The Works of God

Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 7:37 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “In Faithfulness He Leads Me.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 9 (select vv. ESV): https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%209&version=ESV.

God’s Sovereign Will (vv. 1-7)

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

I have to admit; this is one of my favorite Bible stories. I hope you will read the whole chapter, because it is a wonderful story of faith, healing, and testifying to God’s grace. I am encouraged and inspired by it nearly every time that I read it. All glory to God. Amen!

This story, as well, speaks to the sovereignty of God over our lives. In Psalm 139 we read that God created our innermost being. He knit us together in our mother’s wombs. We were fearfully and wonderfully created by God; by Jesus Christ. All the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came into being. In Eph. 1:4 it says, in reference to those of us who are in Christ Jesus by faith, that “he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Also, from one man God “made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them, and the exact places where they should live” (Ac. 17:26). And, In Jeremiah 1:5 we read that God knew Jeremiah before he formed him in the womb, and that even before he was born, God set him apart. He appointed him as a prophet to the nations.

So, it was no accident that this man was born blind. It was for God’s purposes that he was born blind, that God might display his works in this man’s life. And, it was no accident that you and I were born the people that we are, in the homes where we lived, to the parents we had, in the nations in which we live(d). When you think about it, even before God decided to create the earth and humans to inhabit the earth, he created angels, even knowing that one of his angels would rebel against him, and that Lucifer (Satan; the devil) would lead a third of the angels to follow him in rebellion against God, and that God would have to toss them out of his heaven. Not only that, but it was in God’s purposes and design that he would not destroy Satan and these evil spirits at this time, but that he would allow them to live, and that he would permit them the power to tempt the humans God was yet to create.

Thus, when God created Adam and Eve, and he placed them in the Garden of Eden, not only did he give them a command that said they could not eat of a certain tree in the garden, but he allowed Satan to tempt them to do the very thing God commanded them not to do. None of this took God by surprise. He created Lucifer knowing what he was going to do. He didn’t destroy him, but he allowed him to exist, and he allowed him to tempt humans knowing full well that they would sin against God. Yet, God already had a plan for how he was going to one day redeem them from their sins via the blood of his Son shed on a cross. In other words, we were all born blind (spiritually) in order that God might display his works in our lives, and that Jesus would be the one to heal our spiritual blindness, and to open our eyes so we can have spiritual sight, deliverance from sin, and the hope of eternal life.

The Testimony (vv. 13-17, 24-25)

They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

…For the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

The man who was born blind did not have a Bible college degree. He had not read the scriptures, though he had probably heard them read. I do not know. He hadn’t memorized a list of scriptures which many use to present the gospel of our salvation to the unsaved. I am not even certain that, at this time, that he had saving faith in Jesus Christ, but he did later. Yet, from an illustrative standpoint, with regard to God’s healing mercies in our lives in turning us from darkness (spiritual blindness) to light (Jesus; his righteousness), and from the power of Satan to God, to walk in his ways, there is a simplicity of testimony here that I love. There were a lot of things this man didn’t know, but one thing he knew, that though he was blind, now he could see. Amen! If that is all that we know, we need to share it.

When I read this story of the healing of the blind man, I see all kinds of symbolism with regard to our own salvation from sin. Our eyes have to do with our judgment and discernment, as well as our ability to see, in this case to see and to receive spiritual truth. Mud is usually symbolic of filth (sin, wickedness). The man had to go and wash the filth off his eyes before he could be healed of his blindness. And, the Pulpit Commentary says that the Pool of Siloam was “the symbolic source of the water of life.” So, this has to do with God first of all drawing us to Jesus, and by faith in Jesus, us being cleansed (washed) of our sins, and being turned from darkness (spiritual blindness) to the light of Christ and his righteousness. Although we are saved by God’s grace, and not of our own works, we still have a part in our own healing from sin. We have to obey God in doing what he says to do.

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we willing die with Christ to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ to newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Jesus could have just healed the man on the spot, but he didn’t, and I believe it is to illustrate salvation to us. We have to go and wash. We have to leave our old lives of sin behind us, and we have to turn (repent) and follow Jesus Christ with our lives. It is still the working of the Holy Spirit. This man was not healed merely because he washed some mud off his eyes. This was the healing of Jesus in his life as he obeyed and went and did what he was told to do. And, it is still Jesus doing the work of regeneration in our lives when we obey him, and we turn away from sin and we follow him in surrender to his will for our lives.

Now, all did not go smooth for the man who had now been healed of his blindness. He immediately faced strong opposition to his healing. And, we will face opponents, too, when we, by God’s grace, and through faith in Jesus Christ, turn from sin, are transformed of the Spirit, and we turn to follow (obey) Jesus with our lives. And, much of this resistance we face may come from within the church and its leadership, too, because so much of today’s church is following a diluted gospel absent of the cross of Christ in people’s lives. So, be prepared, but know your Lord is with you, and he will strengthen and empower you. Amen!

In Faithfulness He Leads Me

An Original Work / March 20, 2013 / Based off Various Scriptures

(Ps. 26:3; 86:11; 91:4-5; 111:7-8; 119:73-76; Is. 25:1,4&9; 42:6-7; Hos. 2:16-20)

Teach me Your ways, Lord, and I’ll walk in them.

Give me a pure heart. I’ll fear Your name.

Your love is always, ever before me.

Continually I’ll walk in Your truth.

You will cover me with feathers.

Under Your wings I’ll find refuge.

My Lord’s faithfulness will be my

Comfort and my shield.

The works of His hands are faithful and just.

Trustworthy are all of His precepts.

Your hands have made me, and they have formed me.

Give understanding of Your commands.

I have put my hope, O Lord, in Your word.

Your teachings, O Lord, are righteousness.

Lord, in faithfulness You have

Afflicted me so I may learn of

Your unfailing love and comfort

And Your truthfulness.

You are my husband; You have betrothed me

In love, compassion and faithfulness.

O Lord, You are my God, I’ll exalt You.

In faithfulness You’ve done wondrous things.

You’ve been a refuge for those who’re needy;

A shelter in storms; shade from the heat.

This is the Lord, we trusted in Him,

Let us be glad and rejoice

In His salvation which He

Provided through the Lamb.

Open the blind eyes; free all the captives.

Tell them of Jesus: “Be born again!”

https://vimeo.com/115747912

Not of This World

Monday, March 14, 2016, 8:44 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “By Your Grace.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 8:12, 21-30 (ESV).

The Light of the World (v. 12)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

We can’t walk in darkness and walk in the Light at the same time. That is like trying to go left and right at the same time. We can either go right, or we can go left, but we can’t do both at the same time. If we say we have fellowship with God, and that we are walking in the Light (his righteousness, holiness and truth), but we are still walking in darkness (sin, wickedness), then we are liars, and the truth is not in us (1 Jn. 1:6). If I had to pick out one verse in the Bible that summarizes the gospel of our salvation, I would pick 1 Pet. 2:24:

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

The purpose of Jesus’ death on a cross for our sins was not just to give us an escape from hell and the promise of heaven when we die. He died that we might be crucified with him in death to sin, and so we might be resurrected with him in newness of life. By God’s grace and through faith in Jesus Christ our old self is crucified with Christ so that the body of sin might be done away with, “that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” Sin shall not be our master. When we were slaves to sin, we were free from the control of righteousness. Now that we have been set free from sin, we have become slaves of righteousness (See: Ro. 6).

Following Jesus with our lives means we know his voice, we listen to him, and we follow him in obedience to his will for our lives (Jn. 10:27-30). We go where he sends us, we do what he requires us to do, we say what he asks us to say, and we are who he wants us to be. When we follow someone, we obey him, plain and simple. We also go the direction he is going, not our own way. If we are doing our own thing, making our own plans, directing our own steps, and choosing how we will spend our time, then we are not following Jesus. If we are doing the opposite of what his word teaches us with regard to holy living, then we are not following Jesus with our lives. We are still walking in the flesh, and not in the Light.

If we are following the Light, we will conduct our lives according to the Word of Truth, we will walk in the ways of the Lord, and we will no longer be conformed to the ways of this sinful world. We won’t watch garbage on TV, along with seductive ads. We won’t entertain ourselves with the sins of others by watching TV shows and movies which glorify sinful acts, and we won’t medicate ourselves with pornographic images, either, or flirt with people other than our spouses. We also won’t be gluttonous, or be those who practice gossip, lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, and the like. It doesn’t mean we will live in sinless perfection, yet lack of perfection should never be an excuse for continued willful sin against God. What it does mean is that our lifestyles will be ones which reflect lives given over to God in submission and in surrender to his will for our lives, and to walking in his ways.

Not of This World (vv. 21-30)

So he said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die in your sin. Where I am going, you cannot come.” So the Jews said, “Will he kill himself, since he says, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come’?” He said to them, “You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins.” So they said to him, “Who are you?” Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have much to say about you and much to judge, but he who sent me is true, and I declare to the world what I have heard from him.” They did not understand that he had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.” As he was saying these things, many believed in him.

When we are born into this world, we are born with sin natures, separate from God, without hope, and destined for eternity in hell. Because of sin, we come up short of attaining God’s divine approval of our lives. In our own flesh, we can do nothing, either, to win God’s approval or to earn our own salvation. So, God the Father sent his Son Jesus to the earth to take on human flesh, and to die on a cross for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us, “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Co. 5:21). When he died, our sins died with him and were buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious over sin, hell, Satan and death. By God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, we can be delivered out of slavery to sin, have Christ’s righteousness credited to our accounts, and live and walk in holiness, empowered by the Spirit of God living within us.

Yet, not everyone has faith. Not even everyone who professes the name of Jesus truly believes in him as Lord and as Savior of their lives. If we truly believe in him, we will follow (obey) him. We will walk in his light and no longer in the darkness. Our desire will be for him, to please him in all that we do and say. We, like Jesus, will not be of this world. We won’t think like the world thinks, or desire the same things it desires. Our hearts will be transformed by the Spirit of God away from living for sin and self, to God, to walking in his ways and in his truth. And, we will walk in holiness, i.e. we will be separate from (different, unlike) this sinful world, because we are becoming like Jesus. This is how it is supposed to be. This is what faith should look like, but not many have faith, or their faith is weak.

Those who do not believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of their lives, who have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin, and resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness,” do not have eternal life with God. They will die in their sins. They will not go to heaven. Yet, James said that even the demons believe, and they shudder. Nonetheless, the demons do not have eternal life with God, because they rebelled against God and they went their own way, and they have no hope of salvation. So, their belief is not of faith, but of intellect and head knowledge only. So, true belief in Jesus is the kind that trusts him with our lives, that submits to his Lordship, that surrenders to his will, that repents of sin, and that chooses to walk in the light of his love and no longer in the darkness.

Jesus told the Jews, basically, that when the time came when they would put him to death on a cross, they would then know that he was who he said he was. His crucifixion and his resurrection would be proof of his deity. Their eyes would be opened, although not everyone recognized him for who he is, and not all believed. The nation of Israel is still waiting for their Messiah, though some Jews have put their faith in Jesus. Yet, I believe that during a severe time of persecution of followers of Christ that many will come to faith in Jesus Christ and that the adulterous church will be revived, because their eyes will then be opened, and they will humble themselves before God in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

By Your Grace / An Original Work / June 27, 2011

Speak Your words to my heart,

Let Your grace and love impart.

Be to me all I need

To love and serve Christ my King;

To love and serve Christ my King.

Change my heart; be like You;

Let me love and serve in truth.

Guide my steps ev’ry day,

As I bow my knees and pray;

As I bow my knees and pray.

Love You, Lord. You love me.

You died so that I’d go free

From my sin; pure within;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin;

By Your grace I’m saved from sin.

Invite You in my heart;

Now I have a brand new start.

Repented of my sin,

So that I’d be cleansed within;

So that I’d be cleansed within.

Live for You ev’ry day,

List’ning to the words you say.

Make You Lord of my heart;

Be Your witness, grace impart;

Be Your witness, grace impart.

Obey Your ev’ry word;

Do the things I’ve seen and heard.

Your word, Lord, in me burns,

While I wait for Your return;

While I wait for Your return.

https://vimeo.com/125738774

Do You Know Him?

Saturday, March 12, 2016, 7:25 p.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Servant of The Lord.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 5:30-47 (ESV).

The Testimony (vv. 30-37a)

“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me.

Jesus had just finished talking about how he could do nothing without the Father, and that what the Father did, the Son did also. Jesus did not operate on his own. He was completely in submission to the Father, and he obeyed him in all things, even though he himself was God – fully God, yet fully man, our creator and giver of life. He did not seek his own will, but the will of God the Father, who is the one who had sent him to the earth to become our sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world.

Now, he said that he also did not testify alone about himself, i.e. that he is the Christ, the promised Messiah, of whom Moses and the Prophets spoke, and this was because his testimony alone would not be sufficient evidence to hold up in a court of law. Yet, he did not testify alone, because John the Baptist, the works the Father had given Jesus to do, the Father himself, the Scriptures, and Moses and the Prophets all bore witness about Jesus, that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the only true God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and that he was sent by the Father. And, their testimonies did not originate with man, either, but with God the Father.

The relationship Jesus Christ had/has with the Father is a model for us, Christ’s followers, as to what our relationship with Jesus should look like, and how it should operate, not in the flesh of humankind, but of the Spirit of God. Jesus told his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). So, just as Jesus could do nothing of his own accord, but only what he saw his Father doing, so we can do nothing of eternal value, and for the advancement of the kingdom of heaven, apart from our abiding in Jesus Christ, and apart from the empowerment of his Spirit living within us. If we try to serve God in our own flesh, seeking our own will, instead of the will of God in what we do, it will profit us nothing.

God is not interested in what we are willing to sacrifice for him, or what areas of ministry we have decided we are willing to fill. He wants us to be, with Jesus, like Jesus was/is with the Father. It is his will for us that we should be crucified with Christ in death to sin, and resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). It is his will that we should no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave his life for us on a cross. It is also God’s will for our lives that we should be surrendered to Christ, submitted to his Lordship over our lives, obedient to his teachings, and that we should not seek our own will for our lives, but the will of God/Jesus Christ.

As well, our testimonies about Jesus Christ should not be based in human reasoning or understanding, but they should be founded in the Word of God, and in the witness of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. We must make sure, as much as is possible, that what we give testimony to is in agreement with Scripture, and not something man made up. When we share Christ with others, it should be in the power and working of the Holy Spirit within us, as we pray for the Lord to guide our words and to give us the words to speak. When we share Christ and his Word, it should also not be for the purpose to glorify our own flesh, but to bring praise, honor and glory to God alone. And, our actions, i.e. how we live our lives, should bear witness to the reality of our relationship with Jesus Christ of which we speak.

How Will You Believe? (vv. 37b-47)

“His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

From infanthood I was brought up attending weekly meetings of the church, and I heard the Word of God taught and the gospel of Jesus Christ explained. In my youth I had a pastor who dearly loved the Lord, and who taught us how to study the scriptures, and how to live holy lives, pleasing to God. I was blessed beyond measure with knowledge and understanding of the scriptures, and with a pastor who was a man of God, a man of his word, a man of integrity, and one who walked the talk instead of just talking the walk. I had several godly mentors who taught me how to spend time with my Lord each day in his Word, listening to him speak his words to my heart, and who taught me obedience to Christ, as my love response to him because of all that he did for me. In other words, they taught me how to love Jesus with all my heart.

Yet, having all that knowledge and teaching was not enough. I had to personally accept God’s invitation to his great salvation. I had to personally yield control of my life over to him, repent of my sins, and trust him with my life. It was the Father who drew me to Jesus, and it was the Holy Spirit who convicted my heart of sin. It was the gift of God and his grace that gave me the desire and the ability to believe in Jesus and to repent of my sins, and it was the working of the Holy Spirit in my heart that transformed me from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that I could receive forgiveness of sins. Yet, I am not a puppet, and God is not a puppet master. I had to willingly yield to his Lordship, and willfully cooperate with the working of God’s grace in my heart. I had to turn to God and to his righteousness and away from my sin, empowered by the Spirit, yes, and only because of Jesus’ sacrifice for my sins, but nonetheless I had to make that choice to follow Jesus with my life or to reject him.

There are many people who profess to know Jesus Christ but it is head knowledge only. They know the scriptures. Many of them were brought up attending meetings of the church. Some of them even have Bible college degrees (diplomas). Yet, they don’t really believe in Jesus, because they have never trusted him with their lives. They are still holding on to their old lives of living for sin and self. They are still trying to run their own lives, and they operate fully in the flesh. They have never surrendered their lives to Christ, though, and they never did submit themselves to the cross in dying with Christ to their sin, and in being resurrected with Christ to live to righteousness. They never truly came to Jesus, in other words, but in form or in profession only. Thus, they do not have the love of God within them, because they never truly received Jesus into their lives to save them from slavery to sin in order that they might live with Christ in the Spirit and walk in his holiness.

They are followers of man instead of followers of God. Even though they say they believe the scriptures and that they believe in Jesus, they do not follow them. Their lifestyles do not bear testimony to the profession of their faith, that they have been born again of the Spirit of God, and that they are united with Christ, and that they have eternal life with God. Belief in Jesus is not head knowledge, nor is it an emotional response to an alluring message which promises an escape from hell and the hope of heaven when we die, but does not teach that faith in Jesus means dying to sin and living to righteousness. True belief in Jesus Christ means trusting him with our lives, and submitting to his Lordship, and allowing him to transform our hearts and to make us new creations in Christ Jesus. Will you trust him to be your Lord (owner/master) today, and will you become his servant?

Servant of the Lord / An Original Work

Based off Romans 1:1-17 / July 26, 2012

Servant of the Lord;

For the gospel you’re set apart.

Promised through the prophets of old:

Jesus, Son of God.

Through Him, and for His name alone,

We receive His grace

To call people, Him to obey;

Coming from their faith.

You belong to Christ;

Loved by God, and called to be saints;

Serving God with whole heart and mind;

Preaching Jesus Christ;

Always praying for others’ needs;

Helping hand to lend;

Giving courage to others’ faith,

For the praise of God.

Servant of the Lord;

Of the gospel, I’m not ashamed;

For salvation, power of God

To those who have faith.

In the gospel find righteousness:

Being right with God.

Turn from sin, and trust Jesus Christ.

By faith, live in Him.

https://vimeo.com/119511640

We Do Likewise

Saturday, March 12, 2016, 4:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “A Believer’s Prayer.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 5:19-29 (ESV).

Emulating Jesus Christ (vv. 19-21)

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

Jesus’ relationship to God the Father is a model for us as to what our relationship should look like with him, though not equal, for he was also God, the second person of our triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As Jesus could do nothing of his own accord, but only what he saw the Father doing, we, as well, should be completely dependent on our Lord, and we should be submissive to him in all things. Not only did Jesus command us how we ought to live, but he modeled that life for us. Not only did he model that life for us, but he also gave us his Spirit to live within us to counsel, guide, direct, encourage, instruct, strengthen and empower us to live as Jesus commanded us to live. What Jesus modeled for us when he walked the face of this earth, we should also do, especially with regard to how we treat him and others.

Jesus, although he was a son, learned obedience through what he suffered. He obeyed the Father without wavering. What the Father told him to do, he did. He lived in submission to his Father. He was in continual communication with his Father, too, and he brought him all his requests. He was united (one) in heart and mind with his Father, as well, because he listened to what his Father taught him, and because he obeyed what he learned. What the Father desired, the Son also longed for. In addition to all this, Jesus reveals the Father to us. We come to know the Father through the Son, for he reflects the Father in all he does.

As the Son emulated his Father, we are to emulate Jesus, i.e. we are to become like him in thought, word and deed. We, as well, will learn obedience through the things we suffer, so we should not be afraid to suffer. We should continually be cognizant of the fact that, as Christ’s followers, we are his representatives to the world. The world will judge Jesus by what they see in the lives of his followers. Our lives speak louder than our words, although words are still a necessity in presenting the gospel message of salvation from sin. Just as Jesus was in continual communication with the Father, so should we be with Jesus Christ. We should talk with him, but mostly we should listen. When we hear God speak his words to our hearts, then we should obey what he teaches us.

From Death to Life (vv. 22-24)

The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

We make judgments every day of our lives as to what we will eat, what we will wear, and where we will go. Thus, not all judgment is condemnation. It is also making decisions, expressing opinions, discerning situations, being perceptive, making appraisals, and the like. Jesus, because he is God, is able to judge our hearts, because he created our hearts, and he knows us inside and out. Yet, when he judges our hearts, it is not merely for the purpose to reward or to condemn us. He, because he is God, is able to discern error from truth, and to know who truly believes in him, and who is making merely a show of faith. He is able to judge our motives, and to see our secret sins, or to see who truly has a heart desire to obey him in all things. Thus, he, by his Spirit, is able to counsel, correct, rebuke, encourage, comfort, convict, and lead and guide us into all truth.

Because Jesus is the judge of our hearts, we should honor him. Because we love him, we should respect him. Because of what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins so that we could be set free from the power of sin over our lives, we should give him honor and praise. And, because he is our God and creator, completely sovereign over all things, and because he loved us so much that he gave his life up for us, we should revere him.

We honor him first of all by trusting him with our lives, and by believing in him and in what he did for us. When we put our faith and trust in him, we die with him to sin, and we are resurrected with him to newness of life; to live to righteousness. Because of what he did for us, we give our lives to him as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is our worship of him. By his grace, through faith in him, we are no longer conformed to the ways of this sinful world, but we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God away from sin and to walking in obedience to Christ and in his holiness. If we do not honor Christ, we do not honor the Father. If we do not honor the Father and the Son, we do not truly know them, and we don’t have the assurance of eternal life (Jn. 14:23-24; 1 Jn. 2:3-6). If we truly believe Jesus, we will honor him, and we will pass from death to life.

An Hour is Coming (vv. 25-29)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

For those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, not only do we live in him and him in us while we walk the face of this earth, but one day we will be with him face-to-face, either when we die, or when he comes back to take us to be with him forever. In other words, our hope in Jesus is not just for this life, but for a life yet to come. One day we will leave these flesh bodies, and we will no longer suffer pain, sorrow and death. We will no longer be tempted to sin. Sadness will be no more. And, our salvation will be complete. Amen!

What determines our eternal destiny, though, is not our own righteousness. Our own righteousness is like filthy rags in God’s sight. We only receive salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God because of God’s grace to us, and because of Jesus’ sacrifice of his blood given on the cross to redeem us, i.e. to buy us back for God away from sin; away from Satan. We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless the Father first draws us to him, and even the ability to repent and to believe in Jesus are granted to us as gifts. Our hearts are only transformed from death to life because of the power and working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

Yet, we must submit to Christ and to the cross in our lives, and we must surrender our wills to the will of the Father in heaven. We must willingly let go of our past lives of living for sin and self, and we must yield control of our lives over to God. In other words, we must cooperate with God’s work of grace in our lives in saving us from our sins. We are not puppets on a string. He does not force his will upon us. We must choose to trust in him and to submit to his Lordship over our lives. This is the good we do which rewards us with eternal life, i.e. believing on Jesus Christ to deliver us from our sins, and to give us new lives in him to be lived in his power, and to righteousness, for this is why he died.

Those who continue to do evil will face the judgment of condemnation, even many of those who profess to know Jesus, and who have prayed a “sinner’s prayer,” too. This is true of them if all they were doing was repeating words just because they thought they would escape hell and/or just because they were told they would go to heaven when they die. If we read Jesus’ teachings, and those of his New Testament apostles, we will clearly see that believing in Jesus to be our Lord and Savior is not just an escape from hell and the hope of heaven, but it is trusting him completely with our lives, in submission to him, and in surrender to his will for our lives in dying with him to sin, and in living with him to righteousness. So, if you have not submitted your life to Christ, to do his will, and you have not left your old life of sin behind you, I pray you will do so today. Your future depends on it. Let him be Lord of your life today while you still have today. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

A Believer’s Prayer

An Original Work / July 31, 2012

With my whole heart,

Lord, I pray to be Yours,

And Yours always.

Lead me in Your truth today.

May I love You, and obey.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

When I sin, may I confess;

Bow before You when I pray;

Live for You and You always.

Love You, Jesus,

You’re my friend.

Life with You will never end.

You are with me through each day,

Giving love and peace always.

You will ne’er abandon me.

From my sin You set me free.

You died on that cruel tree,

So I’d live eternally.

Soon You’re coming back for me;

From this world to set me free;

Live with You eternally.

Oh, what joy that brings to me.

I will walk with You in white;

A pure bride,

I’ve been made right

By the blood of Jesus Christ;

Pardoned by His sacrifice.

https://vimeo.com/114796263

Why Must We Suffer?

Friday, March 11, 2016, 8:15 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Open My Heart.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 5:1-15 (ESV).

Jesus our Healer (vv. 1-9a)

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

When Jesus Christ walked the face of this earth as fully God, yet fully man, he healed the sick and afflicted, raised the dead, cast out demons, comforted the sorrowful, and forgave sins. It seemed that anyone who came to him for healing was healed. He even healed those who did not come to him for healing, such as this man.

Now, this man wanted to be healed, it would appear, as he was there by the pool for a long time, apparently hoping someone would put him in the pool. Jesus saw this, but he still asked him if he wanted to be healed, though I am sure Jesus already knew the answer to that question. By the man’s response, it was clear to Jesus that he, indeed, wanted healing, so Jesus healed him. Yet, there was no particular formula Jesus followed for healing people. For instance, the man who was born blind did not request healing. Jesus just healed him, although the man did have to follow Jesus’ instructions to go wash, which he did.

Sometimes other people requested healing for someone they loved, and Jesus healed them. He didn’t always heal in person, either. Sometimes he just spoke a word and the person was healed, although the person making the request did not immediately know the healing had taken place, because the person who was healed was some distance away, and they had no way to instantly get that information as we do today via telephones and the internet.

When I read these stories of Jesus’ healing of people, though, it brings several questions to mind. Since Jesus Christ, God the Son, is our creator, and he is completely sovereign and in control over all things, does he sometimes allow sickness and afflictions for his purposes? Does he always heal when people request healing? Does he ever delay healing for his purposes? And, does he heal in more than one way? Basically, does God allow suffering and, if so, why does he? And, does he always heal those who call on him for healing?

I will first of all note that I believe Jesus is our Savior, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. He is my great physician. He has healed me spiritually, physically and emotionally on more than one occasion. So, I am a firm believer in divine healing, and in praying for healing. Too many people, including Christians, run to doctors and to prescription drugs for their healing before they even pray and ask God to heal them. The Lord told me several years ago to trust him with my healing, and to stop taking prescription and over-the-counter drugs, so I did that. And, I trust him to take care of me. Yet, that does not mean I never get sick, or that I never suffer. I do. But, I trust him through my suffering, and I believe him still for healing, and for the strength to make it through every day, by his grace.

When God Doesn’t Heal

If we thoroughly study the scriptures, we will see that God/Jesus is in the business of healing. I believe that Jesus never turns away a repentant sinner from his divine grace in the healing of his sin-sick soul, because that person would not even come to Jesus had the Father not first drawn him (or her) to the Savior. I also believe that God will always offer his comfort, encouragement, hope and emotional healing to his suffering servants. He may not remove them from their difficult circumstances, but he will strengthen them through them. He will never leave them or forsake them, but he will empower them to endure. Yet, although I believe scripture teaches divine healing for physical ailments, I also see that there are exceptions to that rule, and that God also allows human suffering for his purposes, and in fact he says we, as his followers, are destined for trials and tribulations.

To begin with, sickness, afflictions and suffering are part of the curse of sin which came upon all human beings due to the fall of Adam. So, as long as we live in these flesh bodies, we are subject to pain, suffering, sickness and afflictions. Also, scripture teaches that suffering produces endurance, character and hope. We will face trials, even fiery ones, in order to test us. Yet, we are to count it all joy when we face trials of various kinds, for the testing of our faith produces steadfastness, in order that we may become mature and complete. And, when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, we may have to go through many difficulties which may result in sickness, injuries, and physical weakness and pain, such as Jesus went through when he was beaten and hung on a cross to die.

God also allows suffering in our lives so that we may comfort others with the comfort we ourselves received from God during our afflictions. And, God allows us to suffer affliction, too, so that we learn to rely on him and not on ourselves. In addition to all this, God allows his children to endure suffering as a means of disciplining us, in order that we may share in his holiness. When we are being trained by such discipline, “afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (See: Heb. 12:1-12). Further, Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, which was a messenger of Satan, given by God to torment him, in order to keep him humble, because of all the revelations given him by God. He pleaded with the Lord three times for God to take it away, but God’s response to Paul was that God’s grace was sufficient for him, for God’s “power is made perfect in weakness.” Thus, Paul concluded, “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Co. 12:7-10).

I believe we should always pray for healing, and that we should trust the Lord to be our great physician, and that we should inquire of the Lord as to what he wants us to do in any given situation. Again, I believe too many people run to doctors and drugs and surgeries instead of going to God for healing. Americans are particularly bad about this. Apparently Americans consume as much as 80% of the world’s pain pills, according to one article I read. And, it is because Americans are afraid to suffer. And, doctors are all too ready to just hand out pills for just about everything. And, if a pill has side effects that are troublesome, they just prescribe another pill, and on and on it goes, so that many people are consumed with feeling as though they must take pills to survive. We need to not be so afraid of suffering, and we need to learn to trust the Lord to bring us through our times of pain.

Yet, I also believe suffering is a necessary part of our lives in order to mature us in Christ, teach us perseverance, develop godly character within us, draw us closer to our Lord, teach us to rely on God and not on ourselves (or other humans), give us compassion for the hurting, humble us, that we may share in Christ’s holiness, and that it might produce the fruit of righteousness in our lives. Although God has healed me many times, he has also allowed me to suffer, too, and has sometimes given me the same message he gave Paul. So, don’t be afraid of suffering, but trust God with your life and with your difficult circumstances. Pray for healing, but be willing to accept “my grace is sufficient for you,” and believe God has a good purpose in allowing the pain and suffering, and that he will bring good out of it in your life, and in the lives of people whose lives you touch.

Sin No More (vv. 9b-15)

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

It is possible, as well, that our suffering can be a result of sin in our lives, not just the result of original sin and sin’s curse on all mankind. Jesus told the man he had healed to “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” This sounds to me like Jesus is either indicating that the man’s sin is what caused his affliction in the first place, and/or that if he sinned further, he may end up with something worse than he had before. God’s discipline on our lives, as well, may be for the purpose to correct some unrepentant sin in our lives, so that we will repent, and so we will get back on track with God in walking in his holiness, if we have drifted from our pure devotion to him. So, if you are going through a time of personal sickness or suffering, and you have prayed for healing, but the healing has not come, it may be that there is sin in your life which the Lord wants gone, and that you have not been listening, and so he will send suffering as a way of getting your attention.

So, when you are sick, afflicted, in pain, and/or you are suffering affliction of any kind, call on God/Jesus in prayer, confess any known sin in your life, turn from it, and turn to walk in obedience to your Lord. Walk in holiness, and do not give the devil a foothold in your life. Then, pray for healing. If healing does not come, ask the Lord what he wants to do in your life. He will direct you in the way you should go. He may say that the timing is not right, or he may tell you his grace is sufficient for you, or he may heal you on the spot when you persist in prayer for his healing touch. I believe scripture teaches all these possibilities. But, whatever the outcome, do not be afraid of what may come your way. Trust in your Lord through it all, listen to what he says, and follow his lead. He may have something much greater in mind for you than physical healing. He may use your ailment as an instrument of mercy in the lives of many, many people, in order to reach them for Jesus. So, believe him. Listen to him. Obey him. And, then rest in him, and accept whatever he has for you.

Open My Heart / An Original Work / July 2, 2013

“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil” (Rm. 16:19b).

Open my heart. Let Your truth in.

Make of me a servant, pure within;

Sing of Your praise all of my days.

Let Your Spirit transform all my ways.

Jesus Christ died on a cross to

Save me from my sin.

“Repent of sin. Be cleansed within.

Obey all of His commands today.”

“Why do you doubt? Why do you fear?

Jesus Christ will wipe away your tears.

He cares for you. He feels your pain.

Die to sin, and life with Him you’ll gain.

Follow Him where’er He leads you.

Talk with Him each day.

Then you will know what He has planned

For your life before your world began.”

“Come unto Me, weary in heart.

Let My love and grace to you impart.

Believe in Me. Trust in My care.

Take your burdens to the Lord in prayer.

He will meet all of your needs,

And give you peace within.

Rejoice in Him! Tell of His love.

He will give you comfort from above.”

https://vimeo.com/116072845

A Spring of Water

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 5:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Unless You Are Born Again.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 4:1-42 (ESV).

Living Water (vv. 4-15)

And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Jesus, on his way from Judea to Galilee, had to physically travel through Samaria. Yet, I believe the “had to” also had to do with a divine appointment with a woman at a well.

The Samaritans were a mixed breed of Jews and Gentiles who also had a blended religion of the God of the Jews and that of other gods. They were an idolatrous people, and despised by the Jews. The Jews, thus, had no associations with Samaritans, which is why the woman was surprised when Jesus spoke with her. Yet, Jesus came to save sinners, and she was a sinner, as all people are born sinners, so he presented to her how she could have the hope of eternal life with God, i.e. he shared with her the gospel.

He spoke with her about “the gift of God” and of himself, that if she had known these, she would have asked Jesus for living water. So, what did he mean by this? Well, Jesus himself was certainly “the gift of God” to the world, as well as was God’s grace to us in sending his Son to die for our sins, although Jesus had not yet died. Our salvation is a free gift of God, as is even the faith to believe in Jesus for salvation (See: Eph. 2:8-10). The eternal life we receive, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, is also a gift of God to us. We can do nothing to earn or to deserve our own salvation or God’ grace to us in forgiving us of our sins. He even grants us the repentance necessary for salvation (See: Ac. 11:18). We can’t even come to faith in Jesus Christ unless the Father first draws us to Christ. All of this is the working of the Spirit in our lives, yet it is a gift we must willingly receive.

So, what is this spring of water welling up to eternal life? What is this living water? Well, for us, when we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, of the Spirit, and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” In other words, we are born again, of the Spirit, in spiritual birth. The old life of living for sin and self is put to death, and we now have new lives to be lived in the Spirit to righteousness, free from slavery to sin, and free to now become the Lord’s servants. We are new creations in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit comes to live within us, and he encourages, strengthens, counsels, directs, leads, instructs and empowers us to live for God and to walk in Christ’s holiness. The Spirit within us, and this new life in Christ Jesus, which is eternal life, is this spring of water, this living water, welling up to eternal life.

In Spirit and Truth (vv. 16-26)

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

I am so thankful for God’s grace, aren’t you? No matter where we have been, or what we have done, if we trust in Jesus to be Lord (owner/master) and Savior of our lives, he forgives us our sins, and he gives us completely new lives in the Spirit free from slavery to sin, and free to come under the control of righteousness. Amen! I am so glad that the Father drew me to Jesus Christ, and that he chose to give me new life in his Spirit, i.e. to give me new birth. I am so thankful to God that, although I was steeped in sin from birth, that his love lifted me out of that slimy pit, and that he has given me a firm place to stand by faith in him.

Many people follow a religion, but this living water is not a religion, it is a relationship. When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we now have access to the Father in heaven through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross for our sins, Jesus becomes Lord (owner/master) of our lives, and our husband, and we become his bride. And, the Holy Spirit indwells us. Our worship of God is not in form only, nor is it following a set of rites and rituals, but we have a personal relationship with Almighty God to where we can talk with him, and him with us, throughout our day. We can hear him speaking his truths to our hearts and, in the power of the Spirit, walk in obedience to our Lord and in surrender to his will for our lives. We don’t have to go to a particular building on a specific day of the week to worship God, either. We can worship him anywhere at any time both individually and with other believers in Jesus Christ. The early church met daily in the temple courts and from house to house.

We Believe (vv. 27-30, 39-42)

Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him…

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

The woman believed Jesus’ words, although she may not have understood all of them at that moment. Yet, she took what she knew and understood, and she shared it with others, and they came and heard Jesus, too, and many put their faith in Jesus Christ.

We don’t have to have a Bible college degree, or to have memorized a whole lot of scriptures in order to give our testimony of what Jesus Christ did in our lives. The man that Jesus healed who had been born blind didn’t understand everything that had happened to him. He didn’t know the man who healed him, and yet he gave testimony to the fact that once he was blind, but now he could see. Amen! The woman shared what she knew, and what she understood, and because of her testimony, many came to faith in Jesus Christ. I love the story, too, of the calling of the disciples, for many of them, as soon as they followed Jesus, went and told their friends or relatives to come and see Jesus, too.

When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives, and we have been turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, and we receive forgiveness of sins, and we are born anew of the Spirit of God, and we are freed from our slavery to sin, we, too, should want to tell others what Jesus did for us.

Unless You Are Born Again

An Original Work / November 3, 2013

Based off John 3:1-21

Nicodemus came to Jesus.

He acknowledged God was with Him.

Jesus said, “You can’t see heaven

Unless you are born again.”

“How can a man be born when he’s old?

Can he enter into his mother’s womb?”

Jesus answered, “Flesh is flesh,

So of the Spirit, you must be.”

Jesus said to Nicodemus,

“You’re a teacher, and yet you don’t

Understand of what I tell you,

Because you will not believe.

“For God so loved the world that He gave

His one and His only Son for your sin.

So, whoever believes in Him

Has eternal life in heav’n.

“Light has come into the world,

But human beings love the darkness,

Because their deeds are so evil,

So in truth, they stand condemned.

“Everyone who practices evil

Fears that the Light will expose his sin.

Yet, whoever lives his life by the Light

Does so through his God.”

https://vimeo.com/114686371

Into the Light

Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 12:00 noon – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “Your Servant Witness.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read John 3:1-21 (ESV).

Born of The Spirit (vv. 1-8)

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

If we want to have the promise of heaven when we die, have eternal life with God both now and forevermore, enter into his eternal kingdom, be delivered out of slavery to sin, and escape eternal damnation, as well as have a vital and personal relationship with Almighty God, we must be born again. So, what does it mean to be born again?

When we are born into this world, we are born of the flesh, of a woman. That is physical birth, which is of water. When we are born physically, we are born with sin natures, separate from God, and destined for hell. We come up short of attaining God’s divine approval because of our sin. Nothing we can do in our flesh can ever gain us heaven or salvation from sin or eternal life with God. We can’t earn our own salvation nor can we ever do anything that would make us deserving of heaven. Our good will never outweigh our bad. And, we can never keep all the law with 100% perfection.

So, God the Father sent his Son Jesus Christ to the earth to die on a cross for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might be delivered out of sin and have eternal life. When he died, our sins died with him, and were buried with him. When he was resurrected from the dead, he rose victorious over sin, Satan, hell and death. Through his death and resurrection, he provided the way for us to delivered out of slavery to sin, from the curse of sin, and from eternal damnation, and he freed us to now walk in his holiness and righteousness. By God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, we no longer have to pay the penalty of our sin, for Jesus paid what we owed with his blood. Through faith in Jesus Christ we now have the righteousness of Jesus Christ credited to our accounts, so we are now free from sin, and we have been given new lives in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

This, described above, is new birth. This is what it means to be born again, of the Spirit. God the Father draws us to Jesus Christ, we are convicted of our sin and of our need of the Savior, and so we choose to believe in Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of our lives. The Lord grants us repentance and the faith to believe, and so we turn away from our former lives of living for sin and self, and we turn to follow Jesus Christ with our lives, in obedience to what he teaches us through his Word. When we believe in Jesus, we are crucified with Christ, of the Spirit, in death to sin, and we are resurrected with Christ in newness of life, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:24). The old has gone. The new has come. We are now born again, not of the flesh, but of the Spirit.

Do You Not Understand? (vv. 9-15)

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Although the gospel message is quite clear, and it was well articulated by Jesus Christ, and by his New Testament apostles, and even though many ministers of the gospel have studied the scriptures, and should know what it means to be born again, still many of them do not adhere to the full gospel message, but they teach what is pleasing to itching ears. They teach a half-truth or a diluted gospel message which requires no repentance, no turning from sin, and no obedience to Christ’s teachings. In other words, they ignore a large majority of scriptural teaching on the gospel, because it does not fit with their lifestyles. They do not teach the crucified life of death to sin and living to righteousness. Their idea of belief in Jesus Christ sounds more like a mere intellectual assent to what he did for us in dying for our sins, or an emotional response to the hope of escaping hell, and having the promise of heaven when we die, yet based on a mere profession of faith.

Yet, being “born again” is not a mere escape from hell and promise of heaven when we die. Being born again means we are being given new life, a transformed life of the Spirit of God. We don’t add Jesus Christ on to our old lives and expect that we can just slowly change a little at a time according to our own timetable, and according to what suits us and our lifestyles. Paul said that when we believe in Jesus Christ that our old lives of sin are done away with so that we can live our new lives in the Spirit. Peter said that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Paul said that Jesus died that we might no longer live for ourselves, but for him who gave himself up for us. He said that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh, but who conduct our lives according to the Spirit. If we walk according to the flesh, we will die, but if by the Spirit we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh, we will live. Being “born again” means we don’t live like we lived before. We now live in the Spirit, not according to our sinful flesh.

Whoever Believes (vv. 16-21)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

When I was a child, I memorized John 3:16, as well as many other key scripture verses related to our eternal salvation, most of which were taken out of context, which in some cases did not provide full understanding of the message intended.

Many people claim that if they just “believe” in Jesus Christ that they now have the promise of heaven guaranteed, no matter what they do from this moment on, no matter how they conduct their lives, and even if they would choose later on to not believe. But, is that what is intended here? And, what do they really mean by “believe” when they present a gospel message that results in no spiritual transformation and no new birth of the Spirit in someone’s life? If all we do is say we believe, or we repeat after someone certain words, and then someone congratulates us on having just received eternal salvation, is that true belief? Are we truly born again? Or, is this all smoke and mirrors?

If we look at the Greek tense of the word “believe,” we will learn that the word is present tense and should be translated, “whoever believing in him…” What this means is that we have to believe today, and tomorrow, and continue believing until we die, or until Jesus returns if we want to have eternal life. Eternal life is not promised on the basis of past belief, only on present belief. Also, if I claim to believe in something or someone, it means I put my trust in them. Remember that James said that even the demons believe, and they shudder. Many who claim to know Jesus have no fear of God at all. And, their belief is surface level only, as they are just looking to escape punishment. They are not looking to honor and worship and serve the Living God.

As well, if I truly believe Jesus died so that I could be delivered out of slavery to sin, and so I can walk daily in his righteousness, which is what scripture teaches as the reason he died, then I am not going to continue to live a sinful lifestyle. If I do, then scripture says my profession of faith is a lie, and that I don’t really know God. It teaches that I will die, not live with God for eternity. When I come before God one day, he will tell me that he never knew me, even though I tell him that I “prayed the prayer,” and was told I had heaven guaranteed. So, I better know what scripture teaches, and I had better stop listening to all these liars and deceivers, i.e. these wolves in sheep’s clothing who are convincing so many, many people that they can “believe” and go to heaven when they die, but that they don’t have to turn from their sins, and they don’t have to obey Christ’s teachings.

Ok, now back to what I said previously about taking scriptures out of context. Look and see how this passage of scripture describes one who truly believes in Jesus, versus those who do not believe. The one who does not believe hates the light (truth, righteousness), because his deeds are evil, so he will not come into the light. These would be those who say they don’t have to repent, i.e. that they don’t have to turn away from their sins and they don’t have to obey Jesus Christ, and that God is pleased with them no matter what they do. But, the one who truly believes comes into the light, and embraces the light, and desires to live by and walk by the light of Christ, i.e. by his righteousness and holiness, and his deeds bear witness to this fact. This would be one who is truly “born again,” because his life would reflect that he no longer walks in the darkness, but he now walks in the Light. Amen!

Your Servant Witness / An Original Work / March 13, 2012

Humbly I bow, Lord, before You,

Bringing my requests to You.

May I listen; hear You speaking.

May I follow You in truth.

Gently lead me in Your service.

Guide my steps and strengthen me.

Fill me with Your love and mercy.

May I live for Thee!

Let me be Your servant witness,

Telling others of Your grace.

May I always share the gospel

With those I meet face to face.

May I show the love of Jesus,

Caring for the needs of men;

Be Your servant witness always

For my Lord, Amen!

My desire to be like Jesus,

Living for Him ev’ry day.

May I obey all His teachings

Given me, so I’ll not stray.

Love You, Jesus, Lord, my master.

You are the King of my heart;

Follow You where’er You lead me;

Not from You depart!

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