The thought came to me last night about how God might be viewing me. Yes, His view of Tommy who now writes this.
The point of this post is: Do you think there's a possibility that God's REAL concern for us isn't what's happening in our life but, rather, He's mostly concerned about US (you and I), in particular. Yes, I'm thinking that maybe God is looking inside of me instead of what's going on around me. Does that make any sense? What I mean is, I will ALWAYS have things going on in my life which will happen to me and around me, no matter WHERE I happen to be living and WHAT I happen to be doing. That goes for all of us, of course. But what is actually going on INSIDE of me, SINCE I have found the Holy Spirit working in me, is that I am being regenerated by His Presence. Yes, I find new work being born in me, BECAUSE of His Presence.
It says in Titus 3:5 that Jesus, "saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit ...... " Isn't Jesus talking about our sanctification AFTER He justified us with His own Blood? In other words, the event of Jesus coming into my life was not only life-changing, but also SOUL-changing. This means to me that my life changed because my soul changed. I received a new heart.
My point of all this is that it really seems that today's world has surely beaten to death the words, "Born again", don't you think? I heard this song on t.v. the other day with the lyrics, "Since I lay with you, I am born again." My Goodness! To ME, my being reborn was FACTUALLY a liberation from my bondage to sin and moral decay. It wasn't some touchy-feely thing I got from some person! I am, in other words, turning into something that actually reflects Jesus Christ. And I am dead sure there are many who will read this who are experiencing the same thing. What is now happening inside of us is something in which we play no active role at all. It is God's Work, alone. Repenting and believing is OUR work, and being born again is what happens TO us.
The dead cannot give itself life. Our individual regeneration is like the sun rising, and our faith is the light which the sun's rising brings.
.........
Dear God, please continue to help us be overwhelmed by the miracle which You have caused to happen in our lives, since we received Jesus IN our lives. I, personally, still cannot believe that you would wait for me, even during all of my blaspheming and purposeful sin. I will always love You and praise You. Amen.
........
My friends, BELIEVE in John 3:16. And then read the next few verses AFTER that famous verse, to help you understand just WHY humans have such a hard time accepting Him into their daily life.
And I also love what Mark tells us in Chapter 3, about a man with a withered hand who asked Jesus to cure him. And Jesus answered, "Stretch out your hand!" The man was stunned. Then Jesus repeated, "Stretch out your hand!" I am sure the man thought, "And just how am I going to stretch out a totally-withered hand to this man?" Jesus tells us all to stretch out our life to Him and let a miracle happen. Yes, LET the saving work begin .................. WITHIN your regenerated soul. Saying we are saved is one thing; Letting it happen is another.
.........
Help us, Lord, remember to remember that "belief" is NOT being saved. Show us, Father, how we need to step out in our faith and touch other peoples's lives as Jesus touched ours. Yes, with love. Thank you, God. Amen
The point of this post is: Do you think there's a possibility that God's REAL concern for us isn't what's happening in our life but, rather, He's mostly concerned about US (you and I), in particular. Yes, I'm thinking that maybe God is looking inside of me instead of what's going on around me. Does that make any sense? What I mean is, I will ALWAYS have things going on in my life which will happen to me and around me, no matter WHERE I happen to be living and WHAT I happen to be doing. That goes for all of us, of course. But what is actually going on INSIDE of me, SINCE I have found the Holy Spirit working in me, is that I am being regenerated by His Presence. Yes, I find new work being born in me, BECAUSE of His Presence.
It says in Titus 3:5 that Jesus, "saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own Mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit ...... " Isn't Jesus talking about our sanctification AFTER He justified us with His own Blood? In other words, the event of Jesus coming into my life was not only life-changing, but also SOUL-changing. This means to me that my life changed because my soul changed. I received a new heart.
My point of all this is that it really seems that today's world has surely beaten to death the words, "Born again", don't you think? I heard this song on t.v. the other day with the lyrics, "Since I lay with you, I am born again." My Goodness! To ME, my being reborn was FACTUALLY a liberation from my bondage to sin and moral decay. It wasn't some touchy-feely thing I got from some person! I am, in other words, turning into something that actually reflects Jesus Christ. And I am dead sure there are many who will read this who are experiencing the same thing. What is now happening inside of us is something in which we play no active role at all. It is God's Work, alone. Repenting and believing is OUR work, and being born again is what happens TO us.
The dead cannot give itself life. Our individual regeneration is like the sun rising, and our faith is the light which the sun's rising brings.
.........
Dear God, please continue to help us be overwhelmed by the miracle which You have caused to happen in our lives, since we received Jesus IN our lives. I, personally, still cannot believe that you would wait for me, even during all of my blaspheming and purposeful sin. I will always love You and praise You. Amen.
........
My friends, BELIEVE in John 3:16. And then read the next few verses AFTER that famous verse, to help you understand just WHY humans have such a hard time accepting Him into their daily life.
And I also love what Mark tells us in Chapter 3, about a man with a withered hand who asked Jesus to cure him. And Jesus answered, "Stretch out your hand!" The man was stunned. Then Jesus repeated, "Stretch out your hand!" I am sure the man thought, "And just how am I going to stretch out a totally-withered hand to this man?" Jesus tells us all to stretch out our life to Him and let a miracle happen. Yes, LET the saving work begin .................. WITHIN your regenerated soul. Saying we are saved is one thing; Letting it happen is another.
.........
Help us, Lord, remember to remember that "belief" is NOT being saved. Show us, Father, how we need to step out in our faith and touch other peoples's lives as Jesus touched ours. Yes, with love. Thank you, God. Amen
Last edited:
