The Path of Godliness

Meeting God

Remember [thoughtfully] also your Creator in the days of your youth [for you are not your own, but His], before the evil days come or the years draw near when you will say [of physical pleasures], "I have no enjoyment and delight in them"; - Ecclesiastes 12:1 (AMP)

If you had a chance to meet God, what would you say to Him? What would be your first words? And what kind of conversation topic would you engage God in? There are many reasons we may all want to meet God. Some people think if they could see God face to face, their lives would be different from the kind of lives they live. And maybe, just maybe, they could be right. And, God gave us all a chance of meeting Him. We cannot find God in religion. God is only as real as Jesus is to us. What does this mean? We cannot know God the Father without Jesus Christ. 

                                                                             Being Born Again

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. - John 14:6 (NKJV)

I received Christ when I was a 17 year old boy. Before I was born again, I was a complete mess. I sought for fulfillment in girls and alcohol. And of course, that didn't do me any good. There is no better life than the life we find in Jesus Christ. The bible says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Jesus wasn't making suggestions. He simply told the plain truth. Whatever we are looking for, we can only find in Jesus. And as young people, it can be hard to accept Jesus Christ. We love adventure. We love excitement. We love to do daring things. And, when we hear about God, somehow, we feel like we'd be wasting our time pursuing someone we cannot see. 

When Jesus said those words, He wasn't ruling out other ways. There are many ways. There are many paths. But only Jesus can lead us to the Father. Only Jesus can satisfy our longing. What is it that we feel we cannot live without? Everything we want, we can find in Christ Jesus. Our life in Christ, begins with knowing Jesus as our Lord and personal savior. What does it mean to be saved? What does it mean to be born again? 

                                                                     What does it mean to be born again? 

 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (KJV)

Being born again means receiving Jesus as our Lord and personal savior. It doesn't mean going to church. It means, giving our life to the Lord. When we say we've given our lives to Jesus, we mean, our life becomes His life. So, how we live matters. Being born again means, we are no longer living for ourselves. It means, the standard of life we choose is the standard of life that Jesus chose for us. We gave our lives to Him. Our lives don't belong to us. We are longer our own masters. But Jesus now becomes the master of our lives. 

Jesus is LORD of our lives. He is the master. What He says, is what we do. What He does, is what we do. We haven't truly given our lives to Jesus until we start living for Him. It doesn't matter how often we go to church, if we are not born again, it all means nothing. Salvation is more important than going to church. What use is a church if people don't get saved? The church is a place where people can give their lives to Christ. But going to church, doesn't make us saved. We need to choose Jesus and repent from our lives of sin to embrace a life of pure righteous living through Christ. 

If you are not saved and would like to to receive Jesus as your Lord and personal savior say this prayer with me : Lord, I give you my life. I repent of my sins. I choose to live for you. Forgive me for all the wrong things I have done. From today, I choose to serve you. I choose to live for you. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. In Jesus' name. Amen (If you prayed this prayer, you are now saved!)

                                                             I Am A New Creature

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. - 2 Corinthians 5:17(KJV)

What does it mean to be a new creature? The bible says, "If any man be in Christ." The word of God can only be worked out in those who choose to believe. Everyone can receive salvation. There is not a single person that cannot receive Jesus. But the life of God in us is only for those who have gladly accepted Jesus. Do you know who you are? You are no longer the person that your friends knew. You are a new creature. In Christ, you are new. 

God doesn't remember our past sins. He doesn't. Because, we are a new creature. God changed everything about you. He made you anew. Whatever lives we had before receiving Christ don't matter. What matters now is that we are a new creature. How many of us know this? In this new life, sin cannot be apart of our lifestyle. New life means a new life. A lot of times what hinders us from doing what God wants us to do is looking back and condemning ourselves. God calls us new. There is no sin that cannot be forgiven. And that's the good news! This is what it means to be new creatures.

If we were known as alcoholics. Or drug addicts. Or whatever shameful name that might have been ascribed onto us, it doesn't matter now. Because? We are a new creature. There is no shame in Christ. There is no condemnation. There is freedom in Christ. And that's why we can choose to live for God and choose to serve Him. The truth is, some people will always see us the way we were before Christ. And that's okay. What God says about us carries more weight than anything that any person could ever say. Who will we believe? The people or God's word? We are who God says we are. 

                                                                         I am God's Best

God was delighted[] to give us birth by the truth of his infallible Word[] so that we would fulfill his chosen destiny for us and become the favorite ones out of all his creation. - James 1:18 (TPT)

Do you know who you are in Christ? Have you ever noticed how God addresses you? This is better than belonging to some group to seek identity. The bible says, "God was delighted." Have you ever seen what the bible says about you? God was delighted to have you. Perhaps some of us have never had people that are proud of us. I want you to know that God is proud of you. This kind of truth can only be fully maximized when we know who we are. He was delighted. God was delighted in creating you. He made you on purpose. You were not a mistake. 

What else does the bible say about you? We are born of God. Being in Christ means we are now born of God. If we are born of God, that means we have godly traits in us. If we only think poorly of ourselves. And have a negative outlook on how we see ourselves, that's all we'll ever be. But when we decide to see ourselves through the mirror of God's word, everything about us changes. God gave birth to us by His word. We are born of the word of God. 

Why did God choose us? Because we are in the will of God. Have you ever seen how a will works? God has a destiny for us to fulfill. That's why we shouldn't give up. There's so much in us. Why would God create us to live mediocre lives? If we were not taught right, we can learn now and see ourselves in the will of God. There's something we are all meant to do. There's a chosen destiny that is trapped in our bellies. We are pregnant with a rich destiny. And we all have a different due date. Can you believe that you are in God's will? Can you believe that you are God's favorite child? Choose to believe. we are not useless. We are not clueless. We are the chosen ones of God. That's who we are!