When I was born again...
What changes when we are born again? Our old self dies by faith—and our new self is raised to life in Christ Jesus by faith. Being born again is being brought to life and set upon an incredible journey of discovery. Being born again is the beginning of the most grand adventure that provides the traveler with the most mesmerizing vistas the mind of man could never conceive apart from God! On this journey I have discovered never-ending mountains of His healing, fathomless oceans, and wave upon wave of His love. Forest upon magnificent forest of all manner of life His Truth provides! Every day is a brand new opportunity to explore what it means to be born again. Just take the next step—and be prepared to have your mind blown!
If you are feeling (there’s that pesky word again!) like your life is at a standstill, just take the next step. You never get to your destination unless you take the first—or next—step. Perhaps your current situation and circumstances make you feel like you are living in hell on earth. As Winston Churchill supposedly so famously said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Even those feelings of “hell on earth” are as the result of a thought you are mulling over in your mind. What do we do in such moments? We change our point of view by asking the Lord to show us our hell from His perspective! When we have ascertained that, we put off the wrong thought and exchange it for the right thought...and we do that until the right thinking becomes the overcoming thinking.
The following are some tips and things you will need for the trip:
Map, GPS, personal guide, and roadside assistance, all in one: You will need a guide for your journey—and I have the most wonderful news! The Lord has given us the Holy Spirit to guide us through our spiritual journey. He is better than OnStar! He is always with us. Never sleeps. Never takes a break. We have but to acknowledge Him and He is ready and willing to meet whatever need we have! Walking in the power and filling of the Holy Spirit is like having the world’s best GPS and best roadside assistance possible. He is available day and night, twenty-four/seven. We have but to decide if we will trust Him or trust our feelings. He will never contradict the Word, while feelings often do!
2. Know your final destination: When taking a journey, we generally have a destination in mind. Our destination? Wholeness in Jesus. How do we get there? We seek Jesus and we follow the roadmap. What is our roadmap? The Word of God. When in doubt, go to the Word!
3. A traveling companion: The joy of getting there is in the journey—and every journey is made sweeter and joy made more tangible when we have someone to share it with. I know it is redundant, but we are never alone—even if we feel like it! And what do we do when our feelings are messing with our journey? We get to the Truth. And Jesus is the Truth.
4. Provisions: Heading out on our journey, we never know what we may encounter. We may find ourselves stranded by high water or deep snow. Regardless of what tries to hinder our journey, we must have provisions along the way. And guess what? Our traveling Companion is both food and drink! Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is Living Water. We but need to eat and drink of His presence whenever our soul is hungry or thirsty.
5. Extra fuel: From time to time, we will grow tired and weary in the journey, but, again, our Companion provides the filling of power and He even provides rest as we undertake whatever leg of the journey we find ourselves on.
"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” —Jesus (Matthew 11:29-30)
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
6. Keep your eyes on the road: While that goes without saying, we need to remember one of the ploys of the enemy is to try and get us focused on the failures of our past. To live our lives according to our past failures is equivalent to driving down the road by looking in the rearview mirror. Doing so leads to nothing but disaster! We use the rearview mirror simply to glance back occasionally to help us keep our bearings. This reminds us of how far we have come and helps us stay oriented on the Truth!
7. Good music: When Melinda and I travel, we often put on the music of 2nd Chapter of Acts and Keith Green—and sing! There is nothing like worshiping Jesus and singing as if no one is listening to cover the sometimes tedious parts of the journey with sheer joy. Worship helps us maintain our focus on Truth. Truth always set us free and takes our eyes off of us. Sing your way to Truth and to freedom.
8. Do not fear the side trips: Life has a way of taking us down unexpected roads. Rather than dread such momentary side trips, why not turn the point of view around to put on a heart of adventure? Unexpected circumstances are simply opportunities to watch God come through! It is the little spontaneous adventures that often lead to the grandest of vistas and deepest release of joy.
9. Expect grand vistas: The first time I saw the Grand Canyon with my children took my breath away. It was so massive my human brain could not fathom what I was seeing, which made me think I was seeing a grand panoramic painting! As my children stood their mouths agape at the splendor, my heart was ravished with deep joy at sharing this unexpected splendor with those I love most. Our attitude, when traveling with the children, was to make each and every experience the children had a learning experience if possible, regardless of how mundane or non-special the landscape might appear.
When the children were younger—and still at home—we made every trip a lesson of some sort, teaching the children to look at the world from different points of view. At the ocean, we encouraged them to experience wave after wave and to imagine how these waves compared to God’s love for them. In the Rocky Mountains of Colorado we encourage them to imagine seeing life from the top and to imagine life in the valley...how much you could see from the mountaintops, but how true life was lived in the valleys below. In the forests we encouraged them to see life from the grand majesty of the trees to the minuteness and diversity of life below, from fern to chipmunk and turtle to insect. Even when traveling through the monotony the flatlands of Kansas can be, we encouraged them to look for the beauty found in wide open expanses. Honestly, there was not one place we ever traveled through that we were not able to find beauty—and evidence of God’s presence and power.
Walking the journey of life with Jesus is—can be—like that. It is our choice. How we live our lives depends a great deal on how we view our circumstances. Will we view them through the filter of our feelings or through the filter of what is true and real? As with our children, we need to always be looking for the best vantage point and vista, striving to get to God’s point of view.
When stranded in the desert of sorrow, I choose to see and curl up into the comfort of His presence. When slogging through the tar pit of pain, I choose to see an opportunity to experience the healing of God’s very near and real presence with me. When caught in the wilderness of suffering, I choose to see the great cloud of witnesses—champions of the faith—who have paved the way for me. I choose to believe God’s Word concerning suffering and allow the fiery trials of life to burn away all that is not of the Lord. It is from the ashes of my suffering that eternal life and love are produced...and the real me comes forth, shining like gold.
When in a storm of chaos and confusion, I choose to put off the lies that say standing for Truth is not worth it, and I replace those thoughts with thoughts of God’s very presence proving peace in the very midst of that storm. As when I would take my children tornado hunting, it is an amazing and surreal moment to be in a storm, being tossed by the wind, hearing the thunder, startled at a sudden burst of lightning, yet actually enjoying the majesty of God’s hand and presence.
When in a tsunami of temptation, I choose to actively ask for God to reveal the way of escape, and without fail, He lifts me by my wings of faith, buying me up by the wind of the Spirit and Truth of His Word, allowing me to soar above that temptation as if I were an eagle ruling over the sky, experiencing His glory while the world is swept away below me.
Believer. Follower of Christ. New Creation. You are not on any simple journey. You are on the grandest adventure—a trek full of wonder and thrills and twists and turns...that lasts this life and the next. Are your ready for the journey? Put off the lies that say you can’t and put on the Truth that says you can and will...and then take the next step in Truth. The feelings you long for—hope, joy, health, peace, security, destiny, purpose—will follow suit, in spite of the circumstances you find yourself in. And if you fall, just keep getting back up and heading for the Truth. It looks like Jesus!
Dennis Jernigan
This is an excerpt from the Dennis Jernigan book, Renewing Your Mind: Identity and the Matter of Choice. It can be purchased at https://www.amazon.com/Renewing-Your-Mind-Identity-Matter/dp/1613143737/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GZNXS5ELN5VZ&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.AzdEHdBTMOTtUENfsWu4UA.iqW1r7w7iwlGizbjnBz1FgM45tDrmRp4AVQvUh0pUPk&dib_tag=se&keywords=renewing+your+mind+identity+and+the+matter+of+choice+dennis+jernigan&qid=1750857840&sprefix=renewing+your+mind+identity+and+the+matter+of+choice+dennis+jernigan%2Caps%2C151&sr=8-1
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/08/22/10/04/traveler-1611614_1280.jpg