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February 29, 2016 – I Peter 1:23

iPeter1-23For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. I Peter 1:23When a baby is born, there is much rejoicing on all sides.  The baby begins a new life with many things to learn.  How to walk, how to talk, how to suppress some behaviors and experience all kinds of emotions and make choices.  And all this learning happens before school age.  A baby from birth has great expectations, and an inheritance.  The first need a baby has is life-giving food, the second is to be comforted and the third is to rest.To be born again…what does it mean? It means to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit when we believe that Jesus is the One and Only Son of God. It is a washing away all sins and gaining an inheritance that is ours forever.  Coming to Him in humility, we find that our hearts are reborn and we feel the great peace like no other.  It is a moment like no other.  The first birth is not our choice, and the second birth is our choice.When we born again, we need spiritual food that only comes from the Word of God.  We learn we need to purify my lives and our speech and to let Jesus shine through. Third, we can rest in the strength and peace of Jesus. This can only come from learning to live in love, with kindness and gentleness, that comes from patience and self-control.We cannot ever say we are perfect, for until our last breath we learn to love and live in peace with joy, giving thanks always.  We live in great expectation for a priceless inheritance that is kept in Heaven for us.  We long to be re-united with our loved ones on earth.All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. I Peter 1:3-4