Born Again?

Here is a old photo of Mom with her four kids from approximately 1976, from left to right: me, Peggy, Sandy, my mom below her and Jeff. We use to go camping at least once a month back then. My bike was such a peice of junk, but it worked!

John 3:2-4 is our next verses to focus on...."unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God......"

The interaction between Nicodemus and Jesus goes deep right away. Nicodemus says that Jesus is a "Rabbi" and "from God". So there is clear-cut respect there. Then Jesus goes right into it, the point at which someone enters into faith in Jesus Christ, this event is a point of birth or being "born again". Nicodemus is trying to understand the concept and is thinking it is impossible for one to re-enter his mother's womb. But Jesus was not talking about our physical birth into this world, He is talking about our birth of the spirit as a result of our faith in Jesus Christ.

In 1985, I accepted Christ as my personal savior. I choose to have faith in Jesus Christ. I wasn't really looking for it, but it was God's time and place for me in Tennessee, just outside the gates of Naval Air Station Millington. I was 19 years old and serving in the Marine Corps. It was a simple Bible study and then a prayer at the end. In that prayer I yielded myself to Jesus and choose to move forward with a relationship in Him. There has been no turning back since. God has used the Holy Spirit to guide and protect me as I continue to learn more about Him over the past 25 years. A real birth occurred that night, it was my spiritual birthday!

Now going back to what Jesus was saying to Nicodemus about being "born again"....I know exactly what He is talking about. Nicodemus seems to be perplexed. But often times if we lack a relationship with God, many of His ways are very confusing to us. But once we are born of the spirit, many things start to become very clear. If you are "born again" we see clearly that: Jesus is God; He died on the cross for our sins; we can have everlasting life with Him; and we realize we need to have a relationship with Him by praying and studying his Word..the Bible.

You can see Jesus being quite frank and matter-of-fact in these passages. He says it straight, "one must be born- again" to experience life ever-lasting. For those of us who have not made a step of faith to embrace Jesus as our personal savior, we need to dive in and listen to what Jesus is saying, similar to Nicodemus. If we have accepted Christ, it is time to reflect upon when you were just "born again" and experience the power of the Holy Spirit in a renewed perspective. We need to draw that line in the sand and say "Yes, I am ready to follow you, Jesus!"

"Dear Jesus, Thank you for saving us and thank you for showing us the simplicity of faith in You. We can embrace you without the regulations and politics man creates. We can approach you just as we are. Thank you!. Amen. "