John 3:25-30 “Then there arose a question between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purifying.
And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.
John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.
He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.
He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Today we continue along and see something that sounds all too familiar to some of us today. We see that because Jesus and His disciples began baptizing people and John was in the baptizing business himself, that John’s disciples were a little concerned about it.

In verses 25-26 we see simply that John’s disciples brought up to John that Jesus was baptizing, and more people seemed to be going to Him than to John. We see the same thing today among many local churches. Some well-intentioned people, some not-so-well-intentioned people have said to me even how people are going to this church more than our church, and will act like churches are in competition to each other. I’m often saddened by this. I’m not speaking of unbiblical churches vs Biblical churches. I’m speaking of Bible-teaching churches. The reality is, we should be unified in the Holy Spirit, not competing for who can get the greater number of people in their own pews. When the Lord opened my eyes to the reality that I am a MEMBER, a PART OF the Body of Christ and not outside of it or a lone-ranger, it is set in my heart to see others in the Body working together, with the Head being Christ alone and not this or that preacher over another.

But these are things that have been happening from the beginning, where people tend to see others in competition just as John’s disciples, seemingly well-intentioned, were as they were looking out for their teacher/rabbi. We can read though, the same thing John had to tell the people often: Jesus is the focus, Not John.

John begins explaining that a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. He is explaining that Jesus having people go to Him, was part of God’s will. We can rest assured that, as Psalm 75:6-7 mentions, Promotion comes from the Lord.

John then reminds the people that he told them already that he was not the Christ, but rather was the one sent to go before, and bear witness of, Christ. Therefore John was not trying to be in the spotlight, or be “the man.” John reminded them that Christ was the One who was important, and the whole purpose of the ministry he did. We need to remind ourselves this thing today still…that in any ministry we need to glorify God and Jesus whom He sent, and not our own name or any other person. If the ministry isn’t about God, then it’s little more than dross.

John uses the example of the bride, bridegroom, and friend of the bridegroom. Throughout scripture, the church (the Redeemed of the Lord, those who are saved) is called the bride. Jesus, is the bridegroom, and John is the friend of the bridegroom. John’s disciples were concerned because the “bride” (the people) was going to the Bridegroom (Jesus) rather than the friend of the bridegroom (John). But John explains that this only makes sense. Afterall, the friend isn’t the one trying to get married to the bride. Rather, it’s all about the bridegroom. The friend however, can be excited FOR the bridegroom. And that is what John was. John was glad to see the people going to the very Lamb of God which was set to take away the sins of the world.

In the last verse for today we see one of my favorite verses. I often remind myself of this verse, where John explains that He – Jesus – must increase, but John must decrease. We would do wise to remind ourselves of this every day. Even within our own selves, we must let Christ increase in us as we decrease. If we want to be full of the Lord, let us empty ourselves of us!

I love you all and continue to pray for you. I pray that the Lord Bless you indeed, continually, and draw you closer to Him every moment of every day! Remember to keep the brothers and sisters around the world in your prayers as well! Have a very blessed day today!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael

John 3:22-24 “After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.
And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized.
For John was not yet cast into prison.”

Continuing on in the book of John we see what happened after Jesus and Nicodemus finished talking. Some people would wonder why the conversation seems to end in such an abrupt fashion. However, we need to realize that the conversation probably did not end with verse 21. We can gather from John 21:25 how the scriptures are not an exhaustive second-by-second account of everything happening. I’ve stated for others who have asked questions like “Why doesn’t the Bible talk about ________ or mention _______,” that it simply means the Holy Spirit who told the souls who wrote down these things, saw to it that we didn’t need to know that particular thing. And we can figure that the Holy Spirit is smarter than we are in this matter and therefore do not need specific things stated since what IS stated is enough to cover those other subjects as well. Afterall, should Jesus have to specifically record in scripture “Thou shalt not curse at someone on Facebook?” and since He didn’t mention it does it mean it’s not wrong to do so? Of course not, many other scriptures speak on that issue such as Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”

Getting into the verses though, we can see that after the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus and His Disciples went into the land of Judaea. While there, they baptized people (though in later verses we see that Jesus Himself didn’t do the baptizing but rather His disciples did the baptizing). This is something that we should remember: the importance of being baptized. Jesus saw to it that He Himself led by example in being baptized. Then He tells us we ought to be baptized as well. And we even see that He set His disciples to baptize even while He walked the earth. Baptism is a very important thing that we as believers need to be sure we take part in. It is an open proclamation for all to see, that we have laid to death the old sin nature in us, and are raised up a new creation to live in Christ Jesus and He in us.

We also see in today’s verses, that John was continuing to baptize as he was before, but not in the same exact area. We see geography mentioned yet again for the sake of explaining that these are not vague “theoretical stories” but real historical accounts that are backed by geographical and historical references that we can know even today, 2000 years after the fact.

Verse 23 can give us today, a bit of a humorous opportunity to talk about something. John baptized in that place because there was much water there. It was common sense for John the Baptist to go to a place that had much water in order to baptize people. Some people today can become so …. “religious” or I should say “spiritual/spooky” that they leave behind common sense! Some people will become so religious that if they were in John’s shoes they may very well have said “I can’t leave from the spot where Jesus showed up! It’s so Holy and chosen that I have to stay right here and God will provide the water for me!” The Lord wants us to have enough common sense and brains that HE gave us, to be able to examine things and have us know we ought to go and do as needed rather than having to wait for God to audibly tell us to leave the church building to take a shower because we stink, even though there’s a revival happening, and then go back to the revival after the shower!

The scriptures are sure to include even small details like this to remind us of the world we live in.

We see in the last verse for today, a bit of foretelling. We’re told that this is before John was arrested, so we know that later on at some point in John’s life, he was arrested, and this account was before that time.

I hope and pray that you are blessed in the Lord, and that you continue to bless the Lord in return with songs of Praise and Thanksgiving and a life lived for Him according as Romans 12:1 says. I love you and pray for you daily, and I hope to bring the next study to you again soon as we go through the book of John!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And bother,
Michael

John 3:16-21 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Today’s set of verses continue in the book of John. We start with a verse that the whole world seems to know fairly well as it’s the most oft-quoted verse (next to the “judge not…” out of context verse in Matthew 7).

Let’s take a look at the entire conversation though so that we have proper understanding. The first verse, John 3:16 clearly shows that God loves the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that anyone who believes in Him should not perish but rather have everlasting life! One thing to consider here is that some versions wrongly omit the word “begotten” and make the verse say “He gave his only Son.” The problem with this is that the Bible elsewhere calls many others sons of God and therefore those outside of the faith would use this to imply the Bible has contradictions. It is important to know that this verse is not referring to God’s ONLY Son since as we read in John 1:12, others can be considered a son of God as well (even including Adam the first man)! The difference is that Jesus, is the only BEGOTTEN of the Father (John 1:14).

Continuing, we see that we should not quote this single verse out of context but explain with the following verses. Let’s continue, God sent Jesus because He loved the world and through Jesus the world could be saved. In verse 17 we see it explained that God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world, but to save it. Some people would say that they (or the world) were perfectly fine until Jesus came along and brought this whole “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand” business. This is the answer for those people. Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it. The Gospel is not to condemn, but to set free. “Then why am I going to hell now that I refuse to believe in Jesus?” some might say. That is further explained in the next verse:

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

It’s not that you’re going to hell now that Jesus came, or the Gospel was preached to you, and you have to believe on Jesus to be saved now. The fact of the matter is that we were already condemned long before Jesus came—long before we heard the Gospel. Each one of us were born in sin and walking a road to hell. Jesus came to save us from that road we were already on. This is a key to the Gospel that many people leave out today. Often we tell people, “Come to Jesus!” but they ask “Why” and all people say is either nothing or “so you can go to heaven.” People need to know WHY they need a Saviour before they will consider that the Gospel is indeed GOOD news! If people think they’re perfectly fine the way they are, they will see Jesus as merely religion and an option, rather than the ONLY way to get to the Father.

Verse 18 explains that those who believe on Jesus are not condemned, but those who believe not are already condemned. The verses afterward explain the response that we see to the Gospel of Jesus. The condemnation is that people in general prefer darkness and sin, rather than light and righteousness. If someone is doing something wrong, they will not be so happy for someone to shine the light and expose the wrong they are doing. This is why we should not take rejection of the Gospel personally, or get surprised, or upset if people don’t immediately fall to their knees in repentance and some shouts of “Hallelujah!” In fact, the Bible says that the majority of people will not come to the gospel! And it’s not a matter of them not knowing better. They know, but willingly choose not to come to Jesus. We should not be surprised when we see this around us. This doesn’t mean our hearts shouldn’t weep for them, or that we shouldn’t bother telling the Gospel to them. We should weep the way Jesus wept for the people, and our preaching the Gospel isn’t just about everyone getting to heaven. It’s also about shining a light so that no soul can tell God that no one ever warned them.

The last few verses explain that those who love darkness rather than light, don’t come to the light because their deeds will be “reproved.” The Word “reprove” simply means rebuked or shown to be bad. The word paints a picture of someone who has their works tested, and in the testing process the works are shown to be flawed, cracked, lacking any usefulness/integrity. Similar to Daniel 5:27 “TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”

Contrarily we see that those who do what is right will come to the light so that their works are “wrought” in God. For this word, think of “wrought iron.” The word “wrought” is another word for “worked” and paints a picture of iron that is being hammered and shaped into its final form. This is something to consider, that even outside of Christ our works of Righteousness cannot be perfected (in fact, we read they are like filthy rags in Isaiah 64:6)!

This is something that many of us in the churches today need to remember. Often, many of us pray that God will just bring the lost souls to the churches we go to. We get into a way of thinking that we expect God will just draw the sinners to the Light of the Church and thereby we only need to sit comfortably in our soft pews and wait. Yet in too many verses to list here, we see that the Lord says that’s not how it happens! Instead we go into the highways and byways and streets and stores and so forth and we shine the light to the people where they are. We cannot expect someone who hates the light, to willingly come to the lighthouse just because. No, we pray for the Holy Spirit to prepare hearts, and we go and plant the seed of the Word in their hearts, and pray that the Lord gives the growth, and then we can take up the harvest!

I love you all so much with Godly, brotherly love and continue to keep you in prayer! May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly, as He truly does bless us so much more than we deserve! Please keep me in prayer as well, for guidance in the face of many decisions lately! Keep on Keeping on, brethren!

Love always in Christ,
Your brother,
And friend,
Michael

John 3:14-15 “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Continuing in the book of the Gospel of John, we see the Lord Jesus continue telling Nicodemus about salvation in the Son of God.

Jesus just finished foretelling Nicodemus about when He will ascend up to heaven, and letting him know that only He that came FROM heaven, will be able to return to Heaven. It should be noted that this is speaking about going to heaven by one’s own power, not anything to do with salvation and going to heaven once one dies.

In today’s verses Jesus refers to the time when the Lord has Moses create and lift up a symbolic serpent in the midst of the camp of Israel, so that they could be saved from a plague that was happening. Read below in Numbers 21:5-9:

“And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.”

We can see in that set of scripture how the people sinned against God and against God’s minister (yes, complaining can indeed be a sin, especially complaining against the blessings of God and claiming that God and His minister is wicked by way of bringing them out of bondage just to kill them instead of deliver them from slavery), and because of it they had to pay the consequences in the form of “fiery serpents.” These were not snakes that were engulfed in flames, but rather serpents with a brazen color to them. We see Moses was told to make a fiery serpent, and the serpent was of brass (the brazen color is described at times as “fiery”), not engulfed in actual flames. As the people sinned against God, and paid the price, they cried out to the Lord, and the Lord had Moses create a serpent and put it on a pole. When the people looked upon it, if they were bitten by the snakes, they would live. Why the Lord did not simply heal them all but rather requested a symbol and they had to look at it, is much for symbols and examples. The people needed the reminder that they had sinned against the Lord or else they would be as spoiled/entitled children who never had to be corrected. Some might call the serpent on a stick, an idol. However, that is not true as the people did not worship or adore it. They simply had to behold it. The serpent represented the punishment for their sins. And so they had to behold that punishment, while reminded that they deserved such punishment upon themselves. It was when they would acknowledge such, that the Lord would heal them. It is quite similar to repentance. Unless someone acknowledges their sin and know they deserve hell, they will not receive forgiveness.

Moving back to today’s verses, let us read how the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus that just as Moses lifted the serpent before the people, the Son of man would likewise be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him would not die (the second death, spiritual damnation in the Lake of Fire), but would live. Again, He uses the title referring to His status of Mediator/Spokesman for mankind—remember that the scriptures specifically refer to various titles in specific verses and settings because they have specific implications and meanings so it’s important to consider them.

This is referring to, once again, a future event so Nicodemus would understand when it came to pass. Jesus was likewise lifted up before the people, on a cross, crucified. He stood as a representation of the punishment the people deserved in death. Note though that this is not meant to be an exact example where people simply need to “behold” the Lord on the cross. Otherwise, we would be damned who were not able to be right there while He was on the cross. Instead, this is simply an example of being lifted up as representation of what we deserve. And this time the people must believe, which is an internal action rather than a physical directing of the eyes. Many modern “evangelists” often oversee the fact that salvation is an inward matter and not just a “say a sinner’s prayer, write your name on a card, and you get a free pass into heaven!”

Let’s not forget the huge price that Jesus paid for us, to deliver us from our own destruction due to our own sins against the One who made us!

I love you dearly and thank you for reading! I pray that you are continually blessed by the Lord each day and all you do for Him is blessed with favor! Remember to keep the brethren in your prayers each day!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael

John 3:9-13 “Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”

Today we will pick up where we left off on the last expository study on the Gospel of John. (Link Here) If this type of expository study has been a blessing to you, please join in conversation below in the comments, share the studies with others, and let us know that this is a blessing as such things truly encourage us as well!

We start off here with Nicodemus asking the Lord how it’s possible, regarding what Jesus just told him about being born again, of the Spirit and not the flesh. Don’t hesitate to re-read what we’ve covered if you need to, since it has indeed been a bit of time since our last study!

In the second verse for today, Jesus plainly questions why Nicodemus doesn’t already understand the things He mentioned. This is a problem that Jesus faced quite often, and we see quite often today as well. The Pharisees were high up the religious ladder. It would be similar to how we have seminarians and well-versed preachers and teachers today who went to this or that well-known college and have this and that degree in theology. Now there is little wrong with getting degrees and going to seminars and so forth. I do caution many people though because often in such situations you learn more about a specific creed/denomination’s interpretation of the scriptures, rather than learning to be led by the Holy Spirit in UNDERSTANDING the Scriptures. I’d rather we all understand the scriptures, instead of try to interpret them based on man’s understanding. There is nothing wrong with seeking counsel either from those whom GOD has placed in positions of leadership and Biblical Teaching (Ephesians 4:11-16). The problem arises, as Jesus shows here and we see often, that people attempt to understand the Spiritual, with the natural mind and natural teachings. Just as explained in 1 Corinthians 2, it doesn’t work that way.

Nicodemus, being a Pharisee, was in a position of leadership, and it was a shame that he did not understand and know the things that the Lord had explained to him! Jesus continues though and explains that those who are of God—not by the will of man, but of God as in John 1:12-13 —speak the things that we know by the Spirit, and we testify about what we have seen. Yet, such a witness was not received by them because they wanted natural understanding and natural positions rather than Spiritual Truth. This happens today as well with us. Though just as Jesus did not let rejection of the Truth stop Him from speaking the Truth, we should not let it stop us from giving our testimony and sharing what the Lord has both taught, and done, for us!

Verse 12 explains: “If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?” There are many earthly things that quite often are shadows of spiritual truth. Even the way the physical body works together, is used to explain how the church should work together. Marriage is often used to represent the relationship we are to have with God. Jesus used the example of the wind to explain the moving of the Spirit of God and being born again. Here Jesus tells him point blank that if He tells him about natural things and can’t understand, how is it that he will understand the Spiritual Truths if he be told?!

The last verse for today is the Lord giving a bit of a hint regarding Jesus’ future ascension back to heaven. He is giving Nicodemus a chance to know, and remember, that when Jesus ascends he needs to realize that Jesus was indeed the Messiah come down from the Father in Heaven. Man has no power to ascend to heaven. However, Jesus being FROM heaven, has every ability to go back to heaven. Nicodemus was being given a chance to know something ahead of time so that when it happens, He may believe. God does this many times throughout the Word of God, through His prophets, and teachers, and leaders. This is why even today He does use some to prophesy things to us (though there be MANY counterfeits), so that when it comes to pass we can be encouraged that this thing coming to pass was known by the Lord already and we can rest in the Lord’s presence with us as we go through!

Take note of the title He gives to Himself here as well, the Son of Man, and remember from previous studies that the reason for such a title that is that it refers to the fact He is the Mediator between man and God.

I love you all very much and continue to pray for you. May the Lord continue to bless you, as we know He is so very faithful to bless us daily! Stay strong in the Lord always, and in the Power of HIS might not our own.

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael

James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.
A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

Let’s take a look at a warning regarding our prayers today. We often hear from people that God hears all prayers, or that God will give us anything we ask as long as we tag on the end of our prayers “in Jesus’ Name, Amen” or that there are three answers God gives “Yes, no, later.” However, the Bible says otherwise, in many verses. If we don’t forgive, we won’t be forgiven no matter how much we pray – Mark 11:25-26! Husbands who don’t treat their wives righteously can have their prayers hindered – 1 Peter 3:7. Then it says elsewhere that if we ask something, according to our flesh rather than the will of the Lord, we also won’t receive it – James 4:3. These are just a few things that remind us that God is NOT our genie that we can rub and get Him to grant our wishes. Today I want to focus on the problem of being double-minded.

Have you ever prayed, and then turned around and doubted that the Lord would give you what you just prayed for? Many overly-pious people would say “Me? Never, I don’t doubt, I believe God!” . . . yet their heart, and their words in conversations with people, and even their actions, often reflect otherwise. The problem is, this doubt, and this “double minded” ness as we see in today’s scripture, can be very subtle, or sneak up on many of us. I’ve seen many people pray for the salvation of loved ones, and then turn around and weep and moan and be worried that they’re going to go to hell or be worried that they did this or that wrong. They will pray for the Lord to intervene, and then perhaps because they expect God to immediately strike them down with a lightning bolt of grace and mercy and they get saved and love the Lord and His Word and suddenly want to have house meetings and Bible studies…but then they don’t see that happen and they within an hour of saying they trust God to take care of the person, are worrying themselves sick (literally) about them and asking other people to pray or complaining about their actions or whatever else. This, is a form of being double-minded and doubting the Lord.

I’ve also seen people pray for the president, or pray for the government, that the Lord intervene in a situation or that the Lord change the hearts of the people. Then in the very next breath they literally start telling people that these people they just prayed for will never change. “I’m just being real” is often a phrase they say to make themselves feel better about their double-mindedness. No, such things are not being “real” but rather they are being “natural” and “carnally minded” instead of “spiritually minded as warned about in Romans 8:6. We need to stop pretending that we believe God is all powerful and that God hears our prayers, if we in our hearts actually believe that God does not hear our prayers or that man can overpower the Spirit of the Lord!

Now, I’m not saying anything about praying once and then never again for something. No, the Lord is clear that continual prayer for a situation does not mean a lack of faith but can actually be a sign of faith, as He says in Luke 18:1-8. Instead, I’m speaking of praying for something, and then acting like it’s not going to happen. I’m talking about praying for something, and then speaking as though your prayers were never spoken. Sometimes this can be a very subtle thing, and other times it can be a very obvious thing. But in each situation, the Lord warns that the one praying, should not expect his/her prayer to be accepted. So actually, when you pray for something and then turn around and act like it won’t happen, you are guaranteeing to yourself that it won’t happen! Consider two farmers. Both pray for rain during a drought. One of them throughout the day complains about how dry it is, and how this drought is going to kill their crops, and that they need to prepare for the loss. They talk about how hopeless things are “unless a miracle somehow happens” to other people. The other farmer on the other hand, prays, and buys an umbrella, and makes preparations as though it is about to rain. Which of the two, actually had faith?!

Surely, that farmer who was double-minded is wise to prepare for the loss, because the Lord says he won’t be given what he asked for. Most of the time people who do this, often blame the Lord or they say, “I KNEW the Lord wouldn’t give what I prayed for! I was right to doubt and prepare for the worst!” They don’t realize that it was their doubt that brought about that loss, in a sort of “self-fulfilling prophecy” so to speak. Instead they will blame the Lord, or say it’s the Lord’s will, rather than admit their own accountability. It’s easy to point fingers rather than examine ourselves first.

I would love to try to reach such people, and have them realize what they are doing. However, I’ve found that often they are coupled with just enough pride to refuse to admit that they doubt. Sometimes, it’s out of fear that they don’t want to admit that they struggle with doubting. Other times they have that pride. Yet the solution to such a thing can be seen very clearly in James 4:8 “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” Purify your heart. In other words, examine yourself, realize and admit that you are struggling with doubt. And do whatever is necessary to purify your heart before the Lord! Often, that requires that you once again become like a child, and live by the mantra “God said it, that settles it” and stop leaning on your own understanding of things (Proverbs 3:5). Learn from the father of the possessed child in Mark 9:19-24 who due to doubt, questioned with a big IF, the Lord could help him:

“He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”

Notice, the father of the son did not tell the Lord, “Oh I believe! Amen! I don’t have any doubt!” Rather, he replied to the Lord, “Lord, I believe” but then the key right after, “HELP THOU MINE UNBELIEF.” And that admittance of doubt, and equally prayer asking for help to believe, was a sign of faith even when struggling with doubt. Doubt can actually become sin! And we must treat it as sin to us, and repent of it. If we struggle with it, treat it like any other struggle by fighting against it, rebuking it, repenting when we give in, and above all: admitting, confessing to the Lord, and asking for His help to overcome it!

Let us be warned…being double-minded, praying and then doubting, confessing trust in the Lord yet speaking worrisome doubt or trying to take control of the situation yourself…these are NOT neutral or perfectly fine things for Christians to live with. These things stop our prayers. And these things can be sinful. And these things need to be crucified in our flesh, purified from our hearts, and removed as we cry out “Lord, help my unbelief!” Let us pray in faith, nothing wavering.

I love you all and continue to pray for you daily. I ask that you please do keep the entire body of Christ in your prayers each day, as each of us need to hold each other up in this spiritual war we fight! May God continue to bless you dearly, and I hope to see you again soon!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael

John 3:8 “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

Today we see an example that the Lord gives, to explain to Nicodemus, and us today, an aspect of being born again of the Spirit. We humans tend to think all sorts of incorrect things about the things of God, because we approach it believing we can understand with the natural mind and worldly thinking.

In the verse today we see that Jesus uses an example of the wind. The wind blows wherever it blows, and we can hear the sound of it but we can’t tell where it comes from, or where it goes. In the same manner we can see the effects of a man or woman who has been born again. We can see the regeneration and transformation that comes from someone who is born again. Those who are born again, of course are not automatically perfect (we grow over time, not instantly overnight) in their walk with the Lord; however, we will see the fruit that comes from the true believers. The same way we can see the move of wind, hearing it and so forth. We can see the same with those who have the Holy Spirit indwelling in them with the new birth of a saved soul.

One thing we cannot do with the wind is, know where it comes from and where it goes. Sure we can say the wind is coming from the north and blowing south. We can get radar and weather maps to get a very high-level general view of air currents. However, to know the precise details escapes us. We cannot bottle up wind and sell it, and give it only to those we want, and withhold it from those we do not want. The same way is the move of the Holy Spirit, and the way people are born again of the Spirit. We cannot bottle up and make religious, the Holy Spirit. We can’t force Him to abide by our traditions that we tend to get into. People often think they can, and this is where we get many false Christians today. We tell people that they can say a simple sinner’s prayer and **poof** they are saved and a Christian now! However, that’s not how it works according to the Word of God! People can “join” a church, they can sign papers and claim a creed. However, unless the person is Born Again they cannot even see or understand or fathom the things of God!

We see examples of this throughout the book of Acts, where a group of people would hear the gospel preached, and they would get saved and start speaking in tongues even while the minister continued to tell them the gospel! Many modern churches would demand people pipe down until they give an alter call and they pray the sinners prayer and sign a piece of paper saying they “made a decision” before they announce that they are saved. But…the Holy Spirit will do what the Holy Spirit will do (John 16:13-15)! We need to always remember: Human traditions and ceremonies are not what saves us. We may be able to prepare hearts through various means such as that, and we may make it slightly easier for people to hear, in some situations, and help others understand. However, to truly be saved, to be born again, is something that comes from the Holy Spirit!

I love you all very dearly, and pray that we all understand what it means to be Born Again, as it is such an important thing that salvation itself relies on! Please continue to pray for the Body of Christ, and please know that I continue to pray for you as well! Keep on Keeping On, brethren!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your brother always,
And friend,
Michael

John 3:3-7 “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.”

Today we continue in the famous John chapter 3. Nicodemus was introduced, and now begins the conversation that the Lord had with him. Jesus mentions that unless someone is Born Again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

The first thing to understand is that this is not necessarily talking about Heaven, when referencing the kingdom of God. If we consider the fact that in the day of judgment everyone will go to heaven to stand before the throne of God to be judged, then that makes this verse a lie. And we know that the Word of God is not in any way, shape, or form, untrue. Also consider that Jesus explains the kingdom of God in many parables (Mark 4:26-30 for example), and referenced the kingdom of God in so very many places in scripture. In each of those places, when reading and understanding the context, He never refers to the Kingdom of God as a PLACE. Rather, when we understand, we see that the kingdom of God refers to faith, salvation, and reconciliation to God the Father. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to even see the kingdom of God, one must be born again. To see/understand/experience/know the things of faith, and salvation, and a relationship with God, one must be born again! There are many who claim the name of Christ, and claim to be Christian…but that doesn’t mean a thing if one isn’t born again.

In the second verse Nicodemus shows he doesn’t understand and asks if Jesus is talking about a physical second birth. After we are saved and we understand what “Born Again” means, this sort of response is almost comical. However, let’s understand that we probably would have asked the same thing if we were in Nicodemus’ shoes if we had never heard the phrase.

Jesus then explains what it means to be born again. Jesus is talking about a spiritual re-birth. He explains that to be saved, one needs to be “born of water and of the Spirit” Now some have taught that the “born of water” means the physical birth, concerning the embryonic fluid. However there is a problem with this in that…this attains to every living creature and doesn’t make sense to give an option of NOT being born of water. Second, if there is the option for a man to not be born of the water, does this mean there are some who cannot be saved such as babies who die before being “born” out of the embryonic fluid? This would mean also that being born again is only possible with a mixture of flesh and Spirit. Instead, a better understanding is that, when “water” is often mentioned and spoken about in spiritual terms, it refers to Doctrine. Clean water means truth; poisoned, bitter water means otherwise. In this conversation the Lord is telling Nicodemus that for salvation to be obtained, one needs to be born out of truth, and of the Holy Spirit. There is no mixture of flesh AND God for salvation to be possible. As we remember from John 1:12-13, being born again is solely of the will and power of God Alone.

Jesus then clearly explains that there is a difference between things born of the flesh, and things born of the Spirit. The flesh cannot produce things of the Spirit, and the Spirit does not produce things pertaining to the flesh. And when Jesus is speaking of spiritual matters such as Salvation, which is Eternal, spiritual, Life, He is speaking of things pertaining to the Spirit, not flesh. This is also why we read in 1 Corinthians 2:14.

The last verse today is simply reiterating to Nicodemus, and us today reading, not to be surprised that Jesus said we must be born again.

I often like to take this verse to explain a bit in reference to the “ye” and “thee” and “thou” and “-est” and “-eth” that shows up and often either confuses people or turns them away. These words, and word endings are not pointless, archaic things that were included merely because people talked like that “back then.” (They actually did not generally use these words/endings in speech at the time of the KJV being translated.) These have specific, direct, grammatical meanings to help us accurately know what is being specifically stated in the Bible’s languages.

As a rule of thumb, if you see the word that starts with a “y” it means multiple people. “You” and “Ye” refer to a group of people. Today English doesn’t specify between “you” singular and “you” plural. Other languages do, but not English.

If you see a word that starts with “t” it is referring to a single person. “Thee” and “thou” means one person.

The endings: “eth” is used when the verb is in third person—“he/she/they”—(remember the “t” in “eTh”) and “est” is used when the verb is in second person—“you”—(remember the “s” in “eSt”).

In the last verse for today, the Lord is explaining “Marvel not that I said unto thee [Singular, Nicodemus], Ye [Plural, Everyone] must be born again.”

Indeed, Jesus was explaining to Nicodemus that we ALL need to be born again in order to be saved.

I love you all so much and continue to pray for you daily. Please pray for me, and the rest of the Body of Christ. This time of year is often hard for many people due to loss of loved ones, and dealing with heartache. Please remember to pray for the Body of Christ, as well as the lost souls, who may be dealing with such things!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your brother,
And friend,
Michael

John 3:1-2 “There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”

Today we’re going to look at the opening verses to a chapter that is perhaps among the most popular chapters in the Bible. We’ve all heard John 3:16. Yet the entire chapter needs to be read, and we’ll be going through this in the coming days.

Today we look simply at the first two verses, where Nicodemus was introduced. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, the same group that troubled John the Baptist, and Jesus, during their entire earthly ministry; The same group that troubled the people with their hypocrisy; The same group that still spiritually exists today under other names, among all the people groups. Nicodemus was a ruler of the Jews, someone who had enough knowledge and experience to lead the people…and therefore was responsible for people.

In the second verse we see that Nicodemus came to Jesus by night. This is of course due to trying to remain hidden since the Pharisees were against Jesus. It would be a quick way to get “excommunicated” from the church/synagogue if a Pharisee went to see Jesus for any reason other than group condemnation! We see several people do this, as it is human nature to often keep sensitive and important things hidden at the start to make sure it’s not sabotaged. Even Paul, the apostle, did this when preaching the gospel to someone who was famous in the public eye, to make sure that the person truly heard the Word of God and didn’t allow the spotlight to make him shun being told the gospel (Galatians 2:2).

Nicodemus reveals something as well: The Pharisees knew Jesus was from God. They knew the Truth. Some people would believe that the Pharisees, and those who were overall against Christ or didn’t follow Christ, just “didn’t know any better.” The Truth of the matter is, no one has an excuse to say they didn’t know any better. If they have been told, they are without excuse. And Nicodemus admits that they know Jesus is from God, not just by His words but even His actions!

We see once again the usage of the title “Rabbi” to describe Jesus. One thing we need to remember is that Jesus did not just come to save our sins. He came to teach us as well, the things the Father sent Him to tell us. Many people call themselves “Christians” because they either attend a Christian church, or their parents were Christian, or because it’s “convenient” to call themselves a Christian. However, none of those things make someone a Christian. A Christian is a follower of the teachings of Christ. The question must be asked, if someone does not spend any time in the Bible, reading and studying, how do they even know what the teachings of Christ are, in order to claim that they are a follower of Christ’s teachings? There are many people out there who claim Christ’s central teaching is this or that thing, which ends up being quite contrary to the Truth. Let’s not forget that unless we actually spend time in the Word of God, how can we know what we believe, to call ourselves Believers?

I love you all dearly, with brotherly, godly love. Please continue to pray for us each day. May God continue to bless you greatly, as I know He does!

Love always in Christ Jesus,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael

John 2:23-25 “Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did.
But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men,
And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man.”

Today we pick up after a bit of a break in the studies, continuing in the book of John finishing the second chapter.

We see the account of when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the passover, and how as previously mentioned during this time He didn’t just get asked by whose authority He did these things due to His casting the money changers out of the temple. Rather He also was performing miracles. And many believed in Him because of such things.

However, in the second verse we see that Jesus did not commit himself unto the people because he knew all men. This is simply letting us know that Jesus did not take advantage of the sudden following He had. He did not revel in the sudden notoriety, and did not set up some sort of office that would let Him rule the people. Many people believed the Messiah was supposed to do such. However, they often thought that in confusion with His second coming when He would reign. This moment in history was not for Him to reign in an earthly kingdom, or to gather all the Jews together to subdue their enemies. He came first so that reconciliation could be made. He came so that He could take payment for our sins, free the world from sin, and allow us to once again be reconciled to God the Father.

This second verse tells us that Jesus did not commit himself to anyone because He knew what was in man. This means He did not latch himself to anyone, or set up anything mentioned above, because He knew what was in man. This is something that many of us tend to forget: God knows the heart. Many use this phrase to compromise in their dealings with God and say “Well, God knows my heart.” But the truth of the matter is…our heart is not always pure! In Fact we read in Jeremiah 17:9 that the heart is deceitful above all things. That is why the Lord has to give us a NEW heart in Ezekiel 36:26. So the excuse to do a half-way decent job with the Lord because “God knows my heart” means the opposite of good. Yes, in such a case as that God knows that your heart really does not want to try to give God all of you and still wants to do its own thing. And this is similar to why Jesus did not commit himself to anyone. He knew the heart of man, and that it was neither time, nor were the people ready, to have Him as their king. Everything had to be done in proper order. Salvation first, growth, and then reigning. The people may have raved about Him now, but later on they all leave simply because He said some things that were hard to handle!

The last verse tells us that He didn’t need anyone to testify of man, because He knew what was in man. This is simply telling us that no one had to explain to Him what was in anyone’s heart, or what the intentions of anyone were. He already knew. And today we can remember this as well in our own lives that God already knows. He knows our needs before we even ask Him. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our personalities. He knows everything. We can fool our neighbors. We can fool the preachers. We can even fool ourselves. But we can’t fool the Lord. He knows. And despite knowing…He STILL came to give us access to a relationship with God again! This, is a true picture of God’s love.

I love you all greatly with godly, brotherly love and do pray for you. Please keep each other in prayer, the whole body of Christ as well as the lost souls worldwide. This time of year there are many who are celebrating. However, there are even more who are going through depression or sadness of some sort and they need prayer for comfort, family, and love from God. Keep on Keeping on interceding, brethren!

Love always in Christ,
Your friend always,
And brother,
Michael