Born Again By The Word of God
Greetings sisters!
Praise God for His precious word that transforms lives. Brother Jim and I are testimony to this and it's what I want to talk about today. Being born again by the Word of God, not mystical situations that happen to people. We just (again) went through a situation about this so it inspired me to write and warn you.
I will give you our testimony and then compare it to the testimonies that we hear.
First I will post a link from our ministry site to the (in depth) biblical gospel, from God's Word, that brother Jim preaches and we stand on.
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html
(Please go there with your husband to read it.)
An abbreviated version is what we have on our gospel cards here:
When you read God's Word you see that a person is born again through the Word, by the Spirit.
Read John 1 about the Word.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)
Brother Jim and I were born again by the Word of God, not an emotional, experiential, mystical occurrence or happening.
Read Acts 2 how Peter explains to them all, the gospel of Christ's death, burial and resurrection and what happened to the people?
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apsotles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
The Word of God pricked the heart of brother Jim and I and by the Spirit we were convicted. Acts 6:7 talks about how the Word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied. You see a pattern here...it's the Word of God that does it, not what you see going on today.
Brother Jim heard the gospel many years ago and something of it pricked his heart because for a short time he sought truth but got swept away with the world. Throughout many years he was convicted and one day, over a decade ago, he allowed that that Word to go deep into his heart and he was born again, seeking the things of God.
The day I heard the gospel, over a decade ago, I was ripe for it and it pricked my heart instantly and from that day on I sought truth and was born again.
Neither of us felt anything other than conviction, deep remorse for our sins and a great hunger and yearning to learn the Truth of God. We willingly turned from our old lives and began running the race for a new one, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Pretty simple...we heard the gospel, it pricked our hearts, we repented, were born again and are now striving after our Savior in the Word.
Now let me share with you some of the many testimonies we've heard from 'professed' believers, claiming that is what changed their life (born again) and claim they are following after Christ...but the fruit of their lives does NOT line up with scripture.
These are abbreviated versions, using the transforming point they claim was instrumental in them being born again.
* I was a drug / alcohol addict and one day God set me free from it through a recovery program.
* I puked up demons.
* All of a sudden I was on the floor crying for hours.
* I had a nightmare about demons and woke up afraid.
* I was watching tv when I got a fax from God.
* I was so depressed, I was sick from smoking and hanging out my window to get a breath of fresh air when all of a sudden I realized only God can love me like I want to be loved.
* Jesus spoke to me through the TV.
* I was reading a novel when all of a sudden I felt this heat from my head down to my feet.
* I was pregnant from my boyfriend and prayed that I would have a miscarriage. I did and after that I prayed for another baby and got pregnant right away.
* I was laying on my bed and I saw myself rise out of my body.
* I heard God's voice talking to me.
* I died and God said it was not my time yet so He sent me back.
* I thought the FBI was after me and I wanted to work for the good side.
* I joined a church and did mission trips that changed my whole life.
* I was wrecked by the Holy Spirit. (Slain/ laid out flat on their back, knocked out.)
* I was suicidal and I went to church.
* I laid there immobile while God downloaded the Holy Spirit into me.
Did you notice that their transformation was not rooted in the gospel and God's Word? It was rooted in a program, an experience, a demonic activity, emotionalism etc.
** That means their foundation is not built on truth.
** We cannot worship God without truth, read John 4:24.
** One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is 'truth', read Ephesians 5:9
** If you do not have truth, you do not have God.
That's why the foundation of the gospel is so important.
It never ceases to amaze me at the power of God's Word going out and watching the evil powers react. Many times people will come to brother Jim to talk about the things of God and it isn't long before Jim brings them right back to the gospel. They were happy to talk about all other scriptures, what all the religions are doing, false doctrines, unbiblical tithes etc but as soon as the gospel is brought up, they listen for a few seconds then get twitchy, start backing away, change the subject, don't want to talk anymore and some become evil.
It's amazing that those who claim Christ rarely get excited about the gospel, good news (the Word of God) and claim that's what transformed their life.
My encouragement to you sisters is to evaluate your foundation and what you claim is your transformation. Did you hear (read) the Word of God and see who Christ is and what He has done? Did you become convicted of your sin? Did you repent and then God gave you a new heart and new mind, being born again and then having a driving hunger to obey the Word?
Or did you have an fleshly occurrence happen like those listed above? If so, you need to root that out and build your foundation on Truth.
Also, if you meet someone who does not have a biblical foundation of Truth (they have a testimony like I shared above), you cannot overlook it for two reasons.
#1 Is that person is in danger because their foundation is not on Christ and truth but has a beginning from an unbiblical occurrence.
#2 You need to protect yourself.
Every single time we come across this situation and try to help the person root out that falseness in their foundation and build it solely on Christ, they either turn nasty and evil, cry and cling to it, leave and go into the dark so they can hold on to it etc. What they should be doing is striving to cut it free from them and then seek truth in being born again from the Word of God.
Being soft on people will only be to their demise. By that I mean this....say you come across a woman who has 'some' fruit, talks about the things of God, says she wants to be obedient etc but her testimony includes an unbiblical transformation. In your mind you might think, "well, it doesn't really matter what is in her foundation as long as she's pressing on forward, past that."
That's a lie from satan because her foundation was not built on truth from God's Word it was built on something else, which is NOT truth. She can't go forward without truth.
What she needs is to be sliced open to dig out whatever is untruth so her foundation can be built on truth. That's done with the Hebrews 4:12 sword:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Godly love is using that sword, not overlooking sin or being soft on someone because you think you can grow them past an issue or you're afraid it might discourage them. Let me tell you something...if a sister gets discouraged because you love her enough to tell her the truth...I question whether she's a true sister because those born of God, LOVE HIS TRUTH.
Beware sisters, satan wraps himself up in soft spoken women, sweet old ladies, handicapped old men....they all can turn and rend you. The only way to know a true disciple of Christ is to test them to the Word of God and hold fast to it.
I hope this strengthens you to stand strong and don't be moved from the foundation of the gospel and all truth of God.
I encourage you to go with your husband or spiritual head and review the gospel and examine yourself to make sure you are rooted on a solid foundation. We see many faulty foundations and I'm just warning you.
Have a joyous evening.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
Praise God for His precious word that transforms lives. Brother Jim and I are testimony to this and it's what I want to talk about today. Being born again by the Word of God, not mystical situations that happen to people. We just (again) went through a situation about this so it inspired me to write and warn you.
I will give you our testimony and then compare it to the testimonies that we hear.
First I will post a link from our ministry site to the (in depth) biblical gospel, from God's Word, that brother Jim preaches and we stand on.
https://www.dontperish.com/the-gospel.html
(Please go there with your husband to read it.)
An abbreviated version is what we have on our gospel cards here:
When you read God's Word you see that a person is born again through the Word, by the Spirit.
Read John 1 about the Word.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
(John 1:1-14)
Brother Jim and I were born again by the will of God, not man nor flesh.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. (1 Peter 1:23)
Brother Jim and I were born again by the Word of God, not an emotional, experiential, mystical occurrence or happening.
Read Acts 2 how Peter explains to them all, the gospel of Christ's death, burial and resurrection and what happened to the people?
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apsotles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
The Word of God pricked the heart of brother Jim and I and by the Spirit we were convicted. Acts 6:7 talks about how the Word of God increased and the number of disciples multiplied. You see a pattern here...it's the Word of God that does it, not what you see going on today.
Brother Jim heard the gospel many years ago and something of it pricked his heart because for a short time he sought truth but got swept away with the world. Throughout many years he was convicted and one day, over a decade ago, he allowed that that Word to go deep into his heart and he was born again, seeking the things of God.
The day I heard the gospel, over a decade ago, I was ripe for it and it pricked my heart instantly and from that day on I sought truth and was born again.
Neither of us felt anything other than conviction, deep remorse for our sins and a great hunger and yearning to learn the Truth of God. We willingly turned from our old lives and began running the race for a new one, cleansed by the blood of the Lamb. Pretty simple...we heard the gospel, it pricked our hearts, we repented, were born again and are now striving after our Savior in the Word.
Now let me share with you some of the many testimonies we've heard from 'professed' believers, claiming that is what changed their life (born again) and claim they are following after Christ...but the fruit of their lives does NOT line up with scripture.
These are abbreviated versions, using the transforming point they claim was instrumental in them being born again.
* I was a drug / alcohol addict and one day God set me free from it through a recovery program.
* I puked up demons.
* All of a sudden I was on the floor crying for hours.
* I had a nightmare about demons and woke up afraid.
* I was watching tv when I got a fax from God.
* I was so depressed, I was sick from smoking and hanging out my window to get a breath of fresh air when all of a sudden I realized only God can love me like I want to be loved.
* Jesus spoke to me through the TV.
* I was reading a novel when all of a sudden I felt this heat from my head down to my feet.
* I was pregnant from my boyfriend and prayed that I would have a miscarriage. I did and after that I prayed for another baby and got pregnant right away.
* I was laying on my bed and I saw myself rise out of my body.
* I heard God's voice talking to me.
* I died and God said it was not my time yet so He sent me back.
* I thought the FBI was after me and I wanted to work for the good side.
* I joined a church and did mission trips that changed my whole life.
* I was wrecked by the Holy Spirit. (Slain/ laid out flat on their back, knocked out.)
* I was suicidal and I went to church.
* I laid there immobile while God downloaded the Holy Spirit into me.
Did you notice that their transformation was not rooted in the gospel and God's Word? It was rooted in a program, an experience, a demonic activity, emotionalism etc.
** That means their foundation is not built on truth.
** We cannot worship God without truth, read John 4:24.
** One of the fruits of the Holy Spirit is 'truth', read Ephesians 5:9
** If you do not have truth, you do not have God.
That's why the foundation of the gospel is so important.
It never ceases to amaze me at the power of God's Word going out and watching the evil powers react. Many times people will come to brother Jim to talk about the things of God and it isn't long before Jim brings them right back to the gospel. They were happy to talk about all other scriptures, what all the religions are doing, false doctrines, unbiblical tithes etc but as soon as the gospel is brought up, they listen for a few seconds then get twitchy, start backing away, change the subject, don't want to talk anymore and some become evil.
It's amazing that those who claim Christ rarely get excited about the gospel, good news (the Word of God) and claim that's what transformed their life.
My encouragement to you sisters is to evaluate your foundation and what you claim is your transformation. Did you hear (read) the Word of God and see who Christ is and what He has done? Did you become convicted of your sin? Did you repent and then God gave you a new heart and new mind, being born again and then having a driving hunger to obey the Word?
Or did you have an fleshly occurrence happen like those listed above? If so, you need to root that out and build your foundation on Truth.
Also, if you meet someone who does not have a biblical foundation of Truth (they have a testimony like I shared above), you cannot overlook it for two reasons.
#1 Is that person is in danger because their foundation is not on Christ and truth but has a beginning from an unbiblical occurrence.
#2 You need to protect yourself.
Every single time we come across this situation and try to help the person root out that falseness in their foundation and build it solely on Christ, they either turn nasty and evil, cry and cling to it, leave and go into the dark so they can hold on to it etc. What they should be doing is striving to cut it free from them and then seek truth in being born again from the Word of God.
Being soft on people will only be to their demise. By that I mean this....say you come across a woman who has 'some' fruit, talks about the things of God, says she wants to be obedient etc but her testimony includes an unbiblical transformation. In your mind you might think, "well, it doesn't really matter what is in her foundation as long as she's pressing on forward, past that."
That's a lie from satan because her foundation was not built on truth from God's Word it was built on something else, which is NOT truth. She can't go forward without truth.
What she needs is to be sliced open to dig out whatever is untruth so her foundation can be built on truth. That's done with the Hebrews 4:12 sword:
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Godly love is using that sword, not overlooking sin or being soft on someone because you think you can grow them past an issue or you're afraid it might discourage them. Let me tell you something...if a sister gets discouraged because you love her enough to tell her the truth...I question whether she's a true sister because those born of God, LOVE HIS TRUTH.
Beware sisters, satan wraps himself up in soft spoken women, sweet old ladies, handicapped old men....they all can turn and rend you. The only way to know a true disciple of Christ is to test them to the Word of God and hold fast to it.
I hope this strengthens you to stand strong and don't be moved from the foundation of the gospel and all truth of God.
I encourage you to go with your husband or spiritual head and review the gospel and examine yourself to make sure you are rooted on a solid foundation. We see many faulty foundations and I'm just warning you.
Have a joyous evening.
Love in Christ,
Sister Deb
The biblical gospel...