Rebirth

I sit here in the sun on this beautiful Spring day. The air is crisp and fresh as it gently blows through my hair. This birds are chirping. The world is budding with new life. It is a rebirth. I think of Spring with all of the renewal of life. The flowers are budding as they start to break through the soil. Baby birds are hatching and entering the world for the first time. The grass is a rich green color as it sheds off the dead brown of winter slumber. I drink in all of the activity around me and I can't help but think of one word - hope. I feel excited as I think of the hope of what the coming months will bring. What experiences and new memories with I have with family and friends? How will the Lord use me and grow me for His purpose?

Our greatest hope is found in the ultimate rebirth - the rebirth of Jesus as He rose again from within His tomb. He rose again so that we could experience life and love in freedom through Him and His death. It is only because of His selfless sacrifice that we do not have to endure eternal death and separation from God. God knows that all of His children will sin at some point in their lives (except for Jesus, of course.) The Lord is perfect and just in all ways and can only accept sinless, perfect people. He therefore requires us to pay for our sins in the form of death. Jesus stepped up and offered Himself in our place so that we would not have to pay this deadly price for our sins. If we accept Jesus, believing that He died for us and rose again, we will experience eternity in heaven with Him. This is the only way to enter into heaven. In John 14:6-7, Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know^[a] my Father as well." The other thing that we are blessed with through Jesus' death and rebirth is the Holy Spirit. This Spirit lives within all believers and allows us to come to the Lord in prayer and worship whenever we want. The Holy Spirit allows us to have a personal relationship with our Heavenly Father. Through the Spirit, we can experience God and His love for us in ways that we never thought were possible.

Romans 8

Life Through the Spirit

 ¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,^[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.^[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

 ⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

 ⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life^[d] because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of^[e] his Spirit who lives in you.

 ¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

 ¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.^[f] And by him we cry, “Abba,^[g] Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. http://www.biblegateway.com/

Standing on the Corner

     A few days ago I left work early. We were overstaffed and I didn't have a patient assignment so I asked if I could leave early. As I was driving down the street, I noticed a man standing on the corner holding a sign. He was wearing a bright fluorescent orange vest that a road worker would wear. He was just standing on that corner holding the sign, smiling and waving at people as they drove by. I had seen the same man on the same corner a couple of times before, although I thought it was two or three years earlier. I hadn't really given him much thought before. I just drove on by and carried on with the rest of my day. As I sat at the stoplight on that particular day, I watched the man. For the first time, I really saw the man and thought about what he was doing. The sign he was holding read "Jesus Christ is the name above all names."

     I thought about how difficult it must have been for that man to stand there with that sign for the first time. I'm sure that many people driving by him every day must think he is absolutely crazy standing there with that sign. When the Lord first called the man to minister in this way, he must have thought, "You want me to do what? Really?" It is human nature for us to care about what others think of us. I admired that man and his courage for being obedient to God's calling.
     I then thought about the physical discomfort involved in standing out there on the corner for who knows how many hours. It was pretty cold on the day that I saw him. Did he stand out there in the snow and rain? What about lightening? Had he ever gotten scorched by the sun's rays while he shared the love of God with others? Did he ever almost get hit by a car? How far would this man go? What would he endure to carry out God's purpose for him? And then I wondered, "What would I endure to fulfill God's will?" Would I endure physical discomfort? Pain? Ridicule? Torture? Would I even endure uncertainty about the future, not knowing where God's plan would take me?

     I know it seems crazy to think that I pondered all of these things as I watched the man with the sign for that brief moment. I then realized that God put that man there for me to see. He wanted me to see the man's amazing obedience to him despite the certainty of being judged by others. He also wanted me to see his steadfast endurance and faith in God as he withstood unpleasant and potentially dangerous environmental conditions. I remembered thinking about seeing the man there two or three years earlier. The Lord brought to mind the man's continued faithfulness and obedience as he continued to follow the Lord's calling for him for all of those years. God wanted me to see that man and to evaluate my own life and my own obedience to Him. He wanted me to ask myself, "Do I have what it takes to stand on the corner alongside that man, proclaiming the word of God to everyone passing by?" Do you have what it takes?

Deuteronomy 5:33
Walk in obedience to all that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.
Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
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