pickledilly

Jesus declared that eternal life begins for a person at the moment s/he “hears My word and believes Him who sent Me”. At that moment we receive the Spirit, who brings with Him spiritual life in the Kingdom of God that will never end. Without this belief in Christ and the gift of eternal life, the default position is the second death with eternal separation from God. Faith comes by hearing, and people can only hear if they have been told. We each need to be ready to live as Christ would before others and look for those moments to share the truths of the gospel. Be a friend. Show love. Tell the good news. "You're the only Jesus some will ever see."

Diligently studying and knowing the Bible is not the same as listening to the Father. Yes, we have His Word recorded in the Scriptures that “speak” to us, but without the wisdom and discernment of the Spirit we cannot rightly interpret and live out that Word. Head knowledge isn't the same thing as relational heart knowledge. As we develop that relationship, God uses the Word planted in us through our studies to guide us in the specifics of our daily living. This can be a tangible phenomenon. I have a friend who is so in tune with God's voice that she often pauses in conversations with others because the Spirit is clearly speaking something, usually pertinent to that situation. Of course, nothing we hear from God will ever contradict the truth of His written Word, so knowing the Scriptures is vital to hearing God's voice. Churches don't teach more about listening for God because pastors don't usually know. I don't want to become cynical about it, but pastorates so often end up becoming positions of personal power and leadership that aren't as submitted to God's voice as even the pastors might desire. We must learn to step away from the incessant voices of the world in order to give God time to speak directly to us, because He rarely forces us to listen. This is something I really need to do better, myself. Our generation of believers would radically change the world if we learned to dynamically hear the voice of God and then yield in obedience to doing the works of God in the same way Jesus did. We would no longer sit in our comfortable pews once a week in a state of inertia, thinking ourselves to be pleasing to God. The world around us would see holiness, truth, unity, and love in action as we do whatever the Father shows us to do. We'd make such a bigger difference for the Kingdom of God. And we'd each enjoy a richer fuller relationship with our Father. We would be authentic disciples who are becoming more and more like our Rabbi. Oh, to truly be like Jesus!

It certainly is possible to be blessed outwardly but be completely lost inwardly. God desires that we respond to His goodness toward us, but too many times that isn't the case. It's remarkable that the man took this healing for granted to the degree that he didn't even try to find the Healer and offer thanks. We don't know why the man returned to the temple. Maybe it was just as simple as being able to go there for the first time, at least in 38 years. Jesus found him there and confronted him with profound sin because that inner corruption was the cause of his physical infirmity and the man needed to repent. We would think that 38 years of the ill health he suffered because of that sin would have been enough to humble him before God. But no amount of mere punishment can purify the heart. This man had obeyed Jesus' command to get up and walk into physical healing, but he was unwilling to obey the call to repent for spiritual healing. To refuse to listen to Christ's call to repentance is to be held even deeper in the grip of sin and miss the full healing gained in salvation. We can't afford to take the mercy and grace of God for granted. How sad that this man gave no evidence of responding to Jesus' rebuke with faith. However, there is too much missing for me to assume that his lack of faith and repentance meant that he maliciously ran to the tell the Pharisees the identity of the Healer once he knew it was Jesus. Maybe he was unaware of their hatred for Jesus and desire to permanently “get rid of Him” and he was just genuinely thoughtless. He could have been fearfully reacting to their intimidation, or perhaps just went back to vindicate himself. Maybe he thought they had a right to know. Maybe he was offended that Jesus called him on his sinful heart and went to tattle. Whatever the reason, it's clear he was still oblivious to his encounter with the God who offered him forgiveness and salvation.

The legalistic Pharisees were incensed to find the man who had just been healed walking home carrying his now-unnecessary mat. They interpreted this as work, which was forbidden on the Sabbath. They were more concerned with rule-keeping than with the activities of the One who made the rules. They were worshiping the Sabbath rather than the One who commanded it. Oh, yes, I've encountered people in the church who were so intent on “the way we've always done it” that they had no clue what God was doing. For example, I led music ministry in my former church and once asked about the possibility of removing some seating in the choir loft in order to stage some drama for a musical presentation. From the response I got, you would have thought I suggested chopping the legs off and burning them in the middle of the sanctuary. The vision the Lord gave me for that event was not realized, and I believe the full intent He had designed for it was compromised because of their narrow vision and focus on their own set of rules. The sin of the Pharisees was pride and arrogance in adding to what God ordained and in self-righteously passing judgment on people. In focusing on points of law rather than the glory of their miracle-working God, they entirely missed the deeper principle of mercy and the human element of wholeness that was most important to Yahweh. Jesus clarified their sin when He identified Himself as the Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; Mark 2:28), meaning He had the right and authority to always be at work as He saw fit, even on the Sabbath. He also said that the Sabbath was created for man's benefit, not man for the Sabbath (Mark 2:27).

The invalid that Jesus healed at the pool of Bethesda was an old, bitter, worn-down man who was probably a paralytic. ESV translates in verse 6 that Jesus “knew that he had already been there a long time”. Jesus had been coming by this pool all His life as He entered Jerusalem for feasts, and I can imagine He had seen this man so many times that He was looking to see if he was still there, now that He was in public ministry and performing miracles that could change that man's world. Based on the question Jesus asked him, the man was probably a complainer filled with excuses, either unmotivated to actually accept healing or stripped of all hope by endless years of waiting. When Jesus asked if he desired healing, the paralytic never even said “yes”. He only blamed others as the reason why he'd never been healed. He demonstrated the self-pity of a victim mentality, but he had also endured a lifetime of being "invisible" to others and suffering scorn, loss, and disappointment that had beaten him down and made him cynical. His mind and soul were as paralyzed as his body was. It seems he didn't know of Jesus' reputation as a Healer, but he exhibited no faith. Jesus knew there would never be any hope for this man to be healed at the pool and any faith the man had in that possibility was useless, so when He declared healing for the man it truly was a profound act of God's grace. In his cynicism, lack of hope and his spiritual blindness, this man offered no hint of faith - and yet Jesus healed anyway. The miracle's purpose was to demonstrate the glory and power of God, and to authenticate that Jesus was the Son of God. And it pictures the way He reaches down to us in our own spiritual blindness, hopelessness, and total lack of faith to bring us into the ultimate healing. None of us is worthy or able on our own. Accepting grace requires a humility and honesty about self that we often resist. We don't want to examine and admit our true condition of need, or our own failures in attempting to change things ourselves. If we do have a sense of that need and failure, we may get overwhelmed with feelings of unworthiness that paralyze and leave us hopeless. Or in with a perception of self-sufficiency we may just think we don't need someone's grace. The root problem is pride. This is what makes it hard for us to accept that God's gifts are only given by grace and there's nothing we can do to earn or provide them for ourselves.

The official and his entire royal household could not deny the power of Jesus and they saw the miracle of healing (and the manner in which it was done) as the evidence it was intended to be. It was proof to them that Jesus was validated as the Messiah, sent and anointed by God. As so often happens, their crisis and utter need became the circumstance God used to reveal His glory and authority. The official's faith was weak and shallow in the beginning, as he only sought Jesus for what Jesus could do to save his son from death. Thankfully, God meets us where we are, giving more light of truth to those who respond to the light they already have. This man looked deeper and recognized who Jesus really is, and then acted according to that maturing knowledge and faith. He sought Jesus as the Son of God who came to bring eternal life to all who believe on Him. That truth was undeniable to his entire household and they all believed.

The royal official might have only viewed Jesus as a last desperate attempt to save his dying son, but he at least believed in the possibility that Jesus could save his boy. Evidently he was acting on what he had heard about Jesus from others, as the Miracle Worker was becoming rather famous for doing many signs and wonders. Galilee was buzzing with news of what Jesus had done in Jerusalem and the reports had surely reached the royal palace, where this official would have heard. Now in crisis and hearing that Jesus was actually in the area, I think he wondered if Jesus would do for him what He had done for others. So rather than send a messenger, he made the 20-mile trip himself with the faith that his child could be healed. When he made his desperate request to Jesus, the official found himself challenged by Jesus, perhaps that Jesus was not impressed with his own identity and position, but certainly by Jesus' indictment of the blindness of the people of Galilee. Perhaps as Jesus directed His comment about shallow faith directly to the man, He was making a personal demand for him to shift his fledgling belief from the signs and wonders to the deeper faith of seeing who He really is (which was the purpose of the miracles). It wasn't necessary for Jesus to go to the child so that everyone could watch Him perform the miracle; that would only feed their emotional magic-show level of belief. Jesus wanted this man to exercise the higher faith of believing without first seeing a miracle and trusting in Him as the One sent by God who can heal by His Word no matter where He is. The official didn't yet understand but was not deterred and he repeated his urgent plea, still believing that Jesus could save his son's life. I wonder what his first thought was when Jesus told him to go home because his son would live! As he gave pause to consider those words, I imagine the man sensed Jesus' glory and supernatural authority, and his perception of who he was talking to was transformed. The man acted with confidence to believe who Jesus is and obey what Jesus said. His more mature faith without yet seeing the miracle must have been an encouragement and a delight to Jesus' heart!

True miracles demonstrate the glory and power of God as He intervenes in supernatural ways. They are God's confirmation of the authenticity of His messengers and evidence of His leading. When we understand the purpose for miracles, our faith is strengthened in the Miracle-Giver. Seeing miracles, on its own, doesn't build faith. When we only look with human eyes, we see miracles as some kind of sensational thrill show. We get all excited about the miracle and entirely miss the Person who performed it. The religious establishment of Jesus' day saw Him perform countless signs and wonders, yet in their utter hardness of heart they demanded signs “from heaven” according to what they desired to see. When we approach it this way, we will never see God and His purpose in the miracle. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees, and in John 4:48 He rebuked the people of Galilee. He had just come from Samaria, where the people believed Him to be the Savior of the world “because of His Word” (4:41-42) without ever seeing a miracle. Now He was dealing with people who just wanted to see the signs and wonders, people who would never see enough to make them believe His message, thus missing the purpose of the miracles. They hadn't cared a thing about Him until they saw the miracles in Jerusalem during Passover, and now everybody wanted to claim Him as their “home-boy”! It was the miracles, not the Son of Man that enthralled them. This must have been so discouraging to Jesus! Miracles are amazing testimonies of God at work. But to only see the spectacle with some superficial belief is to miss the Person. We are to live our lives by faith, not by sight. And the Person is the only trustworthy object of faith. Knowing Him is far more important than knowing what He can do.

Jesus came to earth as Messiah of the Jews. His primary focus of ministry was with them, and the salvation He would secure would be extended to the Gentile world after the work of redemption was accomplished. So He generally instructed His disciples not to preach to the Gentiles because it was a message of repentance for the Jews to prepare their hearts for the Kingdom of God. I think of 2 possible reasons for Jesus to “break His own rule” and stay in Sychar for 2 days. First, I don't believe Jesus would ignore the flood of faith that broke loose there, beginning with the woman at the well. They were ready to know the Messiah, and He honored their openness and receptive hearts. He recognized that this field was “white for harvest”. Second, in pondering this question, I came back to the fact that these people were actually half-Jewish descendants of the tribe of Ephraim and half-tribe of Manasseh. While their beliefs were distorted and tainted with intermarriage and pagan influences, they had Jewish ancestors, they had the Scriptures of the Pentateuch, they worshiped Yahweh, they awaited the coming of Messiah. They were eager to hear all Jesus had to say and once they met Him for themselves they believed on Him. I think that Jesus may have come to them as descendants of the covenant, too – even though they were far from truth. The same could be said of the Jews in Jerusalem! He came to bridge the divide between His own people, and then between His people and the entire Gentile world. The completed work of redemption in Christ's death, burial, and resurrection accomplished salvation for the whole world, as the entirety of Law and First Covenant was fulfilled and ended in Him. In that, not only could the chosen people of God have a relationship with God, but every person in the world can become a child of God and know Him as Father. Jesus fully atoned for all sin once and for all. This grace is for everyone who will accept it. The implication for our lives is that there are no exclusive rights for any particular people group in God's sight. The gospel message is for “every creature”. He came through the Jews, but He came for the whole world. We must have the mindset that Jesus offers salvation to everyone, even if they don't seem worthy to us. We can't be biased or prejudiced. May I be more like the Samaritan woman, who not only received Jesus with great joy, but went to tell everyone else about Him. Our job is simply to introduce people to Jesus so they can meet Him for themselves.

I think Jesus created the agricultural system for sowing and reaping in order to use them as a word picture to teach us spiritual principles. Here, in speaking of when the crop is fully gathered in, Jesus was teaching that everyone involved in the Kingdom work of planting, watering, and harvesting all participate in the rejoicing of “getting paid” once the final harvest is completed. Our lesson from this analogy for Christians, who are called to labor in the fields of people that God has planted with the seed of faith, includes the promise of reward. At the end of the age when the final harvest takes place at Christ's return to earth, believers who have been faithful to the work of witnessing, discipleship, and reaping are promised “payment”. Not only will we be united with Christ as His Bride and receive the fullness of the eternal life and inheritance God has promised, we will also receive crowns of reward. 1Corinthians 9:24-25 tells us of an Imperishable Crown, with a position and honor in heaven that will never decay or fade away. 1Thessalonians 2:19 tells us of a Crown of Rejoicing, as we dwell in the presence of the full joy of the Lord with no more sadness or sorrow or pain or death. 2Timothy 4:8 tells us of the Crown of Righteousness, which rewards our utter and humble dependance on Christ for our holy standing and acceptance before God. 1Peter 5:4 tells us of the Crown of Glory, as the full character and likeness of Christ is revealed in us. Revelation 2:10 tells us of the Crown of Life, which is the realization of the gift of eternal life for all who have loved God and accepted Jesus as the Son of God with faith and obedience. What an awesome God we serve!

The harvest in Sychar was already ripening when this encounter took place. Jesus told the disciples to just lift up their eyes and take a look at the “fields white for harvest”. This was a harvest for the Kingdom of God, a spiritual harvest of every person who passes from the deadness of rebellion and unbelief into the eternal life of Christ gained through faith in Him. These Samaritans knew that Yahweh had promised Messiah would come (4:25). Perhaps their distance and separation from the Jews and Jerusalem proved to be a positive thing. Perhaps they didn't have such a corrupt, power hungry priesthood that suppressed liberty. Perhaps they weren't as locked into the self-righteous keeping of Law that so blinded people to the truth. Perhaps Messiah would be their great equalizer who would release them from the prejudice and disdain of being seen as religious outcasts. Perhaps they were waiting for Messiah with expectancy. A primary sign they were watching for to identify the Christ when He did come was that He would “tell us all things”. The woman was openly declaring to the people of her town that this man she met told her every sordid detail of everything she'd ever done. Here was a disgraced, disreputable woman no longer hiding and cowering from the people in shame. Something had definitely happened and she was different! And she was telling them about this man and marveling that He could be the Anointed One of God they had been waiting for! I think her testimony was powerful and authentic, and the evidence of change was already apparent. Yes, the testimony of “one, discredited woman” could make a huge impact as it's anointed by the Spirit with spiritual power to set in motion a great harvest for the Kingdom. We never know who God has been dealing with to prepare them for a moment of encountering the gospel message of the living Savior. We never know what God will do through one testimony to save a soul, a household, a neighborhood, a town, a nation. And so we must accept Jesus' words to the disciples as a word to us as well. “Look, and lift up your eyes”. Get our focus off ourselves with self-absorbed heads hung low to only see the path and circumstances of this earthly life with its cares and shameful failures. Keep our focus set toward heaven and spiritual matters where it's all about the perfection of Jesus. Let the Spirit give us eyes to see as He sees, to be sensitive to opportunities for sharing the news that there is One who knows everything we've ever done and yet offers us the living water of eternal life. We know that the fields are ripe all around us. May God relentlessly stir our hearts and empower us with courage and compassion to tell the good news! We each have a testimony that He might just use to change a life.

God is a personal living being, but He does not exist in a visible human state. His immortal existence transcends a physical body and all the rules of the universe He created. He is spirit who manifest Himself to man as a man in the Person of Jesus. For us, to worship in spirit and in truth means to engage the heart, mind, and soul in connecting with God with humble recognition of His preeminence and our subordinate relationship to Him. This is the opposite of going through the motions of rituals and traditions in a special location on certain days of the week, thinking these so-often-mindless acts to be worship. We can only experience authentic worship through the indwelling Spirit of God and the defining truth of the Word of God, not by man-made or self-glorifying approaches. I have certainly been guilty at times of sitting through a sermon, singing the songs, even praying prayers like a robot without honestly worshiping God. I have become much more convicted about that and more sensitive to looking deeper to seek God Himself in it. I try to consciously sing to Him, pray to Him, listen for Him from my heart.

As a Samaritan, the woman was probably intimidated by this man she thought to be a Jewish prophet as the conversation turned intimately personal. She wasn't accountable to him, so who was he to scrutinize her life? Like people today, she sought to deflect the intense focus on her sin and empty soul by bringing up a religious controversy about where to worship. It's easier to debate problems with doctrines and differences that to take a hard honest look at the problems with our own hearts. Quite frankly, I think it's easier for most believers to be legalistic with some concrete formula of rules and doctrine to follow than to be trust the Spirit in challenging or unknown territory. She was attempting to defend what she knew with a bit of self-defensive righteousness, perhaps.

When Jesus identified specifics of this woman's history with men, she was confronted with the truth of her life and humbled by the divine insight of this man she assumed to be a prophet. She recognized that she was intimately known in a way that was only possible for God. This opened her heart and gave her faith to believe the reality that the promised Messiah truly had come, and He had come to speak with her right there at the well in the middle of her ordinary day. I do believe the Holy Spirit can still give prophetic spiritual insight to a believer about another person for the purpose of increasing or deepening their faith and growing in Christ. I think the test of validity would be who gets the glory for the “word of knowledge”, the person speaking the word or the Person who gave the word to be spoken. This type of word would be to communicate God's already established truth, not to reveal some supposed new word of prophecy.

The gift of God is Jesus Himself, given to the world for salvation and redemption to God (John 3:16). Here, I think Jesus was revealing the ultimate gift for humanity in that salvation. The Living Water is the gift of His Spirit that Jesus gives to live within us as a fountain of everlasting life. This gift of salvation and the Spirit results in the inheritance of eternal life. This gift is the same anointing of the Spirit that was given to Jesus as He began public ministry and the baptism of the Spirit that Jesus promised to all who believe on Him (John 1:33). We never need to request the gift of the living water of God (baptism with the Spirit) because the Father automatically gives that gift when we respond to “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation” with faith and are “sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13; 2Corinthians 1:22). I don't see anything in Scripture that leads me to believe God withholds or reserves any measure of the gift of the Spirit when He gives it at the moment of faith in Christ. However, I do think there may be a type of experience where the already indwelling Living Water of the Spirit erupts like a geyser in a forceful torrential flow that overtakes a life in a greater way. We ebb and flow with the fullness of the Spirit throughout our lives because we are not the perfect vessels that Jesus was and our sin crowds out too much “space” too much of the time. We do need to ask to be filled in greater measure with the Spirit's presence and control as we mature in our faith and die to self (decrease) so that He might grow fuller (increase) in us (John 3:30).

Without Jesus all we know is the pursuit of worldly things. But these things of earth are always temporary, always shifting, always lacking in enduring satisfaction when it's all said and done. And if it's true that we're all born with a “God-shaped hole” in us, we're always seeking a way to fill that space. But nothing fits it perfectly and permanently except God, so all the things and man-made religions we chase after in the natural realm always eventually dry up and leave us parched and empty again. The woman at this well didn't seem spiritually thirsty as she first met Jesus. Her life, with its string of sinful choices and unholy circumstances, was most certainly empty and dry, but she had no understanding of her true need or the only lasting solution. Her deep thirst surfaced when Jesus brought her face-to-face with the reality of truth. Even as He exposed what He saw in her life, Jesus told her of a previously unknown gift that God desired for her, a spiritual living water she could receive that would refresh the empty dryness in her soul and satisfy the thirst for eternal life. She could have God's abiding life-giving presence within! Knowing that every person without Christ is spiritually thirsty (whether they realize it or not) should make us more sensitive to the moments we have in encounters with people. Lord, help us be ready with loving compassion, the right questions, and Your Word of truth with its promise of the living waters of eternal life.

Jesus stepped out of His norm when He left heaven in the inferior body of a human man to come and live among unregenerate sinners and die to redeem them, so this was really nothing new for Him. He knew the need of the Samaritan woman, obviously knowing that a woman who came to draw water in the heat of the day was an outcast. He had come to save the whole world, including people outside of the social norms. And Jesus didn't categorize people as worthy and unworthy. He had a “gift from God” to offer her, the message of eternal life, so He stepped over the imaginary line that would normally have separated them on many levels. He wasn't concerned with social norms, He was concerned with people. We hesitate to act so boldly because of fear, prejudices, cold or lukewarm hearts, and pride. When we don't see with God's eyes or feel with His heart, we miss the deepest needs of others. We miss the Spirit's prompting because of self-absorbed busy-ness in our hurried lives, with eyes glued to electronic screens everywhere we go in our day. We try to insulate ourselves from unacceptable people or to protect ourselves from controversial choices, and we hide in our comfort zones. Not everyone is called by God to go looking for such hurting and blinded people, but we need to be open and willing when He brings them across our path. He simply asks us to tell them of the better way to live and the living hope for the future. They need the message of love and redemption just like we did. And really, anyone who authentically lives the Christian life is already outside the social norms! We're called to the radical life of Christ, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're called to have an “in-your-face” attitude or approach. We live in such a PC era, where every comment must be censored in order not to offend. All the arguing and name-calling is divisive and destructive. Our primary mission is speaking the truth in love, and obeying the Royal Law of Love for God and others. When we get that right, we can release ourselves to follow the Spirit's lead and be ready to tell the good news to anyone we encounter. God might call some to step up on a public soap-box, but I think He calls all of us to just be watching for the person standing next to us in line at the grocery store.

In a way, I guess you could say that it is "intolerant" to believe that the only way to God is through Jesus, in the sense that God will not tolerate any other way. But though the truth that God made a plan to save us at all is proof of His love, our culture certainly gives that word a negative, even hate-filled connotation. We are not to take on such an attitude as we stand firmly for the truth. Truth isn't intolerant or bigoted; it is enduring reality and available to all. Old Testament saints were accepted y Yahweh because of their faith, just as we are. Chapter 11 of Hebrews records O.T. saints who pleased God, were commended by Him, and were considered righteous because they had a living faith in God and what He said. They believed all that God had promised. They lived and died by faith that God would bring all to pass just as He said, even though they might never see it themselves in their day. Some Christians are uncomfortable with Jesus' declaration that no one comes to the Father but by Him. This is a product of rampant political correctness that demands tolerance for every belief and life-style. It is influenced by an unbalanced understanding of God's love that ignores His holiness and justice. It is easier to disagree with Jesus than to accept things we cannot fully understand. It is unnerving and frightening to stand for something that the world is so hostile about. And so we find ourselves in an era when people claim that Yahweh and Allah are one and the same, just offering different paths to salvation. This is not what the Son of God has declared. He is the only Way, and praise God there is a way!

It is completely possible to believe in God's love and God's wrath at the same time. It is because of His love that He has warned of His wrath against all sin and rebellion, and He has taken the only step that could make it possible to redeem and deliver us from that wrath. The Father sent His own Son to rescue us from the day when His full and furious wrath will be poured out on all unrighteousness without reservation. When Jesus fulfilled all the Law and satisfied every judgment of all violations of that Law in dying on the cross, He became our atonement by standing in our deserved place of judgment as our substitute. In taking our punishment of death and then being raised back to life by the Father because of His perfection of atonement, He became Salvation for the world. Now, every person who believes on who He is, all that He has said, and what He has done for us has been given the sealed promise of eternal life. Jesus Christ is the evidence of God's love, a perfect love that desires all to believe in the Son who has already borne the wrath of God against sin so that the Father can extend the gift of eternal life. Because of His immutable justice, He not only will reward such faith, He will allow the punishment and wrath against those who reject the Son to stand. I'm sure it will be with a grieving heart that the Father will execute His judgments against them.

I see this concept of personal decrease and Christ's increase in terms of death. I am called to put everything possible of my human nature to death in order for the Spirit to make me into all Christ has designed for me to be. Whatever the situation, this means that I am to actively offer up my desires, motives, goals, plans, and purposes as a sacrifice that dies so that the life of Christ in me can enlarge to fill and bring life to that dead space. This happens step-by-step in my life with every choice I make to accept what He wills and determines out of His perfection and love and goodness. It develops as I give up seeking pleasure in life for myself and seek to please God instead. There can never be “success” in my Christian life in anything that is generated by the flesh, my innate unrighteous sinful character as a human being. Nothing of the natural can produce something of the spiritual. This yielding of self, this death to self is exactly what Jesus was telling Nicodemus when He said that one must be born again in order to see and enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:3,5). The old natural self (the “flesh”) cannot coexist with the new spiritual self to gain anything of that Kingdom, which means the old must die. Paul talked extensively about being united in Christ with death to sin so that we can walk in newness of life (Romans 6). We're not to let sin rule our mortal bodies, but are to choose obedience to Christ. In Galatians 5:17,24, he said that things of the flesh are set against the Spirit and those things include the passions and desires of the flesh that believers in Christ must crucify. This process covers a lifetime of spending time with Jesus in His Word and in prayer, of humbling self before Him, of giving up what you want or think for what He desires and says, of seeking to please Him instead of self. Ultimately, this is the decrease of myself and the increase of Christ.

John the Baptist knew his purpose and role as the forerunner who was to call the people of Israel to prepare themselves with repentance for the revealing of the Lamb of God (John 1:29-31). He never sought acclaim or fame for himself, but humbly equated his role to that of the bridegroom's friend. He made preparations and oversaw details for the wedding day, but he the celebration was not about him. His joy and satisfaction was in making sure everything was ready when the groom arrived. I do find joy in seeing others find success in their ministry, although I will admit that I've had to grow into that. It's entirely human and tempting to be jealous. But I try to remember something I heard long ago from an unremembered source. When you see God pouring out blessing on another believer, be grateful and give praise because that means He is in the house! Remember that you don't know what the “success” has cost that servant. What He's done for others, He will do for you in just the right way when you have submitted all. Even in my own church now I struggle with a difference between what I hear and what I see. Our pastor will often say “if God ever takes His hand off this church we would sink like a rock”. But then he constantly brags on accomplishments and numbers, behind the veil of humility. He admonishes that we are indebted to “this” or implies we should be ashamed if we don't do “that”. Anyone who disappoints him or disagrees in any way with his plans is intentionally and patiently (though very subtly) squeezed out and shunned. At the heart of that I see an insecurity that drives a need for control and pride that feeds the desire for an impressive public image. For all of us, it takes more than just saying the right words.

THE Church does not belong to any pastor or congregation. We all belong to Christ. While it's tempting to be jealous or resentful of large churches that appear to be so dynamic and abundant in resources, we ourselves become divisive and weakened when we indulge that. We each have a role in God's Kingdom that is by His design and empowerment. And no two people, or congregations, have the identical character and manner of service. We have no right to be possessive or jealous in presuming on what belongs only to Christ. The root of that kind of attitude is pride and spiritual immaturity. I've been a long-time member in a smaller church and a current member of a large church, and I can tell you that either way God has designed purpose and blessing. And either way, there is no utopia or perfect maturity in the Body on earth. I have felt the resentment, as over a decade ago the Lord called my family out of the smaller church where I had grown up and served my whole life. There were many people who shunned us, even turning to go down another aisle if they saw me coming their way at the grocery store. It was very hurtful that people who'd known me since my childhood took it personally rather than try to understand and accept that it was God's leading for us to make that difficult decision. Comment on SoiKosum's post: Your context of experience with the "cheap grace" and "numbers games" of congregations and pastors in Singapore is quite familiar in America as well. I guess it's just the human condition apart from full submission to Christ.

Jesus followed the pattern of all rabbis of that day. Students left their homes and families to live and travel with their teacher for several years. They wanted to know all the rabbi knew about God and how to interpret and obey the Torah. They studied his character and interaction with people as much as they did his knowledge of the Scriptures. They memorized his words and imitated his lifestyle. The goal was to follow in his steps and become as much like their rabbi as possible in learning to walk with God. Of course, this particular group of disciples studied with THE Rabbi. One interesting thing about Jesus and His disciples is that they were not like the usual group a rabbi would mentor. Most students requested the opportunity to study with a particular teacher, and the rabbi would choose disciples who excelled with extended education and knowledge of the Scriptures, with passion and drive, with a willingness to sacrifice self. But these disciples didn't seek Jesus, He sought them from small villages and rural unimpressive places. He chose ordinary "uneducated" people other rabbis would never even consider and began with “raw material”. I love this because it describes me! Jesus doesn't choose us on the basis of how great we are, but on the basis of how great He is. The only way to know the rabbi's heart and learn what the rabbi knows is to spend time with him, lots of time. Even though the disciples lived and traveled with Jesus, they still needed frequent opportunities to spend private time with Him away from the distractions and crowds of people. In those times, they built strong bonds of love and friendship, becoming a family with common goals higher than those as individuals, learning to share everything and depend on each other. And they needed time away from the stress and demands of ministry, which were far greater for this group of men because of who their rabbi was. Everywhere they went people thronged to see and hear Jesus, so they needed time away from the constant pressure. And they got to know Jesus in an intimate way. In Him, the disciples saw first-hand what the Word of God looks like as it is lived out in practical life. Today, Jesus makes disciples through the ministry of His Holy Spirit. This is our primary Comforter, Guide,Helper, and Teacher who uses the Word of Scripture to encourage, correct, inspire, and lead us in becoming more and more like Christ Himself. We have to stay in the Word and maintain open communication, humbling ourselves in seeking to know The Rabbi and His example of walking with God. And then, we are called as partners in helping each other mature as disciples. There have been two people in my life who made such impact in my Christian walk and growth because they invested time in mentoring me, not in a structured way but in the day-to-day, “hanging out” with each other doing things that provided opportunity for long talks, encouragement, correction, and wise advice. God calls us to community, never to isolation. As more mature Christians, we have a responsibility to come along side of the “babies” and invest in their walk with God.

I think John 3:16 is so famous because it declares the gospel of salvation, its Source, the motivation for giving it, and the consequence for rejecting it all in one simple sentence. It teaches us that God has a vast and profound love for all humanity (the world) and all humanity is in need of salvation. He demonstrated that love sacrificially in generously giving His own Son to save us. He is merciful to provide any salvation, and is just in determining the means. He is righteous in judging sin and rewarding faith. It teaches us that there is only one way to receive salvation, and that way is secured for every individual who believes in the Son. No human work can accomplish salvation. Those who do not believe in the Son will perish, meaning they will be excluded from the promise of eternal life, with implied destruction. In essence, we each determine our own ultimate destiny by what we believe about the Son of God. This promise of eternal life for believers means inclusion in the Kingdom of God, which is an enduring and everlasting destiny. This assured hope is only gained through faith in the Son.

Jesus already established the foundation of being able to discern the Kingdom of God only through a second type of birth, not of flesh but from above. Now He told Nicodemus how this spiritual birth is accomplished. It could only come through “water and the Spirit”. He continued on to clarify a difference between what is born of the flesh and what is born of the Spirit (vs.6). Water is associated with physical birth, whether through the father's semen (a new concept to me from the lesson) or the mother's amniotic fluid. The conception of a baby is a divine miracle, but natural birth cannot produce eternal spiritual life. Personally, I rule that out. Could water mean the humbling of Jewish hearts to submit to baptism in accepting and acting on their need for repentance? This was the message of both John the Baptist and Jesus, since the Kingdom of heaven was at hand as Messiah was revealed to Israel (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; John 1:31). Since He was dealing only with Jews, Jesus would certainly be calling them to look beyond their heritage to see their own need for personal repentance of sin and demonstrate that in the “baptism of repentance”. And Jews (certainly the well-studied Pharisee, Nicodemus) knew of their practice of tevillah, which required proselytes to be fully immersed in mandatory baptismal waters. [These converts were called “a little child just born” or “a child of one day” - like babies just born from the waters of the mikvah pool, which they considered to be “the womb of the world”.] It seems likely to me that Nicodemus would have immediately understood if Jesus had used the word “water” to mean some type of water baptism. But baptism cannot create life “born anew from above”. And Jewish baptism of repentance did not equate to the baptism of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ (which wasn't instituted until the birth of the Church; cf Acts 19:1-5 where Paul differentiated between the two baptisms). Therefore, I really don't think “water” would mean this act of obedience as a requirement for entering the Kingdom of God. Indeed, baptism is never given as a mandatory work for salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9), but is a commanded response to the gift of salvation in following Christ with obedience and good works. Acts 2:41 concisely reveals the proper sequence of first receiving the Word for salvation and then being baptized as a result of salvation. And so I also rule out water to mean baptism. I lean toward another meaning for “water”. Entry into the Kingdom of God depends on spiritual birth, not physical or outward acts. And Scripture reveals how God does His work of spiritual purifying, and regeneration of new birth. In Old and New Testaments, water has been used to represent this inner work only done through the Spirit of God. a. In confessing and repenting of adultery and murder, King David cried out that the Lord would mercifully wash and purify him from iniquity with an inner cleansing (Psalm 51:2,7). b. Jesus said His Word makes us clean (John 15:3). c. In John 17:17 He said the Word of God sanctifies us (makes us holy) in the truth. d. He spoke of the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31:33 as the Holy Spirit uses the Word of God written “within them” to transform the human heart with rivers of living water (John 7:38). e. Paul explained that Christ gave Himself up for the Church out of love “that He might sanctify her by the washing of water with the word” (Ephesians 5:26). f. Paul wrote in Titus 3:4-7 that God saves us “according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior”. I believe the inner purifying, cleansing, washing, and regeneration of the heart is to make it an acceptable dwelling place for His Spirit and give entry into the Kingdom of God. Jesus defined that this is only accomplished as “one is born of water and the Spirit”. My paraphrase would be that we must be spiritually born of the purifying water of the Word and the regenerating work of the Spirit in order to enter the Kingdom of God.