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Beyond Our Imagination (John 6)

In John 6 we read that the disciples were rowing across the water at night when they saw Jesus walking towards them on the water.  And it frightened them.

It’s kinda like that with us and Jesus.  We get to doing something and then all of a sudden God shows Himself in a way that we’ve never seen Him before.  In a way we never thought possible.

Then we get scared.  We think “surely it can’t be Him.”  But God knows our fears, He knows our concerns.  He comforts us by assuring us that it is indeed Him working in our lives.  And then somehow we end up on the other side of the sea with the trouble behind us.

We should be careful not to wrongly attribute things to God.  But we also need to learn how to recognize when it is indeed God’s hand that’s sweeping through our lives.  We need to accept that there’s a lot more to God than we could ever know, that He is eternally capable of surprising us with new things about Himself. 

And when we recognize Him, if we have trusted our all in Him, we can know that we need not be afraid.

Praise Him for His greatness!

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Gennao Anothen (John 3)

What does it mean to be born again?  Nicodemus, a teacher and leader amongst the Jews, couldn’t understand it.  Many today seem not to understand it.

We know from Romans 6 that it happens at baptism.  It’s clear that it is the beginning of a new way of life.  Completely new.  Jesus tells us in this passage that it is a thing of the spirit.  He goes on to talk about the necessity of believing in Him, even though men love the darkness.  He says that when we live in the truth we come into the light so that it may be plain to see that what we’ve done is only by God.

I find that I must pause and really consider if this describes me.  In so many ways people can point to my life and say “Look, it’s still the same old Cris.  He does as he pleases.”  In so many ways I fail to live anew.  Sometimes I fool myself by taking pride in the good works I’ve done.  Sometimes by emphasizing to myself that I have been baptised just like He told me to be.  But I must remember that it is His blood that makes those things of any worth.  And the application of that blood always begins with the truth of my sin.  Without Christ they are empty and in vain.

But I must believe that God will continue the good work He has started in me, and that He’ll see me through all the way.  I must believe that because the Bible says it.  And when I do take time to pause and look at my life, I find it is plain that God has done some amazing things in me.  It’s even plainer that it was only through God that I was able to do those things.  One doesn’t need to know too much about me, or anybody else for that matter, to see the need for God.  And when one accepts God, truly accepts Him and is born again, it will be plain that what they’ve done is through God.

So look at your own life, I ask you, and see if it is plain that God has worked through you.  Remember not to get proud, because if it is indeed plain that God has worked through you then you have nothing to boast about… Only God does. 

Is it plain that through God, and not through yourself, that you are Gennao Anothen?

Here’s a couple of videos from Andrew Peterson.  Watch them as you consider whether you are truly a new creation…