Tuesday, April 12, 2016

When The Spirit Enters In, Eternal Life Begins

My Utmost For His Highest
 
Death no longer has dominion over Him.…the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God… —Romans 6:9-11
 
“Eternal life is not a gift from God; eternal life is the gift of God. […] “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you…” (Acts 1:8)— not power as a gift from the Holy Spirit; the power is the Holy Spirit, not something that He gives us. […] If it is difficult to get right with God, it is because we refuse to make this moral decision about sin. But once we do decide, the full life of God comes in immediately[…] Eternal life has nothing to do with time. […] Even the weakest saint can experience the power of the deity of the Son of God, when he is willing to “let go.” But any effort to “hang on” to the least bit of our own power will only diminish the life of Jesus in us. We have to keep letting go, and slowly, but surely, the great full life of God will invade us, penetrating every part. Then Jesus will have complete and effective dominion in us, and people will take notice that we have been with Him.” CHAMBERS
 
Eternal life is not something that we will have when we die.  Eternal life is something we have the moment we are born again  In John chapter 3, Nicodemus, a teacher to the Law, talked with Jesus and was told that he had to be born again to enter the kingdom of God.  It didn’t matter how much knowledge he had.  How strong his desire was.  There is only one way to go to heaven.  And that was to be born again … born of the Spirit.  At the instant that the Spirit enters in, our new life begins.  Our time on this earth that follows is a wonder to me.  I know that why we remain is God ordained, but I would like to understand it "more better".  Frankly some days, I have wished that He had just whisked me away the day I said “yes Lord”.
 
I suppose the important thing is that I must accept it for what it is, God’s sovereign will.  I have eternal life and will live my life out in this jar of clay until of the number of my days has been reached.  In the meantime I must walk in that new life.  Struggling with my frailties.  Seeking forgiveness for my failings.  Finding strength in my faith.  Learning more about God’s sufficiency and His sovereignty.  We, Christians, continue to experience life on this earth after our new birth. We must be careful not to waste a minute of it, letting the light of Jesus shine as we live out His purpose for each of us.  For His glory and for our good.  ELGIN
 
Charley Elgin

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