being here – and yet soaring with Him.)

Oh Jesus – I love the fellowship with You – the spiritual gifts and my call –                   And if that call keeps me ……

On the ground where I can see …….

All the marvelous things You are doing in others – then so let it be!

For this passion that burns within me – is to be –

Here and now – exactly “where and what”  You made me to be!

For I know that one day I will fly there too …..

Glory, oh glory – what a dream, Jesus, I have from You!

(And now as I am winding down, one last thought comes to me – an awareness that You gave each of those who love You their very own dream – and as you and I take that dream and spend time with Him – we will do exploits …. and we will indeed fly like the eagle – right here with Him!)

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 HEART OF OUR CREATOR

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This is a special writing to me because I so see God the Father’s heart in this …. and I ask you to remember as you finish reading it – that even as Jesus gave the invitation to any who would hear “Come (to Me)whosoever will”  – the invitation still stands.

THE HEART OF OUR CREATOR

As I gave my Heavenly Father an hour just to “be with Him” and worship -almost immediately – I began to sense and to understand that He wants  to touch and to fellowship  with every single person in the world!  And that no one – NOT ANYONE – can stand in another person’s place with God!

I felt His love for,  and desire to fellowship with the multitudes of people around the world who do not know Him …. so many who do not know He is their Creator and Savior.  Yet there is a place with Him  for each one of them – a place that no other person can ever fill!

God our Creator so desires that fellowship with each one of us that He is “jealous” over just one hour …. so much so that He would say to those who do know Him as Savior – “Could you not take just one hour of your day and spend that time with Me?”  (Because) there will never again be an opportunity  like we have now in this time to CHOOSE  to fellowship with Him.

…… And to each one of the multitude of people that give their lives to so many other things – and live their lives with so many “unanswered ” needs – would He not say  (out of a heart of love) to each of them –  “How oft would I have gathered you “as a hen gathers her chicks and holds them close under her wings …. but you would not turn to Me so that I could take you there.”

I also understood this – that even as no one can ever stand in our place with God – even so,  neither can you or I ever give that fellowship that belongs to Him to someone or something else. But it is, and will remain an “unanswered” and “unsatisfied”  empty place in our life –  that we both live and die with – without Him.

THE ONLY STABLE THING

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Oh Father, God in Heaven – to move forward with You is always “the thing to do” …. We cannot consider the right of our own reasoning alone to lead us – but steadfastly move in the direction that You give us.  For things have a way of changing … with danger all around us,  and those who were once simply our “competitors” have become – without true reason – our enemies!

Who would have thought that the outlook of “right” and “good” could change so quickly? … and take on such “different colors”?  (All the while Your righteous judgements  NEVER change – and will endure forever!! – and that in spite of what any one decides to do here…..  )  Oh, Father, for us who have seen the right paths You gave us to walk in – maligned and shaken as many are leaving those paths to walk in what has become “politically correct and socially acceptable” …. (But You love us all still – that is the wonder!  And You’re calling to  each of us – if we would – to “get still” and know just WHO YOU ARE ….- and to taste that incredible LOVE that defines  YOU and caused  You – to give Yourself for the world!)

There is the path on the left – and the path farther over, on the right …..  But lest we forget …. there is also the path in the center  – the one You gave us to embrace and walk – the path illuminated by Your light …. that path being steady and sure!  There grace abounds and Your love is our comfort and makes us secure … and in the end it will  “win out”!  And surely, for those who walk on it, this path grows brighter as we approach that “perfect day”… and surely it “tastes better” than any other way – for Your presence is there  ( and nothing in this world can buy such a priceless treasure!)!

….  And whilst the world around us is being shaken, You are our Rock and never change!  So that as things in the world look a little shaky or uncertain – we can do as the Psalmist did do – and press in to You…… acknowledging that “while I may be a little  afraid, I CAN,  I WILL –  trust in You!  Because in life, You are the ONLY thing – Lord Jesus – that does not change!!

“Jesus Christ, the same – yesterday, today and forever”  Hebrews 13:8   He does not change. In this day and hour that we live in, He IS …  the only stable thing! Jesus I am so so glad to know You!  And very very glad I am to know – that any one who reads this – only have to ask in order to know You too!!

“COME TO ME”

~ kathrynspen ~ 8 Comments

GOD’S CALL TO HIS PEOPLE ….

Come to Me.  Do not be afraid – I am “with you and for you.”  Do  not let fear or discouragement stop you.  I am  your God.

Come – and worship Me.  I will meet you.  You can be strong to rise up against fear – and the things that come in the door that “fear” opens.  My authority is in you to rise up over those things the enemy has planted to stop you.  Your fight is in the spirit realm – and that is where I operate to affect the natural realm…. So, come to Me!  You will find the strength that you need as you worship Me.

I love you!  Do not let people or pain from the past hinder you and rob you from returning to worship Me.  I love you.  I love you – and I am stronger than any of those things.

Come to Me!   I will meet you – and you will know the peace and confidence I have to give to you.  There is a refreshing that comes to those who choose  to draw aside  to worship Me.  In My presence, you will find the answer to things that stop you from walking strongly with Me.

COME!   You “chase” other things – CHASE ME!   You’ll find Me waiting to touch you.

Come to Me and know how much  I LOVE YOU.

 

ABOUT ME – and MY BLOG

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Because I think it’s important that you know a few things about the person  who is writing and sharing with you on this blog – and the purpose for doing the blog – I’m going to share about that here with you…… So the following is a little bit of “my story.”

As the Apostle Paul once said, “I haven’t arrived yet – but I have come a long way from where I started.”  That’s the reason I am doing this blog.  I want to help others who are walking in some of the places I have walked – and could use a little help to keep moving forward in their relationship with God.

My heart is full to share things that have helped me and blessed me along the way.  I remember and feel very keenly the longing …. just to hear Him!  I’m hearing much better now – and I’m still hungry to go further – but at least now I know more about “how to get there!”

Jesus is my Savior – and I have had such an incredible journey getting to know Him that I have a lot  of things to share!  Mistakes – yes, I’ve made them – but I have come such a long way since I received Jesus in 1978.  I was a young single mother then, and boy did I need Him!  I needed the change that knowing Him began to bring – and in the years that followed, I received a lot of His wonderful healing.  I began also to receive some of the “gifts” that God’s word says belong to us – and on this blog I will share out of the particular gifts that He has given me.

To be a little more descriptive about the things you will find on this blog site, I can tell you that it will include: Inspirational and devotional writings, Psalms and poems – which I write as I hear; writings that lend to personal worship; and short teachings on subjects where the Spirit of God has instructed me.  The substance of what He gives me as I have fellowship with Him is what I will share with you on this blog.

I value your input – through comments or questions.  And now I would like to welcome any and all who visit this blog – I’m so glad you are here!

WHILE I WAS “AWAY”….. and THINGS THAT TRULY MATTER

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I’ve wanted to post on my blog for over a week,  but important things were happening that needed my attention.  Sunday, I lost my mother – she had been very sick – with things rapidly deteriorating over the last couple of weeks.  Mom was 90. Yesterday we had her funeral – returning her body to the ground from which the word of God says that God formed and created man – finishing the master piece of His creation by blowing “the breath of life” into man.

My two sisters were with Mom when she took her last short breaths – for her, they told me,  there was no struggle – it was very peaceful.  There was some sadness of course as I heard that she had passed (from this life into the next)- but I am okay.  Actually  I am “more than okay”-  because I know and am very confident about where she is.

The last 3 days before Sunday, she was becoming unresponsive to the point of  being almost in a coma-like state.  A day or two before that, we had tried to engage her in humorous or otherwise memorable things that we had all experienced together as we were growing up – and got only small interest roused in her about those things – but accolades should go to my  two sisters for trying.  Just knowing some of her children were there with her must have meant something to her.  All of us very much wanted to do something that would make things easier for her – we knew she couldn’t be here with us very much longer and we did not want her to suffer …..

Then on Saturday afternoon while I was at home in the kitchen,  I began singing “How Beautiful Heaven Must Be” – an old song that I hadn’t heard in years (note here that I am NOT a singer) – but it was coming out of my spirit; and when I stopped singing for a minute or two, I caught myself humming the song.  All of this was happening while my mind was still pretty distraught – wondering what we could do to help Mama turn her mind away from all the pain we knew was filling her body – and look Heavenward.

The song just kept coming – until the realization came that although it was beginning to help my mind a little – “this song is for Mama!”  The Lord had spoken a scripture to me for her a day or so before – and with the added song, that realization stirred me to action.  I called my mother’s room – a sister answered the phone …. I told her that I knew Mama couldn’t answer me, but I wanted to give her a scripture verse and sing a song to her. Then as the phone was held up to Mama’s ear, I began singing the song, and talking to her about  Heaven and Jesus.  When my sister took the phone away from Mom’s ear, she said to me … “She heard you …. Her lips began to move as though she wanted to speak and her eyebrows moved as you were talking …. and her face, which had carried the look of death – my sister said – looked “happy.”  My sister was almost weeping as she told me those things and later my other sister who was at the end of Mama’s bed told me she saw the same thing.  That was all I needed to hear.  I had done what the Lord had shown me to do – and I was filled with peace!   A peace that has not left me since it filled my heart and mind that evening.

I got “the call” just about 24 hours later – my sweet mother had just passed – “about ten minutes ago” – my sister told me.  I had dreaded to face this day we all knew was coming…. but it hasn’t been that way for me.  If you think really knowing Jesus – and knowing how to “hear Him,”  doesn’t make a difference -think again!!

THE PERFUME OF HIS PRESENCE

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The following is a favorite poem that He gave me “a long time ago.”

                   THE PERFUME OF HIS PRESENCE

The perfume from the ointment in the broken vessel …..                                                  Was – and Is – God’s presence.                                                                                                      We are His temple …….                                                                                                                      For the bible says “God dwells in this vessel;”                                                                        And once the vessel is broken                                                                                                  The fragrance of His presence can begin to come through.

The brokenness can be little – or it can be great ….                                                             There can be “just a crack”….                                                                                                       Where only the faintest odor can get through …                                                                 Or we can yield to Him more fully – and let all that wonderful                                     fragrance of life eternal come through.

But until the vessel is broken,                                                                                                       the fragrance is “locked up within” ……                                                                                     Where no one can smell it, and no one can benefit ……                                                   “from the beauty of Him.”

He is like “:the perfect rose” – and the loveliness of the lily too ….                                 Jesus, You Are ….. all the wonderful fragrance of this life anew.                                 And it is ours to hold within, but …..                                                                                           this odor of “life unto life” that delivers from death –                                                         Was not meant to be kept ….. just for yourself.

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.

 

WHO MADE THE SUNRISE?

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WHO MADE THE SUNRISE?

As I watch the sunrise, I begin to ponder

that what I see is the dawning of a new day …. .. And

I soon feel the “perfume of His presence” enveloping the way.

I cannot gaze at the sun rising in the morning sky

Without being aware ……

That God’s story of creation is not a myth – it’s not a lie!

For as I gaze at this marvel that we call “nature”……

In the sweetness of His presence, the God of all this creation

Joins me there – “Do you see My handiwork?

I made it to share …..

And when you take the time to gaze upon the beauty in My sunrise,

It isn’t hard to see – and feel –  My presence is alive!

It’s gentle beauty is not always so impressive as the sunset to your eye,

But it holds the promise of a new day,

And I want everyone to realize that I made it that way! 

  It was created for function. The beauty and the awe I added……              with you in mind –

So that you can look and know there is a Creator…

You can tell that these things did not just randomly fall into place –

Not in the order that you see that they are made!

So, who made the sunrise?

“I AM” the Painter of these beautiful skies !  ….. and

When you look at the sunrise, it’s not hard to realize

That someone put all these things together for you to see

And that someone,  Beloved, was Me.”