John 3:1-21
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him."
3In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."
4"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"
5Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
9"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
10"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
Questions:
1. What does it mean to be born again?
2. What does John 3:16 mean to you?
3. How did you come to believe in Jesus? When did you accept His offer of salvation and how has it changed your life?
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16
Some say the purpose of life is the pursuit of happiness. That is too small a thing for the Omnipotent, Magnificent God of Heaven and Earth-the Great I AM, Yahweh. He gave us earthly life and offers us eternal life with Him. The way to the Father is through the Son.
'Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ' John 14:6
"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelations 3:20
Jesus is waiting for us to ask Him into our hearts to be Lord and Saviour of our souls. Jesus is the ultimate sacrificial atonement for our sins. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." 1John 1:9 All we have to do is invite Him into our lives.
'That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.' Romans 10:9-10
Now, once you are saved, you must GROW.
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:1-5
How do you GROW? What do you nourish yourself with? How are you to be certain that you are doing the right thing? Why do you need to GROW?
John 2:12-25
Jesus Clears the Temple
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
13When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"
17His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."
18Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"
19Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."
20The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" 21But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken.
23Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.
Questions:
1. Why was Jesus so angry?
2. Why did the Jews demand a miraculous sign to prove His authority?
3. Jesus says,"Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." What does this mean to you now?
Do you have zeal for the things of God? Should you have more?
We had some really good testimonies for August. Also, we will continue to pray for the unanswered prayer request. You can make new prayer request for the month of September by clicking on the comments link below. Remember to pray for one another.
Jesus says, in Matthew 17:20
"Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
I often wondered about this verse in the Bible, especially when I became a Christian. I trusted Him in some situations and not in others. One minute I had super faith, and then in other situations my faith was week. When my wife went through surgery God helped me through it all. He often sent people of great faith to encourage us. Sometimes I would look at some of these people of faith and wish I had faith like them. God ministered to me that these people had to go through many trials to have the faith they possess now. God said, ”Just trust me.”
When we were about to get married, we were looking for a few verses in the Bible for the reading of the scripture, so we asked Tash’s dad. He gave us a passage from Proverbs 3. I especially held on to Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
No matter how small we think our faith is all we have to do is trust Him and He will make our path straight.
So what concerns do you have to put at the foot of the Cross? What problems do you have to put at Jesus’ feet? All He is asking from us is to trust Him. So take that mustard seed of faith and use it for His honor and glory.
Check out Movie Monday for an idea of how small a mustard seed really is.
John 2:1-11
Jesus Changes Water to Wine
1On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine."
4"Dear woman, why do you involve me?" Jesus replied, "My time has not yet come."
5His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you."
6Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.
7Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water"; so they filled them to the brim.
8Then he told them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet."
They did so, 9and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10and said, "Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now."
11This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.
Questions:
1. What do you think is the significance of this miracle as the first one?
2. What do you think Jesus means when he says to his mother,"My time has not yet come."
3. What does the miracle reveals to you about Jesus?
She lives the love of Christ. From children to the young at heart, Tash loves people with the love of Jesus. What I really want to talk to you about is showing love when people treat you badly. It is easy to treat people good when they treat you good but it is hard when they treat you badly. On one occasion, Tash was treated badly by a grumpy person and all Tash did was give that person love. I was mad and the first thing I wanted to do was tell her off, but Tash calmed me down. When the person came back she was as nice as pie to Tash. The scripture from 1 Peter 4:8 came to mind:
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
We never know what a person is going through, if they had a hard day or even a hard life. Jesus says:
You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
—Matthew 5:38-42
Love concurs all. When we love like Christ we can see hurting people healed, sadness turned to joy and faith restored. So today, who do you need to show love to? Is it your dad, your spouse, or the person at work? Take the time to show love this week to someone who has treated you badly and tell us what happened. Remember,"love covers a multitude of sins."
Share with us how you have seen this scripture play out in your life.
John 1:35-51
Jesus' First Disciples
35The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"
37When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, "What do you want?"
They said, "Rabbi" (which means Teacher), "where are you staying?"
39"Come," he replied, "and you will see."
So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
40Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, "We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ). 42And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas" (which, when translated, is Peter).
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, "Follow me."
44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
46"Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?" Nathanael asked.
"Come and see," said Philip.
47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false."
48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."
49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
50Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that." 51He then added, "I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Questions
1. What did Andrew, Simon and Philip do when they encountered Jesus?
2. It is exciting when you come to know Jesus as your personal Saviour. What was your experience when sharing your faith in Jesus?
3. Why did Nathanael believe that Jesus was the Messiah? How did you come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah?
