I have been here on this and my other blog now for around seven years. Because for one thing I saw the need in America for what many just were not getting, scriptural Truth. Caused by Americans presuming that because they were born Americans that they were "Christians" which is a false assumption on their parts. The other I had sat in many churches and different denominations where the same thing was being spread through the congregation, that being misguided information and Bible teaching. After examining the scriptures on my own I saw another things taking place the perversion and twisting of what the word says. Today I will look at the last area of Prayer for now. But first I will again turn to Pastor Hoekstra's writing on Grace and then make use of the ESV translation for my study targeted subject.
"The Holy Spirit and Starting Out with God"
"Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit . . . You must be born again." (John 3:5-7)
"The Promised New Life that allows us to start out with GOD comes through a spiritual birth that is brought forth by the Holy Spirit. "Unless one is born of . . . the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of GOD." Just as man must be physically born into the human family, so he must be spiritually born into GOD's Family. There is no other option. That is why Jesus said,"You must be born again."
The reason spiritual New Birth is a necessity is because "that which is born of the flesh is flesh." Natural human birth brought about by natural human resources can only produce a life that is natural remains separated from GOD. Being a child of GOD involves a supernatural Life that GOD alone can provide.
When Jesus came to secure our Redemption, He was generally rejected. "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." (John 1:11). Nevertheless, some realized that he was the Promised Messiah, the Anointed King and Savior sent from the Father. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of GOD, even to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).
Believing in Jesus' name involves trusting in His person and His work. It encompasses relying upon who He is, what He says, and what He has done and can do. Such faith brings a unique New Birth. "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of the Will of GOD" (paraphrased John 1:13). This birth is from GOD. It cannot come by inheritance or genetics through our human bloodline. It is not available through an exercise of our human will. Neither can we have it pronounced upon us by some religious leader. Nor by being born in America or being a member of some religious group or denomination or non-denomination group.
The LORD desires for us to walk in a heavenly, spiritual life, not a mere earthly, human existence. Only a birth from the Spirit of GOD could bring us this type of Life. "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." All genuine spirituality must come from a work of the Holy Spirit on our behalf. This is true concerning our starting out with GOD in new birth and Justification. "You . . . were justified in the name of the LORD Christ Jesus and by the Spirit of our GOD." (paraphrased from 1Corinthians 6:11). We will see in subsequent meditations that this is true concerning our going on with GOD in Growth and Sanctification." This is Salvation at work within us, not Redemption because Redemption is the gate into the sheepfold.
GOD attentive to the Prayers of His saints, Divine Hearing:
Turning to one of king Davids Psalms of deliverance:
2Samuel 22:1-7 "David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. He said, "The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge, my savior; you save me from violence. I call upon the LORD, Who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies. "For the waves of death encompassed me, the torrents of destruction assailed me; the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. "In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I called. From His temple HE heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears."
Psalm 34:15-18 "The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."
Psalm 94:8-11 "Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? He Who planted the ear, does He not hear? He Who formed the eye, does He not see? He Who disciplines the nations, does He not rebuke? He Who teaches man knowledge—the LORD—knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath."
Isaiah 59:1-8 "Behold, the LORD's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or His ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your GOD, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that HE does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. They hatch adders' eggs; they weave the spider's web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace."
Isaiah 65:17-25 "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I Will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not fill out his days, for the young man shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of My people be, and My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the LORD, and their descendants with them.
Before they call I Will answer; while they are yet speaking I Will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain," says the LORD."
James 5:1-6 "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the LORD of Hosts (some translation here have Saboath, which is the same word Hosts). You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you."
1Peter 3:8-12 "Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.""
This is what I saw with my own eyes and heard with my own ears while in the many different churches and denominations who called them selves "Christian." And it broke my heart and caused within me sorrows of heaviness.
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