I’ve said all of this to make this point- interpersonal love involves communication. For instance, in a human love relationship, the deepest communication is an exchange of ideas about living your lives for each other’s good. This loving communication is a dialogue, which means that as one speaks the other listens and then the other speaks as the other listens. This is genuine communication it is a dialogue between two, not a monologue. 

It is reasonable then to believe that God wants to communicate with us. As He speaks to us, we should be listening, when we speak to Him, He is listening. Because God is Spirit and we have a spirit our communication with God is Spiritual. 

• Gospel of John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

When we hear the word worship most people think of music as in worship music, but in truth, worship of God means to surrender or submit to Him and His direction for your life. 

• Rom 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (worship)”. 

God knows what you need!

Because God is omniscient or all-knowing and He loves us we understand that God knows best what we need in order to live the abundant victorious life. As we mature in Christ, we begin to recognize what pleases God and what displeases Him. We begin to understand that God is at work, through His Holy Spirit, to make us more and more like Jesus in character. After all, Jesus is God with flesh on. Jesus represents God for us, and Jesus has given his life as an example of unconditional love. He has also given us His words which are found in the Bible so that we might have a handbook, so to speak, for Godly living. 

Faith opens the door to spiritual life

We learn that the Bible is filled with God’s promises to us and that we receive those promises by faith. Now faith is not just believing with your mind, faith is acting or doing what you believe has been done in the spirit realm! Listen to the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

An appropriate question here is, how do I get that kind of faith? Well good news, the Bible shows us the way.

• Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God”.

Hopefully, you now can see how important the Bible is.

1. It contains the message of the Gospel, or salvation.
2. It gives us “objective” direction for life. In other words the teaches what pleases God for everyone.
3. It reveals what God has promised us. Some say over 5000 promises are found in the Word of God.
4. It shows us that the only way to please God is by faith and then He tells you how to get faith.
5. Finally, God can use it to “speak” to you, subjectively, for your situation or circumstances. 

Remember faith is the key to the spiritual realm.

• Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Receiving Jesus into our lives means that there has been a spiritual re-birth and we are now destined for Heaven. However, our soul or mind is being renewed and that takes time. It can take a lot of time or a short amount of time. It really depends upon your willingness to “press into His Word” and learn to hear the voice of God. After all, God’s spirit lives in you, as a matter of fact, God says that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor 6:19)

It’s almost like we are bringing our mind and soul into alignment with what has happened in the spirit. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

As Christians we are all eager to hear the voice of God in our lives. We want to walk in His blessings We realize that God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours and because we want to see change in our lives. 

Recap illumination

One of the ways that God speaks to us, as I mentioned in the last post, is through the “illumination” of scripture. This means that while you are “reading” the Bible a scripture verse or phrase seems to speak to you as a personal message about a question, thought or decision. The word illumination is used because it is as if the Holy Spirit causes the scripture to be a light to our decision. 

• Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path”.

Obviously, you can’t walk around with the Bible in your face throughout the day hoping for illumination, but the Holy Spirit can also bring to remembrance something you have read in the past. When this happens, it is called a Rhema word. Let me explain.

The Word

The Bible or Scriptures if often referred to as the “Word”. The word “word” can have several meanings in the New Testament. It can stand for the Living Word- Jesus. 

• John 1:1-2, 14 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…”. In this sense the scripture is clearly equating Jesus with the word, the living Word!

Logos and Rhema

Then, of course, the word “word” can also stand for the scriptures themselves as in the “Word of God”! When the word “word” is used to stand for the Bible, you need to know that there are actually two words that are translated from the original Greek of the New Testament as “word”; and they are “Logos” and “Rhema”. 

Both of these Greek words are translated as “word” in English. You really can’t tell which word is being used in the English version of the Bible. A really simple, and I mean simple, definition of the two words are; Logos is the written word and Rhema is the spoken word. 

Keep in mind that the Holy Spirit wants to build the character of Christ into your life and He will do that using the Logos and Rhema of God.

Logos – objective

The logos word is the “objective” truths that apply to all Believers of Christ. They describe the character and nature of God. What pleases Him and what doesn’t. It describes His faithfulness to His people and the fact He wants to bless them. 

Rhema – subjective

The Rhema word is “subjective” it is still truth, but now it is applicable to circumstances, situations, and decisions a Believer is facing at the moment. 

Some scriptural facts:

We are promised, by Jesus, that the Helper- the Holy Spirit will teach us all things and bring to remembrance all the things Jesus has taught and said (John 14:26). 

• The following verse in Romans 10:17 states that, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God”.

• Also, in Matthew 4:4 Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (Rhema) that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” So, as you can see Rhema is spoken, whereas Logos is written.

• In John 6:63 Jesus says, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words (Rhema) that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life”. The Rhema word is spiritual and life giving!

When you read the Bible, you are reading the Logos Word. When you are in a situation that requires an answer, solution, encouragement or decision… and then you recall a scripture that provides direction, that is a Rhema Word! The Holy Spirit is speaking to you through the recalled scriptures.

Obviously the more of the Logos Word you put in your mind and spirit the more the Holy Spirit can draw on in everyday life. Hence, the importance of spending time in the bible every day. 

Your spirit never tires

Now I know that there are times when we read, and we are bored or distracted and can’t remember what we read ten minutes later… your mind may be a thousand miles away. Nevertheless, your spirit is absorbing the spiritual food found in the Word! Your spirit never tires, gets sleepy or bored! Don’t underestimate the power of the written Word-Logos to come back as a spoken Word-Rhema by the Holy Spirit.

A personal example.

Remember I said that the Holy Spirit wants to build the character of Christ into your life. A long time ago before I entered into the ministry, I was one of those persons that felt obligated to speak whenever there was a pause or silence in a meeting. The result was that people rarely listened to what I had to say. Then the Holy Spirit would help me “catch my tongue” by recalling a verse I had read in Proverbs 10:19, which states that talking too much leads to foolishness, but a person who is silent is viewed as wise. So, I decided to trust the Rhema word and began to listen more and speak less and over time, as the scripture promised, I found that people would wait for my input and most of all value it. Now, this is a simple example, but the Rhema word works! If you will trust the Logos word!

As you continue to spend time in the Bible you will find the Holy Spirit applying His Rhema Word to you in more and more situations in everyday life. As it says in 2 Peter 1:3, He has given us everything we need for life and godliness.

God Bless you as you allow the Rhema Word of God to speak to you this week.

Wisdom from the Bible

The Bible teaches that there is a process of gaining wisdom. The steps to gaining wisdom are most often described in this sequence: 

• get knowledge, 
• gain understanding, 
• obtain wisdom. 

Knowledge – The Building Blocks of Wisdom

Knowledge represents a person’s acquired truths or facts about life. This accumulation of knowledge can happen in several ways. Through personal experience, thought or learning from the experiences of others. 

The greatest truths that a person can possess with the mind or learn through experience are, of course, truths about God.

True knowledge about God cannot be gained by human reason alone. It is only fully acquired as God shows Himself to a person through His Word, aided by the Holy Spirit.

The Process of Gaining Knowledge

Most of us begin our life in Christ with virtually no knowledge of the Bible. We have no background to build upon, so gaining knowledge requires a great amount of work. This also means that we may have many things to unlearn; wrong understandings, bad habits, worldly mindsets. 

Slowly but surely, as we study God’s Word, we accumulate facts and information; the names of the books of the Bible, bible characters, biblical events, and stories. We are collecting the building materialneeded to build a structure that will help us to stand firm in this life. 

As born-again believers, we also have the assistance of a great Helper. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about God as we study the Bible. Prior to receiving Christ as our Savior, we read the Bible only with our natural minds. But now we are spiritual, and we have been given the mind of Christ.

The Holy Spirit enlightens our eyes and mind to passages in the Scriptures that are relevant to our situation and circumstances. We begin to see and understand scripture passages that we may not have noticed before. We recognize the life and power that accompanies the Word of God. Our passion for God and His Word begins to burn with greater fervor. 

Rhema And Logos

The Bible refers to itself as “The Word”. “Word” in the New Testament is derived from two Greek words, logosand rhema. The word logosmeans “written word”, or an expression of thought. The word rhemameans “spoken word”, or a word uttered in speech or writing. Both terms, rhema, andlogosare used throughout the New Testament. I will have more to say about this in the next episode.

The Bible reveals that its own words are living and able to discern both the thoughts of our mind and the motives of our heart. God is able to speak to us through the Bible, His living Word. God can speak to us about general principles for life. And He can speak to us about personal matters or circumstances. That is the reason why it is so important for us to daily read the written Word for it is the building material for our foundation in Christ. 

Understanding – The Mortar of Wisdom

“Understanding” represents the desire to use the knowledge we have of God to know and serve Him. 

As we continue to accumulate information (knowledge), we begin to seek connections between the collection of facts, dates, and stories. The Holy Spirit is actively at work illuminating or enlightening our understanding.

As we study and pray, the Holy Spirit begins to teach us the concepts or principles of God’s Word. This helps us to connect our fragments of knowledge together into a cohesive structure. When this begins to occur, the Scriptures will make much more sense to us. We will gain a much fuller understanding of the Truth. This “personal revelation” is what helps the Bible, in all of its parts, to fit together and make spiritual sense.

Wisdom – The Application of Understanding

Wisdom represents more than knowledge and understanding. Wisdom is knowing what pleases God and then doing it. 

Many think that just having knowledge and understanding of God are enough. But from God’s point of view, there is a further step to take. And that step is wisdom. 

Wisdom is the knowledge and understanding of God being correctly applied, with correct motives, to everyday life.

As I have said it is not enough to simply hear and understand the Word of God. We are called to be do-ersof the Word who are motivated by pure hearts. 

Being “do-ers of the Word” many times requires faith and it is this kind of faith that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6). This is what it really means to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Bible provides the knowledge, the Holy Spirit gives us an understanding of the Bible, and again the Holy Spirit leads us to do the Word. Ultimately, we must choose to actually apply and do the Word of God.

All three aspects – knowledge, understanding and wisdom – require effort on our part. But we must also receive the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit illuminates the Scriptures for knowledge, the Holy Spirit gives us personal revelation for understanding, the Holy Spirit leads us to be do-ers the Word, stirring up our faith. It is this faith that will release the full blessings of God upon our lives. 

In the last episode, we answered the question, “Does the Bible speak?” The conclusion was that the Bible does speak, but not in ways we might think. The statement that the Bible speaks is a metaphor. It doesn’t actually have an audible voice. however, the Bible is able to produce the same effect as the spoken word, it communicates or conveys information from the Holy Spirit of God. 

In John 10:1-6 Jesus makes the statement that “my sheep know my voice…”. The born-again Believers throughout the world have the spiritual ability to hear His voice because we are His sheep. As believers, we just need to know what to look or listen for in His voice, for in most cases it is not an audible voice. I need to be careful here, the Holy Spirit can speak in an audible voice. The Holy Spirit is God and can do anything He wants, but it is not the most common experience that individuals have. While an audible voice may not be the most common way that God “speaks”, He is able to produce the same effect through His Word, the Bible!

In the previous episode, I mentioned how illumination of the Bible works as we are reading the Bible. Bible scholars use the term “illumination of the scriptures”to mean that as we read the Bible certain verses or phrases come “alive” or seem to “jump off the page” and are relevant to what we are going through in life or our growth in maturity as a Christian. 

While you are reading it’s as if you can identify with the person, place or situation in the Bible and it “seems” to be “speaking” to you. It is a sudden flash insight into understanding. A verse you may have read before that didn’t make sense or didn’t seem particularly significant all of a sudden “comes alive” with meaning. That is an example of the “illumination” of the Holy Spirit of His Word. It is as if the Holy Spirit were saying, this is important for you! Remember it is the Holy Spirit of God who inspired the words of the Bible in the first place and He can best bring insight for you. After all, He knows best what you need.  

In the last episode I also mentioned my personal experience with my anger issues and how reading the verse in James 1:19 “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”. The instant I read it the Bible seemed to say to me, “you have an anger issue- deal with it because I am not pleased with it”. Now someone else could read that same verse and agree with it, but in my case, it was like facing a crossroad in my life and I had to decide which way I was going to go. 

Relying on Spiritual voices without the Bible

Before I go any further, I want to address an issue I have heard some people say and it is this. “I am a Christian and I can hear from God, so I don’t need the Bible”! Since we are talking about spiritual communication that statement is true, but there is a catch. Which spirit are you listening to? God is not the only spirit who can influence or “speak” to you. 

1. There is our own spirit and it often encourages you to do what you wanted to do in the first place. It will often place the issue on someone else. A spouse, friend, coworker or neighbor. Your spirit never sees the problem as residing in you. Obviously, if it were God’s spirit His focus would be on you, to transform you into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
2. Then there is the issue of Satan or the Devil who is a spiritual entity and therefore can communicate with the spirit of human beings. If you have a picture of some ugly demonic being with horns and a tail, you would be wrong. The devil is slick and cunning. The Bible teaches that the devil is an incredible liar… John 8:44. By that I mean he is most convincing; deception is his game and he knows how to appeal to weaknesses of human beings. Another important consideration is that the Devil can come disguised as an angel of light… 2 Cor 11:14. This means that he can appear as innocent, caring and looking out for your interest and well-being. Throughout the ages, he has deceived multitudes.

This is where the Bible is so critical. Through it, we learn the character and nature of God. In essence, the Bible is our “compass” in determining if what we are “hearing” is of God, self or the Devil. 

Here are a couple of principles that the Bible teaches that are good to use as a measure of the kind of spirit that is trying to influence you.

1. God is omnipotent- this means that God is all powerful and nothing is more powerful than Him. This also means that nothing is impossible with Him. So, any “voice” that speaks to your situation as impossible to resolve by God, is a LIE!
2. God is omniscient- this means that God knows everything that can be known. This also means that nothing is hidden from Him. There is no secret that God does not know. He knows your inner thoughts and motives. You can’t outwit him or outplay Him because He can see right through you.
3. God is omnipresent- this means that He is everywhere at once. So, you can’t hide from Him. As a Believer His Holy Spirit is with you and in you, no matter where you go- He is there. 
4. God cannot lie- this means that since every word in the Bible is from Him, we should look at the Bible as a book of promises. If God said it “He will perform it” or it will come to pass. God will never violate His own word. This brings an interesting thought to mind. Over the last two thousand years, there have been many predicting the return of Jesus Christ, or the Second Coming. Even Jesus’ disciples asked this question in Matthew 24:3 “Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Yet Jesus clearly states in Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only”. In other words, the Bible shows that no one can know or figure out when He will return and yet many have publicly given the time and date for His return only to be disappointed and humiliated. I am sure they read that scripture. But instead believed that they had a revelation from God. Remember Satan comes disguised as an “Angel of Light” in an attempt to deceive the Believers. God does not lie- if He said it, it will be.
5. God is good- this means that He is always good. I know in this world there is much that is tragic and even evil. It would be easy to believe that God is responsible for at least in part for all that, but He is not! God is not good and then sometimes bad. He is pure light and goodness. We do live in a “fallen world” which means that the evil in the world is the consequence of people over the ages following their own heart and disobeying God.  God gave us a free-will to choose good or evil, throughout the ages, many have chosen evil and all the consequences that come with disbelieving and disobeying God are present in the world today. 

Closing

Another way in which the Bible or Word of God can speak in situations that require a decision, direction or encouragement, is through a RHEMA word. More about that in our next post.

It is important to know God! What He expects of us as well as what we can expect from Him. If we wanted to know how to operate a piece of equipment like a car or a computer, we would look at the owner’s manual. To be successful in God’s eyes we need an owner’s manual written by our creator. God did not leave anything to chance, He provided us with the His owner’s manual the Bible. If we look at the word bible as an acronym it might say “Believers Instructions Before Leaving Earth”!

The intellectual approach to the Bible

When I was a young man in college, I read the Bible as part of my course work. I wasn’t a believer at the time and looked at the Bible as a piece of classic literature. My conclusion after reading the Bible for a semester was that it, the Bible, made no sense whatsoever! It was sheer foolishness!

Then some years later, after accepting Christ into my life, I started to read the Bible again. I must admit that I didn’t understand it all, but something about it compelled me, or drew me, to read and re-read the Bible. Over time I discovered timeless truths that changed my world-view and changed my life. 

Looking back, I now understand that when l was in college I was trying to comprehend the Bible with my mind or my intellect aloneand this caused me to miss the spiritual significance of the Word of God. 

The Bible must be spiritually discerned

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says in 1 Cor 2:13-14, “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man (non-believer) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned”. We need to learn how to rely on the Holy Spirit to discern the truth.

Isaiah says in chapter 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts”. In a nutshell, God is saying we cannot fully understand his thoughts and ways because they are much higher than ours. After all, He is the creator of the Universe, what have you created lately?

Because God is higher than our minds can fully comprehend, He provided us His Holy Spirit to communicate without spirit everything we need for this life and living in godly ways (it says that in 2 Peter 1:3).

The Bible is not just a book written by the imaginations of men, but it is a God-inspired book, God breathed as it were. All that is in the Bible was imparted to a group of people by God and what God wanted us to know can be found in the Bible or Scriptures. 2 Tim 3:16-17 says the following, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine (truths), for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness (right living), that the man/woman of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. So, the Bible shows us the truths of God, what is the wrong way to live life, and the right way to live so that we would be fruitful and blessed as a Christian.

The Bible is broken up into two major parts

 The Old Testament followed by the New Testament. While it is important to understand that the entire bible is inspired by God it is also important to recognize that the Old Testament was written for the Jews who lived under the Law of Moses. The New Testament was written for those who put their trust in Jesus Christ.

As Christians, the New Testament was written for us who live under Grace (God’s gift). Now most people who try to read the bible begin at the beginning in Genesis, that makes human sense, but I would suggest you begin in the New Testament since what is found in it applies to Christians. Later you can tackle the Old Testament from the perspective of the New Testament.

If you have not read the Bible or read the Bible lately I would urge you to try again. This time before you begin, ask God to reveal Himself to you in His Word. I would also suggest you start in the Gospel of John and then read, meditate, ponder, think about what you have read throughout the day. Try to read one chapter a day. After completing the book of John continue on to the book of Acts, Romans and etc. to the end of the Bible which is the book of Revelation. 

If you are sincere in trying to understand the bible I can promise you that God will truly amaze you.

Here is an interesting question, “Can the Bible speak?

There are 2 important things we must remember and accept by faith about the Bible. 

1. One, it is the inspired word of God, God breathed the words that we find in the Bible. 2Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is given by inspiration (God-breathed) of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work”. 
2. Two, it is a spiritual book and can be understood by believers who recognize that they are themselves spiritual. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says the following, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own”? in other words the Holy Spirit lives in you! 

Here is some exciting news! God promisedin 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, that he would give us spiritual “eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart or mind to comprehend the things of God”. That means every person is capable of understanding the Bible to the extent they need to.

So, how can a book thousands of years old be relevant and “speak to us” for our lives today? 

The Bible is not meant to be simply an intellectual book about times, places and people, but a guide for living life. Psalms 119:105 “Your word (Bible)is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”. The primary purpose of the Bible is to guide you into living a peace-filled, purpose-filled, and joy-filled life or in other words a blessed life.

Illumination

Bible scholars use the term “illumination of the scriptures”to mean that as we read the Bible certain verses or phrases come “alive” or seem to “jump off the page” and are relevant to what we are going through in life.  

Let me illustrate this concept of “illumination” with an example from my own life. 

As a new Christian, I used to have a problem with anger. I would get angry over the simplest situations and that created a tense environment in relationships especially with my family. Looking back, I would get angry over the silliest things. Now, my anger was such a part of my life that I was not aware of the “angry man” I had become. One day as I was reading in the book of James (1:19) the following verse “jumped out”, “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”.

Immediately, through that scripture verse, I saw myself for who I was, a very angry man. I didn’t take the time to listen, I would speak rashly and become so easily angry. I also saw the impact I was having on my family. It was then I began a journey, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, to get to the root of my anger and deal with it. I knew enough that anger leads to bitterness and bitterness is an emotional poison. 

To make a long story short, God showed me that I had made a foolish decision as a teenager, I decided that I would not let anyone hurt me, emotionally, but that I instead of feelings of hurt I would get angry instead. The hidden vow I made was forgotten but the decision I made had a long-term effect on me.

All of this happened because God didn’t want me to live my life hurting myself and others. You see “hurting people hurt people”! The Holy Spirit illuminated that verse in James and it had a profound and personal impact upon my life. Today I can say anger is not a part of my life, but love is, and I can assure you those around me appreciate that!

In conclusion, the Word of God, the Bible has many interesting characters, places, and events, but its primary purpose is to reflect who you really are, not who you think you are, but who you really are and then to show you, lead you and help you become the person God has always intended you to be, more like Jesus in every way. Let me paraphrase 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we, with all our masks, removed, looking into a mirror and seeing the Lord Jesus are being transformed into becoming more like what we see, by the working of His Holy Spirit in us”. 

I cannot overemphasize the importance of developing the habit of spending time in the Word. The length of time is not as important as spending time. Five minutes is better than zero!

Don’t be concerned in the beginning that you don’t understand the characters, places, and events… that will come. Just read the New Testament with an open mind and heart and you will see the scriptures illuminated for you personally. I am confident of this because I know that God loves you and wants to bless you in every area of your life… just trust and follow Him.

The Spiritual nature of Salvation…

His spirit lives in you

Receiving salvation, through Jesus Christ, is not the end of a life-changing experience, but the beginning of something miraculous in your life. A new beginning! All of your sins have been forgiven and you are clean before God. Like the lowly caterpillar you’ve been transformed into a beautiful butterfly. Now it’s time to soar!

Unless you understand and believe in the spiritual nature of your salvation you will always find yourself in religious ritual and traditions, you will dry up and then give up! Jesus died on the Cross so that you could have a Relationship with Him! A relationship implies two-way communication. 

1. You speak to Him, that’s called prayer. Don’t try to memorize a prayer and then recite it. Just talk to God as you would to a close friend. The Bible says that Jesus regards you as a friend! Why not talk to him friend-tofriend? 
2. When God speaks to you, it’s called personal revelation- He reveals Himself to you. That can happen in so many different ways. We will address some of these ways in the future. However, for now, if a thought occurs to you after prayer… a thought that you wouldn’t normally think of and it is a thought of love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness or self-control- then it’s probably from the Lord.

To fully appreciate what God has done we need to look at the spiritual side of our nature. Most people tend to think of themselves as soul and body, but God created you with a spirit as well as soul and body. You are three in one spirit, soul and body just as God is three in one, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. 

If you want to overcome the disappointments and scars of the past, the habits that have kept you in bondage, restore broken relationships and have a sense of purpose and joy in life, then you must have a “mind change”. That change begins with seeing yourself as spirit, soul and body instead of just body and soul. This is such an important change in view or paradigm it will determine your success in overcoming in this life. 

There are at least 3 important bible verses that confirm our three-part nature:

• Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being (soul)”.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
• Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”.

Let’s take a closer look at the three parts of who you are, spirit, soul and body.

Imagine 3 circles, one labeled Body, then another Soul and finally one called Spirit. Where the circles intersect, or overlap is where and who you are. To ignore the spiritual side of you is to live at 2/3^rd of your potential and ability that is as soul and body. You are not just soul and body but, spirit, soul and body- all three in one. 

Body– your physical body communicates or interacts with the physical world. You communicate through your senses: touch, smell, hearing, sight, taste. Everything you know about the physical world you learned through physical experience. As a result of your experiences you have come to certain conclusions about the world we live in, of course not all those conclusions are true.

Soul– your soul is where your emotions, decision making or will, intellect and personality reside. Your mind, if you will, interprets all of the stimulus input from your physical body. The soul is also where all of your reasoning resides. Your soul communicates with the souls of other people and relationships, good and bad, are formed as a result of your soul.

Spirit- if your body communicates with the physical world, and your soul communicates with other souls… can you guess what your spirit communicates with? Yes, the spiritual realm! So, what is the spiritual realm? Briefly, there are 3 components: the spirit of God, the spirit of other people, and the spirit of the Devil. 

Your past does not have to determine your future. Being a Christian means that everything is new. You may look in the mirror and see no change in your physical body. You may not think differently right now in your Soul but being a believer means that your Spirit is made alive and you now are able to communicate with God. God’s love, guidance and power are made available to you by His Spirit.

Because of Jesus, we can now have direct communication with God. God knows what you need and wants to help you be renewed and filled with His Holy Spirit. 

Rehabilitation or Transformation?

Because of our new spiritual connection to God we are forgiven and there is no longer condemnation for sin. It was doubt, guilt shame and regret that tended to keep us living in the past with the belief that we were condemned, and that our lives could never change. However, in one tremendous miracle, when you repented and accepted Jesus into your life, you became a new creation! Forgiven, accepted and loved by God and His love means that He will never leave or abandon you. 2 Cor 5:17

Condemnation

It is true that before you accepted Jesus into your life you were “condemned” as a result of your Sin! Simply put you were going to Hell for eternity, but now you have changed your destination by trusting in Jesus Christ alone, Heaven is now yours. The Apostle Paul writes in Romans 8:1, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh (or the soul), but according to the Spirit (of God)”. Don’t allow others try to heap condemnation on you. You have passed from death to life.

Sin Nature

Without getting into the theology of the “Sin Nature” today; let me say that we are all born with a “sin nature”. Sin nature means we have a natural tendency to do what is wrong in God’s eyes. We want to be in control and do what we want instead of doing what we should do as children of God. So, we could say that the central problem with mankind is that “we are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners!” Without Jesus’ you can’t help yourself.

Your sins, although many, were simply the proof that you did not believe or trust in Jesus. Let me repeat that thought, your sinful life was the evidence of your unbelief or disbelief in what Jesus Christ accomplished for you. However, now you are putting your trust in Jesus and His teachings and as a result, you are a new “Creation”. Let me repeat 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”.

A very important question to ask yourself is, “As a Christian are you trying to rehabilitate yourself or allowing God’s Holy Spirit to transform you into the person, He wants you to be”? This has been the central issue of Christian living for two thousand years! Does looking like a Christian make you a Christian or is there something deeper?

Rehabilitation means to rebuild or restore by your own efforts to be “Good”, or to sin no more. It’s like putting a coat of paint on the exterior of a dilapidated house. It may look good on the outside, but nothing has changed on the inside of the house. So, many Christians try to change by following rules, traditions and laws in an attempt to become more Christ-like. This is a form of legalism (outward works) and doesn’t deal with the root issue… Sin! Rehabilitation attempts, by self-control, to produce lasting change, it will never work! You cannot produce genuine spiritual change from the outside in. 

Before I lapse into heresy, let me say that Christianity shows us what is the right thing to do and we should try with all our strength to do the right things, but genuine change is an “inside job”.

Transformation, on the other hand, means that your spirit working with the Holy Spirit of God is changing you from the inside out. It is not just a change in mind that you need, but a change of heart. That’s transformation. Romans 12:2 says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God”. In other words, let God renew your mind! Transformation means that God has placed a “new heart” in you and you now have the ability to think God thoughts. Your Spirit influences your soul which then controls your body. 

Trusting in Jesus means that you believe in Him and are applying His teachings to your life. You may find that difficult in the beginning because you have a life-time of habits and wrong thinking to overcome. Remember, your spirit is reborn, but your soul still needs some work. Nevertheless, God says you are a new Creation; God is giving you an opportunity to start over, or as kids would say, a do-over.

As a new “creation” how are we supposed to live our lives as Christians. As a follower of Jesus, I don’t need to continue in the behavior of the past because that has passed away. We need instruction, but not worldly instruction. It was worldly instruction that got us into the mess we found ourselves in before we trusted in Jesus. We need spiritual instruction from God! Because we are now spiritual, we can now make sense of a spiritual book and that book is called the Bible! 

What is a born-again Christian?

As I have said there are many throughout the world that wear the “label” Christian without really understanding what a Christian is. If asked they would say that they are Christian. 

Jesus said the following in Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness or [disregarding My commands]!’

So, you see, as I pointed out in my last episode, it isn’t the fact that you belong to a church, read the Bible or wear a Cross around your neck that makes you a Christian. The real issue is, and always has been, “do you believe in the person and the teachings of Jesus Christ”. 

Let’s take a closer look at the word “believe” in the previous quote.

• On the one hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I believe the teachings to be true”. The belief is an intellectual agreement. For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, but I do it anyway. 
• On the other hand, you can believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ to mean, “I trust the teachings to be true and am morally compelled to apply them to my life.” For example, I know that it is wrong to lie, and I choose to be honest. 

Do you see the difference? In the biblical sense believing in the teachings of Jesus Christ means that because I trust Jesus I am trusting in His teaching and applying that teaching to my life. When you do that you are applying faith to the truth. The evidence of your faith is that you are doing what you believe. 

We are now ready to look the central fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ, to be a true Christian you must be “Born-again” or [born from above]! 

In chapter 3 of John’s Gospel, we see an account of Jesus meeting with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a Pharisee was one who strictly observed the Law of Moses. Nicodemus had a genuine desire to understand Jesus’ teachings and he came secretly at night to meet with Him.

In verse 3 Jesus said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” This means seeing the spiritual kingdom in action in the present life.

4 Nicodemus then says, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” You see Nicodemus was thinking in natural/biological terms, missing the spiritual point Jesus was making.

5 Jesus answers, “Most assuredly, I say to you unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” To be born of water refers to natural birth, to be born of the spirit is obviously spiritual.

6 Jesus restates this idea when He says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.” 

8 Jesus then reaffirms the spiritual nature of the new birth with an analogy, “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

As you can see from the words of Jesus Christ, in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God, you must be born-again. It is a spiritual experience, not merely a physical or emotional decision. There is something that takes place inside the individual. Theologians call this Regeneration and Sanctification. The Holy Spirit released in the believer to help, comfort, guide and teach the individual to become more like Jesus Christ.

Are you Born-again? If not, there is no time like the present to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior!

Say a prayer something like this from your heart, “Jesus I need help in this life and the assurance of Heaven in the next. I’ve made many mistakes and have regrets over the decisions I have made. Forgive me now and remove all my sins, wash me clean. Come into my life, let me sense your Holy Spirit in me giving me the assurance that I belong to you and you belong to me. I believe you died for me on the Cross of Calvary and this was an expression of your love for me. I believe you rose again and that I can be confident you will raise me up on that last day. I believe in you and put my trust in you. Amen.

How does one become Born-again?

To repeat the essential question, what is a Born-again Christian? We saw that Jesus said, you must be born-again to see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). Two important words, see and enter the kingdom.

Seeing the kingdom means to see the power and authority of the kingdom being released or manifested by those who are born-again or Believers. Romans 8:37 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” And Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In other words, seeing the kingdom is the present reality of a supernatural life.

Entering the kingdom means obtaining eternal life with God in heaven. John 11:25 “Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die (physically), he shall live (forever).”

Here we see the twin benefit of believing in Jesus or having salvation, 

1) an “overcoming” present life, overcoming the trials and difficulties of life 

2) and the future reward of heaven.

An important truth or doctrine about God is that He always makes the first move; He initiates. A person may think that they have “found God”, but the truth is that person was the one that was lost. In fact, God has been drawing that person to Himself. Jesus says in John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day”. So, as you can see when a person is drawn to, or curious, or intrigued about the teachings of Jesus it is because God the Father is “drawing” that person to the Truth, found in Jesus Christ.

Let’s be clear, to be “saved” or have salvation is a transaction, that is Jesus makes the invitation (remember God always moves first), but an individual must then accept the invitation.  In Matthew 22:1-14 there is an illustration or Parable of Jesus called the Wedding Feast. A king sends his servants out to invite people to attend the wedding feast of his son. Some of those who were invited made excuses as to why they would not attend. They were too busy, too tired, or had more important business to attend to. 

They didn’t take the invitation seriously and did not realize the importance of the invitation. The king finds out about those who rejected the invitation and it is their rejection that condemns them. On the other hand, those who accepted the invitation are called the chosen. Chosen to reap the benefits of salvation. 

We use the phrase, “to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to mean that you have accepted God’s invitation and are Born-again or a Believer. 

To accept Jesus as Lord or King means that you will follow his teachings which are found in His Word, the Bible. 

To accept Jesus as Savior or deliverer means that you believe that He died for your sins at the Cross of Calvary and that one day you will go to Heaven to be with Him. You are no longer hoping to go to heaven, but you are absolutely sure that you will go to heaven after you die. The fear of death is gone!

You are believing or trusting that as a result of Jesus’ death on the cross you are forgiven and now part of God’s family, and you believe in the resurrection of Jesus and therefore, have assurance you will also be resurrected and spend eternity in Heaven with Him. You see, you are loved, forgiven and accepted!

So how does one actually become Born-again or a Believer? The Apostle Paul says it best in Romans 10:9-13, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness (right living), and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. …13 For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

These are the promises of God; To confess with your mouth means that you are not ashamed to declare Jesus as your Savior. Tell someone of your decision to follow Jesus. 

Believing in your heart means just that, you are not just reciting words or a formula. You are accepting by faith that Jesus died for you, that your sins have been washed away and your destination is Heaven.

If you are not a Born-again Believer I encourage you to make that decision today. You can do that with a simple prayer. Simply personalize Romans 10 in the following way, 

I am confessing with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that God has raised Him from the dead, I am saved. For with my heart, I believe unto right living, and with my mouth, I am confessing unto salvation. I am calling on the name of the Lord Jesus, therefore I am saved!

Nothing on this earth can be more important than eternity. As I like to say, “we are not human beings having a spiritual experience, but spiritual beings having a human experience”! It is incorrect to think that we are simply physical beings hoping to touch the eternal spiritual realm. We are in fact spiritual beings in human bodies that will one day pass away, but we will live on in the spirit.

The Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary or transient, but the things which are not seen are eternal”.

Join me as we delve into the deeper things of God to help you, make your own decisions based upon God’s words, the Bible. Let’s begin by looking at what Jesus said to His followers in the Gospel of John 14:7,” I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. This is a profound truth about Christianity, Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. He is all of these things but, for now, I would like to examine one aspect of this statement and that is, Jesus is the truth. 

The Information Age

We now live in an age referred to by some as the Information Age. We are overloaded with information or data through the internet, social media, TV, radio and movies– lots of data or information, but is everything we hear or read true? Because we deal with so much information, we don’t have time to analyze its truthfulness! Not all the information we get is accurate and we can’t count on the world systems of government and media to give us the truth. As a result, we may have accepted as true many ideas or opinions which are in fact not true at all! 

As a result of misinformation many people outside of Christianity have formed ideas and concepts about Christianity that are not based upon the truth. As a matter of fact, even many Christians have misconceptions about what Christianity is or what it is not. The purpose of this Podcast Show is to reveal Bible-based insights as to who Christ is, what a Christian is and the nature of Christianity. 

It’s all about Jesus

The most important consideration, the root if you will, of the Christian belief system is that it is all about Jesus Christ and Him alone. A Christian’s identity is not in a religion, denomination, local church, or group of people. A Christian’s identity must be in Jesus Christs, because He was the one, God in the flesh, who came to earth, died for your sins, removed the wall between you and the Father, and promised eternal life to those who would follow Him.

Having an encounter or experience with Jesus.

The second important consideration is that being a Christian means that there has been an “encounter” with Jesus and that encounter instilled a desire to “know” more about Him. 

I want to emphasize the word “know” because so many rely on an intellectual knowing with the mind alone. What is more important- is to know Jesus on a spiritual level. John 4:23 Jesus says, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him”.

This point is so important so let me repeat it, Christianity is not something you can understand with only the intellect or mind. Christianity, in fact must be spiritually appraised. That is, we must use spiritual eyes, spiritual ears and spiritual openness to comprehend spiritual things. 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 

That’s not to say that some aspects of the Christianity cannot be intellectually understood, but we have to recognize that there are going to be areas that are too deep for the human mind to comprehend. In Isa 55:8-9 God speaks through the Prophet Isaiah and says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”.

When we encounter those areas that are too deep or too high for human understanding, we are called to accept them by “Faith”. Faith is how we appropriate or connect to the spiritual things of God; after all, as I have said earlier, God is spirit. It is by Faith we Understand Him, Hebrews 11:1 defines faith in this way, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. The things not seen, of course, are spiritual in nature

Until we come to grips with the fact that being a Christian means a spiritual relationship with God, we will always be frustrated by our misunderstanding of what Christ did, what a Christian is and the nature of Christianity. 

What is a Christian?

Like most people I am sure that you have had this thought; “How can they call themselves Christians”? or more pointedly, “And he or she calls themselves a Christian”? Looking at the behavior of some “Christians” can be puzzling! That’s why it’s important to clearly understand what a Christian is before we make those kinds of judgments. Now, of course, Christians should not be judging others, but as humanbeings this is often difficult to avoid!

There are 7.6 billion people on the face of the earth today. The largest religious group are the Christians. There are about 2.5 billion people, almost a third of the world’s population, who identify themselves as being Christians.

A definition of a Christian

A definition of a Christian, according to Merriam-Webster, “is one who professes belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. I think it would be fair to say that 2.5 billion people “profess” Jesus Christ, at least intellectually or with their minds, that is they believe that Jesus existed, was a good person, and died on the cross for our sins. Let’s look at Webster’s definition again, the key-words are, “profess belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”. Frankly, many “Christians” in the world don’t even know what Jesus taught and therefore have no motivation to apply those teachings to their lives. 

As a result of doing ministry in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and of course the United States, I can see at least four segments of the Christian population. Let’s see how they fit into the dictionary definition we have of a Christian; that is “professing a belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ”.

First, let me list them and then we will take a deeper look…

1. A Nominal Christian
2. A Generational Christian
3. A Syncretic Christian
4. A Born-again Christian

1. 1. A Nominal Christian is a Christian who identifies with a particular church or a Christian denomination. That person may or may not be a church attender. Some examples of Nominal Christians are:
   1. People who convert to Christianity in order to marry or convert because of social/cultural pressures fit into this category. 
   2. They may have to fill out a form stating their religious affiliation and they know that they are not Jewish, Buddhist, Islamic or Hindu and therefore check the category they think fits; Christian.
   3. They see value in Christian morals and ethics and want their children to develop those Christian values. They attend a Christian church for that reason.
   4. They don’t want their children to go to a public school and put their children in a Christian school and therefore state that they are Christians.  

1. 2. A Generational Christian, is one who’s Christian identity is taken from their parents or family. That person may or not be a church attender. For example:
2. a. It is only natural that a child will adopt the religion of their parents, it is no different for Christian families. However, unless a child has had a personal experience with Jesus Christ, they will just continue in the traditions of the family.

1. 3. A Syncretic Christian, the word syncretic or syncretism when applied to religion means that two religions are blended together to form one religion acceptable to the population (politically correct). So, a syncretic Christian is one who takes on the Christian label but practice a Christianity that is blended with other non-Christian religions or cults.

1. 4. The fourth category is how Jesus defined a Christian. They must be Born-Again Christian. A born-again Christian is a Christian who professes repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and understand the spiritual nature of Christianity (John 3:1-21 -Story of Nicodemus). That person may be a church attender, or not. We will have much to say about Born-again Christians in our next post.

As we close, you can see it isn’t the fact that you go to a Christian church that makes you a Christian, although you should go. Going to church does not make one a Christian, any more than going into “McDonald’s makes you a hamburger”. The real issue is and always has been, do you know Jesus on a personal level!