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March 24 - John 3 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, great to have your company on this Monday the
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  24th of March. How you going?
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  I hope you're going well. It is going to be a good week
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  because this week friends, you betcha we are diving back into
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  the Gospel of John. And today we are going to unwrap
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  a little present for us, which is the very first of the deep
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  theological discussions that Jesus has in this Gospel.
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  And this is the one where he speaks with Nicodemus.
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  And each of these theological discussions has a particular
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  pertinent focus, a question that someone asks Jesus and then a
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  statement that Jesus gives to to draw them deeper into an
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  understanding. And today that will centre
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  around being born again. And then of course that cracker
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  about how it is that God loved the world and what he did for
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  the world. Oh, good stuff friends.
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  Yes, how about let's dive straight into it.
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  Reading together John chapter 3. There was a man named Nicodemus,
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  a Jewish religious leader who is a Pharisee.
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  After dark one evening he came to speak with Jesus Rabbi.
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  He said we all know that God has sent you to teach us.
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  Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.
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  Jesus replied. I tell you the truth, unless you
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  are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.
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  What do you mean? Exclaimed Nicodemus.
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  How can an old man go back into his mother's womb and be born
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  again? Jesus replied.
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  I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being
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  born of water and the spirit. Humans can reproduce only human
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  life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life, so
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  don't be surprised when I say you must be born again.
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  The wind blows wherever it wants, just as you can hear the
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  wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it's going.
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  So you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit.
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  How are these things possible? Nicodemus asked.
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  Jesus replied, You are a respected Jewish teacher, and
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  yet you don't understand these things.
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  I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet
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  you won't believe our testimony. But if you don't believe me when
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  I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if
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  I tell you about heavenly things?
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  No one has ever gone to heaven and returned, but the Son of Man
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  has come down from heaven. And as Moses lifted up the
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  bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man
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  must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in Him
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  will have eternal life. For this is how God loved the
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  world. He gave His one and only Son so
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  that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have
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  eternal life. God sent His Son into the world
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  not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him.
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  There is no judgement against anyone who believes in Him, but
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  anyone who does not believe in Him has already been judged for
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  not believing in God's one and only Son, and the judgement is
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  based on this fact. God's light came into the world,
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  but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their
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  actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light
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  and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.
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  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can
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  see that they are doing what God wants.
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  Then Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem and went into the
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  Judean countryside. Jesus spent some time with them
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  there baptising people. At this time John the Baptist
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  was baptising at Aeon near Salem because there was plenty of
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  water there and people kept coming to him for baptism.
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  This was before John was thrown into prison.
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  A debate broke out between John's disciples and a certain
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  Jew over ceremonial cleansing. Sir John's disciples came to him
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  and said, Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan
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  River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptising
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  people, and everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.
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  John replied, No one can receive anything unless God gives it
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  from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly
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  I told you I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the
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  way for him. It is the bridegroom who marries
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  the bride, and the bridegroom's friend is simply glad to stand
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  with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy
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  at his success. He must become greater and
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  greater, and I must become less and less.
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  He has come from above and is greater than anyone else.
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  We are of the earth, and we speak of earthly things, but He
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  has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else.
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  He testifies about what he has seen and heard, but how few
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  believe what he tells them. Anyone who accepts his testimony
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  can affirm that God is true, for he is sent by God.
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  He speaks God's words, for God gives him the Spirit without
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  limit. The Father loves his Son and has
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  put everything into his hands. And anyone who believes in God's
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  Son has eternal life. Anyone who doesn't obey the Son,
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  we'll never experience eternal life, but remain under God's
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  angry judgement. Jesus, your words are a little
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  mind blowing for us as everything around us in the way
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  that the world is built repays us for what we do.
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  And when we do good, we get a pat in the back.
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  And when we mess up, we get a kick in the pants.
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  But here we hear your words that say you have come into the world
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  not to judge it or judge us, but to save us, and that in you
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  there is no judgement. That is such a wild concept.
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  And Lord, I pray that your presence, your light, as John
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  says, would just shine into our lives and that every day you
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  would shine your love, your presence, your grace, your
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  transforming life so that we would be changed people and that
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  our lives would reflect that. So today, Lord, in the next
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  hour, in the next hours, all through our days, I pray that
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  you transform us so that we can truly be beacons of your
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  Kingdom, living out the way that you would want us to live,
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  always knowing that in You we are safe, we are saved, and we
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  live in your forgiving embrace. We thank you, Jesus, for that
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  wonderful gift that you have given us, and we pray all of
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  this in your saving name, Amen.