Progression #3 “Into the Light”

Wow, I am so excited for many of you have now entered the Kingdom of God, “the veil has been torn away”! Phase 5 is not something you can do, but it is what God does for you as a response to your belief in His son and your surrendered life. This experience is not insignificant. It is described as being born again or born of the spirit or being made new. It is also described as being transported from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light. One amazing man, John Newton who was a slave trader in the 1700’s, captaining his own ships, got saved and turned into one of the most influential abolitionists in human history. He described his conversion as; “I was once blind, but now I see; I was lost, but now I am found; was dead, but now alive”! For me it was like I was seeing the world through completely new eyes. I was a new person on the inside with a whole new perspective of people and the world around me. Much like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a beautiful butterfly it is a miracle of God. Not a physical transformation, but an internal spiritual rebirth. Although everyone has their own unique experience, it can be quite dramatic. I also like to equate it to Neo’s experience in “The Matrix” after he used his free will to choose the red pill and enter the real world. Prior he was somewhat enjoying his life but, he knew something was wrong with the world. What he did not know was that there was a veil that shrouded his mind and that he was actually in a dream state and hooked up to a machine existing as a human battery. And then he woke up! Although, your’ waking up experience may not be as dramatic as Neo’s, it still should be significant enough for you to share it with others.

So, what if you have prayed and not had any experience to talk about. Do not worry, God will do his part, but there is something else I need to emphasize before I move on. After Jesus ascended into heaven before his disciples’ eyes, 120 of them did what they were told and went to a large room in Jerusalem and waited and prayed for the Holy Spirit to come. On a day called Pentecost, which means “to fill completely (to be fulfilled)” which was, and is, one of the main feasts of Israel, they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them and inspired them to speak in languages they had never learned! Now, at that time there were Jewish worshipers who had emigrated from many different lands to live in Jerusalem. When the people of the city heard the roaring sounds, crowds came running to where it was coming from and were stunned to hear the disciples speaking in his or her own native languages. Peter filled with the Holy Spirit spoke to the crowd explaining what was happening and how Jesus the one they had crucified, was the Messiah and God had raised him from the dead just as King David had prophesied about. When the crowd realized what they had done to Jesus they asked Peter; “What do we need to do, brother?” Peter replied, “Repent and return to God, and each one of you must be baptized in the name of Jesus”. The first message of the Holy Spirit through Peter emphasized the need for new believers to be baptized in the name of Jesus.

On my first trip to Africa, I visited Jinja, Uganda and a local pastor hired a couple of buses and drivers to take our small contingency and a large group of natives to the Source of the Nile River at the Northern end of Lake Victoria for a baptismal service. It was a long drive, and I took the opportunity to get to know the Ugandan driver. John was a nice man who had a wife and several children but, he was not a believer in Christ. I had the amazing privilege of baptizing over 20 individuals in the name of Jesus within the Nile River and saw lives transform before my eyes with some being filled with the Holy Spirit as they emerged out of the water. At the end of the day as we were being dropped off at our lodging, I ask my new friend John if I could pray for him. He agreed and I asked God to heal his heart and his body and to make Himself known to John. I felt God was moving in his life but, John did not show any emotion and left for night. The next day John and the buses returned to take us on an adventure deep into the wilderness. John was noticeably a happier man and came up to the Pastor and I and began to share. John disclosed that he had been suffering with impotency but, was able to make love to his wife the previous night for the first time in three years! He then asked if he could be baptized. I love how God pursues us and meets us at our point of need.

We may not be able to save ourselves, but we can choose to be baptized. Baptism is a public declaration, and the water becomes a grave. You are proclaiming to the world that you have given up the Lordship of your life and Jesus Christ is now your Lord and Savior. The old man or woman that you knew is now being buried away in a watery grave and by the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the grave, I too believe I shall be resurrected out of this watery grave a new man or woman! This act of obedience with the public declaration has been the key to unlocking the hearts of so many to the transforming resurrecting power of God. I have had many tell me how it did not really happen for them until they were baptized. Now some reading this are saying to themselves; “I was baptized as a child.” Child baptisms have more to do with the parents dedicating their child to the Lord and have little to nothing to do with child themselves, since they have no choice in the matter. I encourage you that if you have never been baptized as an adult or if you only went through the motions at some point without truly knowing what you were doing please go get baptized. I love the churches that have the baptismal already set up and ready to go within the church. Within weeks after I was born again a friend within my unit in the Marine Corp invited me to attend a Sunday night service at his church and I accepted the invitation. It was a Pentecostal church quite different from anything I had ever experienced having grown up Catholic. At the end of the service the preacher asked if anyone wanted to be baptized? Another guy and I raised our hands. The ushers escorted us to the back and handed us jump suits to change into within the bathroom. Then one at a time, we came out from the back of the stage and stepped into the water filled basin. I will never forget the feeling of victory and freedom coming out of the water that night, I remember it like it was yesterday. Just like Morpheus told Neo that, “No one can have the Matrix explained to them, that they have to see it for themselves,” no one can be told about the Kingdom of God you have to see it for yourself. If you will choose to be baptized, I believe that much like Morpheus snatched Neo out of the watery waste fluids of death, God will snatch you out of your watery grave and your eyes will be opened for the first time and hopefully someone will be there to greet you with, “Welcome to the real world.” So, Phase 5 is “You are born again spiritually a new creature and in relationship with the Creator.”

Now we move onto phase 6: “There is a need for your mind to be renewed and for you to begin to separate yourself from the spirit of this world.” The Apostle Paul, who before his conversion hunted down Christians and was responsible for their deaths and imprisonments, writes in Romans chapter 12; “I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God, to be living sacrifices and to not copy the behaviors or customs of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind or changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for your life, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Although your spirit may be made new, your mind is still programmed to the ways of this world. Without the renewing of your mind the world will always have a hold on you and will continue to pull you back into darkness. The renewing of your mind is both a work that you do and a work of grace from God the Father. God is faithful to do His part but will not do the work without you and your surrendered will. Your mind is like a computer and the world has downloaded all kinds of false programs. Your mind has established pathways based on these programs that cause you to think and behave in certain ways. You need to become thoughtful about the information you are allowing to be downloaded into your mind because it will always affect what is later uploaded and processed. Basically, garbage in will always eventually produce garbage out whether you like it or not. So, the old programming needs to be scrapped and replace with new programing coming from above. This process is different for every individual and tends to take years or even a lifetime to complete. There are a couple of amazing books written that have helped millions throughout the years progress through this process that I want to recommend. First is Norman Vincent Peale’s book “The Power of Positive Thinking”. This book has been translated into 42 languages and there have been over 15 million copies sold making it one of the most popular books of all time. Although it was written some time ago, its timeless truths will always transcend beyond the boundaries of culture and time. The 2^nd is Casey Treat’s book “Renewing the mind”. Casey, a former drug addict who kept getting in trouble with the law prior to his salvation, later became one of the most influential Pastors in our nation. God has given him great insight into the process that we must go through to renew our minds.

The primary goal of this phase and the ones to come, is to begin the process of you discovering who you really are. Although you may have been utilizing many of the gifts God has given you, the reality is that many of your experiences in this world, have convinced you that you are someone that you are not. The ideas and plans that God has always had for you are far beyond what you have probably ever hoped for or imagined. You are truly one of His masterpieces and are created for an amazing purpose regardless of how things have started out or what you have experienced to date. Even your present perspective is probably far from your actual reality. I love the part were Morpheus has just kicked Neo’s butt in a training exercise and Neo is down on his hands and knees, gasping for breath and Morpheus asks, “Do you think that is air you are breathing?” You are about to enter a phase where you can learn what is real and what is not real, what is true and what is not true. The Oracle did not tell Neo that he was not “The One.” It was Neo that said it because it was what he believed. The Oracle simply planted the seed “Know Thy Self” and then reminded him that he did not believe in that fate garbage and that he was in control of his own destiny. Which in all actuality was completely true for Neo and is completely true for us. If you are one of those rare individuals who has not seen “The Matrix” or seen it lately I suggest that you download it and watch and then reread this article or you may miss much of the message I am trying to relate.

The biblical truths I want you to grasp is that “the power of life and death is in your tongue or what you speak.” (Prov. 18:21) and “out of the abundance of your heart your mouth will speak.” (Mat.12:34) Even though you may be a new creature in Christ and on your way to Heaven, as long as you continue to believe the lies that have filled your heart and mind you will continue to speak those lies with faith bringing death into your life. You will not completely experience the amazing peace and contentment that God has for you while on this earth. The lies must be replaced with the truth and once truth fills your heart and mind you with speak life and place yourself on the pathway towards the destiny that God intends, and you will experience true joy.