Jesus Teaches Nicodemus

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”                                                                                    

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”                                                                                                                              

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”                        

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. – John 3:1-6

Where were you in early September 1991? What were you doing in your life?

Maybe you weren’t born yet – not yet here on earth.

Unbelievably, I know where I was.

I was 32 years old. I was working in an office in East Rutherford, New Jersey.  And I saw an advertisement for a rally that was taking place that night across the highway at the Meadowlands Arena. I called a friend and asked her if she wanted to go that night to the arena with me. I mentioned to a work colleague too that I had decided to attend and he said he wanted to go too. Could he come with us, as he really wanted to go over there with someone? So we crossed the highway after work and met my friend, and we went in to an event that changed my life.

Because although I was born to my parents in February 1959, my new Christian life began that night in September 1991 when I got up from my seat and went down to the arena floor and asked Jesus to come into my heart. In repentance, I asked Jesus to take control of my life.

I reached for God’s light and I was found.

I feel I was born again that night.

This morning, it was all over the television news that the evangelist Billy Graham had died. The news story I heard was surprisingly most respectful. I considered that some or many of the news reporters had attended a Billy Graham Crusade. It made me cry to think that another person maybe loved Jesus because they had asked Him finally like I had, at a Billy Graham Crusade, maybe even the same night as me.

I met my friend in the parking lot after the rally, and I could see she had been expecting more “fire and brimstone” that night from Mr. Graham. It was funny because what he had preached was exactly what I needed and wanted to hear that night. That God truly loved me. That I was His child. That He would be with me always.

Like the parable Jesus told in Matthew 13 of the farmer who scattered seed, the seed that fell in front of me all that time ago fell on fertile soil that night. I will always be thankful, so thankful, that Jesus found me and loved me.

Guess what? Jesus so loves you. Even though it feels like I am the apple of his eye, He loves you too. And even though there won’t be a Graham Crusade like the one I went to, there will be other Christian rallies. Or you can watch a YouTube video of a crusade where Mr. Graham speaks about Jesus. Or you can attend your church and hear Christ’s teachings. You can listen to wonderful Christian evangelists on your car radio. And you can read the Bible alone or at a study with someone else. You can fill your heart and your head with Jesus, with His gospel. Most of all, you can pray for the light of Jesus to lead your life

You can prepare the soil in front of you to be fertile and to bear fruit.

Right now, for me, the soil is still fertile, but I need to guard against the thorns of my life that want to crowd into my heart. I am grateful for these messages I write because I remind myself that my spiritual well-being depends on my staying close to the Only One who can keep me safe. Jesus Christ, of course.

I remember that night that Mr. Graham called us down to the floor with the gentle yet insistent words “Isn’t it time?” I tried to find him saying that on a YouTube video but I couldn’t. It doesn’t matter though. I can still hear him saying those words.

For me it was time. To ask Jesus to be my Savior. To be born again.

Prayer for today:

I praise you, God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I pray that all of us You created desire to be close to You through Your Son Jesus. I pray that all would ask to be born again of Your Spirit. Thank you for blessing me, in this way especially,  and in all ways.

In Jesus Precious Name I pray,

Amen