To speak to God in prayer! What a privilege.
A Privilege…. through the blood of Jesus
It cost God tremendously to freely offer us His salvation. Through His sufferings, He made it possible for us to be His children of privilege. It cost Him dearly, and it costs us also. Jesus made this privilege possible for all who come to Him – not just to some, but to all peoples.
Some reject Him all their life (Hebrews 4:6). That is their choice. The offer of grace through faith — is a choice we all must make: to receive Him or reject Him. Have you accepted salvation in Christ? Your prayer of repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Savior… is the best prayer you will ever make.
The coming of Christ to earth changed everything for us. His death and resurrection from the dead gives us this privilege of praying to Him, and receiving His pardon for our sins. That is a forever pardon. The best offer you will ever receive. And it is guaranteed by the One and Only God of the Universe!
Heaven’s borders open through repentance
You cannot just waltz across the Borders of God’s Kingdom, and freely go on into Heaven. Because of the fall of man, because we are sinners – God has closed borders. There can be no sin in the Kingdom of the Holy God.
That is what the gift of God is all about: Jesus opens up heaven’s borders to all sinners who turn to Him in repentance – with sincerity of heart.
God is available to all. He calls all peoples to come and follow Him. And, in the very moment we accept Him as Savior — we are made brand new, we are given access across to the other side as legal citizens. We then have all the rights He gives us as children of The Kingdom we call Heaven. We actually become His heirs! Heirs of God. What a privilege!
In a family, all your children are “children of privilege”. By the mere fact of their exclusive claim to be yours, your progeny, your seed & egg offspring, your children, even your adopted children — they receive all your love and care. The same for the exclusive family of Jesus.
When a person is born again “from above”, he/she is granted legal entry, given a legal passport to Heaven, so to speak. At that precise moment in time the condemned is set free, the vile sinner is made brand new inside – and a whole new life begins. And this new life is a forever new life.
God’s forever pardon
results in
a forever new life.
Like with any friendship — following Jesus is a choice. Choose to leave your own way, and follow His way. “Whosoever will… may come”. – Source: Hope in Christ
John 3:15-16 Amplified Bible (AMP)
15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life [after physical death, and will actually live forever].
16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life.
While still on earth, our privilege is spiritual. With new life in Christ, we are spiritually forgiven and made spiritually pure in our spirit. Through Jesus we gain a privileged direct access to the Throne of God.
We are allowed to come right into His Presence by faith, with confidence to speak our mind, share our thoughts, share our troubles, ask Him for His blessings, ask blessings on others, and learn from Him. We begin to learn how to keep our soul clean — our actions clean, our thoughts clean… all that we are and do — clean for Him. FOR FURTHER READING: Colossians 3:1-17
For we who believe [that is, we who personally trust and confidently rely on God] enter that rest [so we have His inner peace now because we are confident in our salvation, and assured of His power] – Hebrews 4:3
When we pray, we come into His presence “spiritually” (Hebrews 6:19; Hebrews 10:19). We can pray to God, and He promises to hear us, even though we are limited by these physical bodies while on earth.
- Daily our prayer should be:
Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10
- When we trust Him, our spirit is confident:
On the day I called, You answered me; And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life. – Psalm 138:3
- We are spiritually strong each day if we “expect, look for, and hope in Him“:
But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired. – Isaiah 40:31
- Our priorities change as we grow in Him and learn His ways:
Turn my eyes away from vanity [all those worldly, meaningless things that distract—let Your priorities be mine], And restore me [with renewed energy] in Your ways. – Psalm 119:37
Progressively changed (Romans 12:2)
The life we live after we are born again – is a constantly maturing life where we are “transformed and progressively changed”. The Holy Spirit is now inside us to guide and empower us to walk the talk.
Whether by baby steps forward, stumbling-falling-repenting experiences, or giant leaps ahead, our spiritual life in Christ grows (matures) as we learn to yield our ways to Him and His ways, as we continually learn to follow Him with our all.
I examine myself frequently and ask myself: What is streaming from my soul? As all our heart (what we are inside) is yielded daily to Him – we learn more and more, and become more and more conformed to Him instead of to the world.
Be conformed to God’s Word
Like a baby toddler, we learn to walk our new spiritual life in Christ. We learn to get back up again when we stumble and fall. But we don’t stay a toddling toddler. 1
Like a baby we grow up and get stronger, more mature in our behaviors. We imitate Christ. Slowly but surely what’s inside us is changed and we act more and more like Christ would act (what they call “sanctification”). Our steps begin to follow Him more and more closely.
2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be [a]transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]. – Romans 12:2 Amplified Bible
The privilege that tops all privileges
What a privilege God has given us. The privilege by His grace to enter God’s presence through prayer.
The privilege of privileges is our salvation in Christ. It is a privilege we want to share with all around us, so they too can become a child of the King, a part of the family of Christ.
Hymn: What A Friend We Have in Jesus
What a Friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
everything to God in prayer.
FOR MORE:
Hymn: What A Friend We Have in Jesus
Legally Damned – Legally Forgiven
Footnotes
- Google: “move with short unsteady steps while learning to walk.”
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