God loves His children and if you want to know who they are, read John 1:12. “To as many as those who receive Him [Jesus] to them gave He the power to become the children of God even those who believe in His Name [Jesus]. Please check out the word “receive” for it is critical to being born again. Jesus exhaled upon His disciples when He met with them after His Resurrection. Why do you suppose He did that? Could it be so they could inhale His Breath? [Spirit] Of course, and it’s the same thing that happens when we place our trust in Him and His accomplishments on the cross as our own. To simply say I believe in Jesus just won’t cut it.
I should know, I feel like Paul who was a good Jew, me an Episcopalian, before we met Jesus. Paul was a different person afterwards and we all owe him for his devotion to Jesus. He suffered as no other and we have the epistles he wrote to guide us. His dedication caused him to continue to reach out to the churches even when in prison. I want to meet him one day and I suspect the line will be long when I do. The Holy Spirit had the perfect person to speak God’s instructions for Paul knew the law and he knew Jesus. He could see clearly how Jesus had come to fulfill the law.
When we accept Jesus, His Resurrection becomes ours as well. This is why I love Him so much. He took my thousands of sins upon Himself as He hung in agony. He paid for them with His Blood the only thing that God would use to erase them from my filthy heart. Until we can see Jesus in our place there is no way we can truly repent, no way at all.
You can become a “Christian” but you sure won’t be a born again one. You see, true repentance brings us to die to self where there is room in our hearts for Jesus to reign. He doesn’t come into to us to argue but to be our Lord [GOD]. When our lives are submitted to Him we can expect the “abundant life” promised in John 10:10. If you are a Christian and don’t have it why not go to the Father and tell Him.
Did you know He said that no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them? This is why it is so important for us to pray for the lost. The more lost they are the better for the angels will rejoice more over them than most folks. I suspect they are waiting for more like me to melt before the Lord. I know one thing for sure the day I did is easily the best day of my life. God set me free to be His servant and I love it.
Few seem to understand that Jesus was beaten horribly so we could be healed. Just as we see Him in our place on the cross dying for us we can look closely and see the stripes from the beating. These stripes have provided a huge ocean size reservoir of healing grace. I see it to be larger than the Pacific Ocean. If we would go to the Lord and accept the fact that we “the born again adopted children” are in need of healing from our bodies we could go for a swim. All of God’s gifts to us are the result of us exercising our faith. Did you know He even supplies that? At birth we have just enough to proclaim Jesus as our Lord. What we have afterwards comes from hearing and reading the Word of God.
Many pastors are reluctant to preach on healing for they believe they will be liable if healing is denied to the sick. They try and get around this by adding the faith destroying words, “Lord if it be Thy will” to their prayer. I would go along with it if they would add, “Lord if it isn’t then kill them for I don’t want them to suffer anymore.“ Why in the world do they think Jesus suffered the stripes so He could show favoritism?
God loves us all the same but responds to our faith. Don‘t be confused on this for He isn’t measuring our faith in quantity but by its quality. Jesus defined this as a “mustard seed” which is the smallest of all garden seeds. I’ve discovered when I use all of mine, looking at the stripes, God always answers my prayers. I’ve seen true miracles and He hasn’t run out of them.
I love to pray for the sick but when I do I preach a bit of the Gospel first. We need to be in agreement when we pray. “If two or three of you agree as touching anything I will do it“ are powerful words from Jesus. He wants us to be gathered together [meaning of one Spirit] so God gets all of the glory.
If you are suffering do what it says in James 5, call the elders of your church and have them anoint you with oil as you confess yours sins. God says their prayers will bring healing to you. If they won’t do it, I will. I know Jesus and I know He means what He says. Dr. T.L. Osborn says, “Faith is believing that God will do what God has said He will do.” I like that!
In His Service,
Capt. Ben Marler
captben61@gmail.com
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