God's Word

A quote I found among my many readings that has helped me realize that not everyone who 'says' they are saved is actually saved.

"The Word of God is determinitive.

What a person does with the Bible, God's Word, reveals his relationship with God.

If a person 'listens' to the Bible it shows he belongs to God.

If a person does not 'listen' to the Bible it shows he doesn't belong to God."

To listen is much more than just to hear the bible read. It goes beyond mere hearing. Listening is active, it involves action as a result of what is heard. The action begins with understanding, which leads to belief, which leads to a change in attitude toward what is read as well as a change in behavior that comes from commitment to what is understood and believed.

How many people do you know who say they are a Christian but do not follow Christ by reading or obeying what God's Word teaches. Many do not want anything to do with God at all and yet claim that at some point in time they prayed a prayer and believe that prayer saved them so they are 'okay with God'. To me this is scary- there are too many warnings in God's Word for us to let someone believe that way. What if we just take their word for it and not 'judge' them according to God's Word and they die and go to hell. No, I believe we must warn them by giving them the whole gospel- not just the "feel good" part.

In the next three blogs I am going to be explaining how this works by sharing my notes from a message I heard by Steve Lawson called- "Faith is...". I tried to take very careful notes but you can also go to his site- New Reformation (see my favorite ministries) to listen to the whole message for yourself.

This 'listening' is faith and this faith is a gift from God to us. Somehow He imparts it to us so we can respond to Him. Somehow He implants it in us so that we will respond to Him. I am amazed at the deep love of God for me. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one can boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2: 8-10

I hope this will be a blessing to you

to the praise of the glory of His grace,

Norma

Behold, the Lamb of God

John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." John 1: 29

Behold- look intently, gaze at, take a closer look, keep your eyes on. This is an attention grabbing word. Some other verses in which this word is used to help give us a better understanding of its meaning are:
Gen. 1: 31- ..and behold it was very good.
Psalm 119: 18- that I may behold wonderous things...
Matt. 1: 23- Behold a virgin shall conceive...
John 19: 5- Behold, the man...
John 19: 26- Woman, behold your son...
1 John 3: 1- behold what manner of love the Father has given us.

The word means- see, look, but I think it has a deeper conotation, a more intense suggestion behind it. John was telling the people to get a good look at Jesus, take a closer look than the obvious because this man was secial. He was the Lamb of God- that phrase alone must have grabbed thier attention. It probably made them think of several events in their history.

Genesis 22: 8- Abraham was telling Isaac that God will provide for Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. They were going up the mountain to sacrifice to the Lord and Abraham knew Isaac was to be the sacrifice but he believed God would provide a 'lamb' in his place. The ram in the thicket became Isaac's substitute.
Exodus 12: 21- they were to kill the 'passover lamb'
Is. 53: 7- like a lamb that is led to the slaughter.....
John 1: 29- Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
They had an idea of what John was saying to them.
After Jesus died on the cross some realized exactly what John had been saying.
Acts 8: 32- like a lamb before his shearers is silent so Jesus opened not His mouth to His accusors.
1 Cor. 5:7- for Christ, our Passover Lamb
Rev. 5: 6- I saw a Lamb standing as though it had been slain
Rev. 5: 12- Worthy is the Lamb who was slain...

Jesus is the Lamb of God, He is our substitute, He died in our place.
Behold! the Lamb
Follow the Lamb!
to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Norma

A Petition God will always answer

While thinking on the last blog, of praying 'in the Spirit', and continuing to read Ephisians 6: 19, where Paul is asking the believers to pray for him also, 'that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel...', I am convinced that we too need to pray this for one another. How often do we feel we are bold in proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ to people around us? I would say not often enough. At least I know I can say that for myself.

Praying this prayer is deffinitely something that is 'according to the will of God' for us.

Do you know what the mystery of the gospel is? Maybe that death brings life! Christ's death on our behalf wherein He gives us life. Christ died bearing our sin so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him. Yes, that was Paul's message- the substitutionary atonement of Christ.

His boldness in proclaiming this message had him bound in chains. Yet rather than complain he asks the believers to pray for him to have of all things more boldness. Paul saw himself as an ambassador for Christ. He represented Jesus Christ to all he met, proclaiming the gospel of Christ to all, knowing that God would save some. Paul believed it was his duty to proclaim Christ, 'that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.'

Lord, will you please help us to declare with boldness to those we meet the truth about who You are, what You came to do, why You came to do it. Help us to understand that we are Your ambassadors for our generation, our neighborhood and maybe even our family. Help us to 'open our mouths boldly'.

for the praise of Your glorious grace,
Norma

Praying at all times in the Spirit

As I come to the end of this passage on the armor of God I can't help to conclude that even to know how to pray 'in the Spirit' we need to know the Word of God. The Holy Spirit does His work through the Word. I am reminded of 1 Thessalonians 2: 13, 'And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the the word of God's message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs it's work in you who believe.' The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together teaching, guiding, and motivating us to walk according to truth, to walk in faith believing in Christ, trusting His Word. The Holy Spirit makes God's word come alive to us, deepens our desire to know God.

So as we come to Ephesians 6: 18- "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints," I am often prompted to pray for someone as I am reading the Word. A person or a situation will come to mind as I am reading because the Spirit has shown me that this scripture relates and so I pray that scripture for that person or situation. Another time I may be talking to someone and they may share some burden and the Lord brings to remembrance a verse that can comfort or encourage that person. We may even stop and pray about it right then.

Praying scripture for someone is always beneficial. You know that God's Word is His will for them. We need to be sensitive to the Spirit when He prompts us to pray and pray. Right then, right there!

Praying in the Spirit is praying according to the character and will of the Spirit, just as praying in the name of Jesus is praying according to His character, His will. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are always in unity, in agreement. They are never set against One another or work against One another. We must be careful and sure that we pray in accordance with God. Knowing the Word and praying the Word gives us this confidence.

All of our prayers, petitions, and supplications should be in accordance with the Spirit. Often times we are unsure of what to pray for as we ought and Paul tells us in Romans 8: 26, 27, that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Notice this goes on to say that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him to those who are called according to His purpose. God's will is 'for us'- 'toward us'. Even when the burden we carry is so great that we can't even form thoughts for prayer our precious Lord provides. God is always working for us, on our behalf. One reason for this is for our conformation to the image of Christ. All of these things God uses to make us like Christ. This is His will for us! He called us to this.

My point is that as we pray for one another, using scripture, we will pray according to His will, for His purpose to be fulfilled and this will be for His greatest good on behalf of those whom we pray.

Know the Word so you can pray for those you love for God's greatest good,
for the praise of His glory,
Norma

The Sword of the Spirit

Next we are to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God, an offensive weapon for our protection as well as our defence.

How does the word protect us?

• It is truth that defends and protects.
• when Satan attacks us by bombarding us with lies, doubts, deception- only being firmly grounded in God's word, which is truth, can keep us firmly planted, unshaken, immovable.
• when our minds are filled with doubt, fear, anger- the truth corrects our thinking and keeps us in the path of obedience.
• Scripture reproves, rebukes, exhorts, encourages, challenges, and gives comfort so we must read, study, memorize, and regulary meditate in it to apply these benefits.
• It is truth that wards off attacks.
• Jesus quoted scripture when He was tempted in the wilderness. Unless you are familiar with it you will not know how to use this weapon effectively.
• Take it, use it verbally as an offensive weapon. When we are studying to show ourselves approved unto God as a workman who is not ashamed, accurately handling the Word of Truth, we will know when to use it to teach, when to use it to correct error or false teaching, when to use it to destroy arguments and lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God. We will know when to use it to bring comfort and encouragement.

Can you see how in every piece of armor is the necessity of knowing the Word?
Are you satisfied with what you already know? Do you think you know it well enough that you can live off what you do know and therefore do not need to read and study daily? You cannot survive on day old 'manna'. God wants to feed you fresh 'manna' every day.

I challenge you to become a part of a group Bible Study that will help you stay in the word faithfully everyday. There are many good options. Check them out to be sure they are teaching correct doctrine. Here are a few suggestions: Bible Study Fellowship, Precepts Ministries (Kay Arthur), Mary Kassian, Beth Moore... and just those will keep you in the Word for years to come. These are women's studies but see my favorite sites section for powerful teaching of the truth of God's Word and enjoy learning and growing!

To know God- study His Word- You will fall in love!

to the praise of His glory,
Norma

The Helmet of Salvation

Now we take the helmet of salvation and it covers our head, protects the skull and brain, our thoughts. The order of the armor is very interesting. It is not so much necessity as practicality in putting the pieces in the order as given in Ephesians. After we have the belt of truth strapped on, the breastplate of righteousness is put in place and we bend down to latch on our shoes showing we are ready to go with the gospel. Then we pick up the shield of faith having it always ready even while finishing up with the final preparations of the helmet of salvation.

Having ridden motorcycles before putting the helmet on last makes sence. How awkward it would be to put this bulky helmet on and then try to reach around, gather all the material of the tunic to tuck into the belt or bend over with all that weight on your head and try to put on shoes. No all that would have to be done before the helmet is put on.

So the helmet is not of lesser importance because of the order given rather it is of utmost importance. I saw the shield of faith as covering and protecting the 'seat of emotions' and the helmet of salvation covering the 'mind'.

Before we are saved God describes the heart as, 'only evil continually', the motives and intentions of the heart was only evil continually from our youth', 'there is none that do good-no not one'. But when God calls us to Himself- causing us to believe on Him and be born again- He takes out our hard, unbelieving heart of stone that is described above and He gives us a heart of flesh, a heart that is soft, pliable, sensitive to Him, responsive to Him. He gives us faith to believe- the shield of faith has the heart covered.

On the other hand the place of the believer's greatest struggle is the mind. We are told to renew our mind daily. We argue with God in our minds. God tells us to do something and we answer back, "You don't mean that do You?, You don't really want me to do this, do You?" Romans 12:1,2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of your mind....Our minds need to be actively persuing God so that we can discern what the will of God is, so we can know what is good, acceptable, perfect, what God's will is for us. We are bombarded with attacks to the head by the world's philosophy, by Satan, and by our own flesh that wars against the Spirit. And with the same attacks that Satan used against Jesus in the wilderness, and Eve in the garden. "Has God really said....?"

Only the helmet of salvation- true salvation where we are given the mind of Christ. Only with this helmet on does anything about Christianity make sense. It is foolishness to the unsaved but wisdom, power and glory to those of us who are saved. Once you are truly born again, nothing can penetrate the helmet of salvation. Nothing can make you take the helmet off, throw it on the ground, and kick it around. No! when you are truly saved the helmet is precious, priceless- every thought to take it off and leave it is senseless. You realize how hopeless life is without the helmet on. (Apart from Christ, to not have the helmet on is to be apart from Christ.)

We are to take the helmet, we are not to be idle but active in the area of the mind. We are to take every thought captive, we destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Think about the ways you are attacked in your mind. Are you being tempted to doubt God's goodness or faithfulness? Are you being ridiculed because of your faith in Christ? Are you being pressured to do something that God's Word says is wrong? Take all these things and lay them before Your Savior as Your protector. He has saved you and He will protect you.

by His grace and for His glory,
Norma

The Shield of Faith

The Shield of Faith

Ephesians 6: 16

The next piece of armor is the Shield of Faith. Here we are told to "take up" the shield of faith. I was reminded that 'faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Christ' in Romans 10:17. How do you hear the Word of Christ but by 'hearing' the Word of God, the Bible.

Faith comes by 'hearing'. Jesus said in John 10: 3, 4, and 27- 30, "My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me."  Ephesians 2: 8-10 says faith is a gift from God, 'by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God that no one should boast....'.

God opens our minds to understand the truth of His Word. He opens our hearts to believe the truth of His Word. When we 'hear' God's Word and understand and believe it, it's not because we are smarter, wiser, or more humble than any other person. It is because God has done His work in us. We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. We can believe God's Word- every promise. We can obey God's Word- He has given us the ability and the desire to do so. We will not be perfect but He has promised to discipline, train, teach, and transform us into His likeness, as a father does His child, not as punishment for Christ took the punishment for us on the cross, but as a loving father training us in righteousness so that He will present us holy and blameless before Him.

So in all circumstances, no matter what happens in your life take up the shield of faith. Take up your Bible! Read it! Study it! Feed on it, drink it up! Immerse yourself in it! Know it! It is God's voice to you. It is your shield of faith. The more you 'hear' it and know it, the stronger your faith 'with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.' The evil one wants to destroy you, he fills your mind with falsehoods, doubts, subtly trying to distract you, throw you off course. The only way to combat the enemy is to know the Word of God. Follow Christ's example when He was tempted in the wilderness.

You can know the facts of the Bible without truly knowing the Savior. You need to know by personal, hands on, loving, obedient experience of 'hearing' and following the Savior. Have you heard His voice calling you to follow Him? Surrender to Him now! Then get to know Him by reading His Word. Begin with the gospel of John and ask God to open your mind and heart to 'hear with understanding' and He will do it.

The shield of faith takes us back to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the 'Author and Perfector' of our 'faith'. The faith is the whole counsel of God. The faith is the personal faith we have in Him. Both are gifts from God and only He can make them come alive for us.

You 'hear' my voice but do you 'hear' me? Are you listening with understanding? Lord, open our ears so that we can 'hear' and follow You.

to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Norma

The Shoes

The next piece of armor  is the shoes as the armor of God. Paul says, "As shoes for your feet" and what do shoes do for our feet? They give protection, stability, and covering. They give us the ability for endurance over a long walk.

Again the 'having put on' is past tense it has already been done but has a continuing result. What has been put on but the readiness of the gospel of peace. So we ask, "What is the readiness of the gospel of peace"?

Shoes are put on when we are ready to go somewhere. When your shoes are on you are ready to go. It is the gospel that makes us as believers ready to go! We have the gospel and we are to go- specifically to tell it to others.

What is it about the gospel that makes us ready to go? It is the message of the gospel that makes us want to take it to others, to proclaim it to everyone we can. It is a message of 'good news'! A message of peace!

You see, our unsaved friends, family, and loved ones  are dead in trespasses and sins, condemned in their unbelief, enemies of God. Their only hope of 'peace' with God is through the gospel, through repentance and faith to follow Jesus. We must preach this message to them because this is the means that God Himself gave us by which He will save the lost. We are His messengers to proclaim and teach the truth about sin, the truth about man's condemnation because of sin, the truth about Jesus Christ, that God alone, through Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, for God's glory alone can save them.

When God brings someone to life in Christ they will "know' the peace of God because God in reconciling them to Himself gives them the peace with God! The enmity is gone, the resisting Him is gone. The Spirit Himself bears witness with their spirit that they are now a child of God. They will now follow Christ- He has placed the belt of truth around them. They now have the belt of truth to gird about them in reading and studying God's Word. Now they are clothed in Christ's righteousness, have the breastplate of righteousness in place. The truth of God protects them, gives stability to their faith and they will endure.

They now have the readiness to share the gospel of peace with others. Isn't that one of the first responses when we get saved? To tell someone what God has done- to share this good news with someone! No matter what response we may get we want to tell someone what happened to us! Why? Because God has put it in us to do it! He has given us the 'shoes', the readiness, the message!

Friends let's stand firm in the truth and walk in the shoes God has provided proclaiming to all we meet the good news of Christ. On your mark, get set, let's go!

to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Norma

Breastplate of Righteousness

Truth comes first- knowing the Lord and following Him. Salvation sets you on the true path of life. When God causes you to be born again to a living hope, He cleanses you from all unrighteousness through the death, the shed blood of Christ and He gives you Christ's righteousness. He clothes you in Christ's righteousness. Christ took your sin, your unrighteousness upon Himself and suffered the full wrath of God for it on the cross. He died and rose again victorious over sin and death and imparts that victory over sin to us with His righteousness. We now have power to choose not to sin because God has given us a new heart that desires to please Him. We can only please Him because we are clothed in Christ's righteousness.

So the Breastplate of Righteousness covers the very "heart" of our being. I believe these first two pieces of armor have to do with our salvation. Remember who you are in Christ and this will help you to stand firm, to withstand evil.

We have so much to be thankful to Christ for- rejoice in His goodness to us!

for the glory of His Name,
Norma

The Armor of God

As I was thinking and praying through Ephesians 6: 14- 18 I came to the conclusion that truth is the basis on which we stand and covering ourselves in the truth by 'putting on the armor of God' is essential in our walk with Christ. I will be covering only one piece of armor at a time beginning with the Belt of Truth.

Who is our only absolute source of truth? God is! How did God give us His truth? The Bible, God's Word is truth. In John 17:17, Jesus said, "Sanctify them in Your Word, Your Word is truth."

The first piece of armor that Paul speaks about is the belt of truth. He begins with 'having fastened' the belt of truth which implies a past action. The belt is already on us and is already fastened. How did it get fastened in place? I believe God fastened it in place when He saved us. We are saved according to the knowledge of the truth. We could not be saved without knowing the truth about our sin, our lost condition, our inability to save ourselves. We could not be saved without knowing that Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin, He took our sin upon Himself, took the wrath of God against sin- the wrath we deserved, as the propitiation-the wrath appeasing sacrifice. We must know our need of Him, the need to be forgiven, cleansed, set free from sin's powerful hold on us. As He Himself opens our eyes to these things, He gives us the gift of faith and we turn to Him alone as our Savior and Lord. He applies the belt of truth to us. He wraps it around us and buckles it securely in place. That is our position in Christ.

However, we have a part in knowing the truth as God reveals it to us. We know that God's Word is truth therefore we must read and study the Word of God to know truth. It takes time in the Word, reading it, thinking on it, reinforcing through study of it. It takes work, diligence, consistancy to get a good grasp on it.

How can we daily apply the fastening of the belt of truth? In Roman days they wore tunics or togas, like robes that had to be held close to the body to keep from entangling the legs when in battle or running. The tunic would need to be gathered up and tucked into the belt. If the tunic represented 'life', everything about us, then all of that must be gathered together and tucked into the belt. In other words, all that we are and do must be tucked into, held together, lined up under, surrendered to the truth of God's Word. The only way for this to happen is to read, study, and submit to (obey) what you learn each day. The Holy Spirit is working in us conforming us to the image of Christ. He is the One giving us the desire and the ability to do this. Apart from the Holy Spirit it would be impossible for us live in the truth but praise God we are not apart from Christ. We are in Christ- the living Word of Truth.

He keeps the belt fastened around us but we must keep tucking in the sin that so easily entangles us- those remnants of life that discourage us, trip us and try to deceive us. We must live in continuous surrender, humble obedience.

Lord, By Your grace and for Your glory alone keep us walking in humble, obedient, surrender to You. May Your truth be seen in us as we follow You. We lift Your Name up in praise!

to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Norma

Jesus knows

John 2: 23- 25 - Many believed in His name when they saw the signs He was doing but Jesus did not entrust Himself to them...because He knew what was in man.

Jesus knows the heart of man. He does not need anyone to bear witness about man to Him, He already knows. He knows the 'why' of those who say they believe in Him. Here it was because of the signs, the miracles, the great things He had done for the people of His day. He knew the motives and intentions of their hearts. Some followed Him around to see what He would do next, to see what He would do for them. Some followed Him because they wanted to 'know Him'.

Jesus knows the motives and intentions of my heart. He knows 'why' I do things, 'why' I believe, 'why' I read and study His Word. He knows when I do things for personal gain, for influence or for sheer joy of knowing Him, loving Him. How often my motives are wrong. How often then does He not entrust Himself to me.

I know I often get into His Word intellectually- looking for what I can teach as my motive, rather than devotionally- looking for what He can teach me. I thank Him that in spite of my reasons for getting into the Word- He does teach me. He does rebuke, reprove, correct and discipline me. He does encourage, give fresh insight and feed by hungry soul.

I confess that I sometimes want recognition, acceptance and attention but I pray that God will squelch that, put it to death, so only His glory is evident and "O, to the praise of Your glorious grace! May the crowds marvel when they see the mute speak, the crippled restored, the lame walk, the blind see- all this physically and more so spiritually!

Blind eyes opened to the truth of His Word. Deaf ears opened to 'hear' and follow as He calls them by name. Emotionally broken, wounded, and crippled be restored so that all who see will marvel at God's grace and glorify Him alone!

Yes, Jesus knows the desires of my heart, the longings of my soul- to know Him! For others to 'know' Him! For people to give Him all the glory for all He does!

Nicodemus' Response

As I was thinking about some of the responses I get when talking to people about the doctrines of grace or God's Sovereignty and man's responsibility, I began wondering if Nicodemus was thinking any of those things when he answered Jesus' statement, 'You must be born again.'

He asked, 'How can that be? How can one who is old be born again, can he enter a second time....'?
Was he sarcastic toward Jesus? "That's ridiculous, a man can't be born again, he can't enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born."

Did he say, "That's too deep of a concept, that's too hard to understand. No one could agree on how that could happen so let's not talk about that anymore, Jesus."

Did Nicodemus make Jesus look foolish for even suggesting that someone could be born again?

Did Nicodemus see that what Jesus said was foolish because he himself couldn't understand it?
1 Cor. 2:14

When I hear some of these arguments from people about man's sinful nature and whether that sinful nature can choose to be saved from his own free will or that God chose them from before the foundation of the world to be saved and then saved them in time calling them to Himself, I hear these objections/arguments:

• too hard to understand so let's not argue about it-let alone have a conversation about it.
• no one can agree on that so let's not talk about it.
• many great teachers on 'both' sides of the issue can't agree and if great men can't agree we shouldn't even try to understand it.
• some just don't want their 'world' upset by sound teaching at all- just want to believe what they have been taught all their lives without looking into whether it is true or not.
• I have even been told it is not in the Bible at all and won't be discussed or taught 'in this church'.
• Some believe it would be horrible of God to choose some for salvation but overlook others and make it sound like a ridiculous concept. (I would remind them of many times He did just that throughout the Bible, especially the exodus)

I want to have the discussion. I want people to understand the depth of the love of God for them in their salvation.

for the praise of the glory of His grace alone,

Norma

Responses to Jesus

In John 3:1-5, Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus as a teacher from God and that God is with Him. No one could do the signs, miracles Jesus did unless God was with Him. Jesus' answer to Nicodemus was, "Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
Nicodemus understood Jesus to use the word cannot as unable to see, unable to enter. Unless one is born again, born from above he is unable to see, unable to enter the kingdom of God.
How does one become 'born again' or 'born from above'? In one sense we are born from below, earthly, natural, physical. What comes with that is a corrupt, depraved sin nature, spiritually dead in trespasses and sins, which naturally chooses according to the sin nature, in fact unable to choose anything other because man is dead, enslaved, blind, deaf, and therefore cannot see and cannot enter.
We could come to the conclusion as did Nicodemus that we would need a second birth, a miraculous birth due to the utter impossiblilty of a second natural birth process.
Jesus' explanation in verse 5 gives some clarity to Nicodemus' reasoning, "Unless one is born of "water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
In John 3:6-8, Nicodemus was obviously amazed at Jesus' statement because Jesus said to him, "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again', the wind blows where it wishes and you hear it's sound but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."
Just as man does not know where the wind comes from or where it is going, has no control over it, so man does not know where the Spirit is working- man has no control over the Spirit. The wind blows where it wishes and the Holy Spirit works where He wishes. Man can hear the sound of the wind and see the movement it causes but he cannot stop it from blowing, cannot keep it from causing the movement. Neither can man stop the Spirit from working where He wishes, when He wishes.
The natural man cannot choose Christ from anything within his own ability. His salvation depends on the work of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit works in a persons life the effects will be evident.
I still marvel that God would choose to save me. So undeserving and yet so thankful!

to the praise of the glory of His grace,
Norma
We can hear and see the effects of the wind and we can hear and see the effects of the Spirit. Everyone who is born of God will have the evidence of the Spirit in their lives.