John 3 - July 3, 2005 Born Again

I remember when Carter was running for President, my husband's grandmother said, "What is Jimmy Carter talking about? He keeps saying he is born against!" I remember trying to explain to her what born again, minus the t, meant. Today as I was reading John 3, it hit me that perhaps the first person to ever hear those words born again was Nicodemus. Nicodemus was very educated and a highly respected leader of the Jewish people. As he heard that this man Jesus was opening blind eyes and healing the sick, Nicodemus, who had spent his life studying the scriptures, had to wonder could this man be the Messiah? He arranged a night meeting with Jesus, probably so that he would not be seen. Jesus certainly was not popular with Nicodemus's circle of friends. How those words born again must have sounded to Nicodemus. He had spent his life adhering strictly to the many codes of Jewish law. He was a good man and by now up in years. He had assumed that was the way to God's Kingdom, and here Jesus was telling him, I asure you, unless you are born again, you can never see the Kingdom of God. John 3:3 Nicodemus must have been stunned. I mean, who had ever heard of such a thing...born again? He asked Jesus, "What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born again? And again Jesus says to Nicodemus in John 3:7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' I like what the Touch Point Bible's New Living translation says in one of its footnoots.... a physical birth of a baby takes place in blood & pain, and is followed with joy beyond compare. In spiritual rebirth, the blood is the blood of Jesus, the pain is recognizing and confessing our sins, and the joy is the assurance of Eternal life. Jesus goes into much more detail and Nicodemus is the first to hear John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only son so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal life. From scriptures that follow in other chapters we know that Nicodemus does get born again. He finds what he has spent his lifetime searching for....THE WORD OF GOD! We each stand with the choice Nicodemus had, believe what Jesus says and accept His invitation into the Kingdom. Good works won't get us there....bad lives won't keep us out either, just realizing what Jesus did on the cross and believing John 3:16 will give us that ticket into the kingdom and the joy of knowing Eternal life. He paid for it in full with His blood. John 3:16 Amp For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.. This weeks lesson was about a religious person who thought his good works and religious training were what allowed him to enter the kingdom....next weeks lesson, John 4, is about someone who thought they weren't good enough because of the mess they had made of their life. The same Jesus invites all to partake in Eternal life and His way is easy....He already did the hard part....He left His home in Glory, was born of a woman into a body of flesh, dwelt among, and then went to the cross and rose from the grave. Dear one, if you have never accepted His invitation, today is the day. Cry out to Him, accept what He did for you, confess your sins, and invite Him into your life. Only you can make the choice....and He says to you today, CHOOSE LIFE!! CHOOSE ME!

Facts Behind The Gospel of John

I have been so blessed by just studying about John himself. As we take a look at him, we see

• He was the youngest disciple
• He was very ambitious in the beginning of his call - he and his brother, James, were nicknamed the Sons of Thunder by Jesus - It was James and John that argued over who would sit on the right hand of Jesus - It was John who was eager to call down fire from Heaven against the Samaritans
• It is believed that John is the only disciple at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified
• By the time John writes his gospel, he is a humble man, he doesn't even mention his own name in this writing, other than to refer to himself as the one who Christ loved...and he is remembered today as the beloved disciple...time with Jesus had transformed him.
• The Gospel of John is written perhaps 30 years after Matthew, Mark, and Luke are written. By then, all of the disciples have been martyred. Imagine what the eyes of John had seen in this thirty years. I am sure Jesus was not the only death he was present for but the three years spent with Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit gave him all the courage in the world to go forth and be who Jesus called him to be and do what he was called to do.

Imagine:

Philip was first tied to a pillar and then stoned to death.
Matthew was nailed to the ground with spikes and then beheaded.
Jude, Jesus half brother, was beaten to death with sticks and clubs.
Simon was tortured and crucified.
James, brother of John, was beheaded and was the 1st disciple to be martyred.
James, half brother of Jesus, was pushed from the top of building and then his broken
body beaten to death.
Peter was crucified upside down
Andrew, Peters brother, hung on a cross for three days before dying.
Bartholomew (referred to as Nathaniel in John 1) was beaten, crucified, and skinned alive before being beheaded.
Thomas was thrown into a fiery furnace and then speared with a javelin.

John had seen much and endured much and when he writes the gospel of John, he wants to make certain that everyone understands: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:31

Signs John Shares;
1. Turning water into wine
2. Healing the officials son
3. Healing the invalid at Bethesda
4. Feeding the 5000 with just a few loaves and fish
5. Walking on the water
6. Restoring sight to the blind man
7. Raising Lazarus from the dead
8. Giving the disciples an overwhelming catch of fish

I have been blessed by thinking about the fact that John lived to be an old man because he yet had a call on his life to do many things...among them to take care of Mary, the mother of Jesus and then to write the book of Revelation. No one could stop him until God's plan and purpose for his life was fulfilled. Ladies, that gives me courage.....may it give us all courage to press forward knowing His plan is for good...Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, they are for good and not for evil to give you a hope and a future.

The Song "Held" & "The Teacup"

Ladies,
A week ago in Flock Judy Bell shared this beautiful song by Natalie Grant...thought it would be nice for you to be able to come here and listen to it...so am going to do a test and see if this works...if it does, enjoy! It played on my Windows Media Player. Hope you are able to listen to it.
http://epk.radioandrecords.com/rrlinkup/EPKSplash.aspx?TRACKID=3056531&PANELTYPEID=23&FLAG=0

Now I am going to attempt to do one more thing...a few Sunday's ago, I shared " The Story of the Teacup"....in case someone wants to enjoy this story again, here is the link to it...
http://www.aspecialplace.net/InspirationCornerII/the_tea_cup.htm You gals know that this is all new to me...so I just learning the possiblities of things that can be put here...let me know what works for you and what you would like... Love, Pam