Independence Day

                                                                                                        

Photo by Carol M. Highsmith 2008

On July 4, the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday! Independence Day, commemorates signing of the Declaration of Independence. This document, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and approved by the Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, proclaimed independence of the thirteen American colonies from British rule.

As important as July 4 is in our US national history as a celebration of liberty from tyrannical oppression, an even more crucial date in the life of every Christian is their spiritual birthday. At the moment we were born again (John 3:3-8), we trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, Who died on the cross to pay our sin debt in full and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-4), so that all who believe in Him have eternal life (John 3:16).

On that date of our second birth – our spiritual Independence Day – we trusted the One Who came to proclaim liberty to the captives (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18), to free us from the tyrannical rule of the devil, to break the shackles of sin and death. Yet, our independence from Satan, sin and death is accompanied by our realization that we are totally dependent on the God Who knew us from before the beginning of time (Psalm 139:13-16) and has an amazing plan for each of us (Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 2:10).

We cannot live apart from Jesus Christ any more than a branch can grow grapes when cut off the grapevine (John 15:5). Without Him, we can do nothing, but with Him, all things are possible! (Matthew 19:26). It is only when we come to the end of ourselves, realizing our complete helplessness to free ourselves from sin (Ephesians 2:8-9), that we can let go and let God! Jesus Christ completed His work on our behalf on the cross (John 19:30) and rose again. All we need to do is to accept His freely given gift of salvation (Romans 6:23) and believe He is Who He says He is.

One of the most widely quoted excerpts from the Declaration of Independence is: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

The truth that there is a Creator God (Isaiah 40:28; 1 Peter 4:19) is indeed self-evident, as His infinite wisdom and power are implicit in the magnificent design of His creation (Psalm 19:1). Scripture teaches us that all who deny this are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).

In an ideal government, all are treated equally, following the model of Christ’s rule over His Kingdom. We are one in Christ Jesus, regardless of race, gender, family heritage, worldly power, status, or education (1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:28). As God is love (1 John 4:8), Christ loves each of His children infinitely, meaning that He could not love any one of us any more than He already does, and hence, He loves each of us the same amount.

Not only did Jesus Christ create each of us, and everything else, but He gifted each of His children with rights that nothing and no one can take away from us. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31). Nothing and no one – no person or power -- can separate us from the love of God, throughout all space and time (Romans 8:35-39). We are kept in the hand of Jesus Christ, which is kept in the hand of God the Father (John 10:28-29), which is sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 4:30).

What do our unalienable rights as born-again Christians include? God has transformed us from His enemies (Romans 5:10) and children of the devil (John 8:44) to His friends (John 15:13), ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20), children (1 John 3:10), betrothed, beloved (Ephesians 5:25), and joint-heirs (Romans 8:16-17) with His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Declaration of Independence refers to the unalienable Rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Christ came to give us not only eternal life with Him in Heaven (John 3:16), but abundant life (John 10:10) here on earth, for He gives us richly all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).

Liberty in Christ means that we are freed from a legalistic adherence to the law that cannot save us (Romans 8:3) but can only show us how far we have gone astray (James 1:22-23). No man can keep the law perfectly, for all are sinners, and if we break even a part of the law, we would be found guilty of breaking the whole law (James 2:10-13).

Jesus held us to an even higher standard, saying that our very thoughts and words, and not only our deeds, could condemn us. If we look at someone with lust, it is as if we have committed adultery in our hearts, and if we lash out in anger against someone, it is as if we have murdered him (Matthew 5:21-30).

But Christ gave His followers liberty from sin and death. We are now freed from the power of sin, for the Holy Spirit within us provides the way to refrain from sin even when we are tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13). We are freed from the penalty of sin, which is death (Romans 6:23), and one day in Heaven we will even be free from the presence of sin, for our glorified bodies will be unable to commit sin (Jude 24-25; 1 John 3:2).

Yet liberty from sin is not license to sin – as the apostle Paul says, God forbid!  (Romans 6:1-2; 14-18). Although Christ has washed away our sins in His own blood (Revelation 1:5), paid our sin debt in full (Colossians 2:13-14), and clothed us in his perfect righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), we are to honor Him by following the law of Christ. This is to love God above all and to love one another, treating each other as we would like to be treated, for all the laws given to Moses are summarized in this one commandment (Luke 10:27).

Our Founding Fathers promised us the right to the pursuit of happiness, which depends largely on our external circumstances. Yet Jesus Christ promises us the joy of His salvation (Habakkuk 3:18), and the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), which are far better. No matter what trials we may face, we can have true joy in our Father’s love (1 Peter 1:8), the Holy Spirit within us (Galatians 4:6), and our best Friend (Proverbs 18:24) Who will never leave nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We can rejoice in our living and blessed hope (1 Peter 1:3; Titus 2:13), meaning the anticipation of our wonderful and sure destiny. 

John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers, wrote to his wife Abigail that Independence Day “ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty.” As Americans celebrate with parades, fireworks, and barbecues, may we take time to worship and thank God not only for the freedom we enjoy as a nation, but for our spiritual freedom from sin and death through the sacrifice and resurrection of His Son!

© 2023 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives 

Giving Birth

 

 

I dreamed that I have just given birth to a baby girl. I feel fine, not tired or sore as would be normal after labor and delivery, as if someone else did all the work.

I haven’t seen her yet, but the nurses assure me that she is beautiful and perfect, and they show me pictures. One is a photo of a beautiful young woman, with soft, blonde wavy hair framing her face like a halo, wearing light makeup that looks very natural and enhances her symmetrical features. The other is a pencil sketch, with a map or diagram across her forehead showing different facets of her personality and where they reside in her brain.

I’m surprised by the pictures, as she appears full grown rather than newborn, and I long to see her right away. My husband and son are in the room and I call out to them, “Let’s go see her – everybody wash your hands!”

But the nurses say they are still working on her, and she’s not ready for us to see her yet.

When I awoke from the dream, it was with a sense of longing to see this new creation that was part of me. I realized that the girl in the dream represented the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15) that I am in Christ, now that I am born again (John 3:3-8) by trusting in His death, burial and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way (John 14:6) to Heaven.

The Bible speaks of the newly saved Christian as a babe in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1), first needing the spiritual nourishment of the sincere milk of the Word (Hebrews 5:13; 1 Peter 2:2), or its simple yet perfect truths of salvation through faith by God’s grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). Just as we do not and cannot work for our salvation, for all our own righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), I experienced no labor in the dream, and hence no fatigue, for Jesus Christ Himself accomplished all the work (Isaiah 64:6) needed for my spiritual rebirth. He paid the price in full for my sin debt through His shed blood on the cross (Romans 3:25).

At the moment we accept Him as our Lord and Savior, we are not only born again (John 3:3-8), but justified through His righteousness, which is credited to our account (Romans 4:25; Romans 5:16-18). When God the Father looks at us from that moment on, He no longer sees our sins, but only the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. All our sins are debited to His account, and His perfect standing and inheritance of eternal life in Heaven are credited to our account (Romans 8:17).

This is known as positional justification. Were we to die moments after being saved, we would immediately go to Heaven, like the thief who accepted Christ in his dying moments on the cross, even though there was no time for him to be baptized, attend church, read Scripture, or do any good works in the Name of Jesus (Luke 23:42-43).

A newborn is not expected to remain in the nursery for long, but to grow and mature into an adult, each with their own personality, attributes, and responsibilities. After we are born again, we are to mature in our Christian walk, being fed with more challenging portions of “meat” from God’s Word (1 Corinthians 3:2; Hebrews 5:12) and becoming more like Christ each day (1 Corinthians 1:30).

This process of progressive sanctification was symbolized in my dream by the “newborn” pictures actually resembling a young adult, with a beautiful face and “brain map” indicating a complex personality, both of which God Himself fashioned since before the beginning of time (Psalm 139:14-16).

In the dream, I shared my desire to see this new creation with my family and wanted them to see her too, but I also wanted us all to wash our hands first, symbolizing the spiritual cleansing that takes place through the washing of the water of God’s Word (Ephesians 5:26).

Sadly, we were not yet allowed to see her, reflecting that the ultimate expression of God’s new creation in each believer will be our glorified body that He gives us at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:42-58). At that time, we will experience eternal glorification. We will know Him and one another perfectly, as we ourselves are now known by Him. We will live forever in our glorified body that will never age, sin, die, or experience illness, sorrow, or pain.

But in the meantime, full understanding of Jesus Christ, of Heaven and of what we will be like eternally eludes our grasp, for we still see as through a glass, darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12).

In Bible times when the apostle Paul penned these words, glass was not clear, flat and free of impurities as window glass is today, but was cloudy, wavy and distorted. You might be able to tell that someone was passing by your window, but you wouldn’t be able to recognize or describe them. Such is our present view of the glories of Heaven that await us, and of our eternal companions, the saints in light!

The dream reminded me of how I long for the Rapture, for Christ to come again, and for my aging body to be transformed into a glorified body, to live forever with Him and my loved ones in Him in the abundant joy and perfect peace of Heaven. But no man knows the day or hour when that will occur (Mark 13:32), and we can rest assured that God’s timing is always perfect.

Meanwhile, once we are born again, may we continue in our Christian walk to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ until that glorious day when we see Him face to face!

© 2022 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the arch

Salvation's Mysteries

 

As I reflect on God’s unspeakable gift of eternal life through the death and resurrection of His Son, I am utterly undone by His love. My mind cannot begin to comprehend what He has done, or how or why. The paradox is not only in the cross, but in all aspects of His awesome salvation plan. 

These thoughts inspired the poem below, which is a repost from April 2013. May all of you have a blessed Resurrection Sunday reflecting on the mysteries of His amazing grace! Praise God that Christ is risen indeed! Trust in Him and live forever!

Hebrews 12:2; John 13:12-17; Revelation 20:4; 17:14; 19:16; Colossians 1:12-22; 1 Corinthians 15; 1:27; John 10:17; 1:3; 3:3-8, 16; 16:28;  1 John 3:16; Isaiah 53; 1:18; 55:9; Romans 5-6; 12:2;  2 Corinthians 5:19-20; 1 Peter 5:5-6; Matthew 19:30; 20:16; 18:3-4; Luke 9:24; 17:33; Ephesians 2:5-9

Salvation’s Mysteries

Jesus Christ was born to die

Endured the cross to feel the joy

Of saving sinners who were lost. 
Jesus served so we could reign

Laid down His life to rise again.

Maker of all, the King of Kings

A lowly worm crushed by our sins. 
The cruel thorns, the ugly scars

Reveal the beauty of His heart.

His blood-soaked cross made peace with God

His holiness removed our sins --

Washed white as snow in His shed blood

Reconciled our souls to Him.

He loved us despite our hate

He forgave while we rebelled

The Lord bowed down to take our shame

He gave all for our great gain.

His ways are not our ways.

His thoughts are not our thoughts.

If cast down, He will raise us up.

If we are last, we will be first.

We die to sin to be reborn

We lose our life to save our soul

We leave the world to live in Him

He died and rose so we can live.

Foolish things confound the wise

You can’t earn your way to Paradise.

Let Truth win out – think like a child.

Turn to Him – forsake your pride.

Trust in Him with childlike faith

Accept His precious gift of grace.

That moment seals your destiny.

You’ll live with Him eternally.

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Bad News, Good News: How Can We Be Saved and Know For Sure We’re Going to Heaven?

 

Image generated by AI

As the Lord has opened the door to a new ministry for my husband and me (more on that to follow!), He let me know that it would be important to write out a salvation message in my own words to use in this ministry and elsewhere as He leads. So here it is:

Bad news: We're all sinners, deserving eternal punishment in hell (Romans 3:23; 6:23). Our good works don't outweigh our sin (Isaiah 64:6), because if we've broken any part of the law, we are guilty of breaking all of it (James 2:10). If we've told a little white lie, stolen a stick of gum, or even looked at someone with lust or lashed out at them in anger, we have broken the law (Matthew 5:21-23;27-28). Perfectly holy, just God cannot allow a sinner into Heaven on their own merit.

GOOD NEWS (The Gospel): God gave Jesus, His perfectly holy, sinless Son, to pay the price for all our sins by dying on the cross (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:10; 1John 2:2; 4:10). Then He rose from the dead on the third day, so that all who trust Him will live forever with Him in Heaven (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4). We are saved by believing this (faith) through God's grace, or undeserved blessing, not by any works we can do. Eternal life is a freely given gift -- we can't earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So what can we do to be saved?  Believe the Good News in your heart. Realize we are sinners and ask God to forgive us, and He will. Thank Jesus for dying for us to pay our sin debt and rising from the dead, so that all who trust Him will live forever. Ask Him to be Lord of your life. Pray a prayer something like this:

Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner who deserves to go to hell. I'm sorry for my sins and I need Your help to keep from sinning. I don't want to go to hell -- I want to live forever in Heaven with You. I thank you for dying on the cross for me and rising again from the dead. I believe with all my heart that You did this for me. Please save me now and give me the gift of eternal life. I don't deserve it and I can't earn it, but now I want to devote my life to serving You and telling others about You. Please guide, lead and protect me in all that I do. Thank You Lord Jesus!

What's next? If you sincerely prayed this prayer, you have a new life! You are a new creation in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and His Holy Spirit has entered your heart (2 Corinthians 1:22) to guide, comfort, and teach you (John 14:16-18). Commit your life to Him by studying and obeying His Word (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:22; Romans 2:13), praying to Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17), getting baptized (Matthew 28:19), joining a Bible-based church (Hebrews 10:25) and telling others about how He has changed your life and about how they can be saved (2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Peter 3:15).

 

If you have just now trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please leave a comment and we will rejoice with you that you are now a born-again child of God (John 3:3-8), pray for you (Galatians 6:2), and help you in any way we can! May you grow in His grace, in faith, in love, and in Godly wisdom as His ambassador! Let His light shine through you! 

Copyright 2026 Laurie Collett

Triplets of Spirit: Know, Seek, Find

Art by The Catholic Guy 2012

In God we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17: 28). We depend on Him completely for our very existence, whether we are unsaved (natural man), saved and yielded to the Holy Spirit (spiritual man), or saved but serving our own fleshly desires (carnal man; Romans 8:5-14; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:1).

These planes of being determine our eternal destiny: hell for the unsaved or natural man; Heaven with rewards for the spiritual man; and Heaven but with loss of rewards for the carnal man. But praise God, He does not want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). He designed us in His image (Genesis 1:26) to want to know Him, to look for Him, and to find Him (Acts 17: 27).

That is why life before we were in Christ felt so empty, and why we continually looked for comfort in false religions (Jeremiah 7:9), humanistic philosophies (Colossians 2:8), and modern-day idols (Leviticus 26:1; 2 Kings 17:12; 1 Chronicles 16:26; etc.) such as money (1 Timothy 6:10), power, and substance abuse (Proverbs 20:1). But God made us, and we cannot ourselves make gods of gold, silver, or stone and expect them to have any power (Acts 17: 29; Habakkuk 2:19).

The day is coming when God will judge all those who misplaced their faith in false idols, rejecting His Son Whom God ordained and of Whom He gave proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17: 31).

Before we were saved by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we were children of the devil. Our spirit reflected the nature of Satan, who then was our spiritual father (John 8:44). But once we were saved, we were born again (John 3:3-8) as children of God (1 John 3:1), our spirit progressively shaped into His image during our earthly journey (Romans 12:2).

While we were still lost, we were dead in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:22), but when we are born again, He “quickens” us, or makes us alive (John 5:21; 6:63; Romans 4:17; 8:11), to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:1,4; Galatians 5:16,25), as a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

When we are born again, He elevates us to a new plane of being. We are then born not of blood (for it is a spiritual and not a physical rebirth), nor of the will of the flesh or of man (for we are no longer motivated solely by our own desires), but of God (John 1:13). He gave us physical life; He gave us Spirit-filled life as we were born again; and He will make us perfectly into His image in our glorified bodies that we receive at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:38-54).

Jesus said that we are to live or abide in Him, like the branches live on the vine, so that we can bear fruit and receive His blessings through prayer. If we abide in His love, we will love one another, and our joy in Him will be full (John 15:5-17).

God created each of us as a unique life (1 Peter 4:19), which we should offer back to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). He sustains us with what we need to survive, grow and thrive through our earthly life (Psalm 55:22; 3:5), and He redeemed us from our sins to reconcile us to His Holy Self (Job 19:25; Psalm 19:14; Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

We should now move for His glory, not our own, as we go, baptize, and teach all nations (Matthew 28:19). We should now use our mouths not for idle words (Matthew 12:36), but to praise (Psalm 150:6; etc.), thank (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:20), and pray to Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17).

 Our thoughts, words and deeds should encourage (Romans 12:15), exhort (Hebrews 3:13), and edify fellow believers (Romans 14:19; 15:2), for we have become His witnesses (Acts 1:8), colaborers (1 Corinthians 3:9), and ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).

As we move in Him, He empowers us as soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3-4) to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12); as athletes (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) to run with patience the race that He set before us (Hebrews 12:1); and as victors through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57) to finish the course (2 Timothy 4:7). Whatever we do should be in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him (Colossians 3:17).

When we have our being in Him, our personhood is in His image. Our identity is now as God’s child (1 John 3:1), friend to Jesus (John 15:14), and Christ’s bride as a member of His church (Ephesians 5:23-32). In this status we have forgiveness of sins (justification; Romans 5:18), abundant life (sanctification; John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 1:30), and eternal life (glorification; John 3:16; Romans 8:17, 30).

As joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we share in His inheritance, we receive a new name (Revelation 2:17), and He is preparing a mansion (John 14:2) for each of us! We even have a new address: in heavenly places with Christ during this life (Ephesians 1:3), present with the Lord in Heaven after physical death (2 Corinthians 5:8), and in the New Jerusalem throughout eternity (Revelation 21:2).

Praise God that in Him we live, move, and have our being! May we embrace new life as we are born again, be Spirit-moved as He guides our actions, and rest in our new identity in Him!

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives 

Ending or Beginning?

 

Photo by Tulumnes 2013

New Year’s Eve and its celebrations are a great reminder that any ending always leads to a new beginning. During the countdown of the last moments of 2025, we thanked God for His blessings, provision and protection throughout the year, and also for His giving us a fresh start in 2026. As His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), we can begin every morning and every year with renewed hope that He will continue the good work He began in us (Philippians 1:6).

The cycle of beginning and ending permeates our lives. The sun sets on one day and rises again the next (Matthew 5:45). We may end our term in high school and begin college. We may leave one job or ministry and begin another, ideally in response to God’s direction rather than in rebellion against it. As Clive Staples Lewis, British author of “The Chronicles of Narnia,” wrote, “There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

God created many wonderful examples of how an apparent ending leads to a new beginning. A plant dies and goes to seed, but the apparently lifeless seed germinates and gives rise to a new plant (1 Corinthians 15:36-38). A lowly, earthbound caterpillar encases itself in a chrysalis and secretes enzymes that completely liquefy itself. Yet from that biochemical soup a butterfly forms, eventually struggling to break free from its shroud and emerge in a brilliant burst of color and flight. A baby ends its nine months of silence in the darkness and security of the womb with a triumphant (or outraged?) cry heralding its physical birth (John 16:21).

Even the musical scale ends on the same note with which the next octave begins. Christ Himself is the Beginning and the Ending, the Alpha and Omega, the First and Last (Revelation 1:8,11; 21:6; 22:13). He is the self-existent great I AM Who existed in eternity past since before time began (John 8:58), and Who will live and reign throughout eternity future as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16).

His death on the cross to pay for our sins (Romans 3:25) was the essential ending to His earthly life so that He could rise again, becoming the firstborn with a glorified body (Romans 8:29; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23), so that all who trust Him will also live forever (John 3:16). The destruction of most life on earth with the great flood in Noah’s day led to a cleansed, renewed planet populated by the remnant of faithful Noah and his family, and by the creatures God commanded him to bring into the ark (Genesis 7-10).

One day, after the Great Tribulation and Battle of Armageddon in which Jesus Christ will defeat the enemies of Israel, Satan, sin and death (1 Corinthians 15:24-28), the heavens and earth will burn up with a fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10), giving way to the new heavens and new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13) where Jesus Christ will reign forever in the Heavenly City (Revelation 21:1-5; Hebrews 11:16; 12:22).

What are the endings we must face on our way to the New Jerusalem? The first is that we must come to the end of ourselves. Only when we realize that we are sinners, doomed to hell, with no merit or power of our own to save us (Romans 3:23), can we realize that we need a Savior, turn to Him for forgiveness, repent of our sins, and ask Him to save us and enter our heart as Lord of our new life (1 John 1:9; Revelation 3:20; Ezekiel 36:26; 2 Corinthians 1:22; Galatians 4:6).

Then we are born again, beginning a new life in the family of God (John 3:5-8). No longer are we His enemies and children of the devil, for now we are God’s children (1 John 3:10), joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), part of His body the church (Colossians 1:18,24), betrothed to our Bridegroom (Isaiah 61:10), and ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) and co-laborers with Him in the kingdom of God (1 Corinthians 3:9). Our first step of obedience should be believer’s baptism, or water immersion, symbolizing our identification with His death, burial and resurrection (Matthew 28:19).

Like the unsaved, born-again believers experience physical death, unless they are still alive when Christ returns for his children. Nothing on this earth seems like a more final ending than death, but for the child of God, it is the beginning of new life with Jesus Christ and fellow believers. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). We will experience that joy forever, for we received the gift of eternal life the moment we were saved by faith (John 3:16).

Even those who are living when Christ returns will experience the end of life in their physical body. But what a glorious new beginning! At the Rapture, our aging, frail, limited earthly bodies will be instantly transformed into glorified bodies like that of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:35-38). Sin, death, pain, sorrow, illness and aging shall be no more! In their place is eternal, abundant life (John 10:10) in a body without physical limitation, and with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16), for we shall know Him as He now knows us (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Then we shall live forever in a mansion He has uniquely designed for each of us (John 14:1-3), in the Heavenly City so resplendent that it defies physical description (Revelation 21:10-27). We shall have infinite time to enjoy Him and our loved ones in Him, the beauty of our surroundings, the fulfillment of worshiping Him in complete surrender using the talents and gifts He gave us, and the purpose and productivity of meaningful work uniquely suited to our abilities and personality.

So let us not fear or regret any earthly ending, but instead let us joyously anticipate the next beginning He has planned for us, and ultimately the blessed, living hope of the Rapture and eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!   

Copyright 2026 Laurie Collett  

Triplets of Spirit: Know, Seek, Find

 

Art by The Catholic Guy 2012

In God we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17: 28). We depend on Him completely for our very existence, whether we are unsaved (natural man), saved and yielded to the Holy Spirit (spiritual man), or saved but serving our own fleshly desires (carnal man; Romans 8:5-14; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 3:1).

These planes of being determine our eternal destiny: hell for the unsaved or natural man; Heaven with rewards for the spiritual man; and Heaven but with loss of rewards for the carnal man. But praise God, He does not want any to perish (2 Peter 3:9). He designed us in His image (Genesis 1:26) to want to know Him, to look for Him, and to find Him (Acts 17: 27).

That is why life before we were in Christ felt so empty, and why we continually looked for comfort in false religions (Jeremiah 7:9), humanistic philosophies (Colossians 2:8), and modern-day idols (Leviticus 26:1; 2 Kings 17:12; 1 Chronicles 16:26; etc.) such as money (1 Timothy 6:10), power, and substance abuse (Proverbs 20:1). But God made us, and we cannot ourselves make gods of gold, silver, or stone and expect them to have any power (Acts 17: 29; Habakkuk 2:19).

The day is coming when God will judge all those who misplaced their faith in false idols, rejecting His Son Whom God ordained and of Whom He gave proof to all men by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17: 31).

Before we were saved by placing our faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), we were children of the devil. Our spirit reflected the nature of Satan, who then was our spiritual father (John 8:44). But once we were saved, we were born again (John 3:3-8) as children of God (1 John 3:1), our spirit progressively shaped into His image during our earthly journey (Romans 12:2).

While we were still lost, we were dead in our sins (1 Corinthians 15:22), but when we are born again, He “quickens” us, or makes us alive (John 5:21; 6:63; Romans 4:17; 8:11), to walk in the Spirit (Romans 8:1,4; Galatians 5:16,25), as a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15), in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

When we are born again, He elevates us to a new plane of being. We are then born not of blood (for it is a spiritual and not a physical rebirth), nor of the will of the flesh or of man (for we are no longer motivated solely by our own desires), but of God (John 1:13). He gave us physical life; He gave us Spirit-filled life as we were born again; and He will make us perfectly into His image in our glorified bodies that we receive at the Rapture (1 Corinthians 15:38-54).

Jesus said that we are to live or abide in Him, like the branches live on the vine, so that we can bear fruit and receive His blessings through prayer. If we abide in His love, we will love one another, and our joy in Him will be full (John 15:5-17).

God created each of us as a unique life (1 Peter 4:19), which we should offer back to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). He sustains us with what we need to survive, grow and thrive through our earthly life (Psalm 55:22; 3:5), and He redeemed us from our sins to reconcile us to His Holy Self (Job 19:25; Psalm 19:14; Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18-20).

We should now move for His glory, not our own, as we go, baptize, and teach all nations (Matthew 28:19). We should now use our mouths not for idle words (Matthew 12:36), but to praise (Psalm 150:6; etc.), thank (1 Thessalonians 5:18; Ephesians 5:20), and pray to Him (1 Thessalonians 5:17). 

Our thoughts, words and deeds should encourage (Romans 12:15), exhort (Hebrews 3:13), and edify fellow believers (Romans 14:19; 15:2), for we have become His witnesses (Acts 1:8), colaborers (1 Corinthians 3:9), and ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20).

As we move in Him, He empowers us as soldiers (2 Timothy 2:3-4) to fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12); as athletes (1 Corinthians 9:24-25) to run with patience the race that He set before us (Hebrews 12:1); and as victors through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57) to finish the course (2 Timothy 4:7). Whatever we do should be in the name of our Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him (Colossians 3:17).

When we have our being in Him, our personhood is in His image. Our identity is now as God’s child (1 John 3:1), friend to Jesus (John 15:14), and Christ’s bride as a member of His church (Ephesians 5:23-32). In this status we have forgiveness of sins (justification; Romans 5:18), abundant life (sanctification; John 10:10; 1 Corinthians 1:30), and eternal life (glorification; John 3:16; Romans 8:17, 30).

As joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), we share in His inheritance, we receive a new name (Revelation 2:17), and He is preparing a mansion (John 14:2) for each of us! We even have a new address: in heavenly places with Christ during this life (Ephesians 1:3), present with the Lord in Heaven after physical death (2 Corinthians 5:8), and in the New Jerusalem throughout eternity (Revelation 21:2).

Praise God that in Him we live, move, and have our being! May we embrace new life as we are born again, be Spirit-moved as He guides our actions, and rest in our new identity in Him!

© 2015 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives