John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
He is talking about the Kingdom of God. I don't believe he is talking about the kingdom of heaven. When we are saved we can see what the Christian life is meant to be, but we have a choice to take hold of it.
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.
I believe here he is saying that we must be baptized and accept the Holy Spirit in us for the kingdom of God to live in us. To truly take part in what God meant the christian life to be. If there is any part of us that God is not in control over, we are not truly living in the kingdom of God and He in us the way He meant for us to.
I'm not talking about salvation. Being saved is only the first step in the life God wants for us. If you go to a ball game and buy a team cap and place it on your head you have the right to call yourself a fan, but He wants followers. Trying out for the team is a whole new ball game. You have to get in shape, you must be trained, and all your bad habits have to be removed. Or you can sit in the bleachers as a fan.
Every Sunday it seems God gets busy on me. A day of rest it is not. From the time I got up yesterday morning, I read and listened and prayed and when the day came to an end, I could saym "I get it". Every person's story I have read in the last year was given a promise, but first they had to go through the pain. Joseph was given a promise in a dream, but first he was sold off by his brother's and his father was told he was dead. He was accused of rape and put in prison. Everything he went through was to shape him for the promise.
To reach the promised land, the promised life, you have to go through the wilderness, but you have a little say in how long it takes. You can fight it and keep walking around the mountain or you can go with it. You can also sit on the couch with your remote and your beer and resign yourself to a life without milk and honey.
I watched a sermon on thinking big and it really spoke to me. A little person in a big position will lose that position. You have to go through the training to be in the game. I just told Dave recently, that nothing has gotten better. Life still sucks. But what I realized, the thought that God gave to me, is that I have learned to let go of the little things. I have dealt with the abuse and most of my mistakes, but the enemy has moved up to throwing the kitchen sink. A new level of letting go and letting God is in order. If the enemy can't get to me anymore, he will attack the people and things that mean the most to me. He is actively doing this. Until I turn it over to God, which I did today, he has ammo. He is at work through other people and I have to remember it is him. It could get worse before it gets better. I have become willing to let go of everything. If God wants me to let go of my job, my family, my friends, then I will do it. His plan is bigger than anything my small mind can wrap around.
Several times in the Bible we hear Jesus say to leave everything and follow Him. I thought I had done that, but I realize the enemy knows exactly what I don't want to let go of and he uses that against me.
I listened to a speech by a christian potter a while back. She compared the christian life to being a piece of clay. She talked about the ugly places they find the best clay. She talked about how they work the clay to get it into the best condition and then they shape it on the wheel. As that clay pot, we think this should be enough, but then into the fire we go. I'm beginning to think I a have just been thrown into the fire.
One of the greatest blessings God has given me in this last year is to reassure me that my life has not been wasted. Every trial, every trauma, every mistake, God is using to change me. I have taken care of other people since I was seven years old and now I am taking care of me. When you have been responsible for others so long there is a pang of guilt when you say, "It's my turn." But what I hear God say to me when ever that pang of guilt strikes, it's His turn. Life is not about my turn and yours, it's about the enemy's turn ending and God's turn beginning. The best part about it is that He will take whatever the enemy destroys and return it to you. I keep hearing His promises and I believe He means it as encouragement. I can do all things because He strengthens me. The devil is a liar.
It has totally shocked me who has shown up to stand behind me and who has not. I have friends who are allowing me to learn how to be a real friend. I have family I barely knew who support me. As others walk away and even attack, I know who the real war is with. God looks at the heart and to be like Him we must do the same. When somebody hurts us, for instance, we have to look at the heart to be like Jesus. If you see revenge you are not looking deep enough. Why do people seek revenge? Because they are hurt. The enemy reminds them of that hurt and fills them with anger. Aren't we glad that God looks at our heart? No matter what anyone says, the words I am looking for are "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
“Many Christians... find themselves defeated by the most psychological weapon that Satan uses against them. This weapon has the effectiveness of a deadly missile. Its name? Low self-esteem. Satan's greatest psychological weapon is a gut level feeling of inferiority, inadequacy, and low self-worth This feeling shackles many Christians, in spite of wonderful spiritual experiences and knowledge of God's Word. Although they understand their position as sons and daughters of God, they are tied up in knots, bound by a terrible feeling inferiority, and chained to a deep sense of worthlessness.”
― David A. Seamands, Healing For Damaged Emotions
“The nature of the enemy's warfare in your life is to cause you to become discouraged and to cast away your confidence. Not that you would necessarily discard your salvation, but you could give up your hope of God's deliverance. The enemy wants to numb you into a coping kind of Christianity that has given up hope of seeing God's resurrection power.”
― Bob Sorge, Glory: When Heaven Invades Earth
I believe here he is saying that we must be baptized and accept the Holy Spirit in us for the kingdom of God to live in us. To truly take part in what God meant the christian life to be. If there is any part of us that God is not in control over, we are not truly living in the kingdom of God and He in us the way He meant for us to.
I'm not talking about salvation. Being saved is only the first step in the life God wants for us. If you go to a ball game and buy a team cap and place it on your head you have the right to call yourself a fan, but He wants followers. Trying out for the team is a whole new ball game. You have to get in shape, you must be trained, and all your bad habits have to be removed. Or you can sit in the bleachers as a fan.
Every Sunday it seems God gets busy on me. A day of rest it is not. From the time I got up yesterday morning, I read and listened and prayed and when the day came to an end, I could saym "I get it". Every person's story I have read in the last year was given a promise, but first they had to go through the pain. Joseph was given a promise in a dream, but first he was sold off by his brother's and his father was told he was dead. He was accused of rape and put in prison. Everything he went through was to shape him for the promise.
To reach the promised land, the promised life, you have to go through the wilderness, but you have a little say in how long it takes. You can fight it and keep walking around the mountain or you can go with it. You can also sit on the couch with your remote and your beer and resign yourself to a life without milk and honey.
I watched a sermon on thinking big and it really spoke to me. A little person in a big position will lose that position. You have to go through the training to be in the game. I just told Dave recently, that nothing has gotten better. Life still sucks. But what I realized, the thought that God gave to me, is that I have learned to let go of the little things. I have dealt with the abuse and most of my mistakes, but the enemy has moved up to throwing the kitchen sink. A new level of letting go and letting God is in order. If the enemy can't get to me anymore, he will attack the people and things that mean the most to me. He is actively doing this. Until I turn it over to God, which I did today, he has ammo. He is at work through other people and I have to remember it is him. It could get worse before it gets better. I have become willing to let go of everything. If God wants me to let go of my job, my family, my friends, then I will do it. His plan is bigger than anything my small mind can wrap around.
Several times in the Bible we hear Jesus say to leave everything and follow Him. I thought I had done that, but I realize the enemy knows exactly what I don't want to let go of and he uses that against me.
I listened to a speech by a christian potter a while back. She compared the christian life to being a piece of clay. She talked about the ugly places they find the best clay. She talked about how they work the clay to get it into the best condition and then they shape it on the wheel. As that clay pot, we think this should be enough, but then into the fire we go. I'm beginning to think I a have just been thrown into the fire.
One of the greatest blessings God has given me in this last year is to reassure me that my life has not been wasted. Every trial, every trauma, every mistake, God is using to change me. I have taken care of other people since I was seven years old and now I am taking care of me. When you have been responsible for others so long there is a pang of guilt when you say, "It's my turn." But what I hear God say to me when ever that pang of guilt strikes, it's His turn. Life is not about my turn and yours, it's about the enemy's turn ending and God's turn beginning. The best part about it is that He will take whatever the enemy destroys and return it to you. I keep hearing His promises and I believe He means it as encouragement. I can do all things because He strengthens me. The devil is a liar.
It has totally shocked me who has shown up to stand behind me and who has not. I have friends who are allowing me to learn how to be a real friend. I have family I barely knew who support me. As others walk away and even attack, I know who the real war is with. God looks at the heart and to be like Him we must do the same. When somebody hurts us, for instance, we have to look at the heart to be like Jesus. If you see revenge you are not looking deep enough. Why do people seek revenge? Because they are hurt. The enemy reminds them of that hurt and fills them with anger. Aren't we glad that God looks at our heart? No matter what anyone says, the words I am looking for are "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
“Many Christians... find themselves defeated by the most psychological weapon that Satan uses against them. This weapon has the effectiveness of a deadly missile. Its name? Low self-esteem. Satan's greatest psychological weapon is a gut level feeling of inferiority, inadequacy, and low self-worth This feeling shackles many Christians, in spite of wonderful spiritual experiences and knowledge of God's Word. Although they understand their position as sons and daughters of God, they are tied up in knots, bound by a terrible feeling inferiority, and chained to a deep sense of worthlessness.”
― David A. Seamands, Healing For Damaged Emotions
“The nature of the enemy's warfare in your life is to cause you to become discouraged and to cast away your confidence. Not that you would necessarily discard your salvation, but you could give up your hope of God's deliverance. The enemy wants to numb you into a coping kind of Christianity that has given up hope of seeing God's resurrection power.”
― Bob Sorge, Glory: When Heaven Invades Earth
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