It was cold out yesterday morning. I got ready to run some errands and found the car frozen solid in the driveway. Normally that would be a minor problem, I could just use the other car to boost it with. Only the other car died a couple of weeks ago and we've been balancing life with one car. That's a challenge at times because Kathy needs the car for her work in nearby Edmonton.

I called a tow truck and they arrived two and a half hours later; they just love cold mornings. Once the car warmed up, it was off to the service station to be checked out. Then came the forty-five minute walk home.

It was cold enough that I had to take my glasses up. They froze up solid, and the cold made the frames contract and they were digging into my head. No glasses meant it was all I could do to see where I was going. I didn't get to appreciate much of the beauty along the walk because I couldn't see it.

As I walked the song I mentioned in yesterday's Gleanings From The Word kept running through my head. I found I kept singing the chorus to myself. I just kept singing "Change me on the inside." In fact it's still running through the back of my head.

It's such a simple yet profound statement. It makes a delightful prayer. In some ways it encapsulates the essence of Christianity.

Before we come to know Christ we're already spiritually dead and separated from God. When we reach out and accept Him, He breathes the breath of life and reconciliation into us and we become alive for the very first time. He changes us from the inside out. We truly are born-again.

Being born again is a Christian term that even makes some Christians nervous. They think that becoming born again makes a person some sort of oddball, pushy fanatic. What they have failed to understand is that being born again is a prerequisite to Christian.

If you have never been born again, you can't enter the kingdom of God. That's not me making a judgmental statement. Those words aren't mine; it's Jesus Himself who told us that.

No amount of wishing and hoping will change that fact. We don't get to be members of the kingdom of God without being changed on the inside and accepting Him.

It's not by being nice. It's not by doing good works. It's not by going to church or helping the poor. It's not because you were baptized as a baby. It's because you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior and allowed Him to change you on the inside.

It's by His mercy and grace and once you have it no one can ever take it away from you.

Until next time, if you have been born again, rejoice and let Him continue to change you on the inside. If you haven't been or aren't sure, change that today. If you don't know how, email us and we'll help you be changed from the inside.

Be blessed.

Hallelu Yah (Praise God)!

Kevin

If you haven't made the decision to accept Christ as Lord