Many people don’t understand the value of Jesus’ life here on earth, and most people don’t believe it is possible to live the same life as He lived. You must be born again to see God’s kingdom.
“Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.’” John 3:3 (NLT). This new birth takes place in your heart and mind. After you are born again, you see things you didn’t see before, and you receive a completely new set of values to live your life by. First, you get a sense for the things that lead to life and peace and for the wisdom that belongs to the spiritual world. (Romans 8:6.) The things in the world that you previously thought were so great, lose their value and meaning.
Paul experienced this new birth, and in Philippians 3:7-8 (GNT), he writes about what being born again meant for him: “But all those things that I might count as profit I now reckon as loss for Christ's sake. Not only those things; I reckon everything as complete loss for the sake of what is so much more valuable, the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have thrown everything away; I consider it all as mere garbage, so that I may gain Christ.”
The possibilities that were now revealed to him through the gospel, made this choice easy for him. Let us be zealous to keep ourselves close to God. Then God can speak to our hearts and work in our hearts.
“I do not mean that the food sacrificed to an idol is important. I do not mean that an idol is anything at all. But I say that what is sacrificed to idols is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to share anything with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons also. You cannot share in the Lord’s table and the table of demons.” 1 Corinthians 10:19-21 (NCV).
We can’t have anything to do with God if we share anything with evil spirits and seek the things that belong to this world. If you don’t hear God speaking, and if you don’t have revelation and revival in your life, it is because your thoughts and motivation come from this world. Every wholehearted Christian must be awake and on guard for his own life and be very careful not to look up to things that lead us away from our heavenly call.
Where are your thoughts and your mind?
“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” 1 John 5:18. You can’t be a disciple and at the same time admire what is great in this world. What then will come out from your life will be unclean and will lead you away from a deeper fellowship with Christ and the saints.
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you. These are the ways of the world: wanting to please our sinful selves, wanting the sinful things we see, and being too proud of what we have. None of these come from the Father, but all of them come from the world. The world and everything that people want in it are passing away, but the person who does what God wants lives forever.” 1 John 2:15-17 (NCV).
