Being ‘Born Again’ Is More Than Literal

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1 Peter 1-3

Being born again is more than a literal statement. Being born again is a spiritual blessing. Being born again is a gift of adoption. It shows that God chose us to be members of his family and we are no longer destined to roam the earth homeless. By accepting His offer to be our Father, we entered His Home and are no longer Gentiles. We have become part of His chosen family. We have been reborn of the Spirit. See John 3:1-10.

To reiterate yesterday’s Post, ‘we are no longer destined to hell.’ Our Walk is redirected and aligned with the destiny God created for us.

Will we walk down the new path? That is a personal question that only you can answer. Most of us weave on and off the trail to our destiny. The beauty is, we can re-center ourselves on the path and can ask for help if needed. God responds by saying, do not look to the left or right. Listen to my voice.

Being born again cannot be literal. Our human body is birthed one time and is not a voluntary act. It is the end process of pregnancy. Our spiritual rebirth is voluntary and is permitted as the result of free-will. What is the purpose of constructing a robot and not allow it to become intuitive? The intuitive nature is what allows the robot to choose direction and paths. The same is true of us. God created us to join Him in a (biblical) relationship. The relationship needs free-will, or it cannot be defined as a relationship.

The dictionary describes a relationship as the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected. According to Bible.org, the word, “biblical” is an adjective and describes the relationship as one that meets the criterion of the Bible as it describes and delineates the principles that should characterize any relationship.

Our relationship is both biblical and personal. It began the moment we realized our need My Story3for Him, and admit we are sinners, and in faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior. The first relationship we had with God was when He created Adam and Eve, to set up two-way communication.  They walked with Him in the garden and talked directly to Him. Do to the sin of man, we became separated and disconnected from God.

I feel comfortable in saying that the Lord longed for an on-going relationship with His people and had to reset how He would accomplish it. He decided to send Himself to earth in the form of Jesus to experience mankind incarnate. He gave us a gift when He allowed Jesus to be hung on the cross. The gift is another example of free-will. Jesus during the crucifixion process momentarily operated under the free-will clause, asking God, ‘why, why do you deny me.’ Jesus then thought about the consequences of not going through the crucifixion and said, ‘but your will be done and not mine.’

I bring this into the discussion because I believe God, knowingly accounted for the prospect of free-will being turned against Him, as in the case of Adam and Eve and eating the apple. It worked on His behalf when Jesus denied himself and followed the My Story2path God designed to reunify His relationship with us. He offers the reunification to all of us. The gift was placed deep within us before birth, in that He knew us long before we were born. My experience with longing for relationship entered early in life. It always felt that something, a nagging desire, existed within me to know God more deeply. Like most of us, this is a deep-seated feeling, one that initially cannot be defined. It is not until later in life that this feeling was more than an emotion. Earlier in life when I attended children’s church and Summer Bible Camp, I learned about Christ. My soul was being fed and putting a frame around this longing.

Interestingly, this did not automatically create cognitive thoughts about entering a deep relationship with God.  I pondered how to accomplish this, but I do not believe it is within our purview to do so. One day during service, an altar call was made, and my soul cried out. I then went forward to receive Christ as my Lord and Savior (physically and spiritually) and then entered the relationship he offered me before I was born. (Clarification – You don’t have to wait for an altar-call, you can read the scripture aloud in a room by yourself or in front of others.)

Through this process, I received a spiritual blessing and a personal relationship with God. I can go to God in prayer; He is my Counselor, Psalm 16:7; Psalm 32. I can cry to Him. I can share my fears and most private thoughts with Him. He is All truth. He is my Comforter, John 14:16. I can go to Him when I am ill. He is my Healer, Jehovah-Rapha/ Yahweh-Rapha, Exodus 15:26. I can go to Him when I am lost. He is my Shepherd, Jehovah-Rohi/Yahweh-Rohi, Psalm 23:1. I can go to Him in times of need. He is my provider, Jehovah-Jireh/Yahweh-Jireh, Genesis 22:14. I can go to Him when I have sinned. He sanctifies me and makes me Holy, Jehovah- M’Kaddash/Yahweh-M’Kaddesh, Leviticus 20:8; Ezekiel 37:28. I can look to Him for security. He is my Father, Elohim, Genesis 17:7; Jeremiah 31:33. His is a short list of the names of God. It is important to know the rest, though not as important when speaking with Him in prayer. A name defines us but is not used as part of the salutation throughout conversations and therefore not a requirement in communicating with God. Exposing Jesus’ name protects us from the attacks of the evil one. He is Jehovah-Palat. He is my Deliverer., Psalm 144:2. The Lord’s name is a strong tower. I can run into it, Proverbs 18;10. He sees me. He is Jehovah-El Roi, Genesis 16:13, He is YHWH, Jehovah, our Lord, and Savior. It is by His great Mercy that I am Born Again. Being born again is not and can not be a literal act. Being born again is spiritual. It is our admission to ‘home’.

ReBlog – https://wp.me/p98Coa-yY
Images – Google Images; YouVersion. Bible.com
Scriptures – Biblica.org; Biblegateway.com
Resources – 100 Names of God. Daily Devotional. Christopher D. Hudson, 2015; What are the Different Names of God and what do they mean? Got Questions.org. 9/2018

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.

Thank God For Daily Mercies

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Good Morning,

Thank God, His mercies are renewed everyday. Our actions are covered everyday. We do not have to worry about them piling up and being buried by them. We can repent of the day and know we are forgiven. Keep having good thoughts, and doing positive deeds, and for those moments when thoughts or actions don’t align with Christ, repent, ask for immediate forgiveness.

God’s compassion never fails. Today’s mercies cover this day, and faith that tomorrow’s unseen mercies will be sufficient for that day. Do not carry woes, anxieties, and concerns into the upcoming day. Release them, give them to God through repentance and begin each day believing in new mercies.

In faith we are strong.

Two passages of scripture sum up how God frees us.

  • Lamentation 3:22-23

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassion’s  fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  • Matthew 6:34

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Think about these passages as you go through your day. Before I retired I often thought of and recited them to myself, it is freeing and a reminder that God is ever-present, and covers us each and every day. Oh, and yes, I still recite them to myself and will as long as I am alive.

Refuge Is Always Near

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I find comfort in knowing that when things become hectic, our God gives us strength and resolve. He welcomes us into His refuge and settles us in a calm, peaceful state.

His refuge is a place we flee to in times of trouble, danger, anxiety,  or simply uncertainty. Generally speaking, if we are fleeing to a place of safety, we are fleeing from a place of discomfort and insecurity. God is aware of our plights in life and created a place of strength and security.

It is ours to seek when we choose. Our level of discomfort does not determine when we can access His refuge. It is always available to us.  We were not created to live life using our own strength; we are created to need God’s strength. We can call upon the Lord to protect us and strengthen our resolve at any time, day or night. Our faith unlocks the door to His refuge.

According to Bible scholars, the term refuge means a place we flee from, and a place we flee to. To broaden the connotation,

we flee from:

~Misunderstandings
~Obstacles
~Provocation
~Change
~Sin
~Sorrow
~Disappointment
~Uncertainty
~Peril

and we flee to:

~A safe place
~A place of trust
~A secure place
~A shelter
~A sanctuary
~An asylum

Prayer

God, thank you for making Yourself known to me. Thank you for your power, Your might, Your Strength. Help me to never doubt Your strength but to rely on it every minute of every day. Please continue to reveal Yourself to me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Images – YouVersion.Bible.com

Resource/References – Biblestudytool.com; 100 Names of God, Daily Devotional. Christopher D. Hudson. 2015 (Prayer paraphrased.)

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com. At the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.

Be Strong, Do Not Waver

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It is important that we do not waver in our faith, even when we do not feel like it, or when things are not going our way.

The Lord is our rock, shelter, healer, teacher, advocate, counselor, guide, friend, and Father. He is always by our side. He is always with us.

We are secure in the hands of the Lord, when we waver, we enter uncharted waters.

Images – bible.com

Scripture – YouVersion, Bible.com

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