Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. ‘Rabbi,’ he said, ‘we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.’
Jesus replied, ‘I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.’ ‘What do you mean?’ exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”
Jesus replied, ‘I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life…
For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.’”
John 3: 1-6, 16 (NLT)“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
II Timothy 1: 7 (NLT)“And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Romans 8: 28 (NLT)
Nicodemus suffered from what we all suffer from some time or another in our lives—fear.
Some of you grew up with that—gripped by fear as a child. Uncertainty was the only thing about which you were ever certain.
Feeling very small and unprotected from whatever came your way in a dangerous world.
Feeling the pull, and trying to live up to, the ways of the world. To fit in, to be accepted. To feel special.
But all you could ever be sure to feel was—fear.
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the political and judicial council. Seeking more about his life, fearful and wondering about the path it was on, and then searching out Jesus in the dark of night—maybe for answers. Maybe for relief from his uncertainty, anxiety, and fear of what was next, rather than what should be next.
Fear. It grips us. Haunts us. We feel it. It takes our breath away at times.
And it can hide us from seeing and becoming who we were created to be through a relationship in and with Christ.
Listen to these words from “No Longer Slaves,” by Bethel Music—
“You unravel me, With a melody.
You surround me with a song,
Of deliverance, from my enemies, ‘til all my fears are gone.
From my mother’s womb, You have chosen me.
Love has called my name.
I’ve been born again into Your family, Your blood flows through my veins.
I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.
I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God.
I am a child of God…”
A child of God. A child with a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. No longer a slave to, or directed by, fear.
A child, who is now a protected member of the family which is overseen by the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.
By the God who never sleeps, knows the number of hairs on our heads, and who never stops working for our good.
The God in whom all our fears are drowned in His perfect protective love.
His perfect love for you and for me.
His children—no more fear.
In His Name–Scott
Be blessed by this song— “No Longer Slaves”—reminding you that you are a child of God, sung by Jenn Johnson of Bethel Music.
