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Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3: 3

Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again' " John 3: 5-7

Peace That Passeth All Understanding

When I awakened later that morning, I felt such peace, the kind of peace that cannot be described. I felt the burden of this world had been lifted from me. I knew that this sinful wicked world no longer had hold of me. Jesus has staked a claim to me. I belong to Him.

Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”
John 10: 14, 27-29

I can remember only one other time in my life when I experienced similar peace. It was when my mom died in 1971. She was only 51 years old. My youngest sister was just 11 years old. Mom died suddenly from a massive stroke or cerebral hemorrhage. I knew then and I especially know now that the sense of peace came from God. I believe He was telling me that my mom was a true believer in Jesus, she is one of His own, she is now at rest with Him and everything is going to be okay.

“For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in (*commits into) Him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Whoever believes in (*commits into) Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe (*commit) stands condemned already because he has not believed in (*committed into) the Name of God’s one and only Son.

This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men (and women) loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil (in God’s sight sin = evil deeds). Everyone who does evil (sins) hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
John 3: 16-21

*believes in-another choice when translating from the original text is “commits into” which I believe carries with it a stronger message for each of us.

We must commit into Jesus, which means accept Him as your Lord and Savior. Surrender all to Him and allow the Holy Spirit to transform your life. Love Jesus with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Turn from the practice of sin. Seek to know Him. Seek to follow Him. Seek to serve Him. All of this actually comes naturally through the working of the Holy Spirit when you have truly committed your heart to Jesus Christ.

From My Heart to Your Heart

The uncompromised truth is what I crave. After going through the rebirth experience,
I just wanted to receive truth. One source I trust is Billy Graham, so I checked out his website
and found that he offers “spiritual help” through a series of answers to questions.
Following are excerpts from one section, Being Sure of Your Faith:

Believe- Do you believe? The word “believe” carries with it the idea of total surrender, putting total
assurance in what Christ did for us on the cross-not trusting our good works, not trusting our money,
not trusting anything, not even church membership, but trusting in the Person of Jesus Christ.

Second, we must have a changed attitude toward sin. What does that mean? Well, 1 John 5:18 says,
“We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not” (KJV). Oh but you say, certainly Christians sin.
Do you know what ‘sinneth not’ means? It means ‘does not practice sin.’
We don’t practice sin. Sin is no longer a habit in our lives.

Partake- We must be separated from the world. First John 2:15 says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world” (KJV). What does “the world” mean? The word in Greek is “cosmos,” and it means the world system that is dominated by evil. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” That means the order, the behavior, the fashion, the entertainment, whatever is dominated by evil.
Satan is called “the god of this world” and “the prince of this world.”

The Bible teaches we are to live in the world, but we are not to partake of the evils of the world. We are to be separated from the world of evil. “Touch not the unclean thing,” says the Lord.

Check out www.billygraham.org.