“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. 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.”-John 3:1-3

Christianity is about a personal relationship with God rather than a series of religious acts..

In John 3 we see the story of a man who was religous but was lost. Nicodemus was a religious leader of his day, a Pharisee. He had studied the Old Testament scrolls and had even memorized many of them. His life revolved around keeping the law and obeying the rules of the Old Testament. He was extremely religous but was spiritually lost.

Nicodemus approached Jesus at night, perhaps in fear of what the other religous leaders would think. Christ was not accepted by the Pharisees because of His teachings of salvation through faith, not through the keeping of the law. He wanted people to have a relationship with Him rather than follow a religous system.

Nicodemus had religion, but he didn’t have a relationship with the Lord. Jesus told him, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Salvation comes through trusting in Christ, not through performing religious acts.

Of all the people who could have claimed religion, Nicodemus was one. He had more than likely studied the Bible since he was a young child. Another man who was extremely religious was the Apostle Paul before his conversion. As he said, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (Philippians 3:5-6). Paul was an elite religious leader, yet until he put his faith in Christ, he was without salvation.

Do you have a relationship with Christ or do you simply perform religious acts? God wants to have a one-on-one, daily relationship with you, and that relationship comes through belief in His Son’s sacrifice on the Cross. If you’ve never accepted Christ as Saviour, take time now to find a Bible, even online, and read through John 3. View Nicodemus’ questions as coming from a religious person who realized eternal life was not gained by religious works.

If you are saved, remember that God desires a personal relationship with you. He wants you to serve Him, but more so, He wants you to spend personal time with Him each day. Don’t let your faith become a religion rather than a relationship with God. (By Paul Chappell)

To many, Jesus Christ is only a grand subject for a painting, a heroic theme for a pen, a beautiful form for a statue, and a thought for a song; but to those who have heard His voice, who have felt His pardon, who have received His benediction, He is music, warmth, light, joy, hope and salvation, a Friend who never forsakes, who lifts us when others try to push us down. We cannot wear Him out; we pile on Him all our griefs and troubles. He is always ready to lift us; He addresses us with the same love; He beams upon us with the same smile; He pities us with the same compassion.

There is no name like His. It is more inspiring than Caesar’s, more musical than Beethoven’s, more patient than Lincoln’s. The name of Jesus throbs with all life, weeps with all pathos, groans with all pains, stoops with all love. Its breath is laden with perfume.

Who like Jesus can pity a homeless orphan? Who like Jesus can welcome a prodigal back home? Who like Jesus can make a drunkard sober? Who like Jesus can illuminate a cemetery plowed with graves? Who like Jesus can make a queen unto God out of a lost woman of the street? Who like Jesus can catch the tears of human sorrow in His bowl?

There is no metaphor with which to truly express Jesus. He is not like the bursting forth of an orchestra; that is too loud and it may be out of tune. He is not like the sea when lashed into a rage by a storm; that is too boisterous. He is not like a mountain wreathed in lightning, canopied with snow; that is too solitary and remote.

He is the Lily of the Valley, the Rose of Sharon, a gale of spices from heaven.(Author Unknown)

For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again—.Proverbs 24:16   You can fail without being a failure. The fact is, you can’t succeed without failing. Those who have experienced the greatest success have also failed.   When Thomas Edison was trying to invent the light bulb he tried 700 things that failed. A friend said to him,”Mr. Edison, you have failed 700 times. Why don’t you quit?” Edison replied,”I have not failed 700 time; I discovered 700 things that won’t work.” It’s no wonder that he is responsible for more than 1,000 inventions. He refused to let failures stop him. That’s the attitude we all need.   Dr. Bob Jones used to say, “Make chariot wheels out of your failures and ride them to success.” That’s good advice! We aren’t a failute because we fail. We are a failure when we stop trying. Think about it—we learn from our failures and that enables us to succeed. None of us learned the alphabet on our first try. Neither did we learn to ride a bicyle on our first attempt–we fell, we got bumps and bruises, and we got up and tried again and again, until we finally learned how to do it. That’s a good lesson for life.   Everybody fails, but only the failures quit trying. Regardless of how you have failed, get up, brush yourself off, learn from your failure and try again. Don’t be discouraged by your failures, they are the stuff that that success is made of. As Winston Churchill said,”Never give up!”  —H.D.S

And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.—Luke 10:41-42   It really happened. A Navy jet fighter plane shot itself down! While testing a new cannon mounted on its wing, the plane ran into a shell it had fired a few seconds earlier. The problem was that the plane was flying at supersonic speed while the shell was subsonic. The result was that the plane destroyed itself in a collision with what it had launched.   Back in the Ozarks folks often say, “I’m so busy I meet myself coming and going.” The fact is, sometimes our pace of life is too fast for our own good. If we aren’t careful we can be destroyed by the very things we’re trying to do.Some way we’ve got it in our head that more is always better. We try to cram as much as possible into every day. We tend to feel we have failed unless we complete everything on uur check list. We get frustrated when we don’t accomplish all that we planned to do. That can lead to a lot of problems, including broken health. Maybe we need to keep a shorter list. Sometimes it might be best to throw the list away!   We often accomplish more by doing less. Our spiritual growth is often stunted by getting caught up in a whirlwind of activities. Our fast-paced lifestyle makes us “a jack of all trades and a master of none.” We go so fast that the very project we launch destroys us. That’s not smart! Don’t shoot yourself down by trying to do so much that you fail to accomplish God’s mission for your life. The price is too high! (H.D.S.)

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. –Philippians 4:19

Pastor Harold Springstead was driving along, on his way to preach at a little country church, when he felt a sudden vibration. A tire had gone flat. As the 78-year-old pastor maneuvered his car to a stop, a trucker pulled up behind him. A young man jumped out, assessed the situation, and cheerfully changed the tire. Pastor Springstead got to the service in plenty of time, and it was not until later that he realized his car didn’t even have a jack!

It was a minor problem. He was a retired faithful servant of God. It was a tiny congregation. We might think God would be too busy with larger and more important needs than to be concerned about a flat tire. But His promise to provide for the needs of His people covers little things as well as big ones. —

Think back over the past few days. Has the Lord taken care of some minor needs in your life? Has He solved some nagging problem? Thank Him! As today unfolds, remember that He provides the little things too. –D C Egner (Our Daily Bread)

If God sees the sparrow’s fall,
Paints the lilies, short and tall,
Gives the skies their azure hue,
Will He not then care for you? –Anon.

Nothing is too great for God to accomplish,
nothing to small for His attention