John 3:1-13
Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
Well, can't we all relate some - Born Again Nicodemus wants to visit Jesus comfortably - not to be committed. And if you look at the passage with seeing Jesus is recorded as Wisdom, laughing at creation, you see Jesus was being a bit snippy with Nicodemus. And you have to hand it to Jesus, when Jesus is firm with someone He has style and form and zest and verve.
So Nicodemus looks in a mirror and discovers his own verve. Christians are expected to grow up. Believed a lie so everything that I know, Knew I wasn't who I wanted to be I was living life the way that I wanted But my eyes reminded me I'm not free
John 7:49-51
But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.” 50 Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, 51 “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”
Really Grow Up. This is what it is, this is who I am
This is where I finally take my stand
I didn't wanna fall but I don't have to crawl
I met the one with two scarred hands
John 19:39
Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.
So... the horror of being born again. Because we are supposed to grow up. And if we bent five degrees this way, embrace a hands up high posture, with bunny ears on, and stand on one left foot....
Our better self will do better.
What a laugh. God gives us talents. To be who we are. He does not ask us to be turned inside out. He asks us to make decisions knowing we are transparent to Him. Our Christian path should be envisioned with great longing. God would not parent us by thunking us on the head. My mom moved her seat up in the car as far as she could and raised it up a foot. For all practicality, she actually looked as if she was riding on the hood. And she was thrilled to be there. I was annoyed and didn't even know why. My immediate reaction was to say to myself - if you were a better Christian - your initial reaction would be more gracious. That's so wrong. It is genuinely annoying to have someone block your total vision when you are driving. And we don't give ourselves room to have thought processes sometimes.
God isn't hoping we become St. Augustine. He is hoping we grow into loving people. To deal with Gonna tell you what I believe, This is what it is, this is who I am. And say I'm a Child of GOD.
Giving Him the best of
Everything that's left of
The life inside this man
I've been born again
Life continually deals us examples of less than perfection. One of my entertaining Pregnancy Assistance Center friends said her daughter has glow in the dark shorts that are a joke left over from "Phantom of the Opera". The shorts say, as they glow in the dark, "Come to the Dark Side. We have Cookies."
And you know that's funny & we all enjoyed that. Unfortunately, the cookies are the kind your computer eats and then you have more than indigestion. And on and on and on. Be careful what we direct our lives toward. (Um, Like Video Games Alexander - that's just dreadful for someone with such artistic talent.)
Yesterday I wrote of some fine examples, in real life that were the glossy side. I had two grandmothers who insisted on being called Grandmother. One was not going to be outdone by the other. And they were very different and very much the same. Missing out on knowing each other in pride alone. Well, you have to hope they made up in Heaven. Anyway, one Grandmother was so good and so holy and so always right and always letting you know - finally you quit telling her your life because there was always "the comment." Forget it. Nevah mind.
The other Grandmother was a lovely woman who had three of her four great-grandchildren named after her. She was the one who would go in and sit beside you and look. Until you woke up and you were overjoyed to see her again and that made your parents mad because they didn't want you awake in the middle of the night, but she kept telling you, with sincerity, "I'm so proud of you." "You do this well." "God bless you." - for every time you sneeze and then sometimes a rather surprising long prayer. And she had an amazing, astonishing passage to going HOME. And she just spoke to HIM saying, "I'm ready to go Home now Father" in her very southern, receiving line.
I'm here to tell you both Grandmothers were amazing women to HIM. But we learned far more from the Grandmother who knocked herself out to be love. Knowing full well the other Grandmother was a saint.
An Example of God. He has gone back to Heaven, creating a NEW Heaven for us. (Sheol was the Heaven before the New Covenant. God has knocked Himself out to be Love.) And we think we have to dour up and lean to the left and stand on one foot to be more pristine for Him.
And I don't want to leave my first Grandmother out here. She had the most amazing lightning show the Dallas Morning News reported as never seen before. She was that kind of faith to Him. And she trembled at many things. It was her faith that was so important to her. She just didn't relate that well to explaining beyond raptures of exclamations. And then when we buried her next to my grandfather, after fifty years of wearing a wedding band for a man who'd gone on HOME, the flowers of the Texas plains were astonishingly beautiful. A carpet of yellow and bright blue sky, gentle breeze, gentle light.
Jesus told us pray mightily. He said even a corrupt Judge would listen to pleas continually made. How do we really think Jesus is going to show up.... Jesus is going to meet us exactly were we truly live. And HIS Love reaches to the back of the universe, beyond ...
Knowing we make the best of circumstances far from perfection where a King of Kings is born in a barn, placed in a feeding trough. Where people refused to house a pregnant young mother tired from traveling. For a government not of their choosing. Not even when a star shown so brightly, they were bound to be awake anyway... No red carpet at all.
Giving Him the best of
Everything that's left of
The life inside this man
I've been born again
This is who I am
I didn't wanna fall but I don't have to crawl
I met the one with two scarred hands
2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
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