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What's it mean to be Born again and Spirit Filled?
So If you can't tell already from looking around my page let me share with you that I'm a Christian, also known as a Born again Christian, (sometimes called one of those crazy born agains, lol) Now there are lots of different "denominations" out there but Jesus didn't teach on denominations, he just told us that we needed to be "born again." This term "Born again" comes straight from the bible. Jesus said "...unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3)That means exactly what it says, If you are not born again, you will not enter into God's kingdom. (God's kingdom is otherwise known as Heaven, Eternal Life, Eternal Joy, Eternal Peace, no more suffering, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more tears! Sounds like a wonderful place right? Well get born again so you can go to!)Being Born again means that your spirit has come alive. You see we are born once into this world in a natural way through our mother's womb, but then there is a spiritual birth that takes place when we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and accept him as our Lord and Saviour. When we do this we become Born again. We are then Reborn, it is a second birth which allows our spirit to come alive and come in to communion with God's spirit, giving us the free gift of entering into God's kingdom. Okay so you get it? cool.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~..The only way to make your spirit truly come alive by being born again is by going to the one who has conquered death itself and holds the keys to death and life. This free gift is found in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ has died for us, and risen from the grave, and since he lived a sinless life, when we accept him into our hearts to wash away our sins, our sins are erased and we become a new Creation, and we become Born Again. After we become born again, we then have a chance to become filled with the spirit of God. In the book of Acts Chapter 1 verse 8, Jesus said this before he went up to heaven after he rose from the dead,"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;"
The word power here in its original meaning of the Greek writings, is the word Dunamis. This word Dunamis is translated as miraculous power, and also a worker of miracles.Some Christians today believe that we don't have this same power anymore. But that is like saying that we don't need the Holy Spirit anymore. The Holy Spirit has not changed. What has changed is our hearts and attitudes, that we think we can just play church without the power of the Holy Spirit. Well then we are wrong. We need this same Holy Spirit that was used in the book of Acts. We see that in Acts 1:8, Jesus is talking to the disciples! He was telling them that they were going to soon recieve power! But wait a minute? I thought the disciples were already casting out demons, and doing miracles? So whats up with that? Well what is up with that is that the Holy Spirit had not yet filled them completely. See they already believed in Christ, but they had not been totally submerged in God's power.It is the same today. There are many Christians who believe in the bible, and believe in Jesus, however they are missing out on all that God has for them. We should not put limits on God, our God is a supernatural ALL powerful God, He is well capable of doing miracles, and he chooses to do them through US!Wow, thats awesome! Check out what Jesus said here in John 14:12"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father"
now some people say.. well we don't believe that he meant that literally... well ya know what I say? Okay then you will get what you believe! It's funny how some Christians accuse people who walk in God's power of doing that in the name of satan.. and isn't it funny how the Church crowd back in Jesus' time accused Jesus falsely of working miracles in the name of satan!Check this out Jesus said in Mark 11:23"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you recieve them and you will have them."
Spiritual gifts are for TODAY, because what Jesus said yesterday, goes for today as well. Because "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8) .Jesus said"Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
(Mark 16:15-18)Isn't it clear from these scriptures that Jesus said we as Christians will cast out demons, speak in new tongues, be able to lay hands on sick people and have them be healed! Yes, and who does this apply to? Did Jesus say, "this only applies to you 12 apostles."? NO!~ Jesus said "And these signs will follow THOSE WHO BELIEVE" So if you are a believer in Christ, that means Christ Jesus has given you the authority to do these things, we are not powerless, we are more than conquerors through Jesus Christ. The bible is not a fairy tale book, this is the words of life and they are true, but we need a powerful thing called faith to activate these words, what type of faith? Childlike faith. These words are so simple that a child can grasp them and be used powerfully by God. You don't need to go to a university for 10 years to gain enough wisdom and knowledge to understand the things of God. NO... all you need is childlike faith and obedience to God's word to enter into the kingdom of God and to walk in God's power.Stuff about me:
† you can call me a Jesus freak, a bible thumper, a holy roller, whatevvva, cuz I love Jesus homie!
♥ I'm a music producer / rapper / singer
♥ You can find me Sunday mornings at Grace & Peace so come holla at me!
Why am I so into God?
For those of you who think that I'm a Christian because I felt like becomming a "better person" haha yeah right. Apparently you don't know me who I was, or the plans I had for my life. I did not have any plans of becomming a "good person" and I don't go to church because everyone there is there for me and everyone there is my support, as a matter of fact sometimes it's the opposite, and I don't read the bible because I want to impress you, shoot if I wanted to impress people it wouldn't be by me being considered a "Jesus Freak".
So the reason I'm so into God is not because I can't be doing my own thing like getting drunk, partying in a sinful way and all that stuff, because I used to do that 2 all the time,
so I don't think I'm better than anyone who does any of that.
I'm into God because point blank GOD IS REAL! and to deny him by the way I live is completly ignorant. So I made a choice to acknowledge he is real, and that I can't be what he expects me to be on my own, I need Jesus to be my Lord and my Savior, and through that personal relationship I have recieved eternal life which on my own strength I could never recieve...
There was a time in my life that I wanted to know who God was even in the midst of me partying and living in sin, and through that search I found God because he began to speak to me, show me visions, dreams of the end times, and through those experiences I began to change my lifestyle to please God rather than myself. It was not an overnight change, because I still had some sins I was stubborn with letting go, and God knew my heart that I did not totally understand what it meant to truly follow after God, so he had mercy on me, and met me where I was at, and kept offering me the choice to live for Him, and I praise God he did not give up on me because if I was not a Christian, I don't know where I would be right now, I don't know if I would even be alive. I'm not going to get into my whole story here but if you would really like to know a little bit more of my experience that led me closer to God check out this page where I wrote my testimony when I was 21.. http://www.changedlives.info/default.asp?action=article& ID=124
Alot of us say we believe in God and we think that's enough to get us to heaven, but the bible says "But someone will say, ' You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble!
But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" (James 2:18-20)
So you see just because you believe there is a God does not mean you are getting into heaven, the demons believe there is a God but they are not getting in, so do you still think that you can get to heaven by just believing God is real, and that you can keep on going on living in sin? Another words, if you say you have faith but your works, your lifestyle shows that you really don't love God by your actions, then your faith is dead and useless according to this scripture, but you can change that right now. You can really believe, not believe like the demons believe, remember they know God is real, yet they keep causing destruction and chaos in this world, by influencing people to rebel against God, but you don't have to settle for your dead faith anymore, let your faith come alive, by living what you know is right and true. Live out your faith, thats the only way it is real.
When you get to heaven, God is not going to be concerned with what type of church you went to, God isn't going to ask you if you were Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal, or whatever, He wants to know if you had real faith, the kind of faith that is proven by your actions.
You must accept Jesus Christ as the Savior for your sins to get into heaven, cuz no one is perfect we all messed up. We all need forgiveness.___ And once you accept Christ as your Savior you must allow the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth and reject the lies of the world by repenting (turning away) from your sins that hold you back from knowing God deeper. Jesus wants real disciples not just another person sitting in a seat in church keeping the seat warm, Christianity is not just another religion. It's a real relationship with the Creator of the Universe. God loves you, and thats why your still here because if you haven't accepted him in your heart, he's waiting for you, so he can fill you with peace and love and all the fruit of the spirit....
God says to you his child "For I know the plans I have for you.. plans for good and not evil......to give you a hope and a future.., When you call on me, I will hear you.......And when you seek me with your WHOLE HEART, You Will Find ME." (this is what God says to you from the bible in the book of Jeremiah 29:11-12)____________So you see the decision is yours God leaves it up to you to decide, he is not going to force you. But he's got special plans for your life if you will ask him and seek him, and do so with your heart because God is after your heart, not something fake____God is waiting 4 u.