have you been regenerated? I can tell this by looking at your face and by the way you respond to me!

Regeneration is one of the most amazing things that can happen to a human being. We are born in sin, we are sinners, and we grow up in sin. But one day, the Lord regenerates us when we call on His name - and we are no longer men, but God-men! We become a God-man by simply believing into the Lord Jesus! One moment we are only a human being just like the others, and the next moment we are a God-man being, one who has God's life in him and who can be one with God! The greatest miracle in the universe is not the earth, nor love, nor anything else but this - sinners can be made sons of God, and sinful people can be made God in life and nature but not in the Godhead!

Pictures from London - Oxford Circus, in Oxford Street

Welcome to the crowded street called, Oxford street, where everyone who is young wants to go and at least do some window shopping... It's like "the west end" in London, one street with lots of shops. Usually when you go there are so many people that you have to make your way around and not be pushed and kicked. This particular picture was taken at the exit from the Oxford Circus tube station. I am still wondering if there's a way to go shopping in Oxford Street and still be one with the Lord, still be in the organic union with Him...

Have You Been Regenerated? I Can Tell It by Just Looking at Your Face and by Your Response!

Today I heard this story again and it really impressed me, so I thought I should share it the best I can on the blog...

There once was a pastor of a certain religious flavor, and he preached justification by faith to his congregation. Unfortunately, though he preached it, he himself was not saved - he was not justified. He spoke about justification by faith to the people in his congregation, but he himself was not saved. Rather, he was an opium smoker and "dealer"! How about that - both a pastor and an opium addict + smuggler! Opium is a drug, by the way, and it creates addiction ... so this pastor was not saved, was doing opium, and he was speaking about justification by faith to the ones in his congregation.  

One day a sister who preached the gospel came and spoke in his church, and she was a true believer - she believed into the Lord, loved the Lord, and spoke about being saved! After speaking about regeneration and the simple way to receive the Lord, after the whole service would end, she would go to the door and shake everyone's hand, greet them, and ask them, 
Have You Been Regenerated?
One day the pastor himself, as he was coming out of the church, was asked by this lady with a smile on her face, Sir, are you regenerated? He was shocked by this question and abruptly responded, Of course I'm regenerated! I'm the pastor here and I speak in this church! But then she replied, I can tell it by just looking at your face, sir, and by your response, that you are NOT regenerated! ... - this really made the pastor angry, and he went to his home thinking of many ways to cause the lady "bodily harm". 

While he was at home devising a plan how to harm this sister because of her question and her exposing him, the Lord spoke to him and he realized what he was about to do. He was exposed by the Lord and fell upon his knees - he repented to the Lord with tears and invited Him in his heart.... At that time, he was regenerated! Praise the Lord! The next time when she saw him, she told him again - yes, sir, I know you are regenerated, I can see it on your face!

I may have left some details out of the story or maybe I told it a bit different, but I hope you get the gist of it. The fact that you "go to church" or even "preach in the church" may not mean that you are regenerated. Or, taking it a bit further, the fact that you're born in a Christian family, a Christian community, or a Christian country, this does not guarantee that you yourself are a Christian! For a person to be regenerated he needs to see the Lord and receive Him into his heart by repenting of his sins and calling on the name of the Lord! And then a sinner becomes a son of God - a God-man! Everyone can see it on his face - his face shines!

And going even further - we may be believers in the Lord, but many times we are not even smiling, and our face is not expressing Christ. O Lord Jesus! We need to be saved much more in His life (Rom. 5:10) now that we have been reconciled to the Lord! We need to be saved every morning! We need to be saved all the way throughout the day, in every moment! What about at lunch time - we need to be saved then too! Even before going to bed, we need to be saved continually! We need to be saved to such an extent that we fully express You in everything!

[Do YOU have an experience of being saved recently? Do you know of someone who NEEDS to be saved?]

We are sinners saved through grace, praising God! (1 picture + 1 experience with the Lord) 30-day challenge

Back from the ITERO, and back to work and the busy life! Wow, after such an amazing retreat where time stands still and everything is quiet, where people take their time to chat and fellowship, and where no one hurries up... - to North London where everyone rushes to work or school, buses and cars everywhere, you need to be careful not to bump into the many people on the street, even at night you hear the police and ambulance, etc. What a difference... Now I know that when we just take time to listen to the Lord, and even take some specific time away from the busy life, He can have a way to speak unhindered!

1 Picture for today - London Tube, London Underground

There are so many pictures you can take of the popular tube stations in London... - this one, I think, is in Bank Station, where many people change between the Northern Line and the Central Line. Especially when I go to Bower House, I change at Bank (especially since Tottenham Court Road tube station is closed for repairs on the Northern Line). I put this picture on Facebook and many liked it - so here it is also on the blog! :)

1 Experience with the Lord today - We are Sinners Saved Through Grace, praising God!

This morning we started getting into Psalm 51, which is a psalm of repentance - David is repenting before the Lord, admitting his sin and confessing. What a deep and what a precious psalm! I still can't wrap my head around this whole situation - how could David, someone who warred God's battles, who had a desire to build a house for God, and who was chosen by God since he was a teenager - this one, how could he fail so miserably??? The Bible simply says that he woke up in the afternoon and he went for a walk on the roof of his house, he saw a woman bathing, and... - he took her, he arranged for her husband to be killed, and then married her! This is awful, and this is not something that is recommended as a "Bible story"...

O Lord Jesus... Even when the gospel of Matthew starts, it says that David begot Solomon "out of her who had been the wife of Uriah the Hittite"(Matt. 1:6) - even in the genealogy of Jesus, this sin is like a stain there... After such a great revelation, David - a man after God's heart - failed so miserably... A man who enjoyed God so much, who wrote psalms and was on the throne, conquering the enemies and subduing the nations - this one committed such a crime that not even people in the world would commit... This even is so inexplicable that it's a shame that it happened, really...

But I praise the Lord for the ministry of the age which interprets and brings to light the spiritual principles in this story. David is just like us - we are all sinners, and we commit sin and transgressions. That's why we all sinners love this psalm - it is composed by a sinner and it is read and sung by us sinners. Only a sinner can write such a psalm - just as the famous song, Amazing Grace, was written by a sinner saved through grace, John Newton. This guy was so rebellious and so much against God that he did a lot of terrible things (which include slave trade, etc). But one day grace came and conquered even him... only a sinner can compose such a hymn and utter such words - and this is what makes our salvation beautiful!

We are just sinners saved through grace - and we will forever remember this. We may be alright today, but we may fail again tomorrow - it is God's mercy and grace we are still here. We are NOT angels - but as sinners, we can utter praise that the angels cannot! The angels don't know the joy of being forgiven and accepted by God even after failing miserably... We are forgiven much, therefore we love much. As sinners, we are made the masterpiece of God to shine out as the New Jerusalem - and even there, while shining brightly as the sun, we will still remember that it is the grace who did it all - it's not of us! Today we can offer a sweet and precious praise to God - He receives us when we return to Him and repent! All we need to do is repent and confess, and He receives us back and gives us grace!

We are not "looking for trouble", in the sense that we don't seek to sin, but as human beings things happen and we may fail, even fail terribly - to such an extent that others may shake their heads at us... O Lord Jesus... - even then, we can return to the Lord and repent. Yes, we are sinners, but we can repent and confess our sins, and He forgives us. Out of such a deep failure with a thorough repentance, married with God's forgiveness, something comes out - something for the building up of the church! What a wisdom! What an amazing plan! It's nothing of us, not of ourselves, not of our own effort or ability - but it is of God's grace! How we praise Him! How we love Him! We, sinners saved by grace, are being made the masterpiece of God!

... and this whole week it's a week on Psalm 51 - I am looking forward to pray over this Psalm, to meditate and muse on it.... May He produce the Solomon in us, the Christ who is experienced by us even in these failures, so that His house may be built! Praise the Lord!