Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. – John 3:7

 
“It is what it is” – an oft quoted phrase that for many years has defined my views on life.  After all, God made me for a purpose, so who am I to do anything that might stand in the way of these things happening.  If God wants me to have that job, I will.  If God wants me to maintain a friendship or a relationship, I will.  If God wants me to have it, I will.  Now on one level this doesn’t seem like a terrible thing – in fact God’s will is going to be done here on earth; after all He is God.  But for me there is more to it, a greater significance that signals a continuing shift in my paradigms.

 
One of the things you will get to know about me pretty quickly is that I am rather flexible.  Compromise is no big concern for me and I am very willing to forego my own preferences to accommodate the needs of others.  This serves me well in certain arenas but overall it has held me back.  This isn’t to say that God has not blessed me; He most certainly has.  However, my inability to decisively pursue the things that I want, the things that God has left for me to accomplish and achieve has put me in the position where I find myself today.

 
And so here is the moment of truth – the point where I make my bold declaration to change things, to do things differently.  Uh…no.  If it were that easy I would have done it years ago and have avoided many of the pitfalls that I’ve experienced.  It’s not that I don’t believe in the power of confession, but I also know that if left to my own abilities all the talk in the world won’t change who I am or the patterns I have established.  I have to rely upon the power of God to actively change me from within, to give me a spirit of submission to His will for my life.  And so I don’t make bold proclamations destined to fail yet again.  Instead I surrender myself to God, asking Him to renew me, to reinvent me, to allow me to be born again.

 
The words of the Newsboys’ song “Born Again” have been a regular reminder of this to me of late.  It is time to take a stand, to no longer look back on a life that I have created but to move forward confidently in the promises God has spoken over my life.  In Him I will lose my fears.  In Him I will receive abundance.  In Him I will be washed clean of my sin.  In Him I will be born again.

 
Born Again (Click here to see a YouTube link featuring the song)

 
Found myself looking into the mirror
Knew I wasn’t who I wanted to be
I was living like the way that I wanted
But my eyes reminded me I’m not free
Believe that I saw, everything that I know
Says I gotta go, tired of going solo
But I’m never gonna go there again

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

I see you’re walking like you’re living in fear
Having trouble even looking at me
Wishing they would give you more than words
Sick of people telling how it should be (how it should be)
What’s your download, where’d you get your info
Saw that I’m show, now you’re in the in-know
I’m gonna tell you what I believe, OH

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

We are the ones, he called by name
Never gonna look back
Let go, let go the guilt the shame
I said I’m never gonna look back
This is who I am

This is what it is
This is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I’ve met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

This is what it is
This is who I am

I didn’t want to fall, but I don’t have to crawl
I met the one with two scarred hands
Givin’ him the best of, everything that’s left of
The life inside this man
I’ve been Born Again

I’ve been Born Again