Articles For The Christian Reader
Serving the Body of Christ…
Born Again – What Does That Mean?

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”
John 3:5
Jesus didn’t say it would help, it isn’t a suggestion. Jesus said one MUST be born again. The Rabbi he was speaking to when he said that, asked the obvious questions – WHAT? and HOW?
What is being “born again” all about?
A simple explanation for a deeply profound experience…
The Cost To You
Many people shrink back from such a transaction out of fear of what it will entail, and that’s a legitimate consideration. You must first come to realize that all you have done and accomplished for yourself misses the mark. One must first come to see that all treasure here is going to pass away, and he must be willing to receive the admonition of Jesus that one should instead lay up treasure for himself in heaven, where it will last forever.
First, why do people resist?
Many people shrink back from such a transaction out of fear of what it will entail, and that’s a legitimate consideration. You must first come to realize that all you have done and accomplished for yourself misses the mark. One must first come to see that all treasure here is going to pass away, and he must be willing to receive the admonition of Jesus that one should instead lay up treasure for himself in heaven, where it will last forever.
Will he demand that I be a missionary in Africa?
Will there be no more fun in my life?
Some might fear coming to the Lord because of a dread of what he will call him to be a –a missionary in Africa, for example? This suggestion to the mind is a lie. Whatever the Lord calls a person to do, will be in complete harmony with the way that person is made. Ask any missionary, and he will tell you he couldn’t conceive of any other way of life, because his call is completely suited to the way he was made.
The Lord is not seeking to go contrary to the way he has made an individual, but instead to fulfill the heart of that person and all that is in him. One who has been born again and has walked with the Lord for a length of time, will tell you that his whole satisfaction is in the new life the Lord has made for him individually. Do not fear what God will do inside you, nor what it will cost. His goal is the maturation and perfection of all your desire, your gifts, your talents, your very personality until he has made you the person you were uniquely created to be.
God has a unique plan for your life
You were planned before the foundation of the world
We are particularly made, no two persons alike. We are as unique as our fingerprints. We have been made with a personality, talents, abilities, and gifts unique to each one alone, and with desires that flow out of each one’s unique personality. The Lord will bring all these together to fulfill the whole purpose and potential placed within each one before that one was even born.
One must come to the realization that the Lord who made us has our BEST interests at heart. He will not inflict suffering for the sake of suffering, he will not do ANYTHING in us apart from a goal to bring about in us the fulfillment of all the desire of our hearts.
God has a specific and individual plan for your life. Your fulfillment as a human being can only happen as you find out what that plan is and give yourself over to letting him bring it all to pass. It will be a decision you will never regret.
If you choose to avoid his plan for your life
God will never violate your free will.
Regret -is suddenly arriving at the end of your life, and standing before your creator only to find out that you missed what he had planned for your life.
Our greatest fear should not be of failure,
but as succeeding at something
that doesn’t really matter.
D L Moody
If you accept
You will never regret it
The greatest satisfaction a human being can experience is in arriving at the end of his life and standing before his Creator, and hearing, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.” The rewards awaiting us in heaven are eternal, they will be ours forever. The wise person heeds this message and determines to seek only that which will last forever
The Cost To Him
An incredible price…
There is a cost on HIS part too. What is the price of the purchase? The price is the cross on which he died for you, taking upon himself the penalty of YOUR sins.
It’s the blood he shed for your forgiveness.
Entering In
If you have made the decision that you truly do want to be born again, or if you’re unsure whether you have been born again, then go to the Lord with all your heart and tell him that.
If you have difficulty with words, here’s a prayer you can use, but pray it from your heart and with all of your heart. At any point you may add your own words, and please do. Make it yours.
———————————————————–
Father God, I truly desire to be born again so that I can spend all eternity with you. I recognize that I live in a fallen human nature. I know that I have sinned again and again in my life. The Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked…” and I’m ready to admit that that includes me. I’ve been deceived, I deceive, and I have seen wickedness dwelling in me. For these reasons, you gave your Son on that cross for ME, to bear the guilt of my sin in my place.
Your Word tells me that the wages, or the results of sin, is death, not just physical death but the second death as well, which is to be lost forever. But your Word also tells me that you loved me so much that you took upon yourself the penalty of my sin, you shed your blood for ME, you gave your life for ME, while you hung on that cross my name was on your mind.
Please purchase this vessel, Lord Jesus, I hand to you the keys to every nook and cranny within me, I am all yours. Bring me into the New Covenant that you established in your sacrificial death, burial, and resurrection. Write my name in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Lord, I stand ready to do whatever you direct me to, for the rest of my life.
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