Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Romans 1 ... Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; 4And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
When I read this, I thought of how we who are born again were once with the dead of this world and we were raised from the dead by the power of God and because we have been raised from the dead of this present world, we are declared to be the children of God, born again by God.
And when we were born again, God gave us all the equipment we would need to function in an alien world, The Holy Spirit.
By the Holy Spirit we see things differently than those of this world. We see the people of the world do things and we hear them say things and we just shake our heads, bewildered at what we see them do and hear them say. That is because we have the Holy Spirit which shows us the way of God and they act by the desires of their own flesh and their own fleshly wisdom which is of this world. Truly there is a great gulf between us and like the previous men of God in the Bible we feel we do not belong here with them ... we are strangers and pilgrims on this earth. If I were in Iraq, God forbid, ... I would not understand what they say nor would I understand what they do. Neither do I understand humans in my path in Lubbock, TX, today. I hear them say things and I see them do things that make no sense to me and I just walk on past them. That is all because of having the Spirit of God.
Romans 8 ... 6For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
When God causes us to be born again, HE gives us HIS Spirit and because of that we are equipped for success in God and in HIS ways as we live on this earth.
It is almost like, how could we fail ...
The Spirit of God:
- teaches us all things
- reminds us of all Jesus has said to us
- guides us into all truth
- shows us things to come
(Jn. 14:26 & Jn. 16:13)
What else do we need to succeed in God?
We have all truth by the Holy Spirit ... we see things through the eyes of God ... we do not see as the world sees in a vain, futile way... the world goes in circles, repeating failures, operating by their own mind... we hear from God by HIS Spirit and thereby know what to do.
The Holy Spirit equips us to succeed in God during the time we live on this earth.
Jn. 3 ... Jesus said ... Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
After we are born again, we can see ... We can see things of God ... We can see the way to go while we live on this earth ... We are totally different from this world ... As we sit with people of this world, mostly we see them going a completely different way than us. And when we speak they cannot understand us.
Recently I was speaking with a Catholic woman who is not born again. She became all stary eyed and began telling how another woman got to go to the Underwood reception. I had no idea what she was talking about except I could tell this was something she viewed as a big deal. She continued to speak in awe of the "Underwoods". I said to this woman, "I have no idea who that is." Dead silence from her for a few minutes. I followed this by another story. "Once when I was in Detroit I heard of an auditorium called "Cobo" hall. I wondered what a cobo is. I thought it might be some animal native to that area of USA. I asked taxi driver what a cobo was. He replied it was a person."
Psa. 49 ... 11Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling places to all generations; they call their lands after their own names. 12Nevertheless man being in honour abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish.
13This their way is their folly: yet their posterity approve their sayings. Selah. 14Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
15But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
16Be not thou afraid when one is made rich, when the glory of his house is increased; 17For when he dieth he shall carry nothing away: his glory shall not descend after him. 18Though while he lived he blessed his soul: and men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself. 19He shall go to the generation of his fathers; they shall never see light. 20Man that is in honour, and understandeth not, is like the beasts that perish.
Being born again raises us from the dead of the world and from their dead way on this earth.