Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Born of the Spirit

Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." John 3:5-6
 
Jesus was talking to Nicodemus—a Pharisee who came to Jesus secretly one night. Jesus told him…"I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." John 3:3 NLT. It’s all about being born again—spiritual birth. To me this is a key scripture that Jesus taught about the kingdom of God. Most people…if you ask them…are sure that they will be going to heaven when they die—because they are good people…or because they’ve done some good things or given money to a church or philanthropic organization. Maybe they’ve never read this scripture or been taught that there has to be a spiritual birth in order to enter God’s Kingdom. The amazing thing that I’ve been taught is that we don’t have to wait until we die to enter God’s Kingdom…it is beyond heaven. When someone is born again—their spiritual birth—they enter God’s Kingdom right then. That makes perfect sense with the Lord’s prayer…Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:9-10. May God’s Kingdom come into your life…just as it has in mine. Not with some brass band fanfare…but with a still quiet voice. I look forward to being in Heaven one day…but I know that I am in God’s Kingdom even now. He will never leave me, or forsake me (Hebrews 13:5) and God orders His angels to protect me wherever I go. Psalm 91:11 NLT. He doesn’t wait until we are in Heaven to show His love…we are secure and protected in His love…in a spiritual realm by angels and in this physical world, too. What a great feeling. Loved and protected. Jesus offered that to Nicodemus…and He offers it to us. Have you accepted His gift of spiritual birth?
 
Prayer ~ Holy Spirit, Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Psalm 51:10 NLT.
© 2015 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) unless otherwise noted.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm

No comments: