Read John 3:1-17
3 There was a Jewish leader named Nicodemus, who
belonged to the party of the Pharisees. 2One night he went to Jesus
and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent by God. No one
could perform the miracles you are doing unless God were with him.” 3Jesus
answered, “I am telling you the truth: no one can see the Kingdom of God
without being born again.”d
4 “How
can a grown man be born again?” Nicodemus asked. “He certainly cannot enter his
mother’s womb and be born a second time!” 5“I am telling you the
truth,” replied Jesus. “No one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born
of water and the Spirit. 6A person is born physically of human
parents, but is born spiritually of the Spirit. 7Do not be surprised
because I tell you that you must all be born again.e 8The
wind blows wherever it wishes; you hear the sound it makes, but you do not know
where it comes from or where it is going. It is like that with everyone who is
born of the Spirit.”
9 “How
can this be?” asked Nicodemus.
10 Jesus
answered, “You are a great teacher in Israel, and you don’t know this? 11I
am telling you the truth: we speak of what we know and report what we have
seen, yet none of you is willing to accept our message. 12You do not
believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever
believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? 13And
no one has ever gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from
heaven.”f
14 As
Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the desert, in the same way the
Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in
him may have eternal life. 16For God loved the world so much that he
gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have
eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to be
its judge, but to be its saviour.
Think
Faith seems to have something
to do with listening to God – not just believing that God hears you. In this passage Jesus speaks of how the
Spirit gives us new life; recreates us, rebirths us.
Pray
(Open your hands as a sign of
willingness to receive the Holy Spirit as you pray:)
Loving God, I want to be
reborn. I want you to renew my heart, my
mind, my soul; I want to have fullness of life in you.
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