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Being Born Again

          The church world bandies about the term, 'I am born again', when they do not even know what it means; as long as you are in your sins, you are NOT born again.  Here at the beginning, if you have indeed confessed and repented of your old life, your OLD sins have been forgiven, but you will find that you will still have all the old habits and evil thoughts coming back...here is where the battle begins; you MUST begin to overcome these things, and you will find that it is indeed a battle.  Not everyone can do it, because they let things get in their way, but if you want to be saved from the wrath of God and the trouble coming, you will indeed overcome your sins.

          What you must do at the very beginning is to adjust the priorities in your life to include all the time you can for Bible reading and study; you are going to get the best King James Bible you can get (leather bound, large print, red letter) because you are going to be reading it night and day.  Getting used to it, and finding your way around is going to take some time; start in the New Testament, in Matthew and read it; it will give you a short history of what Jesus is, and how he came onto the scene, and how the religious world hated him, as they do today, because he was contrary to their traditions and the lies they taught; nothing has changed; it is the same way in the church world today.

 Staying Free from the Church World

          Here is the greatest danger you face: it is the church world, no matter WHAT DENOMINATION; there is not ONE out there that is not messed up, that tells the truth, but they all claim to believe in Jesus and the Bible, but as you read your Bible, you will see a great deal of difference in what the Bible says and what they teach.  You will STAY AWAY FROM THE CHURCH WORLD; you will not watch them on television; you will not listen to them on the radio; you will not surf the Net looking for them...you will keep yourself free from them, else you will die with them; consider this admonition from the Apostle Paul:

14 Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers: for what fellowship have righteousness and iniquity? or what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what portion hath a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement hath a temple of God with idols? for we are a temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, And touch no unclean thing; And I will receive you, 18 And will be to you a Father, And ye shall be to me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.  (2 Cor.6.14ff)

He is talking about the church world, the religious world all around you; they are the 'unbelievers' because they do not obey the Bible; they are the 'unclean' because they believe lies and do things contrary to the truth...you will avoid them like a plague, as I say, no matter what denomination.

 Confessing Jesus

          Now, this part is harder, but you've got to do it; you MUST confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour; you cannot hide it; when you do confess that you have begun to believe in Jesus, that will help you to begin to change your life as those around you will watch you, to see if you are just running your mouth, or whether you mean business.  Here is what Jesus said you are going to run into:

34 Think not that I came to send peace on the earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I came to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law: 36 and a mans foes shall be they of his own household. 37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of me. 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.'  (Mt.10.34ff)

Your family and friends will chide you, or belittle you, or even threaten you when you refuse to go to their church or read their books or listen to the junk they've bought from some radio or television preacher, or from some online outfit; do NOT read anything they suggest you read about the Bible...you need to read the Bible and find these things for yourself; you want it first hand, not second hand.

          But let me ask you a question: what is Eternal Life; there are all kinds of conceptions about it but let me show you do not know even the most basic thing, not simply to put you down, but to get you to listen.  Here: 

Eternal life is to KNOW GOD!  But, now you don't know any more than you did; well maybe you need to study with me.

 Do Not Preach

          Now see: when you confess Jesus Christ, that you have begun to believe in him, you might be tempted to preach to people; DO NOT PREACH; God has NOT CALLED YOU TO PREACH.  You must become expert in the Bible before you begin to try to teach anybody.  Whenever someone asks you why you are changing, you will just tell them that you were tired of your old life and wanted a new life that God is giving you.

 The Coming Tribulation

          You must realize that God is going to show how that the church world is teaching lies, as here:

14 Wherefore hear the word of Jehovah, ye scoffers, that rule this people that is in Jerusalem: 15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us; for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: 16 therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone of sure foundation: he that believeth shall not be in haste. 17 And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. 18 And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. 19 As often as it passeth though, it shall take you; for morning by morning shall it pass through, by day and by night: and it shall be nought but terror to understand the message.  (Isa.28.14ff) 

Do you see what God is doing!  He is going to take away the lies and the falsehood His people are hiding behind; they have all these escape plans, all these excuses for not having to deal with their sins...

          But here is why God does not hear you: 

22 For my people are foolish, they know me not; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.  (Jer.4.22)

Why don't you understand the Bible?  Here: 

12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13 and are not as Moses, who put a veil upon his face, that the children of Israel should not look stedfastly on the end of that which was passing away: 14 but their minds were hardened: for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remaineth, it not being revealed to them that it is done away in Christ. 15 But unto this day, whensoever Moses is read, a veil lieth upon their heart. 16 But whensoever it shall turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  (2 Cor.3.12ff)

Your heart has not been right with God because you have not obeyed the 1st Commandment to give Him your heart, soul, and mind, however, when you turn your heart to Him, He will take away the veil so you can understand...but this is why I have come...to change your heart: 

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come. 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers; lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.  (Mal.4.5,6)

But here is why again, from Jesus: 

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11And he answered and said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given...13 Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. 14 And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye shall see, and shall in no wise perceive: 15 For this peoples heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.  (Mt.13.10ff)

Your Behavior

          Of course, there are many, many situations: you might be a wife; if you are you will still need to submit to your husband; go read my wife's site, Julia's Forum; she will instruct you; if you are a teen and underage so that you cannot leave home because of the law, you must still submit to your parents; if you are quiet and submissive, they will show you favor, but do not be abusive and act out; if you live alone, you are in the best situation possible, because you can study and seek God without anyone hindering you; if you are a husband and the man of the house, and if you are the only one who wants to serve God, you will be very patient with your wife and children not to turn them away from God, but you will hold your ground, and begin to show them why you are doing it...if you have been a jerk or a drunk or abusive, you will REPENT of that stuff, and you will change your ways.  You will have to work hard to gain the respect of those around you.

 Study

          So, all there is left is to study; you will need to find a place if possible where you can be alone; if there is a lot of confusion at home, go to the library, or park, or some place where you will be undistracted, and simply read.  Take a small note pad with you to take down notes and references; learn the books of the Bible, and when you want something to help you be encourage, read the Psalms; they are prayers, and you will find one that fits your situation.

          Now, when you are ready, I want you to begin to add to your study tools; I want you to get Young's Analytical Concordance with the Index in the back; you can find good used ones for under $10 at abebooks.com or you can find them at a Bible book store, although they may have to order it...but DO NOT get any other concordance.  Young's concordance is set up for the layman; it is all I have used for 45 years.  Folks may recommend Strong's concordance, but DO NOT GET IT; it is little more than a glorified dictionary...and do NOT use dictionaries; do NOT read books about the Bible; do NOT use a Bible with annotations telling you what it says.

          Next, you will get a American Standard Version (1901) of the Bible; you can find them new for under $60; the wide margin ASV has been out of print since 1929 as published by Nelson, but if you can find one in a used book store get it, but you might want to email me and ask me about it, because it is easy to pay too much.  Do NOT get that Revised Standard Version; do NOT get the New American Standard Version; be SURE the American Standard you get is the 1901 edition; do NOT get any other.  This is the most accurate Bible there is at present, but the references are absolutely the best...and it has marginal notes that are very helpful when your studies become advanced.  But do try your local used book stores for a WIDE MARGIN ASV; the page size will be 6" x 9"; the ASV you can buy new has a page size of about 5-1/5" x 8;1/4" but it has small margins; if you cannot find the wide margin, then get the ASV smaller edition.

          As I said, the world is full of dangerous places; there are many deceivers and those who would take advantage of you.  We do not sell anything, nor do we recommend anyone to buy from except from used book outlets.  Do not be reticent about contacting us; we will help you as much as we can...     

 Amen