The account is found in John chapter three and contains the term, “new birth.” Some of the most profound truths that can be made are located in this chapter. One of the most educated, knowledgeable and intellectual educators of his time is unknowingly questioning God in the person of Jesus Christ.

The reality that springs from this portion of Scripture is that man needs both a physical and a spiritual birth. Heaven is made up of individuals who have experienced both. These different births are sometimes years or many decades apart.  The first wasn’t asked for and was beyond the control of the human. The second birth only comes about after physical growth, confrontation, consideration and personal commitment.  It has nothing to do with religion, heritage or an organization.

His name was Nicodemus, and if you google him in Scripture, you’ll find that conversation, thought and experience led him to experiencing the new birth.   His continuing defense of Jesus and identification with the Savior after the crucifixion bring infallible proof.

The nurse asked the patient to give his birthdate. The patient responded with a question in return. “Which one? I have two.”

I won’t go into detail about the first birth, but I can tell you what is involved in the second:

1 Peter 1:23

having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

Do you have two?

Think about it.

Gary

Only saw Dad cry once. Perhaps he did it more often than that, but I never saw it. It was the summer of ‘67 and someone told Dad he had better come home from work. Getting out of his truck with his hard hat still on, he was informed that his Marine Corps son was seriously wounded in Viet Nam. This was the nineteen-year-old that had his father’s name. The tears rolled down his cheeks and his lips trembled. I was a fifteen-year-old son observing that kind of grief for the first time.

There is probably nothing in a man’s life that can penetrate the soul like the suffering of a son. His sadness turned to anger probably because he signed the paperwork so this underage offspring, who was barely seventeen years old, could join the service.

This father-son relationship is referred to so many times in the Bible. As the Son was tortured on Calvary, the Father had to break all contact:

Matthew 27:46

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” 

This was a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me,

This is the way God has chosen to reveal to us the seriousness of sin and the length He went through to redeem us.

Give it some thought.

Gary

James Corbett (September 1, 1866 – February 18, 1933) was an American professional boxer and a World Heavyweight Champion. Individuals like him who go into a boxing ring know the suffering and intensity of continual exposer to that sport. Here is a quote of his that expresses his inner emotions as his career was coming to an end though he was trying mightily to stay on top of his game.

“Fight one more round. When your feet are so tired that you have to shuffle back to the center of the ring, fight one more round. When your arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your hands to come on guard, fight one more round. When your nose is bleeding and your eyes are black and you are so tired you wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more round – remembering that the man who always fights one more round is never whipped.       ― James Corbett

This is also true in the Christian realm as servants get knocked down so many times by their profession. The Apostle Paul related to similar feelings as he wrote to the Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself.  Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.

He followed that by the next two verses which describe how you can stand up to one more round:

2 Corinthians 1:9-10

But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 

You can take another pounding because of Him.  The match is not over and who knows the outcome.

Give it some thought.

Gary

One of my many concerns as my son was growing up was that he would be allergic to work. That was not the case. His freshman year of school he decided he wanted to wrestle and went about working out and lost almost forty pounds by lifting weights and doing cardio exercises. By the time he was twenty-one, he had a paramedic license from the state of Maine. He served ten years in the Navy as an officer and later earned four master’s degrees. I realized my worrying was unwarranted.

God told Adam to work the garden and keep it. Work is one factor in making life worth living and it comes from God.

Proverbs 24:30

I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding;

Life has given us so many opportunities described in the verse as a vineyard. Let’s do something with it for time and eternity. People are observing our vineyard. What are they seeing?

Think about it.

Gary

That old missionary pilot I told you about yesterday, well, he responded and here’s what he had to say.

The beauty of Christian faith is that the “story” doesn’t end with us….it continues through others!

I took a child from a mother’s arms…she, in desperation surrendered that child to me. (This was a small grass hut deep in the Amazon jungle).   To that mother there was no concept of aviation…just a big bird from out of the clouds in that vast expanse.

There was a bright red-head with blue eyes never seen before that came out of that big noisy bird.  This little boy was just a skeleton of humanity almost no life remaining (he had scalded his throat and a large white octopus mass was choking off the life in him).

I can’t IMAGINE the thoughts in her head as she saw that “big bird” disappear through the clouds.  Was this a transition to another life?

Was her son gone forever?   In a few weeks this robust lad came back through those same clouds & into the arms of his mother!

The joy & love in the face of that mother will always remain with me.

There is a beauty in the Christian faith!   Love of God, promise of new life…the POWER of Christ!

Proverbs 3:27

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.

I’ll thank him for this message.

Think about it.

Gar

The young girl was in front of me at the checkout counter. She had earrings protruding from every facial location. Her hair was colored the color of the rainbow and pointing in every direction. Even with all the camouflage it didn’t hide the fact that probably she was under age.

The young cashier had the responsibility of asking the young girl for an ID.  She was attempting to purchase cigarettes.  There was an explosion of a vocabulary that I hadn’t heard in a while. I can’t quite remember how it all concluded, but I do remember the salesperson wanting to cry. My heart went out to her.

She needed comfort, so I made up a story for her. I said, “You really do need to excuse her because it’s a proven fact that the dye she is using seeps down into the hair follicles, through to the skull and into the brain.  It makes one react to events unpredictably and really isn’t her fault.”

I left the clerk laughing and realizing the world is composed of nice people and some not so nice. Be kind to those who serve you because service of any type can be trying.

1 Peter 4:10

 Every believer has received grace gifts, so use them to serve one another as faithful stewards of the many-colored tapestry of God’s grace.

Think what opportunities God has given to you to help another make it through the day.

Gary

And they all lived happily ever after is a statement found in many mythical childhood books. It sure sounds good but is disproved over and over again in the test flights of life. Life can be a wild ride and too many times ends in tragedy.

Someone once stated, “It is pain, hardship, and temptation shot through with radiant gleams of light, friendship and love.” Most of us can agree with that.

Case in point is the birth of Sampson and what seemed to be such a promising life. His life, however, was nothing but heartache to his parents, and contained periods during which he had no use for spiritual things, but in the last minutes of his life prayer to his Creator brought great victory.

No, we don’t find those “lived happily ever after” accounts in Scripture or in life experiences. However, we can have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus promised us that:

John 10:10

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Why don’t you trade life’s mythology for something that can be attained?

Think about it.

Gary