a new capacity to resist temptation.…

james 1.18 (niv), HE chose to gives us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruit of all that HE created.

james here is not talking about physical birth.  he’s talking about being spiritually born.  a rebirth.  starting over with GOD.  he saying to be reborn.  be reborn.

the single most important principle in breaking bad habits and getting control of your life is to let GOD have control of it.  get HIM in your life so HE starts changing your character.  being born again gives you a new capacity to resist temptation.

you don’t have enough power in your own will power.  you need supernatural power.  you need JESUS CHRIST in your life.  that’s what it means to be born again.  it means you get a fresh start on life.  ask CHRIST in.  ask HIM to make the changes and give you the power you need to do what you know is right to do anyway.

folks, you will not be able to say no to temptation until you first learn to say yes to GOD.  you need HIS power in your life.  you need to not only be redirected and these other things but you need to be reborn.  that’s the starting point.  then you’ll have more than just your own power.

just a thought from the front porch…

JESUS used pictures...

another way to empower your words is to use pictures. JESUS was the master at this.

one time HE sat down with a religious leader by the name of nicodemus. HE was trying to picture for him the fact that CHRISTianity didn’t mean “doing better.” it meant starting over. HE couldn’t get it across so finally HE said this to him in john 3.3 (lb) with all the earnestness I possess I tell you this. unless you are born again, you can never get into the kingdom of GOD.

born again. we use that phrase a lot of different ways today. what it meant originally was just a picture. JESUS said it means starting over, having a new life. that’s what it means to know ME. JESUS, again and again throughout HIS life, used pictures to help people see things they hadn’t seen before.

one guy was talking with a friend who was saying, “i know i have problems but i don’t feel like working on them because i see people who have a lot worse problems than i do.”

and the guy told his friend, “it’s like this. let’s say you’re in quicksand up to your waist and some other people around you are in quicksand up to their neck. does that mean you’re not going to try to get out of the quicksand? in fact, if you do get out of the quicksand, maybe you can help them too.” a picture can help you to see something that you haven’t seen before.

just a thought from the front porch...