Joseph and I were in discussion in October 2019.
He cheerfully gave the Scripture verses, as he always does.
As fast as he could, too!
I merely wove them, in some order here.
The question?
"How does one reconcile with GOD?"
First, we must seek God and truly want Him in our lives:
Jeremiah 29:13
King James Version
13 And ye shall seek me,
and find me,
when ye shall search for me
with all your heart.
Secondly, we must bow to Him in all humility and accept how sinful we are:
Romans 3:23
King James Version
23 For all have sinned,
and come short of the glory of God;
Thirdly, knowing we were born of a sinful nature, we then must sincerely ask for repentance:
Isaiah 30:15
King James Version
15 For thus saith the Lord God,
the Holy One of Israel;
In returning and rest shall ye be saved;
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:
and ye would not.
Fourthly, we acknowledge the wisdom of being "born again" in Christ and accept Him as our Savior:
You Must Be Born Again
John 3:1-15
King James Version
3 There was a man of the Pharisees,
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
2 The same came to Jesus by night,
and said unto him,
Rabbi,
we know that thou art a teacher come from God:
for no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him.
3 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4 Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old?
can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb, and be born?
5 Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit,
he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh;
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Marvel not that I said unto thee,
Ye must be born again.
8 The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh,
and whither it goeth:
so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him,
How can these things be?
10 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel,
and knowest not these things?
11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
We speak that we do know,
and testify that we have seen;
and ye receive not our witness.
12 If I have told you earthly things,
and ye believe not,
how shall ye believe,
if I tell you of heavenly things?
13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven,
but he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of man which is in heaven.
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.
For God So Loved the World
John 3:16-21
King James Version
16 For God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world;
but that the world through him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on him is not condemned:
but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name
of the only begotten Son of God.
19 And this is the condemnation,
that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.
20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light,
that his deeds may be made manifest,
that they are wrought in God.
Fifth, we let God take over our thoughts, words, and deeds for He alone knows what is best for us:
John 3:30
King James Version
30 He must increase,
but I must decrease.
And that takes complete faith in God:
Hebrews 11:6
King James Version
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
In truth, God chose us.
He saw what we have in our hearts and thus:
John 15:16
King James Version
16 Ye have not chosen me,
but I have chosen you,
and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit,
and that your fruit should remain:
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you.
We become new in Christ and our lives will have the greatest meaning, in a way the world can never have achieved in us.
Our eternal happiness comes from Christ alone, the Son of the Only Holy Father:
2 Corinthians 5:17-20
King James Version
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature:
old things are passed away;
behold,
all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God,
who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit,
that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them;
and hath committed unto us
the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us:
we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God.
More articles here.
Republished content from 2 October 2019
