I have been a born again believer since 1981 so roughly 35 years. I was formerly a drug abuser and High School drop out. My conversion happened after coming close to committing suicide after having what I will term demonic oppression due to LSD, as I stood with a butcher knife in hand praying if God were real to make the oppression stop, and it did! I had a friend who was in jail for several months, he began to read the bible. When he got out he wanted to start a bible study, I showed up at his house stoned on pot and listened to bible teaching tapes by Pastor Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel, who recently went to be with the Lord. I began to read through the New Testament and in several months I lost the desire to use drugs or alcohol. I also quit smoking cigarettes just because they felt dirty to me. I lost a lot supposed friends due to my newly found love for the bible. Eventually I remember understanding that I had been born again by the Spirit of God. I had prayed for the forgiveness of my sins, understanding the work of the cross and the resurrection of Christ for the first time in my life. I new something substantial had changed on the inside of my life, and that it was overflowing to the outside of my life as well. I had this sticker on my window in my bedroom that said, Born of the Spirit, which when walking to the store it dawned on me that I was born of the spirit. I was baptized only a few weeks later and I had this incredible peace come over me that lasted months. There was this huge awareness of God's presence, it was almost as if Jesus was going to materialize at any moment. I cannot describe the emotions, but I was like I was wrapped in unconditional love, a bubble of love and grace, emanating within me. This was the beginning of a long journey that continues to this day, a journey with the indwelling Christ.
So the purpose of this thread is to discuss the Lord Jesus life living within us, the parable of the vine and branches playing out in our lives. Christianity is nothing more than Christ's life being born in us through his Holy Spirit. This is the essence of true and genuine Christianity, stripped of all the rubbish, it is faith in the atoning work of the cross by God who was in the flesh, Jesus, who rose again bodily, and is seated at the right hand of God, and who supplies spiritual life and new birth by indwelling those who believe by His Holy Spirit.
So the purpose of this thread is to discuss the Lord Jesus life living within us, the parable of the vine and branches playing out in our lives. Christianity is nothing more than Christ's life being born in us through his Holy Spirit. This is the essence of true and genuine Christianity, stripped of all the rubbish, it is faith in the atoning work of the cross by God who was in the flesh, Jesus, who rose again bodily, and is seated at the right hand of God, and who supplies spiritual life and new birth by indwelling those who believe by His Holy Spirit.
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