John 3 devotional

John 3: 7-8

Do not marvel that I said to you. ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is every one who is born of the Sprit.

Application: I want to encourage you this week to trust God no matter what you see. Why did I say that? Because God is working on your behalf even if you cannot see it? This point was emphasized by Jesus in a conversation at night with the Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus, not wanting to be seen by his peers, came to Jesus at night talking to Him. In his conversation with Jesus he is shown to be drawn by the Spirit to the promised Messiah. Why do I say ‘shown?’ Well let’s look at the Scripture? We know that Nicodemus’ knew Jesus was the Messiah! How do we know? Because in chapter 3: 2 he confesses about Jesus, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Nicodemus’ actions force you to ask this question …My man Nick, if you know Jesus is from God why are you afraid to be seen with him public? The beauty of God is that He is patient, and like God we should try to be the same. It takes time to grow in God. It takes perseverance and dedication. If you look at Nicodemus throughout the rest of the Book of John something very interesting happens to him. By the end of the book of John, we see a different man. We see a change in his actions. It’s almost like he is a totally different person by the end of the book. Remember in Chapter 3 he comes to Jesus at night; not wanting to be seen by other Pharisees lest he be persecuted, in Chapter 7:50 we see him challenging the judgment of the Pharisees concerning Christ; in this instance he has not openly sided with Christ, but you can see a holy boldness bubbling up from within him, and finally in Chapter 19:39 we see him risking being captured by the Jews when he brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes to prepare Jesus for his burial. Even though it did not happen overnight nor did it end up the way we might have expected Nicodemus experienced the greatest gift of all—he was born again by God’s Spirit. Remember what Jesus said to Nicodemus in chapter 3 Do not marvel that I said to you. ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is every one who is born of the Sprit. Nicodemus did not see the Holy Spirit come down from heaven and instantly transform his life. But, what he and we can see is that something happened in Nicodemus that changed his heart about God. What is the point? It is not always obvious when the Holy Spirit is moving in your behalf; however, be patient, the results of his influence can always be seen through your life.

Three action steps:

1. Take the time to memorize this verse.

2. Think of one time when you know you started acting differently after accepting Christ as your savior.

3. Write down the major difference in your life since you where saved.