Nicodemus didn't understand when Jesus said he had to be born again to enter His kingdom.
We may not understand the mystery of how God changes a person's heart when they believe, but when they are born again we see the evidence.
Years ago when I worked in the VA Hospital Neurosurgery Clinic, a patient called me repeatedly, complaining and cussing about his back pain, his appointments, and the system. It seemed I was to blame for all his problems.
One day I shuddered when I saw he was coming to clinic. To my surprise, he checked in with a pleasant attitude. His appearance had drastically changed, and I wasn't sure if it was the same man.
"You look different," I said.
He smiled. "I got saved."
As he told me his experience, we rejoiced together. He apologized for treating me bad on the phone.
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Genesis 3:21-32 describes the all night blow by blow account of Jacob wrestling with the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ. Some say it was an angel. When Jesus dislocated his thigh, Jacob stopped wrestling and started clinging.
Genesis 32:26 And He said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he [Jacob] said I will not let thee go, except Thou bless me.
When Jesus asked, "What is your name?" He was really asking, "Who are you?"
He could have answered, "I'm Jacob, the schemer, the scared Mama's boy, the con-man, the self-centered, self-serving, self-sufficient one!"
Then God changed his name to Israel and blessed him.
The struggle of Jacob is our own. We all tend to wrestle with life, to take things in our own hands. When we get to the end of ourselves, we find the arms of a loving and caring Savior, Jesus Christ.
Stop wrestling and surrender your wills, your dreams and schemes to the Lordship of Jesus. He will change you and bless you.
As believers, we are to love, help, and accept one another no matter how different they are. Some people are weird. Maybe we are too and don't know. Remember Jesus telling us not to show preference to the rich man visiting and ignore the poor man?
Romans 15:5,6 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When we allow the Spirit of The Lord to operate in our lives, we produce a symphony of harmony that the world can't duplicate as we glorify God together. This kind of unity is accomplished by tolerance.
To serve God like He deserves to be served is often a simple matter of priorities. People do the things that are important to them. Those things you attach values to determine the priorities of your life.
For instance, church attendance will be determined by the priority you allow. The same is true of prayer, Bible study, witnessing, etc.
1 Corinthians 15;58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast unmoveable, always abounding in the work of The Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in The Lord.
God knows our hearts. He knows priorities will be interrupted at times. When that happens, keep abounding in the work of The Lord. Make Him your first priority again.
