Psalm 84
Psalm 84 may have been a song they sang in the grape harvest, as you read it give thought to what the Psalmist is telling you. The Psalmist is talking about the Temple where worshipers have gathered. Verses 1-4, “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise!”
He is referring to a building made of stone and a place much like what we now call a Temple or Church building. For a follower of Christ, many call us Christians, our day of assembling is most often on a Sunday, at a place we refer to as a Church. Once more that is not true, it’s a building where Church happens, only when two or more come together for worship. When the body of Christ assembles, the Church is in session, for praise, prayer, singing and a word from God.
When the Church meets, it is very diverse in its members, some have the gift of singing and others just praise the Lord off-key, but one hopes all do it with a grateful heart. Others come with the gift of teaching, giving, wisdom, knowledge, and we could keep listing, but it’s important to understand no one is excluded because of race, color, rich or poor, it only requires one thing, as Jesus replied to Nicodemus in John 3:1-3, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
What happens when one is born again, and how can a person be born a second time? Shall we deal with the second question first, you and I must come to the understanding that we have sinned and all our acts of goodness or as filthy rags in the sight of a Holy God. Then it is time to look at Romans 10:8-9, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
What happens when one is born again, God comes to live in you, and you are alive in Him. You will find that in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Also 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. vTest yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
Key Scripture to the question; “What happens when one is born again?” It is found in John 14:19-20, “Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
So as we conclude, if Christ lives in you and you live in Christ, you are His Church, you have been given a gift or gifts, and Jesus never leaves us in the dark, John 14:15,16,17a, “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-the Spirit of Truth.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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