Category: The Born Again Experience

How Full Is Your Glass?

How Full Is Your Glass?

 

Screenshot (49)

Tom Cheney, The New Yorker magazine, October 10, 2016.

Amusing Musings – The following quips, while amusing, can also get us to thinking about how full our lives really are.

  • Some see a glass half empty. Others, a glass half full. I just see that someone forgot to put his glass into the dishwasher upside down and we’ve talked about this, [Steven].” – “Tim Siedell (@badbanana)
  • “Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty.  I see a glass that’s twice as big as it needs to be.― George Carlin

My Musing – How full is your glass? Does it really make a difference whether it is half-empty or half-full, or how you put it in the dishwasher? In each case, Continue reading “How Full Is Your Glass?”

Study 7: An Invitation

Screenshot (48)

Study 7: An Invitation

So now, just like Nicodemus, we know the what, why and how of being born again. We know that God began with a plan for us. We spoiled the plan by our disobedience, resulting in separation from God and the prospect of spending eternity in Hell. We cannot make it right again by our own desires or efforts. They all fall short of what God requires. Yet, in His love and mercy, God still has a plan for our salvation. Through Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, and His victory over death and sin by His resurrection from the dead, we can be reunited with God. By putting our faith in Him we can be born again. All we need to do is repent, believe and receive. The gift has been purchased. It is freely offered to all. The question is, will we respond by accepting the gift?

Jesus concluded His discussion with Nicodemus by saying: Continue reading “Study 7: An Invitation”

Study 6: Our Response

Screenshot (46)

Study 6: Our Response

God offers the only remedy that works. But to end the separation, to get to the other side where God eagerly awaits us with open arms, we have to take the bridge.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

We are not mystically transported to the other side without our knowledge simply because Jesus died on the cross. While it is true that He died for all, not everyone accepts Him. Nor are we herded across to the other side against our will. We can reject Him. There is no toll charge, no price that we can pay to gain the crossing. The price has already been paid. We simply have to accept Him and the sacrifice that He made. In so doing, we willingly cross over the bridge that He built back to Him. We cross over from death to life. We are born again. Continue reading “Study 6: Our Response”

Study 5: God’s Remedy

Screenshot (38)

Study 5: God’s Remedy

Sinful man is separated from a Holy God. Not because God moved away from us, but because we moved away from Him. Yet everything that man has ever tried to end the separation has been unsuccessful. And what’s more, there is nothing we can do on our own that will ever be successful. Thus, the answer to the question – “what must we do to be saved?” – is all too clear. There is nothing we can do. But God was not satisfied with that being the end of the story. He still has a plan for us. His love and grace provides a remedy that is acceptable to Him. It is in fact, the only remedy that is acceptable to Him.

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12) Continue reading “Study 5: God’s Remedy”

Study 4: Man’s Remedy

Screenshot (28)

Study 4: Man’s Remedies

Aware of His separation from His creator, if not also of the dire consequences that he faces, down through the centuries man has sought his own solutions to bridge the gap. But no matter how well intentioned or sincere, all of man’s so-called remedies fall far short of bridging the gap or of building a stairway to reach our creator. They leave us perplexed, frustrated, and perhaps a bit frantic, yet still seeking the answer to an age-long question: what must I do to be saved?

It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. (Romans 9:16) Continue reading “Study 4: Man’s Remedy”

Study 3: Our Problem

Screenshot (19)

Study 3: Our Problem

Trouble came to paradise. Apparently, being made in God’s image, living in a perfect world, being in fellowship with God, and yes, even God’s love were not good enough for us. We wanted more. We wanted things that He did not intend for us. We also wanted to be like God. And these desires gave way to disobedience. Sin entered into God’s creation.

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (Isaiah 59:2) Continue reading “Study 3: Our Problem”

Study 2: God’s Plan For Us

Born Again 4

Study 2: God’s Plan For Us

It is an impersonal world and all too often we create God in our image and assume that He is an impersonal God who is not interested in us at all. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

These are His words. They should be enough to convince us. He is, after all, God. But we also live in a world of skepticism. Continue reading “Study 2: God’s Plan For Us”