"You Must Be Born Again"

"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God".  John 3:3

When Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, he said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him". Jesus didn't say back to him, "You are right.  My Father has revealed this to you. I am glad you recognize who I am".  He said none of that.  Instead, He said something odd-- to me it made no sense.  It sounded like it had nothing to do with what Nicodemus had said.  Jesus immediately responded by telling him he had to be born-again.

Jesus never beats around the bush.  He always goes to the heart of the matter.  He was letting Nicodemus know that entering into the kingdom and having eternal life was more than just having the right belief.  Jesus sets the criteria.  Although Nicodemus had all the "credentials", his credentials were not the criteria.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a religious ruler, a teacher, he had a place in the temple, he recognized that Jesus was from God, he knew He could do miracles, he knew God was with Jesus, he followed Him in the crowd, but that wasn't enough.  He still had to be born-again.

Just because you go to church, just because you are a Sunday School teacher, just because you sing in the choir, just because you are on the deacon board, just because you give tithes and offerings, just because you pastor a church, just because you joined a church, just because you shook the preacher's hand, just because you raised your hand in secret and repeated a prayer does not mean you meet Jesus' requirements for entering into the Kingdom of heaven.  Let's take it one step further, like He did for Nicodemus-- just because you believe that Jesus is from God and He is the Son of God doesn't mean you are saved.  Even the devils believe that Jesus is who He is, but they aren't and never will be saved.  Jesus said you "must be born-again". 

A person gets into a family here on earth by either being born or adopted into it.  If you haven't been born into God's family, you don't belong to Him-- you are not in the family.  If you are not in the family, you will not live with Him forever in His house in heaven-- only family gets to do that.  Nicodemus was religious but he was not born-again.  He believed the right thing about who Jesus was, but he was not born-again.  You can be a faithful church goer, you can be religious, you can believe the right thing about Jesus, but if you are not born-again you are still lost and will not enter into God's Kingdom.  That is what Jesus said-- and He makes the rules!

Have a great day.  You have to be born-again in order to enter into God's Kingdom.  If you aren't, you won't! 

 

"The Mark"

"From henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus".  Galatians 6:17

Paul said he bore the marks in his body of the Lord Jesus.  The word for mark here means:  a mark pricked in or branded on the body; a scar of service.  Perhaps these marks were the scars from when he was beaten three times because he was a follower (as well as a minister) of Jesus.

Do you have any identifying marks of the Lord Jesus?  Even if we don't have any physical marks, we should have a mark.  We should have some identifying marks and scars of service that are evidence that we are followers of the Lord Jesus.

If not a physical mark than what kind of mark would we have?  The mark that distinguishes us as followers of Jesus is love.  We have been stamped with His love.  "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another".  That is our distinguishing mark. 

The world will know we are His because we are marked with love and by love.  Love for our enemies.  Love for those who despitefully use us, abuse us and mistreat us.  For those who take advantage of us.  For those who are out to get us.  Love for those who hate us.  Love for those who don't love us in return.  This love isn't vengeful, vindictive or unforgiving.  Love is patient, kind and is not jealous; does not brag and is not arrogant.  It does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered.  It does not rejoice in unrighteousness but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

You can say you belong to Jesus.  You can say you are serving Him.  You can call yourself a Christian, a follower, a believer, but if you don't have love, you don't have any mark that identifies you as His.  Without love, you have nothing-- nothing but words.  You can say you belong to Him all day long, but the "mark" is the proof-- the mark of love.  

Have a great day.  Do you have a mark on you that identifies you with Jesus?

Scripture references:
John 13:35
2 Corinthians 11:25
1 Corinthians 13

"Turn The On Light"

"The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple".  Psalm 119:130

This world is walking, and living, in darkness because of the presence of sin.  We are groping around trying to find our way.  We are stumbling over what is hidden from sight because of the darkness.  The remedy for darkness is light.  When light comes in it helps us to see what is hidden.  It helps us to walk in a perfect way.  It causes us to miss the things that would trip us up. 

We need light.  We need light to shine in our own hearts, our homes, our schools, our government, our nation and the world.  Until it does, we will not only continue to be in darkness but do "dark" things.  Hate, murder, greed, retaliation, revenge, robbery, immortality, abuse, division, anger, malice, incest, bitterness, unforgiveness, rebellion (to name a few) are all works of darkness. 

How do we get light into our situations?  Where does this light come from?  Is there a big "switch" that we can turn off and on to bring us light?  Yes, it is.  This light I am talking about does have a "switch".  It can be "flipped on" to bring light.  It is called the "Word of God". 

If we would bring God's word into our situations, by reading and doing it, the darkness would flee-- that is how we turn on the switch.  The Word of God shows us the problem and gives us the solution at the same time.  For example, it will expose hate and at the same time tell us how to overcome the hate-- love our neighbor as our self.  It would expose retaliation and tell us to turn the other cheek and go the second mile.  It will expose revenge and admonish us that vengeance belongs to the Lord, He will repay.  It will bring "light" into the situation so that we will not be in darkness and do darkness any longer but do the right thing-- the "in the light" thing.

Have a great day.  God's word is light.  It is the answer to the darkness.   

"A Quick Fix"

"And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high".  Luke 24:49

Everybody wants a "quick fix".  A quick fix in their health, their relationships, their finances, etc.  This quick fix mentality has also come into the church.  We know nothing about "tarrying".  We know nothing about "waiting on God".  We know nothing about staying at the altars until we "pray through".  Do you ever wonder why the modern-day church seems to be powerless?  Do you ever wonder why we look so different from the church of our grandfathers or great grandparents, or the early church?  They knew you had to do some waiting-- waiting in prayer. 

They prayed until they had prayed.  They prayed without regard to a clock.  They prayed without regard to what others around them were doing.  They prayed until the answer came.  They stayed on their knees until they had touched heaven and the answer they needed came and peace flooded their souls. 

Many say we shouldn't go back to the past.  They say that it is a new day.  They say what our forefathers had is obsolete and irrelevant for today's generations and changing culture.  They are trying to "make a better mouse trap".  They are trying to "improve" what is already perfect and works best. 

The instruction to "wait/tarry/pray through" came from Jesus Himself.  He never was a proponent or taught that there was a "quick fix".  He said to His followers to tarry until they were endued with power-- even His modern-day followers.  He Himself tarried often all night in prayer.  Tarrying/waiting is not what we want to do but it is what we need to do.  If we would, we would see different results than the ones we are getting to our shallow prayers.  We would see a difference in our lives.  We would see a difference in our ministries.  We would see a difference in circumstances around us.  You can't "build a better mouse trap", and you can't improve on God's pattern of doing things.

Have a great day.  A "quick fix" is not the answer.   

"WDJS?"

"Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock".  Matthew 7:24

We have all heard the phrase- What Would Jesus Do?  We have also heard- What Did Jesus Do?  This morning I want to talk about another one-- What Did Jesus Say? 

Everything that Jesus said is of great importance-- a matter of life and death, and eternity.  Sadly, most people who sit in church week after week can't tell you what Jesus said.  They don't know.  They don't know for themselves.  They rarely pick up a Bible to read it.  For most, their Bible stays in the car from one Sunday to the next or in the same place they put it after church until time to go to church again-- unopened and unread.   For others it sits on a shelf collecting dust.  Most folks depend on the preacher or some other person to tell them what the Bible says.  They don't have a clue.  That is why so many are confused about the scriptures and don't know the difference between an "old wives tale" and a scripture verse.

So, just what did Jesus say?  He said to love your enemies.  Pray for those who use you.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  Blessed are you when men shall persecute you for His sake.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Don't do your alms before men to be seen of them.  Forgive others so you can be forgiven.  Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.  Turn the other cheek, go the second mile.  Take no thought for tomorrow.  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit.  Get the log out of your own eye.  Do not lay up treasures on earth, but lay up treasures in heaven.  You can't serve two masters-- you can't serve God and money.  Give to God what is God's.  If you love only those who love you, you have no reward.  Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord" will enter into heaven. 

 

Of course, He said much, much more but this was a good place to start.  These words that I quoted to you were basics from His sermon on the Mount.  He ended that sermon by telling us how important it is that we hear what He says and do what He says.  He said that if you hear what He says and does what He says you will be like a wise man who builds his house upon a rock.  When the storms of life come, when you have to give an answer to others about your faith, when you stand before Him on Judgment Day, you will have something to stand upon and will not fall.  But if you don't hear and do them, you will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  You will have nothing to stand upon.  How will you have a firm foundation if you won't even read His word or find out for yourself what He said?

 

Have a great day.  What did Jesus say?  Do you even know?  Do you know for yourself?  Are you trying to find out?  You should!