Stop . . . Take Note . . . Celebrate!

Question to meditate on today: Have you celebrated?

The past few days were dedicated to celebrating our daughter's birthday. How fun is that? We intentionally stopped our everyday life in order to invest our time and effort to celebrate her life. Celebration is a vital component of healthy living. . . . for the mind, body, and spirit. In fact, in the ancient days the people religiously stopped to take note of God, the source of Life, and celebrated. Celebration was woven into daily life. That said, authentic celebration is to be fully experienced, rather than one more thing to do.

John the Baptist put all of his energy into helping people experience the Source of Life. John explained that he did not have the power to renew and regenerate people. Only Christ, God with us, can make our life new: He has come from above and is greater than anyone else. I am of the earth, and my understanding is limited to the things of earth, but he has come from heaven(John 3:31, NLT).

The Apostle Peter wrote that true life comes through the mercy of God: All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is by his boundless mercy that God has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful expectation because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead (I Peter 1:3, NLT).

The New Testament Greek word, anagennao, is used which has been translated in English as born again. Anagennao can be broken down for our understanding:
1. aná is equated to renewal from above
2. gennáo is equated to bring to birth again or beget or regenerate.

John and Peter understood that to live life to the fullest did not come from living within the perfect circumstance but in and through the Source of Life. The thing is . . . Christ changes us . . . we are renewed . . . freed from our old way of constrained and limited living . . . to live a liberated and ongoing new-life . . . energized and empowered by the Spirit.

Life changes through the renewing and regenerating presence and power of Christ.
Stop.
Take note of Christ, God with us.
Celebrate life.

Learning with you to celebrate,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)