INTRO   This section is meant to be read only after one has been Born again (see under our “for Seekers” button on the left) and   who is presently committed to Christ and hungry to know more of  the Owner of  the universe.   Otherwise much of this section will not make good sense (not that all those will fully agree).  This is weighty stuff.  You are welcome to briefly write us about these issues.        Draft 11/06

 God’s Kingdom(s)  Most of you are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer (or named the disciples’ prayer to the Father).  “Kingdom” is mentioned directly twice, and by reference emphasized –“…Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”  While over 100 different kings are mentioned in the Bible, we in the USA can easily have a distorted view of a king and kingdom for we live in a republic with democratic ideals.   “The Kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord…and He will reign forever…” (Rev 11:15).   When we become a Christian,  we are no longer a slave to sin as we once were under satan, the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph 2:2).   We become children   (John 1:12,13) and subjects of God and His Kingdom.  God chose us and “has blessed us [adopted us into]  the heavenly Realms [Kingdom] with every spiritual blessing in Christ”  (Eph1:3; 2:6,7).   We need to realize that a true King has the power of death;  his word is law.  Only He can revise it.  With a Merciful King or Lord,  an office that we can imagine better by searching for Jesus, we can still violate His rules but we do so at peril to ourselves.   God’s “kingdom of Heaven is …”  explained  by over 20 different analogies/ways by Jesus.     

The Spirit-refilling Life (SrefL) is a regular recycling of what many call the Spirit-filled Life.  When one becomes a Christian, he is Spirit filled at that moment, but his capacity for and understanding of the Word and Spirit is usually very limited  It does not seem that most of us stay Spirit filled very long, but slip into a sin(s) and then need a prayer for forgiveness   and empowerment.  Though the Spirit will never leave us,  He now—and again-- is invited to fill us.   The SrefL usually begins some time after we are saved     for a new Christian is seldom aware of what really pleases or displeases God and so continues in sin or slips back into sins.   Later, we gain a greater realization of how offensive certain actions/sins are to God and others.   We then specifically ask God and others to forgive us and offer what restitution is needed,  and then  request the presence and power  of the Holy Spirit to fill us and lift and relift us to a high plane of  “love, joy, peace,…” (Gal. 5:22-23).   This is the Trinity  sanctifying us (1 Thes 5:23).   It happened to me/Al within the year after I fully gave my life to Christ at the age of 36.   The restoration/sanctification recycle to joy continues when we confess, repent, and restore for all known subsequent sins.  It is something like our asking a close friend to forgive us for offending them,  and thereby renewing our  friendship and the joy.

 One might say, “Are you not making this too complicated?    After all, the thief on the cross and the woman caught in adultery had to say very little to get right with God.    Those two persons may have known more about what God requires than most of us (or much less and therefore not as responsible) for they lived in a culture that talked   about God regularly and about right and wrong.   But we need to realize that Jesus knew the full implications of the situation, the hearts, and of what they did say and meant   which may have been more than what the 4 Gospels recorded   Not that there are other true Gospels, but  every word of Jesus was not recorded in our precious Bible (see John 21:25).  .  Further,  He can make exceptions and save or kill whomever He wants.

NOTE:  In this button/section we will use parts of the Hebrew language of the OT and the Greek of the NT for better understanding.   Actually, a mark of  “being into” the SrefL is when we have a desire to have a deeper understanding of what crucial texts really mean in the original languages, (and also a desire to visit the places Jesus frequented).   Our transliterations attempt to sound out the modern pronunciation of the words, used especially for helping to understand root words to the English language. .  For a beginning primer, one might want to study Ed Goodrick’s  Do it Yourself Hebrew and Greek book with the cassette,  which is what I/Al did about 30 years ago.   One could also get a good tutor or mentor.   Yvonne and Al took Hebrew classes under a Jewess Holocaust victim  and we were close neighbors of a Greek Orthodox priest for many years.  We were greatly blessed.

  “Confess [exomologeesthe/express and agree in words]  your sins and pray for one another therefore so that you may be healed” (James 5:16).   The reverse is also true:  if we do not confess  before we partake of the Eucharist/Communion,  we can become “weak and sick and …die”  (1Cor 11:30).      Confession (and restitution follow through)  should take away stress between individuals and also within himself.   And confession can bring joy for a number of reason,  but let’s just it in action in the 3 parables of  losing,  Luke 15.   1.  When the shepherd confessed his lost sheep and went and found it,  there was rejoicing, and even more so when we repent.  2.  Souls are most precious than Kugerands and even angles rejoice when we repent.  3. We are all prodigals and when we repent, our Father(s) proclaims a feast for all who want to come.    Stress is often from frustration and being anxious,  which is a sin itself—not trusting God to work things out (Phil 4:6).  Experts at the University of MI Health System  estimate that about “43% of adults suffer adverse health effects from stress and 75-90% of physician office visits are for stress-related complaints.”    7  survey by Havd’s  9K per USA Today 6/7/05  1/4^th have mental illness every year     Not just saying what we did wrong, but also saying that it was bad (sometimes adding that it was selfish, pride,…) and that we are sorry hurt others.   One of the worse confessions is a blanket statement like “I did a lot of things that I am not proud of.”   Think about the hollowness of that.   That James 5 confession reveals to God, others, and us specifically (though we should not incriminate ourselves publicly) what we did wrong and why it is wrong—so that the hearers also might try to avoid such sin(s) and realize that confession is a normal requirement of the Christian life.    We find that the TV series  “7^th Heaven” is a usually-fine discussable contribution toward a reasonable understanding of good family dynamics and it gives a helpful portrayal of how apologizing for misdeeds is a necessary part of family harmony, bonding, and happiness.  (The frequent lip kissing with non-family is inappropriate for a few reasons, to be mentioned later.)    The   program with Jo Frost as “Supernanny” also trains children to say they are sorry for hurting others before they may  resume their place in regular family activity;  pray for her and the 7^th Heaven cast  that they will not tarnish their helpful role models by future public misdeeds.    Confession is the beginning part  (though painful again for a few minutes) of the joyous cycle of refilling     and the cycle is completed   when we ask the Holy Spirit to fill us.   But is it needful to confess every sin?   Think of this--   What if your teenager cussed at you in disgust during an argument?   Now that s/he is about to be married, would you not like that teen by now to apologize to you before s/he married so that you know that s/he knows how one should apologize for such violations?  This is not pressing for perfectionism,  which focuses on how well we do –or how far we miss.  Rather it is. trying to “be perfect” (Mt 5:48)  while realizing that we cannot attain that,  but the joy is in the journey (Neh 8:10; Phil 3:12).  But are we being too picky?   Consider how microscopic bacteria or virus can make us ill or destroy us;  any sin left unconfessed to God limits our joy and if unconfessed to men (when a public sin)  limits our witness.

An important 3x5”  booklet that changed our lives is named   Have you made the wonderful discovery of the Spirit filled Life?   It too is available through most Christian bookstores.  And The 12 Step Program of AA, NA,… provides great insight.  We shall try to summarize the  process here: 

1. When we sin, we should apologize to God and the others ASAP.  We should try to feel God’s and  their hurt,  admit the mistake and  relay our genuine sorrow, purpose not to do that again, and make restitution where possible commensurate with the hurts we caused.    “Settle matters quickly…”   Matt 5:23-25;  James 5:16 

      2.    Ask God to please fill us with His Holy Spirit.    “… be filled with the Spirit”  Eph 5:19 

      3.   Enjoy the “fruit“[karpos,  singular] of the Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,     gentleness, and self-control”    Gal. 5:22-23.    ALL of these are present while the person is Spirit filled.    Additionally, though the Spirit has about 20+ “gifts” [chareesmaton] to dispense as He may wish, all Christians have the gift of faith.  1Cor 12: 4-11.   But  “…eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. …” (1 Cor 14:1,2).

PRAYING IS THE MAJOR PART OF LIFE      When we stray from some major highways,  our cell phones don’t work.   Similarly,  when we stray from God,  we lose contact with Him and spiritual reality.  (Radio, TV,  and cell phones should have long ago strengthened our faith—realizing that communication is possible without physical contact!)  Pray for wisdom to please God, for knowledge to make the decisions that lead to a fruitful yet peaceful life in fellowship with Him.     And praying enhances our Immune System against sin, bacteria and viruses in part by reducing stress (thus also increasing metabolism and decreasing abdominal fat).   “Pray continually”  (1Thes5:17).   Our thoughts come from God or satan (or their “angels”),  but we pick who we want to listen to.    We need, however, to realize that when we have known sin in our life,  the only prayer that God obligates Himself to listen to (AND SPEAK TO), is our prayer for forgiveness along with a pledge of full dedication to Him.   That is,  we ask to be cleansed and we acknowledge that He is our Lord-- to be followed in all things.  He only needs to answer His children.  If we do not “come clean,”  He tells us through the Prophet/Brother Isaiah    “…I will not hear; your hands are full of blood” (Isa 1:15).     “But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2).  After confession and repentance,  God is eager to hear and answer our other requests also.   God wants us to be more interested in His plan for us  than what we might want at the moment.   The prophet Habakkuk  in 2:1,2  tells of the 4 segment progression of personal prayer that pleases God:  “I will stand at my watch/Quiet place…I will  look to see/Vision what He will say  or Implant thoughts to me…,Then the Lord answered ‘Write the Vision ….’”    Paul further gives specific  instruction for social prayer:  “I want all men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing” (1Tim2:8); we pray as such when we hear someone relate a problem.  More on this later.

BEING SET FREE     Christians are regularly oppressed by satan and his demons. “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2Tim3:12).   However, often  that is because we allow some sin from youth or later to remain unconfessed, and therefore problematical in our life.   We are set free for eternal life with Christ when we ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior  (please note our suggested prayer under the Seek button on the left).  “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”  (John 8:36).  Nevertheless, if we just overlook, hide, or conveniently forget past sins against God and harm/debts to others that we do not want to deal with, these sins will likely be a “stumbling block” to others—and to us during this life AND in the  judgment   “For we must all appear before the judgment seat   [bematos] of Christ so that each one may receive …according to what he has done …”(2Cor5:10).   While all sins (past, present, and future) are forgiven when we become Born Again, we still need to rectify our sins whenever possible, and confess them so that they are less likely to be perpetuated or a stumbling block for others, and so that we do not lose some of our joy and  Heavenly rewards/”crowns.”.

 There are ministries to enable us to understand these set free dynamics.  One is Freedom in Christ  www.ficm.org      We recommend going through their or another such booklet  with a confidential mentor and prayer partner.   S/he will help you bring to mind and keep in proper focus the things you did wrong while growing up and through adulthood that will hinder you from having the “joy of your salvation.”  (Ps. 51:12).   When one recalls previously non-confessed sin(s), s/he should agree that it was wrong,  repent of the sin,  ask God to forgive the mistake/sin  and  take away the sin (and its consequences if He would) and the inclination to such sin.   Then she should go as promptly as feasible to all persons he offended,  repeat the above steps,  offer full restitutions which is usually an added 20%+ when applicable (Numbers 5:7),  and then ask for forgiveness.  AA, NA and such others incorporate most of these in detail.   We could give many reasons for the above process and perhaps we will later.    It may be that as a young person you played with  occult board games or mercury without knowing the dangers, did some homosexual touching, was angry with or at your parents, misused the family car, stole some money, were a fan of Harry Potter books, etc.  These all should be dealt with properly.      

Spirit refilling is not primarily a formula but it is a process of getting right with God and others promptly to really enjoy life.