Such is the situation with sinners. While you are a sinner it seems like everything around you is going good. The sex feels good, you get away with lying, stealing, cheating. You enjoy your materialistic music, your smoking, gambling and violence. Of course, there are good sinners as well. Those who keep the Second Greatest Commandment to the letter. Loving their neighbors, but not loving God. These are they that live in a bubble called sin. Sin that feels so good. That makes be feel complete. but the reality of the situation is that the actuality of the situation is that sin is a state of ignorance that leads to destruction. Only with sinners, it is not a situation you hope to actualize one day, it is a problem that you must rid yourself of.

So how does one rid themselves of this illusion of sin? Simply put, you must be born again. The prefix “Re-” means to go back or to do again. So we see see the need to be RE-Born. What however was wrong with my first birth that necessitates my Re-Birth? From Adam to Moses, My Sin was imparted, it was the very nature of my humanity, I was born with a Sin Nature, a nature corrupted and depraved of the Holiness in which I was created. (Romans 5:13) From Moses To John The Baptist, my sin was imputed, for under the law my sin was made known and I am condemned for the sins or Adam. (Romans 5:18) and from John until now my sin is innate for the law is written on the heart ( Hebrews 8:10) and in the tables of my conscience (Romans 2:15). So there is at birth a defect that must be corrected and because it is such an inherent part of my physical nature that I cannot simply remove it I must be Re-Born.

but what does that entail? I must be

Re-Attached – For I have been separated from God
Re-Unioned – For I have been broken and Scattered
Re-Affirmed – For my identity was lost when I left the image of my Father.
Re-Directed – For I have strayed from Thy path O God
Re-Defined – For You are the source of my life’s meaning O God
Re-Decorated – Because I have corrupted Your image.
Re-Constructed – For I am a broken vessel of clay, and You are The Potter.
Re-Conditioned – for sin has left me in a condition of disrepair
Re-Used – For thy purpose O God, for I want to accomplish your will
Re-Stored – Allow me to be put back to where I was before the fall of man.
Re-Vived – For I am dead in my sins, O God
Re-Covered – For you are my covering, O God
Re-Leased – For I am bound by my sins, O God
Re-Deemed – For I want to be purchased by your Blood, Jesus
Re-Pent – For by my sins my penance had been made of none effect

Re-Born – Because such is the process that you use to ReMember me.

I need that prefix, I must Re-Work my life because he said “Re-Pent and do your first works over.” So there is a prefix, a predetermined notion that I must in fact be born again.

“Ah but how is this possible?” is the cry of a confused Rabbi named Nicodemus. “Can I regress in age now that I am so old? Can I go back through the labia, though the introitus, back above the pubic arch, past the interspinous diameter, through the pelvic brim, and back into the cervix, only to be pushed out again?”

Jesus tells us that it is not the womb that is the focal point of the Re-Generative processes. Rather it is the Water and the Spirit. (John 3:4-5) If you’ve ever watched Television, you understand the concept of the Re-Run. The interesting thing about Re-Runs is they often are not displayed on the channel of their origin. One of my favorite Television shows is House. (House, M.D.). Now it’s home channel, it’s channel of origin is The Fox Network but I can catch Re-Run on the USA Network. More consistently Cartoon Network’s old shows are Re-Broadcast on the Boomerang Network.

My point is a process does not necessarily have to be replicated in the place where it was originally performed. We see this with Nicodemus. Jesus tells him that the original location of his birth (i.e. His mother’s womb) would not be the location of the Re-Birth. the Re-Birth would instead take place by the spirit and in the water.

The water: so, what is water? Water is symbolic of ReGeneration. It includes Re-Pentance for this was the ministry of John the Baptist.(Matthew 3:11) It includes Re-Freshing because that is a function of water. It includes Re-Vivication because this water is the water of life (John 4:13). It includes Re-Conditioning because there is healing in the water (John 5:4). It includes Re-Construction for in order for the potter to Re-Work the clay, water must be added (Jeremiah 18:1-4) It includes Re-Sanctification because We are sanctified by the washing or the water of the word. and all of this is part of God’s plan of Re-Conciliation.

The Spirit. The Spirit includes my Re-Education for the Holy Ghost is a teacher (John 14:26). It Re-Directs me (Hebrews 11:12; Galatians 5:16) It Re-Strains me. (Acts 16:7) It Re-News me (Romans 7:6). It Re-Leases me from guilt (Romans 8:1). It Re-Vives me (Romans 8:10). It Re-Covers and Re-Affirms me (Romans 8:15). It Re-Empowers me (Acts 1:8; Romans 15:19). It Re-Veals things to us (1 Corinthians 2:10) It Re-Constructs me (Ephesians 2:22). It Re-Decorates me (2 Corinthians 3:18). It is Re-Cieved of me (Galatians 3:2). It Re-Unions me (Ephesians 4:3). It Re-Fills me (Ephesians 5:18) It Refines me (Malachi 3:3). It Re-Invites me (Revelations 22:17), and all of these are part of God’s plan to Re-Deem me.

It is time to walk in the newness of life. Starting all over again, In my life has been a difficult process, but It is an essential one. “Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease?” is the question of the Hymnologist. “Sure I must fight…, I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain…” Comes the Re-Sponse. But despite the challenges, the obstacle, the struggles and the fight. YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!

1. Don’t stoop to their level. Instead be better than them.

This should be a given, but you would be surprised how many people start hating on their haters.

If you see that your enemy’s donkey has fallen because its load is too heavy, do not leave it there. You must help your enemy get the donkey back on its feet. Exodus 23:5 (NCV)

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43-48 (KJV)

2. Realize that your haters indicate your status

When you don’t have haters, then you must not be doing well. It is a true saying that if you have no haters, examine yourself, because your doing something wrong.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. Luke 21:17 (KJV)

3. Know that your haters take you higher.

In other words your haters are your elevators. So the more they hate, the more I elevate and the more haters I have, the higher I go.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Matthew 5:11-12 (KJV)

“The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matthew 11:12b)

This scripture indicates a struggle. A struggle so hard it is described as violent. What struggles do we have in our lives now? School, maintaining relationships, defending friendships, financial struggles, etc. Even me, For the past 3 years I’ve been fighting for a relationship that doesn’t exist. So why am I fighting? Why not just give up and let the chips fall as they may.

This scripture indicates that this violence, this struggle had for its object, the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, they were struggling for a good cause, fighting for the ultimate rightness. In school yes we struggle, seek tutors, haggle over grades. Why? It is because our struggle is to graduate. In relationships we fight, we make compromises, and we endure hardships. Why? It is because we believe they are our soul mates, that maybe they may be the one. We have the “audacity to hope” that we will spend the rest of our lives with them. In our friendship, the goal is the have that friendship be like David and Jonathans (1 Samuel 18:1). In finances, the goal is to live life without owing anyone. What are you striving for?

That last part says that “the violent take it by force.” Earlier we said, “the difference is, the ones in a good relationship don’t let it get them down.” In other words, the ones who want it, those press for it, the violent, the one who press into (Luke 16:16), those who overcome something, those who lay aside every weight and sin, those who run with patience, those who are more than conquerors, the overcomers, they that endure unto the end, they are the one who seize it. This is a confirmation that your labor is not in vain. A reminder that the laborer will receive his reward. Even in revelation there are 7 Promises to the overcomers, the ones who “take it by force.” Take hope in this knowing that your labor is not in vain.

Let us leave with the words of Dante Allegheny…

suffereth violence
From fervent love, and from that living hope
That overcometh the divine volition;
Not in the guise that man o’ercometh man,
But conquers it because it will be conquered,
And conquered, conquers by benignity.”

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Ever wonder if things would work out. Ever wonder why it takes more effort to do things that you know are wrong?

Recently I sat and talked with the love of my life. I’ll admit, we’ve done some not right things. I haven’t been completely right before God. And it hurts not to be there. But my prayer has been that God take us in the right direction and prepare us to be the man and woman of God that he would have us to be, and that our relationship would reflect him.

Lately it seems that whenever we planned to do not right things, they would fail. Something would always come up to prevent us from seeing each other. Then one day we did see each other, and nothing wrong happened, and we enjoyed ourselves. And as we sat and talked on the steps of my house, she told me something that confirmed some things in my spirit. Yes, this is the one I have been praying for. This is the one I have poured of my self into and am seeing return.

As i sat there though, my flesh had been wondering why the “not right” plans would always fail while the good ones always succeeded. (JayT2, I might just have to get you for this) Up popped 828. Romans 8:28 that is. Things that we have to work on we are growing in. Thing we used to do we don’t do no more. We both are growing as individuals and as we grow separately, we grow stronger in our love for each other.

Prayer changes things. As my Chief Overseer Dr R.W. Fletcher has stated that “prayer is not a form, but a force” and that we all need to “know the use, not how to use it, but the use of prayer.” Problems have cropped up in this relationship at sundry times and divers manners, but I’ll never forget that I asked God if i should give up, or keep trying, though constantly being rejected. His answer, “Develop a love that lasts.” 3 years have passed since I met this woman of God and I’m still developing that love, like Jacob.

The results have not been immediate. I don’t expect them to be but like the scripture says, “all things work together for good…” Even though it may take some time. Haggai says that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former, but we learn from the Gospels that the latter house took 46 years to build. When Job was in the midst of test he said “all the days of my appointed time, I’m going to wait until my change comes.” Even if it takes some time. Jacob had to work 14 years for Rachel, so even if it takes some time, know this the ind will be better than the beginning for “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Why then do we strive to be independent? Why do we seek to be free from everyone else? Why do we allow our pride to shut out those around us? Why do we see see dependence as weakness? In Genesis 2:18 we see that we were created to be dependent. That scripture says:

And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Notice the first part of the verse. It identifies the speaker as “the LORD God.” In the hebrew that translates as YHWH Elohim. YHWH is the personal name of God. Elohim however is the plural of the word eloah which is the word “god” in the generic sense. So before we even get to the second part of the verse we see that God himself is not alone! This is also evident in the first chapter of Genesis when God (Elohim) said let us (look! he wasn’t alone!) make man in our image. If God is not alone and we were created in his image (literally to be a “phantom” copy) then it follows that we should not be alone. We were created to be dependent!

“It is not good for man to be alone.” This sentence leaves open the possibility for existence without human dependence for it does not say that such is impossible. if we examine the scriptures, man had a decent life before woman was created. He had shelter, he had food, he was an intelligent person, a zoologist, botanist, herbologist, and a biologist. He also had an knowledge of history from the beginning of the world. He was well equipped to survive on his own, but it was not good for man to be alone.

See even before the creation of woman, man was a dependent being. For while man had everything, it was all provided by God. Man depended on God for his sustenance, indeed his very existence. For it was the breath of God that flowed through his nostrils, and so man was created to be dependent!

“It is not good for man to be alone.” Adam was the only human being around. I can imagine Adam thinking as he was naming the animals, “These animals come in pairs but I, O Lord, am alone.” So the LORD God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” It’s a bad thing, for a man, to be left to his own devices, it is a bad thing for a man, to be “independent” I know that sounds crazy, but that’s bible. But why? The clue is in the next part.

“I will make him an help meet for him.” That word “help” means to aid, and that word “meet” means a counterpart or opposite.(H5828, H5048 Strongs Hebrew Lexicon) In other words, No matter how well off Adam was, how laid back he was or how much he was enjoying, “the good life,” Adam needed help. There was something missing from Adam, something not self contained. Adam was created to be dependent.

How was Adam “completed?” How did Adam fulfill his created order? God created Woman. Why? Because the only way Adam, being created in the image of God, could be complete was if he had help. He was created to be dependent. He needed companionship, he needed help, and he needed completion.

As I reflect on the woman in my life, I see that I was created to be dependent. To be surrendered to her. To be her counterpart, and she mine. There is a terribly great amount of emotion as I write these words, because she is my heart. Being with her, I know that I was created to be dependent. Sure I could get my degree, get a good job, settle into the life of a Christian bachelor and exercise, as Paul calls it, “the gift of singleness.” Instead, I choose to dedicate my life my service, and due benevolence to her for the rest of my life.

Examine yourselves, pray and seek God on this matter. You were created to be dependent. Maybe not on a spouse or girlfriend, but on God and someone. you were created to be dependent.

I will leave you with these words from scripture.

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 KJVR)