Open Heavens Devotional by Pastor E.A. Adeboye
MEMORIZE: “Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again” (John 3:7).
READ: John 3:1-7
Apart from knowing that you are not an animal, and not just a mere object of an impersonal God, another fact that you must know as part of who you are is that you are not just a human being. How you see yourself is crucial in determining quite a lot of things that have bearing on your past, present and future. Equally crucial is how others see you, but the latter is not as important as the former. Most important of all is how God sees you. If people see you as an animal, you can decide to exhibit the traits of one e.g. a dog who sleeps around and returns to its vomit. How do you see yourself?
Every human being has been created in God’s image but not every human being reflects that image. This brings us to two kinds of human beings, namely: human-human and spirit-human. The first category has the potential of being in God’s image but never tap into it. Their spirit man which should link up with God the Creator (who is Spirited), is dead. They are dominated by the flesh and controlled by God’s enemy- Satan. Human-human beings may be very religious people but as long as they maintain that nature, they can never live to fulfil God’s original plan for their lives.
An example of someone with the human-human nature was Nicodemus. He was very rich. He was also a very popular religious leader, but in spite of his efforts at serving God, he began to secretly observe the life and works of Christ. He realized that there was more to life than met the eye. One day, he could no longer bear his curiosity, and so sneaked out at night to ask the Lord. Jesus answered him even before he could ask: ‘You must be born again, Nicodemus’. In other words, to be fulfilled in life, your spirit man must be recreated in Christ. You would have to become a spirit-human, one who is controlled and directed by the Spirit of God, whose desire is to please God. Nicodemus accepted and the fulfillment he never got from religion, wealth and power, he got from Christ. If you are born again, you are not just human, you are spirit-human. Your spirit man is alive and in tune with God. Through this, you can reflect God’s image.
KEY POINT
Human-humans operate under body and soul mainly, while spirit-humans operate under spirit, soul and body sequence. Along which sequence do you operate?
Bible in One year: 2 Kgs. 4-6
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